Having a professional services team isn’t unique, but neither is it a foregone conclusion for a software company. Some companies choose to rely entirely on a partner network to provide services.
Acquia is deeply committed to our partner community, and we’ve also concluded that a professional services team is critical to customer success. Here’s why:
Acquia Professional Services helps navigate the path using their Drupal expertise to help customers reach their goals quickly and on budget.
Most enterprise software requires some degree of implementation. Acquia’s products are no exception. Our professional services team provides implementation services directly to customers, or in collaboration with partners. With any new, complex technology, expert services are essential to getting solutions up and running as quickly and correctly, so customers can begin deriving value from their purchases as soon as possible.
Who better to implement a solution than the very experts from whom you purchased the products?
Keeping customers for life requires staying ahead of change, both by introducing new products and helping customers modify existing product implementations. With each new product that gets added to a customer’s portfolio, implementation and training are required.
Sometimes, existing implementations need to be modified to respond to changes in a customer’s business. Customers need guidance from product implementation experts to respond to change, so that they can continue to realize the return on the investments they’ve made in their platforms.
The best digital experience platforms are those that offer customers the freedom to implement the platform in the way that serves their business. This freedom results in lots of implementation options, not all of which are appropriate for a given customer. Product companies need to recommend implementation best practices so that customers have guidelines to work with.
Professional services teams have hands-on experience implementing products within real-world environments, and are therefore critical to defining and maintaining best practices.
Through hands-on work with customers and products, professional services teams are well positioned to identify product innovation and improvement opportunities in real-time. At Acquia, the professional services group is a key stakeholder in product decisions, providing customer perspectives and informing the product team of the implementation opportunities we see in the field.
Customers and partners with cutting edge or high-risk projects choose to work with Acquia’s Professional Services team because of our direct connection to the Acquia product teams.
Software companies that choose to offer professional services do so because it’s strategic to customer success. For customers who are new to digital transformation, selecting a software company with a strong professional services team provides them with confidence needed to chart a new course.
For technically savvy customers, a professional services team is an essential partner when exploring cutting edge solutions. For partners, having an expert team of implementers available to train and advise insures critical projects against risk.
As senior director for Acquia Professional Services, Meagen Williams leads the North America team that provides customers and partners with implementation services, expert help and advice, and training.
Prior to joining Acquia in 2012, Meagen spent 15 years working at the intersection of marketing and technology. She spent four years as a senior consultant providing marketing, communications, and digital strategy to government customers. Prior to that, she led sales and marketing for a web technology firm focused on the education market.
A native of New Hampshire, Meagen has lived in the Washington, D.C., area since 2000. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Notre Dame.
