Speaking at a conference in Atlanta in May 2018, Darren Roos, newly installed CEO at enterprise software supplier IFS, talked up the idea that businesses are reshaping their strategies to take a more service-led approach.

He referred to this trend as “servitisation”, which at first blush might sound like a clumsy marketing term. In fact, it was first used 30 years ago by Sandra Vandermerwe and Juan Rada from the Geneva-based International Management Institute, in their paper, Servitisation of business: Adding value by adding services.

Until now, it’s been very much a manufacturing thing, but there are plenty of noises coming from the likes of GE Digital and IFS, suggesting the idea is now finding root in any product-orientated business.