(EMAILWIRE.COM, March 23, 2010 ) SAN DIEGO, CA – The Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA), the technology services industry’s largest and most vibrant association, has expanded its research activities on the emerging discipline of leveraging social media to provide support services. The user base of social media platforms has rapidly expanded over the past two years. Now technology companies are exploring how to harness these platforms to better serve the needs of customers. To help member companies on this journey, TSIA is applying its expertise in aggregating current practices, establishing relevant performance metrics, assembling networks of practitioners, and publishing frameworks on emerging best practices.

“For many of our members, the topic of social media has gone from interesting to critical over the past two years,” said Thomas Lah, executive director of TSIA. “Technology companies have realized that this is an effective channel to engage with customers.”

“Being in the social media space means being where your customers are,” said Shawn Santos, TSIA’s lead researcher on the topic of applying social media to technology services organizations. “While this is true for marketing organizations, it may be even more important for services organizations to understand—those who can respond quickly to this shifting landscape are uniquely positioned to succeed.”

Appreciating the expanding footprint that social media is making on the business landscape, not only has TSIA optimized its own social media channels, but it has created a portfolio of research programs designed to provide the tools and information the industry needs to understand social media’s impact on technology services. TSIA has developed new research, Webcasts, a member inquiry program, and conference presentations specifically focused on the intersection of social media and services.

Better online communities lead to better information. Better information leads to better business results. As business professionals strive to broaden their understanding of technology services, TSIA online communities allow them to connect with peers to enhance their knowledge, build perspective, gain insight on the business challenges they face, and become better equipped to meet the industry’s biggest challenges.

“TSIA is learning by doing,” said Santos. “Not only are we exploring the emerging practices of our members, but we are also aggressively experimenting with various social media techniques as we interact with our own members. “

Select TSIA Social Media Channels

• LinkedIn TSIA Community: http://bit.ly/TSIA_LinkedIn
• Facebook TSIA Conferences Fan Page: http://bit.ly/TSIAConferences_Facebook
• Twitter TSIA Community: http://twitter.com/TSIACommunity
• Technology Services Forum: http://techservicesforum.com

TSIA Blogs

• Technology Services World (TSW) Blog: http://blog.technologyservicesworld.com
• Service Visions (by Thomas Lah, TSIA Executive Director): http://thomaslah.wordpress.com
• Ragsdale’s Eye on Service (by John Ragsdale, TSIA VP, Technology Research): http://jragsdale.wordpress.com
• Di Muccio’s DataViews (by Bo Di Muccio, TSIA VP, Research and Advisory Services): http://bdimuccio.wordpress.com
• Support Sense (by Bill Rose, TSIA VP, Service Research): http://supportsense.wordpress.com
• Maintenance Matters (by Michael Israel, TSIA Senior Research Director: http://michael.tsia.com

More information on TSIA’s social media platforms can be found at the links provided above, or by contacting Shawn Santos, TSIA director of programs and community, at shawn@tsia.com.

About TSIA
The Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) is the technology services industry’s largest and most vibrant association, encompassing more than 50,000 members from 300 companies in 80 countries. Our ranks include services executives, managers, and professionals from around the globe. www.tsia.com.

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Contact Information:
TSIA
Suzanne Hite
Tel: 410-774-5322
Email us


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