Role of a Strategic Account Manager in large Hi-Tech enterprises

Dear all,

At the moment, I am writing my thesis on the role of a strategic account manager in large Hi-Tech enterprises. In particular, I want to understand to what extent strategic account managers are involved in operational and (semi) technical issues. To establish this, I would like to understand for HP and IBM what the role of the key account manager in Sales and Delivery (IBM) and Worldwide Sales (HP TPG) encompasses. Key questions are the following:

Commercial responsibility
Does the key account managager manager develop the strategic account plan independently, or does he have to align with the businesses?
To what extent should the sales forces of the Product Groups align with the key account manager:
* Contacting a key account to discuss potential new sales?
* Developing and offering a new business proposal for a key account?
* Signing a new contract ?
Are there other people within IBM that have direct client contact regarding commercial performance, or does the S&D manager play a SPOC role?

Operational responsibility
To what extent is the key account manager involved in operational discussions:
* Periodical (e.g., monthly) evaluations of the operational performance of IBM / HP
* Escalations / serious disruption of the operational delivery
* Progress meetings for the transition of newly insourced clients
Are there other people within IBM that have direct client contact regarding operational performance, or does the S&D manager play a SPOC role?

Hope anyone can give me an insiders view on this topic.

Kind regards,

Ernst