Harbor Research Announces European Smart Services Conference Covering the Fast-Developing M2M/Pervasive Internet Sector in Budapest 13-14 June

Harbor Research Inc., the world's leading provider of strategic consulting and research services for the fast-developing M2M/Pervasive Internet sector, has announced its next European Smart Services Forum for 2007, to be held at the Sofitel Hotel in Budapest on 13-14 June. The ability to monitor, repair and control equipment remotely over the Internet has changed the concept of service for manufacturers in key industries around the world. New M2M technology has allowed implementers to introduce "remote smart services" and gain competitive edge over those still using traditional service methods. This conference explores the opportunities these smart services represent, how to assess the value add and how to implement for maximum benefit.

San Francisco and London (PRWEB) May 8, 2007 -- Harbor Research Inc., the world's leading provider of strategic consulting and research services for the fast-developing M2M/Pervasive Internet sector, has announced its next European Smart Services Forum (http://harborresearch.com/harbor/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=93&Itemid=1) for 2007, to be held at the Sofitel Hotel in Budapest on 13-14 June. Leading companies also taking part in this special two day conference include Heidelberger Druckmaschinen (Heidelberg), Johnson Controls, SAP, Cisco Systems, Air Products, ABB, Deepstream Technologies and Maya Design.

Top experts from these companies will join with Harbor's specialist team to outline what they have achieved within their companies and the enormous benefits already gained from device networking and remote smart services. The program also includes exclusive workshops covering the Development of Smart Service Value Propositions and Services Innovation, with additional panel sessions covering Alliance Development and Overcoming Implementation Issues. This will be a highly interactive program offering significant and unique added value for attendees looking to better understand the strategic opportunities of M2M and Smart Services for their own companies.

The ability to monitor, repair and control equipment remotely over the Internet -- using either Wireline technologies like Industrial Ethernet or Wireless technologies like GSM, GPRS, or CDMA cellular mobile, satellite, Wireless LAN, Bluetooth, ZigBee and RFID -- has changed the concept of service for manufacturers in key industries around the world. By increasing customer satisfaction with faster turnaround times and enabling concrete savings on service costs, new M2M technology has allowed implementers to introduce "remote smart services" and gain competitive edge over those still using traditional service methods.

These new services represent a multi-billion dollar opportunity. Market growth is also extremely strong. Harbor's own research has documented organic growth rates in double digits for many companies that follow this path. The leaders are establishing the new performance benchmarks for their industries, deriving more than 50% of their revenue, and 60% of their margin contribution, from services as opposed to product sales. For most management teams in product-centric companies, numbers like these sound like nirvana.

Smart services are a wholly different animal than the service offerings of the past, and customers perceive them as having entirely new value. The Smart Services Forum is a conference format specifically designed to explore the key benefits and implementation issues of M2M for those who are either at an early or advanced stage in adopting these methods within their own companies.

About Harbor:

Harbor Research Inc., has more than twenty years of experience in providing strategic consulting and research services to high technology clients. Harbor's business development work is organized around emergent and disruptive opportunities, with a unique focus on the impact of the Pervasive Internet---the use of the Internet to accomplish global device networking that will revolutionize business by unleashing entirely new modes of system optimization, customer relationships, and service delivery.

Harbor Research's clients are leaders in communications, computing, control, and content. Harbor Research has built extended relationships with larger multi-line companies including AT&T, ABB, Agilent, General Electric, Danaher, Eaton, Emerson, Hewlett-Packard, Hitachi, Honeywell, Hughes, IBM, Intel, Invensys, Lucent, Motorola, Rockwell, Siemens, and Texas Instruments, as well as with growth companies such as EMC, Cadence Design, Conexant and Qualcomm. Harbor has built relationships with a number of significant Pervasive Internet players, including Axeda, Digi, Ember, GridLogix, Lantronix, Questra, Wavecom, SensorLogic, Xsilogy, and Dust Networks, to name a few.

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