Servitisation
Unlocking Value Through Servitisation
Discover how businesses are transforming from product-based models to service-driven strategies. This servitisation journey empowers long-term growth, customer loyalty, and competitive advantage in today's evolving marketplace.
Strategy Fails Without People Who Can Deliver It
Many companies have the right vision. The challenge is finding the people who can make it real. New
models require new roles, new leadership, and new capabilities—from digital service architects and
predictive engineers to outcome-based commercial managers. But most org charts weren't built for this.
And many HR strategies haven't caught up.
70% of transformation failures are linked to people and capability issues—not
technology. We're here to close that gap.
Explore How Your Workforce Needs Evolve at Each Stage
As businesses move from product-centric models to fully servitised, autonomous service delivery,
workforce needs evolve dramatically. Each stage of transformation comes with distinct
expectations around talent, leadership, and structure — and organisations that adapt their
people strategy accordingly are far more likely to succeed. Here's how talent requirements shift across
the five stages:
Product-Centric (Traditional Model)
The Product-Centric or Traditional Model focuses primarily on the design, manufacturing, and sale of physical products. In this approach, value is created at the point of sale, with limited interaction between the company and customer post-purchase. Success is often measured by units sold, production efficiency, and profit margins. Customer relationships are transactional, and innovation centers around improving the product itself. While this model has driven industrial growth for decades, it often lacks flexibility and ongoing customer engagement, making it increasingly less competitive in today's service-oriented economy where businesses must deliver continuous value beyond the initial product purchase.
- Business Focus: Manufacturing and selling physical products.
- Revenue Model: One-time product sales
- Customer Relationship: Transactional
- Workforce Profile: Functional, siloed departments (R&D, production, sales), Roles are focused on efficiency, product output, and cost, Limited integration between customer, product, and service teams
- Typical Roles: Product Engineers, Manufacturing Technicians, Technical Sales Representatives, Quality Assurance Specialists
- HR Priorities: Standardised roles and career paths, Efficiency-focused performance metrics, Minimal talent flexibility
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Servitisation Portfolio:
Typical Products: Industrial machinery, Vehicles, Medical equipment, Consumer electronics, Tools and hardware
Typical Services: Basic product manuals, Limited warranty (fixed period), Spare parts available upon request
Example Business: A company selling CNC machines with a user manual and 1-year warranty — no ongoing service included.
Service-Enhanced (Product + Service)
The Product is a powerful business model that combines physical products with tailored services to deliver greater value and deeper customer engagement. Instead of offering just a standalone product, companies integrate complementary services such as maintenance, training, support, or consulting to create a more holistic solution.
- Business Focus: Adding value-added services around products.
- Revenue Model: Product sales + installation, maintenance, training
- Customer Relationship: Ongoing support, but still product-driven
- Workforce Profile: Introduction of field service and customer support roles, Need for hybrid profiles (product + service understanding), Greater coordination between ops, tech, and customer teams
- Typical Roles: Field Service Engineers, Service Planners & Coordinators, Technical Support Specialists, Customer Training Managers
- HR Priorities: Recruiting for service aptitude and soft skills, Updating job descriptions and role boundaries, Training in customer communication and hands-on support
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Servitisation Portfolio:
Typical Products: The same physical products as Stage 1, now bundled with services - HVAC systems, Elevators, Robotics arms, Imaging machines (e.g., MRI)
Typical Services: Installation & commissioning, Preventive maintenance plans, Operator training, On-demand repair or inspection visits, Technical helpdesk or email support
Example Business: An elevator manufacturer that also offers annual maintenance contracts, on-site technician visits, and user training as bundled services.
Service-Centric (Managed Services)
Service-Centric (Managed Services) focuses on delivering ongoing support, maintenance, and optimisation tailored to your business needs. By shifting from reactive fixes to proactive service delivery, this model ensures consistent performance, reduced downtime, and predictable costs. It allows organisations to focus on core objectives while experts manage their IT, infrastructure, or technical operations efficiently and reliably.
- Business Focus: Delivering managed services and ongoing value
- Revenue Model: Long-term contracts, SLAs, service packages
- Customer Relationship: Collaborative, performance-based
- Workforce Profile: Shift to performance delivery and accountability, need for service design, operations, and SLA management, greater emphasis on data, measurement, and coordination
- Typical Roles: Service Delivery Managers, Contract Performance Analysts, SLA Coordinators, Customer Success Managers
- HR Priorities: Building cross-functional service teams, redefining leadership roles, incentivising based on long-term outcomes!
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Servitisation Portfolio:
Typical Offerings: Service packages with ongoing contracts - IT infrastructure management, Building maintenance as a service, Fleet servicing, Facilities management
Typical Services: Remote monitoring of equipment, Regular performance audits, Uptime SLAs (e.g., "99.9% system uptime"), Managed parts replacement, 24/7 support with ticketing
Example Business: A commercial HVAC company offering 5-year managed environment contracts that include monitoring, servicing, and repairs under SLA.
Outcome-Based (Smart Services)
Outcome-Based (Smart Services) focus on delivering measurable results rather than just products or tasks. These services use data, automation, and real-time monitoring to ensure performance aligned with customer goals. By shifting the focus from outputs to outcomes, businesses can drive higher value, build trust, and create long-term service-based relationships that are adaptive, efficient, and customer-centric.
- Business Focus: Guaranteeing customer outcomes
- Revenue Model: Pay-for-performance, usage-based pricing
- Customer Relationship: Partnership; data-informed and strategic
- Workforce Profile: High-value talent needed in analytics, data ops, predictive service, integration of digital roles into traditional service orgs, customer success and experience design become central
- Typical Roles: Predictive Maintenance Engineers, IoT Analysts & Platform Architects, Outcome-Based Pricing Managers, Digital Twin/Service Designers
- HR Priorities: Attracting digital-savvy talent, bridging the gap between field ops and data teams, rethinking org design for agility and insight
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Servitisation Portfolio:
Typical Offerings: Connected, data-driven systems - IoT-enabled industrial pumps, predictive-maintenance-ready fleets, smart lighting or building systems, remote patient monitoring devices
Typical Services: Condition-based maintenance using sensor data, digital twin simulation and optimisation, performance guarantees (e.g., energy savings of 15%), dynamic pricing (based on usage/performance), integrated dashboards for customers
Example Business: An industrial motor provider charging based on energy efficiency delivered, using IoT sensors and predictive analytics to ensure outcomes.
Fully Servitised (Autonomous Services)
Fully Servitised (Autonomous Services) represents the highest stage of servitisation, where intelligent, self-managed services operate with minimal human intervention. These solutions continuously optimise performance, predict needs, and deliver maximum value, ensuring seamless customer experiences and long-term operational efficiency.
- Business Focus: Delivering value through self-optimising, AI-enabled platforms
- Revenue Model: Subscriptions, outcome-as-a-service, autonomous delivery
- Customer Relationship: Deep integration; continuous, adaptive value
- Workforce Profile: Leaner, more autonomous service teams, AI, automation, platform operations at the core, shift from service delivery to service orchestration
- Typical Roles: AI Operations Managers, Autonomous Service Architects, Customer Experience Strategists, Ecosystem & Platform Designers
- HR Priorities: Leading future-of-work transitions, building flexible, project-based teams, upskilling for automation, digital fluency, and service innovation
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Servitisation Portfolio:
Typical Offerings: AI-driven, self-adjusting systems - Autonomous delivery robots, smart grid energy systems, fully integrated mobility-as-a-service (MaaS), self-healing IT infrastructure platforms
Typical Services: Fully automated issue detection and resolution, self-learning optimisation algorithms, zero-touch configuration and updates, subscription-based outcome platforms (e.g., "comfort as a service" in smart buildings)
Example Business: A utility company offering "Energy-as-a-Service", where AI-managed energy flows are optimised across homes without customer intervention, charged via monthly subscription.
The Servitisation Role Accountability Framework
Clarity. Alignment. Execution.The Servitisation Role Accountability Framework is our proprietary framework for aligning people, roles, and results in service-led organisations. It brings structure to transformation by defining 4 core accountability domains and 20 targeted sub-accountabilities that reflect the real-world responsibilities needed to deliver service excellence.
This matrix helps organisations:
- Clarify who is accountable for what across evolving service functions
- Align job roles, team structures, and capability expectations with your business model
- Drive focused execution at every level, from frontline teams to executive leadership
- Align job roles, team structures, and capability expectations with your business model
It's a practical, people-focused tool designed for HR leaders, operational managers, and transformation teams who need to translate servitisation goals into workforce action.
The Servitisation Accountability Framework connects strategy to structure — so the right people are focused on the right outcomes at every stage of your transformation.
A visual model aligning 4 domains and 20 sub-accountabilities that shape how service-led organisations think, operate, and transform
Depending on the Business Context, Servitisation Stage and Specific Job Role the general overview by career level is as below:
EXECUTIVE & SENIOR LEADERSHIP
Focus:Strategic planning, partnerships, transformation leadership, market expansion, organisational risk and performance.
DIRECTORS & SENIOR MANAGERS
Focus:Translating strategy into programs, leading large functions, overseeing portfolios or divisions, stakeholder engagement.
TEAM LEADERS & SUPERVISORS
Focus:Operational execution, team coordination, short-term improvement initiatives, process alignment, escalation handling.
SPECIALISTS & SENIOR TECHNICAL ROLES
Focus:Subject matter expertise, driving technical projects, supporting new service innovation, quality and compliance.
TECHNICAL PROFESSIONALS & MID LEVEL ROLES
Focus:Day-to-day service delivery, engineering support, reporting, some participation in pilot programs and improvement tasks.
ENTRY-LEVEL & ASSOCIATE ROLES
Focus:Execution-level tasks, frontline support, learning by doing, supporting documentation, process adherence.
Depending on the Business Context, Servitisation Stage and Specific Job Role the percentage of time spent in the 4 core accountability domains and 20 targeted sub-accountabilities of the Servitisation Accountability Framework will vary, see below a general overview of stage-by-stage evolution of Focus and Time Bias.
STAGE 1
STAGE 2
STAGE 3
STAGE 4
STAGE 5
Product-Based (Transactional Sales)
Focus:
Cost control, asset uptime, reactive support
Time Bias:
- Heavy in Delivery & Operations for most levels
- Low on Innovation, even for senior roles
- Executives focus on Sales & Ops efficiency
Product + Service (Basic Support Contracts)
Focus:
Bundled services, service SLAs, customer satisfaction
Time Bias:
- 1st Line Support and Field Services become more central
- Product Management and Customer Management time rises
- Supervisors start engaging more with Performance Excellence
Outcome-Based Services (Service Agreements)
Focus:
Performance-based contracts, uptime guarantees
Time Bias:
- Rise in Governance & Risk time across levels
- Mid- to senior-levels increasingly involved in Service Lifecycle Design and IT Architecture
- Analytics and Project Management gain importance
Advanced Solutions (Digital + Consulting Integration)
Focus:
Co-creation, integration of digital & consulting
Time Bias:
- Significant increase in Innovation & Development time, especially for leadership and technical specialists
- Solutions/Account-Based Marketing and Business Development dominate senior sales focus
- Field support shifts to remote diagnostics + predictive analytics
Servitised Ecosystem (Platform + Partnership-Oriented)
Focus:
Ecosystem orchestration, platform-led revenue, co-innovation
Time Bias:
- Executive and Director time is heavily weighted toward Governance, Innovation, and Strategic Sales
- Strong growth in time for IT Architecture, Service Transformation, and Idea Generation roles
- Entry/Mid levels may see more cross-functional and data-focused work