Changepoint Europe Limited
Bridge House
Heron Square
Richmond, Surrey, TW9 1EN

Changepoint
www.changepoint.com
 Europe@changepoint.com
Tel + 44 20 8948 9605
Fax + 44 20 8948 9609

Professional Services Automation
Changepoint: Leading the way in Europe

Much has been written in the last two years about Professional Services Automation (PSA) and whether the market is mature enough to meet the needs of IT professionals in Europe. The case for PSA is simple; it is a breed of software designed specifically to meet the needs of companies who sell services rather than products. While enterprise software products for product-oriented companies have been around for years, few integrated tools have existed to address the unique needs of companies that sell services and have a complicated portfolio of projects using professionals, with varying expertise, frequently involved in multi-national projects.

So what exactly is PSA? PSA is an integrated solution that automates the business delivery process of professional services organisations (and IT departments) from end to end. The key components of professional services automation software are:

Marketing
  • Campaign management and ROI analysis.
  • Lead tracking.
  • Competitive intelligence.

Sales

  • Contact and activity tracking.
  • Opportunity tracking.
  • Proposal development.
  • Pipeline forecasting.

Engagement management

  • Fee schedules and billing rules.
  • Time and expense approval rules.
  • Contract management

Resource management

  • Resource searching and tracking.
  • Skill profiles.
  • Availability planning and scheduling.
  • Utilisation monitoring.
  • Conflict checking.

Project management

  • Project scheduling.
  • Task distribution and status.
  • Bi-directional Microsoft Project integration.
 Time and expense management
  • Time and expense submission.
  • Validation and approval workflow.
  • Compliance reporting.

Invoicing

  • Automated invoice processing.
  • Approval workflows.
  • Multi-currency support.

Revenue recognition

  • Multiple revenue recognition methods supported.
  • Flexible processes.

Request management

  • Customisable workflow engine.
  • Call tracking and escalation.
  • Integrated time tracking.

Knowledge management

  • Knowledge repositories.
  • Support for rich data types.
  • Topic subscription and notifications.
  • Full text search.

While none of the major components of PSA are particularly new (all exist as point solutions or as part of a specialised software package), two factors make PSA an incredibly powerful tool producing a huge return on investment for those companies that chose to adopt it. The first main factors is integration; having all of these tools as part of a single solution with a single database and architecture improves the way the organisation functions as well as producing huge efficiencies. The second factor is that the tool is specifically designed for the unique needs of companies whose product is people and not goods. PSA fits the business needs and processes of such organisations allowing them to improve utilisation, share knowledge and improve the quality and efficiency of services provided.

Since 1992, Changepoint has been focused on the automation of IT professional services organisations and IT departments. Whilst a number new companies have been founded around PSA (and many more have tried to re-invent themselves as PSA solution provider), Changepoint's credentials speak for themselves both as a global leader in the field as well as being the leader in the European market. With over 320 clients worldwide (including 34 clients in 10 European countries), Changepoint has a proven solution that has been designed specifically to meet the unique needs of European customers (such as multi-lingual support, Euro and multi-currency capabilities). It offers the full breadth of PSA functionality via browser technology, as well as meeting the needs of mobile users to access critical information whilst offline by providing Pocket PC, Palm and offline web browser versions. The companies' client list ranges from small IT consultancies to the largest full PSA project (a 9,000 user, 40 country deal with NCR). The companies EMEA head office in Richmond, Surrey provides marketing, sales, implementation and support services in the region. The company also has 14 offices in North America and France.