AFSM International

Prepare -- the world is moving on.

- Dave Henault, CEO

That there could be an

organization based in Fort Myers so global, so far-reaching, so

trendsetting is to some

extraordinary. But AFSM

International is indeed a

worldwide, high-tech service

association that boasts chapters from Japan to Australia, and many

places in between, with home

offices at the Key West building,nestled at the foot of the new Midpoint Bridge.

Leading the organization is chief executive officer David F. Henault, who was hired in 1995. An affable former teacher, Henault spent 32 years in the service industry and taught computer programming when programming was a machine language. He says, "I was teaching men and women the maintenance and programming, and these are the people that are members of our association today."

A Global Networking Opportunity

With 51 chapters sprinkled

throughout 42 countries, AFSM

International has more than 5,000 members. This year, the

association is celebrating its

20-year anniversary and has

announced plans to form a local chapter by January 1. Other chapters are located in Australia, Belgium, Germany, The Netherlands, Sweden, the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada.

The original founders of ASFM

International realized in 1977

that there wasn't a true

association for the high-tech

services industries and decided to start one. With emerging technology-then and now-it didn't really matter where the headquarters was located.

Members today include executives and managers who are charged with servicing computers, copy machines, CAT scan equipment, bar codes machines and more. Membership does not represent occupations such as auto mechanics and such, though eventually it

may. Generally, members are

involved in "white goods"

(refrigerators, washing machines, etc.) as well as high-tech industries, including the large presses used at newspapers and printing plants, main frame

computers and the like. Henault says, "We would be considered the high-tech customer services

industry association."

The reasons for service leaders to join AFSM International are multifold. This member-based

organization, which is not a

lobbying association, provides

international networking,

education and training, renowned conferences, A+ certification, studies, books and research projects, in addition to its member magazine, The Professional

Journal. But, Henault stresses, members will gain no benefit if they don't participate. "Chapter

meeting? Go to it. Take time to read the magazine, and the

magazine will give something

back."

Henault strongly encourages

members to learn about other

technology with which they are not directly related. "If you are involved with the help desk, fine, then read the article on marketing. If you focus only on your area, you might end up knowing as much as the author." And what good it that?

Evolving Roles

Henault spent 25 years at Control Data Institute in Bloomington, Minnesota, moving from the technical support services marketing and sales group to education services to healthcare services to the business center network. Each stint resulted in increased profits through major

restructuring of the division. He recalls the industry in its

infancy.

"They had a boardroom with a CEO sitting at the end. Who sat beside him was his financial person (CFO), the head of marketing and sales and maybe the sales manager

beside that person. Way down at the other end of the table was the services guy. He was the 'techie.' And up [at the other end] might be the training guy, the product

development guy, and the

manufacturing guy who made these computers that cost $5 million, $1 million, $7 million.

"In 1967, [you paid] $7 million for a computer that doesn't do what that thing does," (the PC sitting on HenaultÕs desk). "The

sales team went out and sold these computers to GM, the U.S. Navy, the Air Force. Then of course you have to sell services because the things didn't work all that well.

And so the service people and the training people, they're the ones who are going to make things work.

"When (end users) are sitting at their desk and the boss is looking over their shoulder, and the computer they bought doesn't work, who shows up? The techie, not the sales manager. Well, the manufacturing guy, he was the

hero. He designed that computer. They walk on water. And these (techies) were the grunts that came running behind to keep it all

glued together."

Though the perennial image of the disheveled look of a techie stands in sharp contrast compared to the

expensive suits and starched

shirts of the heads of these

companies, eventually these

technical support people have

become leaders in the industry.

Suddenly, the table is now

reconfigured. The designer and the techie now sit at the head, right next to the CEO or have even become the CEO. Picture Bill Gates in his college years and his

social persona (albeit brilliant mind) today.

The analogy aptly describes the evolution of the high-tech

industry. AFSM International helps get these kinds of people comfortable in their new roles by providing leadership guidance. "We

use the word manager, but

leadership is what your employees are looking for. And when they don't get it, it's frustrating," says Henault.

In order to constantly improve leaderships skills and to find out what similar businesses are doing around the world, members may network with their international peers, interact on the Web site, peruse books and contemplate studies-all courtesy of the AFSM International and all for a mere $150 per year.

In this ever-changing world,

companies can't afford to spend four years designing new computers and still sell them for millions of dollars. "There's a margin. And

no sooner does a company like IBM put out a new computer than six months later there are six clones. Everyone's selling their computers for as cheap as they can get it. The money is in the services,"

says Henault. Indeed, there has been a rash of late of computers in the under-$1,000 market.

The Big Picture

AFSM International holds regional conferences throughout the year for its members. The annual world

conference is the largest, with several hundred exhibitors and about 1,000 attendees. At this year's conference recently held in

Boston, provocative keynote topics included "The End of Service (as we know it);" seminar tracks

focused on services and general management, help desk, leadership, and new technology. During lunch,

participants heard Caspar

Weinberger, former Secretary of Defense for President Ronald Reagan, discuss the new millennium, economic and domestic issues, and

foreign policy. Weinberger will join forces with AFSM

International to produce segments for his television show.

In order to stay on the cutting edge, senior executives need to focus on where the industry is

going. The conference also

provided a