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Strategic Service Management: An Evolving View on the Intersection of Management and Computing Sciences

Services, especially IT-based services, make significant contributions to national and global economies. Broadly defined, services are capabilities or competencies that one person, organization, or enterprise provides for another. Over the last century, the economy has shifted radically toward knowledge-based services, and this is nowhere more evident than in informatics. The services sector constitutes more than 70 percent of the U.S. Gross Domestic Product. Information technology-based services are a major constituent of this services sector for which examples include IT outsourcing, business process outsourcing, or knowledge process outsourcing.

In many ways, the scientific research agenda and university education have not shifted to match this growth. Sophisticated computing is increasingly having an impact on the organization and execution of business. Business relationships and opportunities call for an increased understanding of the nature of these relationships and how to overcome common difficulties in establishing long-standing relationships that provide mutual value. Solutions for significant business problems combine understanding of business context and process, human capabilities, organizational dynamics, and hardware and software information technologies. This talk will address Carnegie Mellon’s research and education activities in strategic service management and identify future challenges facing a global, interconnected services arena.