(EMAILWIRE.COM, March 10, 2009 ) SAN DIEGO, Calif., March 10, 2009 – Professor Klaus-Peter Fähnrich, chair of Business Information Systems at the University of Leipzig in Germany, will be a headlining keynote presenter at the Technology Services Europe (TSE) Conference, being held April 1-3 in Barcelona and co-presented by AFSMI, SSPA, and TPSA--the three leading professional associations of the services and support industry. He will present “Service Engineering: What Do We Mean by It, and Do We Really Need It?”

Service engineering is a notion that arose in the early 1990s to bring an engineering perspective into service businesses. At first the concept was criticized by prominent members of the services marketing community: By its nature, services could not be the object of an engineering approach, and it was also argued that the role of customers would not be represented appropriately. But industry practitioners were intrigued, and by 2000, the discipline was established. In his TSE keynote address Prof. Fähnrich will provide an overview of the achievements in service engineering thus far and will address the question of whether we really need it.

Prof. Fähnrich has a rich and extensive professional career in the technology industry. In addition to his position at the University of Leipzig, he resides on several well-established industry boards, and he is a principle consultant for German and European industry, for the Commission of the European Committees, and for German government agencies.

About Technology Services Europe
Anticipated to be Europe’s premier technology services conference of the year, this one-of-a-kind event will highlight the concept of “services without boundaries”—breaking down organizational, financial, and geographic barriers to maximize services success. www.technologyserviceseurope.com.

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About AFSMI
The Association for Services Management International (AFSMI) is the global leader in helping service professionals and field services organizations deliver more value to their customers. www.afsmi.com.

About SSPA
The Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) is a key resource for the information and best practices needed to make better business decisions. www.thesspa.com.

About TPSA
The Technology Professional Services Association (TPSA) is the only organization for executives who create, deliver, manage, measure, and optimize technology services in the world’s leading corporations. www.tpsaonline.com.

About the AFSMI Germany Chapter
The AFSMI Germany Chapter is one of AFSMI’s most active chapters and has recently been honored as the 2008 AFSMI Chapter of the Year. The chapter periodically arranges national and international conferences, realizes projects and initiatives, and publishes studies and researches. www.afsmi.de.

Contact Information:
Association for Service Management Inter
Tom Rich
Tel: 978-466-5063
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