Assessing the after-sales performance of an IT product- service company

Abstract

A product-service system (PSS) can be perceived as an extension of the functionality of a physical good to which specialised services are added. IT (Information Technology) companies have operated with a PSS model in a business-to-business (B2B) context and are referred to as IT PSSs in this paper. In addition to software and hardware products, IT PSSs provide after-sales services to clients such as system operation, installation, maintenance, support, and customisation. The objective of this paper is to identify and assess the after-sales performance of an IT PSS. A medium-sized IT company located in an emerging economy facing global competition was studied. The Analytic Hierarchy Method (AHP) was used to assess the relative importance of after-sales dimensions. The company develops and sells IT management software. Some services are associated with the software offerings: system maintenance, management of the client company’s IT management software, and customisations. The after-sales performance was 54.5%. The dimensions ‘Installation’, ‘Training’ and ‘Support for use’ have the highest relative importance and highest gaps. These results suggest that initial improvement actions should focus on these dimensions. The proposed method of assessing after-sales performance may be adapted to other companies and applications. Key words: After-sales, product-service system, IT companies.