ISS 2020 Vision Future of Service Management | Seite 50

Service providers must develop a certain level of resilience in order to achieve these outcomes
on a consistent basis in such a fast-changing environment. Service professionals must be
particularly adept at adapting to new trends and constant change to not only avoid the
impact of disruptive forces, but also take a leading role in disrupting their own industry and
other parallel sectors. Only then can service providers expect to become a world-class service
organization. In the future, trends are transforming Service Management in four key areas:
Service landscape, service strategy, service actors and service touch points (see figure 17).
• Service landscape refers to the way service is defined and changes in the service
market.
• Service strategy refers to the way service is designed and changes in the service
delivery process.
• Service touch points refer to the way service is accessed and changes in service
settings.
• Service actors refer to the way the service value chain is organized and changes
in the relationship dynamics between stakeholders.
5.2.1 Service landscape
The introduction of new technologies in parallel with new parameters of social living is
redefining how we understand and use service. This emerging paradigm is characterized by the
everything-as-a-service (XaaS) mantra that is rapidly expanding beyond cloud computing and
the telecommunications sector. As one subject-matter expert noted, ”Service Management
as an industry is perpetually expanding...I believe that we will ’servicify’ everything.” 55
Indeed, it is a movement that is about freedom from ownership – converting conventional
products and processes into service offerings that help buyers transition away from fixed
costs towards variable costs in life and in business. For example, Office-as-a-Service (OaaS),
Mobility-as-a-Service (MaaS), or Homeownership-as-a-Service (Haas). In any case, buyers will
increasingly expect service providers to proactively anticipate their needs within a given set of
circumstances and to offer a matching service that reduces user complexity. 56
As a result, the new normal of service in the 21 st century will be that which is highly
individualized, data-driven and primarily relationship-based. Users will expect more
personalization, more options, constant contact, or at least the ability to reach service
providers, increased responsiveness and greater control.
55 Hohnen, M. ISS 2020 Vision: Future of Service Management, 2016.
56 Grönroos, C., ISS 2020 Vision: Future of Service Management, 2016.
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Service
landscape Service
strategy
Service
touch points Service
actors
Figure 17: Four dimensions of service futures