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Support Technology Trends Indicate Sharp Rise in Adoption of Web 2.0 Solutions

SSPA Research Study to be Presented at Leading Industry Conference

SAN DIEGO, CA May 1, 2008 - Findings from the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) member technology survey for 2008 will be presented at the SSPA Best Practices 2008 Essential Elements of Support conference, May 4-6 in Santa Clara, CA. This annual study, conducted by John Ragsdale, vice president of technology research for SSPA, documents what application areas are seeing the highest levels of interest and adoption across 24 functional categories of services and support technology.

In his session, titled “2008 Support Technology Trends: Profiles of Innovation,” Ragsdale will share key findings that include a special focus on Web 2.0 solutions utilized by the service and support industry.

“2007 was the year Web 2.0 made it into the vocabulary of every support manager, and spending on Web 2.0-related technologies was strong. Discussion forums showed a sharp increase in adoption, from 36% in 2007 to 49% in 2008. Wikis, or collaborative authoring environments, made a good showing in their first time on the survey, with 25% of members adopting the technology,” commented Ragsdale.

Other hot areas include:

• Discussion forums/online communities – 18% of members have budgeted for the purchase/deployment of this technology in 2008.
• Web self-service – This area also showed heavy investment, with 17% of members budgeting for self-service knowledgebases this year.
• Web collaboration (Web chat, page push, screen sharing, joint form fill) – This technology was high on the list, with 17% of members having allocated funds for a purchase in 2008.

“We are clearly seeing a trend in business-to-business service and service delivery that reflects trends we are witnessing in the consumer space,” stated Stephen Smith, executive director for SSPA.

The SSPA Best Practices 2008 conference features more than 70 unique sessions. Participants will leave with practical solutions, tested methods, new ideas, and best practices they can apply as soon as they return to the office. The conference is open to both members and non-members. A conference blog will be available beginning May 5 at www.thesspa.com.

In related news, the SSPA has issued a call for speakers for their next conference, Services Leadership 2008 Winning Service Strategies in a Shifting Global Economy, October 20-22 in Las Vegas. Speakers who can effectively convey specific details about their successful strategies and tactics and the quantifiable business results they've produced will be given preference. Interested speakers can click here to submit an application. The submission deadline is May 16, 2008.