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T-Mobile Selects Inseego 5G MiFi® M2000 As Its First 5G Mobile Hotspot

Jan 12, 2021 • News • 5G • Digital Transformation • T Mobile • USA • Inseego

Inseego (NASDAQ: INSG), a leader in 5G and intelligent IoT device-to-cloud solutions for the enterprise, today announced that the Inseego 5G MiFi® M2000 mobile hotspot is now available at T-Mobile (NASDAQ: TMUS) – making the award-winning 5G MiFi M2000 the Un-carrier’s first 5G hotspot. T-Mobile joins a rapidly growing list of tier-one mobile operators around the world that have selected Inseego 5G technology for their networks.

“We are extremely proud to be the trusted choice for T-Mobile with their first-ever 5G mobile hotspot, bringing breakthrough performance to over 100 million enterprise and consumer customers on the Un-carrier’s nationwide 5G network. In addition, this launch enables T-Mobile to provide a secure, integrated solution for their enterprise customers with Inseego Connect cloud management software,” said Inseego Chairman and CEO Dan Mondor. “This exciting expansion of our relationship with T-Mobile reinforces why Inseego is trusted by mobile operators and enterprises worldwide. Inseego 5G solutions lead the industry in speed, security, and bullet-proof reliability which is why our mobile broadband and fixed wireless solutions are becoming the gold standard that brings out the best in 5G networks. Inseego Connect is one component of our new software-as-a-service cloud platform, and this is an important validation of our product and strategy.”

A COMPLETE ENTERPRISE MOBILE BROADBAND SOLUTION

With Inseego’s 5G MiFi M2000 mobile hotspot along with the Inseego Connect cloud management software, T-Mobile enterprise customers gain full control over devices connected to their corporate networks. This combination offers IT organizations an enterprise-grade solution that incorporates best-in-class performance and reliability along with complete visibility into device deployments.

The comprehensive Inseego Connect cloud management solution enables IT organizations to remotely manage 4G LTE and 5G WAN edge infrastructure through a cloud-native architecture that allows them to quickly scale their operations. From a single management platform, accessed through a web interface or a smartphone, IT managers can remotely configure, manage, monitor and secure devices deployed throughout their corporate network.

The Inseego 5G MiFi M2000 features fast 5G speeds plus 4G CAT 22 LTE fallback. Its simultaneous dual-band Wi-Fi 6 means up to 40% faster Wi-Fi speeds than Wi-Fi 5 and up to four times increased data throughput per user when multiple devices are connected. The device features the latest in security to help keep transmitted information safe when connecting up to 30 Wi-Fi enabled devices at once, along with enterprise-grade WPA3 Wi-Fi security and a VPN pass-through providing a seamless, secure data channel. It’s easy to stay connected — whether from home or on the road — with all-day usage through the removable 5050 mAh battery and Qualcomm Quick Charge™ technology¹.

Today’s announcement expands the strong relationship between Inseego and T-Mobile. The companies currently provide subscription management service to government and enterprise customers with the Inseego Subscribe solution.

“T-Mobile is excited to expand our relationship with Inseego into the 5G era,” said Mike Katz, EVP T-Mobile for Business. “Our nationwide 5G network has superior coverage for businesses to tap into so they can more effectively operate remotely or enable employees to work and learn at home. The Inseego 5G MiFi mobile hotspot brings the quality experience T-Mobile customers have come to expect, by taking advantage of our 5G speeds.”

To learn more about the Inseego 5G MiFi M2000, visit: 5G MiFi® M2000 Mobile Hotspots | Inseego Corp.

BSO partners With Superloop to Enhance Its Singapore Network

Jan 11, 2021 • News • Digital Transformation • APAC • Superloop • BSO

BSO, the leading global telecoms operator powering the digital age, today announced the enhancement of its Singapore network to enable seamless performance for its customers.

BSO has partnered with Australia-based network provider Superloop to provide the underlying fibre optic infrastructure to support new ultra-high capacity DWDM across an initial four Singapore major hubs located at Equinix SG1, Equinix SG2, Global Switch 1, and Singapore SGX. BSO now seamlessly delivers up to 100G client connectivity for its OTN, low latency and SDN product range within the metro and meshed to its high-availability global backbone.

BSO HAS UPGRADED ITS SINGAPORE NETWORK TO PROVIDE INCREASED PERFORMANCE TO ITS CUSTOMERS

“As bandwidth demands continue to grow, we are constantly scaling our capacity. The latest enhancements to our network are yet another example of how serious we are about providing businesses in Singapore with faster and more reliable connectivity,” said Stephen Wilcox, Chief Product Officer of BSO. “We are pleased to partner with Superloop and to benefit from their extensive expertise in fibre deployment”.

BSO has been passionately investing and increasing its offering on the very busy Asia-Pacific (APAC) market. Singapore, specifically, is undeniably a major global telecommunications hub with highly developed connectivity and a very progressive regulatory environment. With this newly enabled DWDM/OTN service and the upgrades to its low Latency and SDN global products, BSO offers a world-leading, resilient and scalable solution for companies with growing bandwidth requirements or requiring bespoke solutions over this cutting-edge, high-capacity network, whether within the Singapore metro area or to BSO’s global network spanning 250+ nodes in 30+ countries.

“We are very excited about further building our relationship with BSO and very grateful for the trust that they have placed in us to supply and run their backbone in the incredibly important market of Singapore,” said Paul Tyler, Superloop CEO. “This collaboration helps provide BSOs customers with the confidence that their security, latency and bandwidth requirements are future proofed.”

This partnership with Superloop is the result of growing demand in the region for high-quality local access and high- speed international connectivity.

Fleet Operations Commits to Net Zero Carbon Target

Jan 08, 2021 • News • Fleet Operations • Sustainability • Managing the Mobile Workforce • EMEA

Outsourced fleet and mobility management specialist Fleet Operations has set itself a net zero carbon target by signing up to a carbon offsetting scheme for all the greenhouse gases created by the business.

The bold move comes in the wake of the company's recent certification by the British Assessment Bureau to the ISO14001 standard for environmental management. This rigorous benchmark provides unequivocal proof of an organisation's green credentials, and alongside the carbon neutrality commitment, underlines Fleet Operations' ongoing commitment to the green fleet agenda.

FLEET OPERATIONS HAS CONVERTED 30% OF THEIR FLEET TO ELECTRIC AND HYBRID VEHICLES AND SWITCHED TO RENEWABLE ENERGY

"With our zero carbon target, we are aiming very much to lead by example,” said Fleet Operations Managing Director Richard Hipkiss. “ISO 14001 puts a management system in place which ensures that we will deliver on this important environmental promise. We help clients to cut their environmental impact and fleet running costs every day, not just by moving to electric vehicles but by empowering their employees to take a more flexible view of business travel."By encouraging drivers to swap their car to more sustainable options like public transport, spot hire or electric pool cars for shorter journeys, we help our clients to green their fleet and mobility policies.

As well as converting 30% of their fleet to electric and hybrid vehicles, Fleet Operations has also installed solar panels at their head office in Newcastle-under-Lyme, switched to a 100% renewable energy provider and following a thorough benchmarking of their energy consumption, the company has set clear KPIs to reduce energy and fuel usage over the next two years.

An internal 'Think Green' campaign has also been launched to encourage and motivate staff to change their behaviour with regular updates and poster reminders in every office, and team targets to reduce paper and lighting consumption. The certification adds to Fleet Operations' existing list of quality standards, including the ISO9001:2015 standard for quality and ISO27001:2013 for information security, both secured in 2017 and renewed in 2020.

Fleet Operations is one of the UK's leading independent providers of outsourced fleet management services including strategic consultancy, multi-bid leasing, supply chain management, policy creation and risk management, data consolidation and vendor management.

The Giants of Sustainability Within the Telecommunications

Jan 07, 2021 • News • Sustainability • Telecommunications • Service Innovation and Design • GLOBAL • RECONOMY

Reconomy has revealed which of the world’s largest businesses are bidding to be named as the most sustainable company. The company has produced an algorithm which measures the strength of a business’ ethical messaging on social media and its...

The waste management service has compared 157 of the world’s biggest organisations across 13 industries. Using Corporate Knights’ leaderboard and YouGov’s ranking of the most publicly perceived companies, each firm was analysed to reveal how many mentions of ‘sustainable’ related key terms were included in their business strategy and on social media. Key terms included ‘sustainability’, ‘renewables’, and ‘green energy’.

The data unveiled interesting statistics about the telecommunications sector. Vodaphone mentions sustainability the most throughout its social media and business strategy. Sustainable keywords were mentioned 238 times across Vodaphone’s public and professional platforms. Overall, it ranked fourth out of the 157 organisations analysed. They emphasise their commitment to reducing their carbon emissions by 50 per cent by 2020. BT and Virgin Media followed Vodaphone in this category, with 125 and 54 mentions of sustainability respectively.

RECONOMY REVEALS THE BUSINESS WORLD'S BIGGEST SUSTAINABLE GIANTS AND TELECOMMUNICATIONS SECTOR LEADERS

Meanwhile, PlusNet failed to mention any sustainable key terms across its social media and business strategy. The internet service provider ranked 142nd out of the 157 organisations. AOL and Talkmobile also failed to mention any sustainable key terms across their platforms.

Harvey Laud, Divisional Director at Reconomy, said: “Organisations are looking towards sustainability to produce a reformed focus for their businesses. Whilst the research is primarily an indication of which companies are leading the way in terms of ethical management; it does prove that all industries are pointing to a future where sustainability is a priority for all operations.

“This is being achieved through ethical production, smarter waste management, and understanding the long-term effects that businesses can have on the environment. Customers are demanding sustainability, and the best businesses are listening.”

Compared to other industries, the telecommunications sector has an informative approach to sustainable pledges over a persuasive one. This is because a majority of ethical practices take place on the business end, rather than persuading the customer to complete ethical tasks. For example, where Coca-Cola ranks first in the rankings overall with 676 sustainable pledges across their platforms, their message asks customers to recycle. For telecommunications, sustainable practices must take place before the point of sale.

Laud continued: “All sectors and industries have a part to play in creating a sustainable future for both their customers and the wider public. However, for the telecommunications sector, the benefits are widespread. Substituting old copper networks for newer fibre optic connections is more efficient in terms of energy consumption and reduces failures. The removed copper is also highly recyclable. Sustainable options are not limited to benefitting the planet, they can also help businesses grow.”

For more information, visit www.reconomy.com/sustainable-giants/

85% of Businesses Facing Fatal Barriers to In-House App Development

Jan 06, 2021 • News • WorkMobile • Digital Transformation • software and apps • EMEA

More than four fifths of businesses lack the skills or resources to develop employee-facing mobile apps in-house, new research has found.

Research published by mobile data capture specialist WorkMobile, found that employee-facing mobile apps play a key role in the majority of businesses’ enterprise mobility strategies, with 91% of businesses making use of the technology.

However, while in-house app development offers businesses the necessary flexibility when it comes to tailoring and implementing effective mobile solutions – particularly crucial for businesses with a significant proportion of field-based workers – a staggering 85% are unable to do so successfully.

According to the research, 38% of IT teams are overstretched and don’t have the time or capacity to develop their own apps, while 36% do not have the coding skills and expertise required to do so.

IN-HOUSE MOBILE APP DEVELOPMENT CAN BE A COST-EFFECTIVE WAY FOR BUSINESSES TO RESPOND QUICKLY TO EVER-CHANGING EXTERNAL FACTORS

Given the growing digital skills shortage, and the prevalence of apps in both our professional and personal lives, it is unsurprising that 47% of businesses have found it difficult to recruit employees with the right mobile development expertise.

The research also found that even among those businesses that are capable of developing their own apps, many have struggled to make them a success.

More than two thirds (63%) of businesses have experienced problems developing apps within a particular timeframe, and as a result 56% have been forced to abandon the development of an app before completion.

More than a third (36%) have had difficulties developing apps within a designated budget, and 30% have struggled to develop apps for a range of operating systems and devices.

Colin Yates, chief support officer at WorkMobile, commented: “These statistics are very concerning in the current climate, given the crucial role that mobile solutions play in a successful enterprise mobility strategy.

“Even pre-pandemic, enabling remote working was the most common pressure CIOs faced from the rest of the C-suite, according to half of those surveyed. And with so many more people now working away from the office, that pressure is greater than ever.

“The past few months have also shown us that in order for businesses to succeed, agility is absolutely key. In-house mobile app development can be a really cost-effective way for CIOs to respond quickly to ever-changing external factors, and ensure employees always have the right tools to do their jobs.

“However, with so many teams facing such significant barriers to in-house app development, they could find themselves struggling more than necessary over the coming months to keep up with rapidly evolving business requirements.”

In light of these difficulties, the research revealed that 64% of CIOs would be interested in using a no-coding mobile app toolkit as an alternative to developing apps in-house themselves.

44% said that they believe no-coding mobile apps would reduce the workload for their team, a third think that they would enable their teams to implement mobile solutions more quickly, and 29% expect they would find it easier to adhere to financial budgets.

Colin added: “It’s clear that effective in-house app development is just not feasible for the vast majority of businesses. Fortunately, technology is evolving and no-coding app development platforms can now offer a fantastic alternative.

“These toolkits make it possible for CIOs and their teams to quickly produce mobile apps that are specifically tailored to the needs of their employees, with no coding expertise required.”

For more information on WorkMobile and no-code mobile apps, visit https://www.workmobilesolutions.com/

Successful Service Transformation Journeys

Jan 06, 2021 • Features • White Paper • field service management • IFS • Service Leadership • Leadership and Strategy

In this third and final excerpt from a recent white paper published by IFS and Noventum we look at three case studies illustrating successful transformation journeys.

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Now that we’ve outlined the strategic plans, as well as the technology enablers, let’s consider, holistically, what this looks like in practice. To illustrate the service transformation journey, here are three different case studies that each illustrate a part of the journey:

The first case study is about a company that convinced the top management to change the business model to a service business. This case study focuses on the first part of the journey ‘Set the climate for Service Transformation’.
The second case study is about a company that re-engineered their service delivery model to become low cost and perceived as high value by customers. This case study illustrates the step of using customer experience design to (re)design and implement the delivery model.
The third case study is about a company that whose existing strategy adequately pushed sales but did not promote sustainable growth for the business. This case study highlights the step of redesigning the go-to market model.

1. CONVINCING TOP MANAGEMENT TO CHANGE THE BUSINESS MODEL TO BECOME A SERVICE BUSINESS

The current situation

A division of a German engineering group, that had traditionally produced and sold large machines for the paper making industry, had built a modest service business contributing less than 5% of the division’s total revenue. Their current service offering consisted of providing spare parts plus reactive and preventive maintenance service contracts.

The challenge

They were facing several challenges:

Price pressure on new equipment sold was increasing due to increased competition from Chinese suppliers
Annual growth of the company had been below industry average for the past 5 years
Profitability of the overall business was going down

Two senior managers saw several opportunities to grow the service business but were having difficulties in convincing the board of directors to strategically invest in the service business to develop its potential.

What was done?

The service director used benchmarks, an outside-in view and assessment outcomes to convince the CEO of the company to invest in growing their service business.

The following steps were taken:

A financial and operational benchmark was performed of the company’s performance against a comparable group of industry leaders. The report included the growth and profit potential for this company if they would strategically invest in the development of their service business.
A web-based survey was sent out to several hundreds of customers immediately after the most common interaction point of a customer service request by phone or email, a spare part order request, an on-site visit by a field engineer, and following a visit by a sales person.
Several customer interviews were conducted using video conferencing. The interviews were analysed, and a short video compilation was made to high light the key conclusions about what the customers’ service expectations were and what service they were receiving.
Growth potential and productivity improvement opportunities were prioritised, and the conclusions were discussed during a workshop with the board of directors of the company. The result was a commonly agreed and documented vision with the strategic and financial objectives defined and a service transformation roadmap for the coming years.
A short-term plan was made that secured the first real result within the first year. In addition, a multi-year roadmap was implemented by setting up the service transformation governance programme organisational structure, planning and funding.

Benefits

The result was that the board of directors understood that customers were expecting more help from the company. They expected help addressing their business challenges such as improving their competitive position with smart outcome-based services, industry knowledge, data and information systems that would help customers to lower production cost by integrating several players in the value chain.

The company has started their service transformation journey by implementing the multi-year strategic roadmap. This contains several projects that required substantial investment, organisational change, and the development of new capabilities in the company. The financial results in the past 5 years have been a sustained double-digit growth with profit margins above the industry average.

2. RE-ENGINEERING THE TRADITIONAL SERVICE DELIVERY

The current situation

A major manufacturer and service provider for healthcare equipment concluded that if they wanted to increase their market penetration while maintaining their profitability, they needed to dramatically lower their cost of service delivery. This was particularly true in emerging, lower cost markets.

Their service delivery model at that time was rather traditional: customers would call in if they had a problem with their equipment and in most cases a field engineer was dispatched to go on-site, diagnose the problem and fix it. This service delivery model was the result of relatively high cost of the equipment, typically ranging from 700 K Euros and higher per installation. The total cost of maintenance for most clients was relatively low when compared to the cost of depreciation and related operational costs, such as the cost of hospital staff needed to operate the equipment. Customers were expecting a personalized approach in service and they would find it normal that even for small problems, that could have been solved remotely a field engineer, would show up to fix it and explain to the staff what happened. The company was already improving their capability to remote monitor, diagnose and fix equipment but the traditional way of working was hard to change.

The challenge

They were facing several challenges:

The average price of equipment that was sold in high growth markets was much lower than in the traditional market. The average equipment price was below 50.000 euros but could go as low as 2.000 Euros per device.
To provide field engineer services for such equipment would result in relatively high cost when compared to the equipment purchase price and cost of operation.
Healthcare equipment is highly regulated and in most cases mission critical, often lives could be at stake, and delays in treatment of patients could lead to high levels of frustration
and financial losses for hospitals and doctors involved. Therefore, customers would expect the highest levels of service, especially in emerging markets where hospitals were often small and did not have more than one device.
Customers would not be willing to pay for higher levels of services and price premiums on service contracts were often not accepted, even though excellent service was certainly an expectation.
As a result, many customers would leave the maintenance and repair role with their own internal Biomed (internal maintenance services for medical devices) and were, generally, disappointed with the level of service.
Equipment failure could cause damage to the reputation of the brand, as customers expectation is a very high standard of service.

The company had limited understanding of how customers of medium to low priced equipment were currently experiencing their service. Traditionally, such equipment had not been a focus area for the service division of the company as the general assumption had been that the service business growth potential was limited and the possibility to earn good profit margins was low.

What was done?

To rethink the service delivery model, other industries were investigated to gain ideas. Very inspiring examples were the low-cost airlines that had stripped their services of all extras to the bare bone basic service requirements, simplifying and streamlining business processes, introducing high levels of automation and often asking customers to help themselves with self-service.

Other examples included business models such as Ikea’s knock-down furniture where customers are asked to transport their own furniture and assemble it themselves.

One important element in the success of these examples was that it is important to get the balance right such that increased automation and ease of use for customers, outweighs any perceived reduction in service caused by streamlining and process change. The objective of these models is to increase the value of service for the customer while reducing the cost of delivery for the supplier.

After translating these examples to their own business, the company came up with several high efficiency service delivery models:

Self-help: Whereby customers solve issues and conduct maintenance themselves without the support of their service provider, including the use of manuals, online FAQ’s, and web videos.
Supported self-help: Whereby customers solve issues and conduct maintenance themselves with the support of the service provider, i.e.: via a helpdesk (phone, email, chat) or ‘look-over the-shoulder service’, possibly with help of a remote connection for diagnosis.
Product exchange: In this instance, rather than repairing equipment, a service provider will arrange its replacement whereby the customer will either receive a new or refurbished product.
Bench repair: Here, the product in need of repair will be shipped to the service provider’s repair shop, after which the product is shipped back to the customer. In the interim the customer may receive a temporary loan product.
Tech courier: Having determined which part or component needs replacement (via customer or service provider diagnosis), a low-cost courier with basic technical and product knowledge will deliver the component and conduct the swap. In this instance, products are designed for easy access and swapping.

High efficiency Field engineer: In this instance a field engineer with limited technical skills is dispatched to repair the customer’s product, potentially conducting the diagnosis himself using diagnostics methods and tools that were created by very experienced field engineers • Remotely using a machine to machine (IoT) connection: In this instance a service provider will access a system via a remote connection and not only detect and diagnose the issue but also execute the solution via the remote connection.
Predictive Maintenance Management: Using the data obtained from connected equipment the problems will be predicted in time so there will be no need to do any corrective repairs. Preventive maintenance plans will be adjusted, often just in time, to reduce the chance of malfunction and reduce downtime and lower maintenance costs in the process.

The following steps were taken to get to these models:

An investigation was launched into customer’s expectations from the brand. Narrowing down the minimum expectation that should be fulfilled and the most important brand values that would have to be respected and built-into the customer experience.
The current cost of the service value delivery chain was analysed and the main areas for potential cost reduction by changing the service delivery model were identified. All best practices and the latest trends in service delivery models from other industries were evaluated as well as emerging trends in technology that could help reduce the cost of delivery or improve customer experience.
Pricing models were developed by benchmarking the equipment “street prices” with pricing of various levels of service. This was validated with various key markets in the world, in particular the markets where the highest growth of new equipment, at lower street prices, was expected.
New service delivery models were designed and tested. Processes and enabling service information technologies were designed evaluating achievable cost levels, the impact on customer experience and the resulting service value proposition, often defining 2 or 3 basic services with a limited set of optional services to keep the complexity low.
A multi-disciplinary approach was taken (including R&D, product marketing, manufacturing, and service) which led to the conclusion that sometimes products had to be re-engineered to improve their serviceability. Lowering the cost of service did have a major impact on the total life cycle cost. Product engineers that may previously have had their focus on inventing new features and benefits to the product, now understood the profound impact on customer experience and life cycle cost it would have to design products from the ground up for their desired modes and levels of service.
The IT team created a Service IT Solution Architecture that would leverage the connectivity of the products and use the data through intelligent applications that were now able to create predictive maintenance models. The data could also be used for process optimisation and designing enhanced services to customers.
After the design phase the new service delivery models were tested in the markets and rolled-out country by country to allow for local deviations from the standard model.

Benefits

The result was that the new high efficiency delivery models have enabled the company to grow their service business, typically with double digit growth rates. It allowed the company to sell equipment with a “street price” as low as 2000 Euros together with a service contract and still achieve gross profit margins worth of 50% percent. Each delivery model would be able to fix remotely any software problem or problem caused by the end user. The chances of such problems occurring would be reduced by smart predictive analytics capabilities. Users would receive “look over the shoulder” assistance often with remote agents taking control of the device and helping remotely. Hardware problems would no longer require a field engineer to visit the customer site.

In the longer term, the mission critical components in a device would either be engineered with redundant components, or replaceable units that the user of the device could replace by themselves. Alternatively, a “tech courier’ a driver with a limited technical skill set would come on site to replace the unit. Field service, the most expensive element in the chain, had now become a service logistics operation often outsourced to third party logistics providers who had economies of scale and low-cost services. Customers were educated on the new service delivery models and the benefits of self-service, such as the speed of resolution and being fully in control, were also perceived as valuable, on top of the higher reliability and lower life cycle cost.

3. DRASTICALLY INCREASE SERVICE REVENUE BY SMARTLY CHANGING THE GO-TO MARKET APPROACH

The current situation

A pan European medical equipment provider whose existing strategy adequately pushed sales but did not promote sustainable growth for the business. This was because their sales force was still employing traditional techniques which pushed the features, characteristics and pre-defined benefits of their company but were of little relevance to the customers’ situation. In the purchasers’ eyes, the benefits being sold to them were barely distinguishable from those of other providers.

The challenge

The service sales force presented characteristics and benefits of the service offering to the client but used very few ‘hooks’ to effectively highlight the company’s competitive advantage. They frequently spoke to someone other than the decision maker who had different needs. Further, in most cases their approach was reactive rather than proactive, i.e. the customer calls in with a query, or just before their warranty expires.

This resulted in the service sales force encountering issues relating to their client’s ‘budget’ as the person who called only had limited buying power and simply forwarded the proposal to the purchaser without being able to justify the value.

The root cause here was that their approach was not proactive and not customer driven; there was a lack of attention to the customers’ critical business issues. Consequently, a common vision with the decision makers on how to really address critical business issues could not be developed. This customer buying vision is essential however because it defines the value of the offering and the urgency to do something about it.

What was done?

Working with this medical equipment provider, we started transforming their sales approach to embrace customer centricity. The approach required getting a good understanding of client needs and challenges, which is only possible by developing the skills of customer-facing staff so that they can have informed discussions and get a good understanding of the customers’ business. Ensuring that the teams had the necessary capabilities to have such insightful conversations with customers was a specific challenge we addressed before improving the sales process.

A key step here was to train the company’s field service engineers to act as trusted advisors so that they could develop a better understanding of their customers’ needs. They were trained to recognise opportunities for sales which were then communicated to dedicated sales teams.

We designed a new go-to market strategy for each service, launched very specific sales campaigns and set up a dedicated service sales teams that proactively followed up leads and were able to articulate the value of a service in the context of customers’ needs.

That was done by researching customers’ service requirements. The company did have a good understanding of what customers were expecting in terms of product features and quality.
However, they had very limited knowledge of how the products were being used. It turned out that there was no such thing as “The Customer” as groups of customers with similarities in the use of the product and in the expectations of the expected benefits could be segmented by typical customer service needs. Customer service needs were further categorised into product related needs and customer business needs. The product related services needs can typically be satisfied by specifying the service performance characteristics in service level agreements. E.g. performance metrics such as uptime and response time were the key metrics in the SLA but could still be different for each type of customer.

The customer service business needs were a lot more difficult to identify. Customers had non-technical needs such as needing help to optimise the workflow in a laboratory or wanting to pay for the products based on their actual usage (Pay per Use) and leave the technical management to the provider. One segment of customers went so far as to demand that the product provider also manages the entire end-to-end process for a combination of laboratory instruments together with the staff of the customer.

Benefits

Within a year the service revenue had grown by more than 20% as well as EBIT on the service revenue. Ultimately, the strategy forged a path for the development of a range of new products and services, as well as expansion into other market segments. These results would have been impossible without an underlying focus on what has become the defining factor of sales: customer centricity.

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Your Housing Group Chooses Fast Lean Smart Dynamic Scheduling Solution to Optimise Efficiency and Customer Experience

Jan 05, 2021 • News • Optimisation • Digital Transformation • fast lean smart • EMEA • Fix360 • Your Housing Group

Your Housing Group (YHG), one of the UK’s largest housing providers with 28,000 homes, is set to transform the efficiency of their field force operations and customer experience with use of the FLS VISITOUR solution from FLS – FAST LEAN SMART.

Following a strategic business review that set new objectives forambitious operational efficiencies and customer satisfaction targets, YHG decided they needed a more sophisticated and robustdynamic scheduling solution that could integrate seamlessly with their Microsoft Dynamics 365 business platform and Accuserv repairs management system.

YHG AND FIX360 ARE USING FLS SOLUTIONS TO MEET BUSINESS-DRIVEN TIMESCALES AND MAKE SURE EVERY CUSTOMER CONTACT COUNTS.

The first priority is to deliver the solution for Fix360, the YHG dedicated property maintenance arm with circa 200 operatives covering the North of England, before expected progression across other business functions, for example surveyors and tenant liaison officers.

FLS was appointed to implement FLS VISITOUR after a formal tendering process with a requirement to drive forward the business ahead of the norm in the market. Darren Halliwell, YHG’s IT Director says “We did our research and were determined to find a technology and partner that aligned to our 5-year business plan and could flex and adapt as we develop and implement our wider technology roadmap. FLS have multi-sector experience and a stamp of approval from Microsoft which gave us great confidence. We were impressed by their delivery approach and speed to implementation alongside other key factors such as ease of configuration, functionally rich capabilities, customer communication and in-day progress and response accuracy and tooling. Following technical evaluation and discussion with references, including organisations in and out of sector, the FLS offering became our unanimous choice.”

Fix360 have over 3,000 categories of repair. Once a customer’s need is qualified by the call centre or via online self-service, FLS VISITOUR will provide the optimal appointment choices according to available operatives and existing commitments. This will utilise real-time optimisation, not just finding white-space to fill in the diary, with the accuracy of time-of-day traffic speeds for each journey. Each appointment will therefore be cost-effective, punctual, using operatives with the right skills and best possibility for first time fix.

Guy Bebbington, Managing Director of Fix360 says “The Fix360 Board have set ourselves challenging Customer Satisfaction and Value for Money targets and so investment in our technology stack to achieve those targets is vital. We believe FLS are absolutely the right partner for us, a real differentiator within the market. It was clear from references the quality of solution and expertise they offer, increasing field force efficiency and aiding continuous improvement in customer delight. At YHG and Fix360 we make sure every customer contact counts and this technology supports us with that. Other advantages included the speed in which we could implement and rollout to meet the business-driven timescales. We are really looking forward to working together and delivering great outcomes for our tenants in the weeks and months ahead.”

Dealing With Organisational Resistance

Dec 22, 2020 • Features • White Paper • field service management • IFS • Service Leadership • Leadership and Strategy

In this second excerpt from a recent white paper published by IFS and Noventum, now available at Field Service News, we analyse how to deal with organisational resistance, develop internal skills and capabilities and how to use technology solutions...

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The next two blocks of the Service Transformation journey must be run in parallel.

In the ‘dealing with organizational resistance’ block, you manage the service transformation journey; ensure there is a path to keep the C-suite engaged; and have a path for escalation in case issues need to be solved in the bottom block of the journey.

Undertaking these steps is required so you can continuously focus on making sure that the whole organization supports the journey and contributes to it, to identify people that are against the change, and to ensure that the steering committee can take the necessary steps to have a conversation with those stakeholders.

In the table below we outline the steps on ‘dealing with organizational resistance’.

DEVELOP INTERNAL SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES

In the ‘develop internal skills and capabilities’ block you are designing, developing and implementing every element that is needed to successfully achieve the set strategic and financial objectives. Doing this by design will ensure that no element will be forgotten, and that people will be able to form a clear picture of the changed organization.

In the table below we outline the steps on ‘Develop internal skills and capabilities’:

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TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO SUPPORT EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY

Service transformation is a multi-tiered initiative that requires a blend of organizational and technological changes working in tandem with on another. Positioning your current technology stack alongside capabilities deemed critical offers the synthesis necessary to enable successful transformation.

Traditional Field Service solutions just don’t stack up when it comes to enabling uptime for critical assets and truly delivering on outcome-based service. Outlined below are a variety of tools, and capabilities that are essential in any field service management solution which can truly propel you on this service transformation journey efforts.

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In the next and final feature of this series of excerpts coming next week, we will look at three different case studies that illustrate successful service transformation journeys.

Look out for the final feature of this series coming next week where we will look at three case studies of successful service transformation journeys.

However, www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.

If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!

Mactavish Reports Businesses Are Facing Huge Increase In Their Insurance Premiums in 2021

Dec 15, 2020 • News • insurance • Covid-19 • Leadership and Strategy • EMEA • Mactavish

Mactavish, the specialist outsourced insurance buyer and claims resolution expert, says many commercial policyholders have faced drastic premium increases this year as insurers look to improve margins in a hardening market, sometimes of up to 800%. This is coming in addition to a greater focus on newer risks such as the increase in cyber crime that has been spurred by the pandemic and the rise of remote working.

As insurers also look to protect their reserves and minimise claims payments, Mactavish says it has also seen considerable erosion in the quality and extent of the insurance cover offered to policyholders. This is often buried in T&Cs without being flagged by either insurers or brokers, meaning that policyholders may not be aware of their increased exposure.

INSURANCE RATES ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO RISE IN 2020 AND SOME COMPANIES MIGHT BE UNABLE TO PAY FOR THEIR COVER

Market surveys are showing 34% increases in premiums across the board, but this masks a much more complex picture. Lines such as Crime, Professional Indemnity, Pension Trustees’ Liability and Directors’ and Officers’ insurance have risen far in excess of this. In addition, some industries have suffered much more than others. Firms in the construction, energy, food and beverage, travel, manufacturing and waste sectors will be experiencing particularly challenging renewals.

Mactavish warns that it expects rates to continue to rise in 2021 and says that some companies will be unable to pay for their cover, meaning they will be forced to reduce operations, lay-off employees or even go into administration.

Mactavish is one of the largest independent ‘buyers’ of commercial insurance in the UK, and this year it has helped clients cut the cost of their insurance premiums by 50% in some cases by using a unique approach that runs brokers in head-to-head competition along with their preferred insurance partners. In addition, while cost is an important area of focus, Mactavish has also improved the quality of its clients’ cover by negotiating critical changes to policy wordings.

Bruce Hepburn, CEO, Mactavish said: “For years, the insurance industry has sold its cover on the basis of price as opposed to quality and this has pushed premiums down, when in many cases they should have been higher. The insurance market is hardening now, and premiums are rising dramatically as insurers seek to make up lost ground quickly. The timing couldn’t be worse for firms that are still being battered by the economic fall-out from the pandemic. For some businesses, these unexpected cost increases could be the final nail in the coffin.”

“Aside from playing a role in pushing price increases, COVID-19 has also exacerbated many risk areas. As just one example, there has been a marked increase in cyber crime as employees moved to home-based working. This creates a double whammy effect where policyholders need to buy more insurance at precisely the moment that prices are spiking.”

Hepburn added: “While brokers naturally prefer exclusive relationships, our work shows that you get a much better outcome when there is real competitive pressure between competing suppliers. Since many brokers receive premium-linked commissions from insurers, policyholders should be wary of taking cost increases at face value.”

Mactavish cited a recent engagement in which a financial services firm had been badly let down by its broker. Even on the day its insurance was set to renew, the incumbent was unable to confirm that it had secured 100% of the capacity the firm required. Worse, a number of exclusions had crept into the policy wordings that had removed vast swathes of essential cover. Working at speed, Mactavish was able to put in place all of the required capacity, get rid of the onerous exclusions and achieve a double-digit cost saving.

Mactavish specialises in helping employers enhance their chances of securing reliable insurance policies at competitive prices, and resolving claims disputes.

AUTHOR ARCHIVES: Field Service News

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Want to know more? Field Service News Subscribers can access a White Paper on this topic on the link below.

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1. CONVINCING TOP MANAGEMENT TO CHANGE THE BUSINESS MODEL TO BECOME A SERVICE BUSINESS

The current situation

The challenge

What was done?

Benefits

2. RE-ENGINEERING THE TRADITIONAL SERVICE DELIVERY

The current situation

The challenge

What was done?

Benefits

3. DRASTICALLY INCREASE SERVICE REVENUE BY SMARTLY CHANGING THE GO-TO MARKET APPROACH

The current situation

The challenge

What was done?

Benefits

'Overcoming the Barriers to Servitization' white paper is available on Field Service News.

www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.

If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!

Further Reading:

YHG AND FIX360 ARE USING FLS SOLUTIONS TO MEET BUSINESS-DRIVEN TIMESCALES AND MAKE SURE EVERY CUSTOMER CONTACT COUNTS.

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Want to know more? Field Service News Subscribers can access a White Paper on this topic on the link below.

If you have yet to subscribe click the button below to join 30K of your field service management professional peers and subscribe now to access this content and our entire premium content library now!

DEVELOP INTERNAL SKILLS AND CAPABILITIES

TECHNOLOGY SOLUTIONS TO SUPPORT EFFECTIVE SERVICE DELIVERY

Look out for the final feature of this series coming next week where we will look at three case studies of successful service transformation journeys.

However, www.fieldservicenews.com subscribers can read the full white paper now by hitting the button below.

If you are yet to subscribe you can do so for free by hitting the button and you can access the white paper instantly upon completing the registration form!

Further Reading:

INSURANCE RATES ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE TO RISE IN 2020 AND SOME COMPANIES MIGHT BE UNABLE TO PAY FOR THEIR COVER

Further Reading:

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