Mark Harrison: The best solutions make day-to-day life easier for the people using them

Mark Harrison has built a reputation for getting things done. Now part of Etteplan's team in Sweden, he focuses on Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) and supportability, helping customers build systems that are not only technically robust, but sustainable across their entire lifecycle.

"I've spent my career navigating the intersection of strategy and execution, always looking for ways to turn customer needs into tangible results," says Mark. 

Mark's path into ILS began with a focus on end-user customer support, developing tailored solutions for strategic products. Over time, that work evolved into something broader: a systems-level approach to how products are designed, maintained, and supported from day one.

"The whole concept of Integrated Logistic Support originated in the USA, with the idea of deliberately going back to engineering and the design table to drive down support costs. Those American standards were quickly adopted and further developed in Europe into what we now call Integrated Product Support, or IPS," he explains.

In previous roles, Mark led cross-functional teams that modernized core supportability workflows, reducing whole-life costs significantly across multiple stakeholders. The results were concrete: improved product reliability at the supplier level translated directly into greater availability for customers and end users.

One of Mark's proudest achievements is being part of the team that established Integrated Logistic Support (ILS) in Sweden, work that required bridging the gap between government mandates and industrial capabilities.

"We served as a catalyst in aligning government and industry in major systems integration. By introducing robust ILS frameworks, we transformed fragmented operations into unified, sustainable lifecycle systems," he says. The approach reduced total cost of ownership while maximizing operational readiness.

He describes the experience with candor: "It felt a bit like changing the tires on a moving car: challenging, high-stakes, but incredibly rewarding."

For Mark, the right question is often a simple one. "How can we make this better, faster, or more intuitive?" Whether it means introducing new technology or reframing a project's scope entirely, he sees change not as a risk to manage, but as a prerequisite for innovation.

It's a mindset he finds well matched at Etteplan. "Etteplan has a unique approach when it comes to collaborative problem-solving, getting everyone focused on providing solutions not only for, but together with the customer," he explains.

When he's not deep in standards documents, databases, or project roadmaps, Mark can usually be found cycling, hiking, or tackling a weekend DIY project. Four years in, what still drives him is the same thing that drew him to this work in the first place.

"The best solutions don't just solve a technical problem; they make day-to-day life easier for the people using them."