IEEE Product News

December 2006 – The IEEE, the world’s leading professional association for the advancement of technology, announced today that effective January 1, 2007, it will be handling all of its worldwide online publication subscription sales business internally. IEEE, which formerly used a third-party provider to carry out its overseas sales and systems support, has restructured its sales department to offer direct customer service to its international customers. IEEE publishes over 30 percent of the world’s literature in the electrical engineering and computer science fields and many of the top cited technology journals. 

For the past 10 years, IEEE had partnered with Information Handling Services (IHS) to manage its overseas business. Recent trends in the marketplace along with a desire to form a closer relationship with its customers were two of the motivating factors behind the decision to bring the work in-house.

“The publishing industry has been undergoing a gradual change over the past several years, as societies and associations have been expanding beyond their traditional roles in the publishing marketplace,” said Jonathan Dahl, staff director, Sales and Marketing, IEEE. “Where in the past non-profit publishers were seen strictly as content providers, they are now solidifying themselves as major players in publishing with the same capabilities as commercial publishers.  

“Bringing our worldwide sales business in-house enables IEEE to better address our growth opportunities and improve service without a middleman. Additionally, more direct contact with our customers will help inform our product development decisions so we can respond more quickly to customer and market needs worldwide,” Dahl added.

To accommodate the transition, IEEE has added a core of new employees with international sales experience to handle the international market segment. These include bilingual sales staff, customer service representatives and an international credit and collections manager.  Additionally, the association is sending representatives overseas to train and interact directly with its customers to ensure that the sales transition goes smoothly.