Presales in B2B IT services: A value co-creation perspective

Abstract

The presales function in the IT services industry is undergoing a fundamental transformation. As client IT environments increase in sophistication, expectations have shifted towards increased agility, zero disruption to business, innovative solutions and end-to-end service management. While prior research has extensively examined sales and delivery functions in B2B services, the role of presales remains under-theorized, particularly in the context of solution selling and digital transformation. This paper examines the evolving role of the presales function through the theoretical lenses of service-dominant logic (SDL) and value co-creation (VCC) in response to digitalization and shifting client demands. Using a multi-method qualitative approach, combining textual analysis of thirty RFPs issued over a 17-year period with interviews of reflective practitioners, we trace how presales activities have adapted to reflect changes in technology landscapes, procurement priorities, and client expectations. We abstract the shift in the role of the presales team into key value co-creating activities that characterize the modern presales role. These include focusing on client’s business transformation orientation, building a contemporary information architecture, engaging in a streamlined solutioning process, ensuring internal and external collaboration, communicating the business case to demonstrate value, taking cognizance of the balance in client’s spend and through this drafting and articulating a proposal that is well aligned. The study contributes theoretically by positioning presales as a central mechanism of value co-creation in B2B solution selling and empirically by offering a longitudinal account of how procurement maturity reshapes vendor roles in IT services.