Should Software Vendors Also Sell Professional Services?

Oliver Marks, writing for ZDNet on Jive Software’s announcement that they’ve rebranded Clearspace as Social Business Software (SBS), points out the elephant in the room for large software rollouts:

The reality for all ’social community’ roll outs is that the software is a relatively minor component compared to the change management required to drive uptake and usage and to weave the software into the business fabric of day to day use.

This, more than the choice of software, is the point of failure or success. Even software that’s not absolutely 100% suited to an organization’s needs (which, frankly, is the case for even the best software) can make a positive impact on day-to-day business with the right approach and effort to get people using it.

Oliver and Gia Lyons of Jive discussed this further in the comments on Dennis Howlett’s article about the the effort needed to get people engaged. Gia says:

We should probably get you up to speed about what we do in Jive Strategic Consulting then. Most of what we do could be done with almost any other social software tool, but naturally, we only make ourselves available to Jive customers.

There’s the problem. If most of what they do could be done with other software, then why only make themselves available to Jive customers? After all, isn’t professional services an even larger source of revenue than the software? That’s how SharePoint works. Microsoft sells a basic infrastructure on which lots of 3rd party consultants build and customize tools that meet each company’s needs.

When a software company sets up a consulting operation, it’s serving its own self-interest because the motivation (contrary to what anyone at a software vendor will tell you) is to ensure that the customer keeps paying for the software year after year. As Oliver says:

There’s a world of difference between vendor sales follow through and professional services, and objective unbiased strategic planning around what a collaboration environment is for and how it should be used.

Not to take anything away from the great work you do at Jive, but inevitably vendors are always proving themselves right and validating the sale.