CEO Ari Bousbib’s vision of repositioning and restructuring Otis is an ambitious venture that involves more than just Information Technology. To break away from being a simple “manufacturing” company to a globally competitive service firm requires comprehensive streamlining not only of company ERP/CRM tools but also involves alignment of corporate culture, skills and competency of its workforce to support its goals. Aside from sorting out management systems and technical challenges (from programming, installation to training employees globally), Otis needs to focus on its employees’ frame of mind. With the tight integration of work processes where every activity has customer impact, employees will need to shift from a specialist to generalist frame of mind. Comprehensive organizational development and individual training will have to be done to ensure that the newly available load of information is managed and interpreted correctly, and thus have a positive and distinctly felt impact on its customers. I believe Mr. Bousbib himself agrees that a lot of work needs to be done to make this great vision happen. The service and maintenance side of the business seems to be more attractive for Otis considering the higher and sustainable revenues and profits from elevator and escalator repairs. The elevator sales market is mature (with the exception of China and some developing countries) hence Mr Bousbib might have felt it more strategic to take advantage of the low entry barriers, and constantly high demand of this sector. Smooth operational flow is key, and eLogistics is the critical enabler to make all of this happen. Information technology’s role for Otis is invaluable. It plays a central role in establishing Otis as a truly world-class service company dedicated to ti ...