Productization of energy solutions in B2B markets

Abstract

The current energy transition has shifted the world into needing new technologies as well as developing already existing ones. The energy industry and all the services associated with it (e.g. energy management, energy storage, and distribution) need to be agile in today’s world. As the need for new solutions rises, it creates demand for professionals to create and sell these services. It can be hard to understand certain concepts of services as opposed to physical products, services are often perceived as intangible. Thus, PSFs utilize productization in creating tangible services for customers.

The purpose of this study is to examine the importance and structure of the productization of energy services/solutions and build a cohesive understanding of the productization process. The study will describe energy services and service productization as a process while building a theoretical connection and model customer relationship building in the industry. Previous research extends to PSFs’ actions and productization practices. However, this research is minimal and mainly focuses on the practices and process stages of tangibilization. Therefore, further research is important in finding similar or different patterns.

This thesis utilized qualitative research methods, and a semi-structured interview was selected as the mode of methodology to allow for a natural interview resulting in data based on the interview participants’ personal experiences, feelings, and thoughts. Since this thesis studies productization in the energy services industry, the criteria for the chosen participants for the interview were companies offering energy services and solutions. The interviewed experts were chosen based on their background and expertise in working with productization.

The different practices and processes of productization echoed the same elements among interviewees. It became evident, that productization is deeply crucial to PSFs and the energy industry. Although prior research supported the created framework in this thesis, new aspects, and discussions arose from the research. Internal knowledge transferring and communication became highlighted as documenting the productization process and understanding services internally were felt to be lacking. The need for developing unified practices and internal communication yields expertise and standardized practices for future processes.