AUTHOR ARCHIVES: Kris Oldland

As the organisers of the Field Service Solutions Theatre at this year’s Service Management Expo, Field Service News was on hand to speak exclusively to a number of leading industry professionals straight as they stepped off the theatre podium. In this video series we are pleased to bring you the highlights from the Field Service Solutions Theatre.

Here we hear from Giles Margerison, Director with TomTom Telematics discuss what exactly is meant by the term end-to-end field service.

As the organisers of the Field Service Solutions Theatre at this year’s Service Management Expo, Field Service News was on hand to speak exclusively to a number of leading industry professionals straight as they stepped off the theatre podium. In this video series we are pleased to bring you the highlights from the Field Service Solutions Theatre.

Here we hear from Conor O'Neill, Director of Product Management at Feed Henry explaining why mobile first development is critical in a field service environment if you are going to allow IT to become an enabler to your business rather than a blocker.

As the organisers of the Field Service Solutions Theatre at this year’s Service Management Expo, Field Service News was on hand to speak exclusively to a number of leading industry professionals straight as they stepped off the theatre podium. In this video series we are pleased to bring you the highlights from the Field Service Solutions Theatre.

Here we hear from Colin Brown, Managing Director of Tesseract Software, as he gives us some advice on why we should all be considering the Cloud and Software as a Service model for our field service software. 

As the organisers of the Field Service Solutions Theatre at this year’s Service Management Expo, Field Service News was on hand to speak exclusively to a number of leading industry professionals straight as they stepped off the theatre podium. In this video series we are pleased to bring you the highlights from the Field Service Solutions Theatre.

Here we hear from Caroline Pennington, Trimble Field Service, discussing some of the findings of  the Trimble FSMs latest Market Insight report. To download a copy of this report click here 

 

 

In this third part of this series looking at the findings of our exclusive research report into field service software we focus on the future of field service software. You can read the first part of this series which looked at scheduling and integration and interaction here and the second part looking at management reporting here 

If you want to read the full 10 page benchmarking report then you are able to download it by clicking this link.

Looking forward:

In the final section of the survey we asked respondents to identify what they thought were the most important technologies likely to appear in service management software, where they believe their organisation should focus their investment and finally what the barriers were to implementing new technologies.

Perhaps the most revealing result of the entire survey was in this final section, specifically surrounding “the biggest concern when implementing a new technology” Surprisingly  “Cost of implementation” is now only the second most common concern with “Legacy issues with former systems” becoming the industries greatest concern in 2014. The amount of companies that now cite this as their biggest concern when implementing a new technology has increased from just 22% in 2013 to 38% today.

This represents a potentially significant shift in the industry. In the last few years we have seen rapid developments in service management software, with key trends, such as the requirement for system wide integration as discussed earlier in this report, starting to emerge. The impact that the Software as a Service model has had on costs offers many companies the ability to invest in service management software, when in the not too distant past such an investment may have been beyond their reach.

Earlier this year in another research project conducted by Field Service News we saw that number increase to 38% of companies with a further 48% of companies stating they could possibly do so in the near future. However, the same report also highlighted that currently only 23% of companies have made the shift to a Cloud based environment for their service management software.

This would indicate that there is indeed a trend for companies to be migrating their service management software to Cloud based systems and it is an on-going process. If this is indeed the case then it would also explain why cost has become less of a concern whilst integration with existing legacy systems becomes a greater worry.

We also asked which emerging technologies would be likely to have an impact on field service software in the near future. The results whilst not surprising indicated how many in the industry seeing field service software evolve once again in the very near future. Over 45% of companies felt that Big Data, The Internet of Things and Connected Vehicles will all start appearing as options within field service management solutions within the next three years.

If each and all of these concepts live up to the massive hyperbole that surrounds them then it the way our industry operates will be fundamentally changed. At the same time 37% of companies also think that they wearable devices will become commonplace within the next three years also.

Whether this comes true is likely dependent on the success of Google's Glass product which offer the greatest promise, although the development of smart watches could potentially offer another wearable device that could be put to use in field service. Interestingly perhaps one of the technologies most established that could offer great benefits to certain field service verticals, namely 3D printing was only cited by 19% of companies as being likely to make an impact in field service.

However, this could be a reflection of the wide ranging industry verticals field service incorporates as much as a lack of faith in the technology. 3D printing will certainly be of more of a benefit to some industries (e.g. manufacturing) rather than others (e.g. retail). That said anecdotally there are are certainly those who have (an unfounded in most instances) lack of faith in 3D printing, we are reminded of echoes of the exaggerated fear of the security of the Cloud somewhat with 3D printing. It many ways the technology simply seems to much like science fiction to be fully trusted.

When we looked at the more immediate needs of the industry we saw some familiar patterns. Despite the questions we raised earlier in this report about the suitability of optimised scheduling for all companies, such systems appear to remain in demand amongst field service organisations.

Our final question in the survey was “In terms of investment, which of the following areas of technology do you think it the most critical for your company to remain competitive?” and we gave respondents 8 choices asking them to rank them in order of priority. The options were Route optimisation, optimised scheduling, integrated CRM, contact centre/help desk, mobile hardware, mobile software, logistics/spare parts management, and reporting/analytics tools.

Optimised Scheduling was ranked as the number one priority by 29% of companies, this was followed by Integrated CRM and contact centre/help desk software, which were the number one priority for 27% and 17% of companies respectively.With nearly three quarters (73%) of companies identifying one of these three areas as their key focus for investment it seems that these are clearly the biggest needs for the industry at large.

 

It is also interesting to note that whilst relatively few companies (7%) identified logistics/spare parts management systems as there number one priority, many companies identified it as either their second (27% of companies) or third (23% of companies) priority. This would indicate that whilst most companies do not see logistics/spare parts systems  as the most burning issue, they do acknowledge that it is an area that they should invest in should funds become available.

The one technology that has perhaps now had its day is route optimisation. This scored as the lowest priority for 56% of companies. There are many reasons route optimisation is now no longer a significant area for investment, whether this is because it is included in many service management software packages or that the technology has been around long enough to reach to near market saturation - the fact is that most companies will now have some sort of route/navigation software already even if it is simply Google Maps and a BYOD.

If you want to read the full 10 page benchmarking report featuring additional exclusive analysis then you are able to download it by clicking this link.

By registering for this white paper you agree to the fascinating terms and conditions which you can read right here.

Towards the end of April this year specialist rugged computer manufacturer Getac launched perhaps one of the sleekest fully rugged devices yet to be seen in the T800. With heavyweight processing power, in a slim line 8.1-inch chassis yet still meeting the full militarised rugged standards it is an extremely impressive device for sure. But with the on-going consumerisation of business hardware what does the future of hold in store for rugged devices in the field service arena?

We spoke exclusively to Getac UK President Peter Molyneux and looked at how he saw the market for rugged devices evolving.

There are of course a number of considerations for companies when it comes to selecting what hardware is right for a their mobile workforce. One of the biggest of these considerations is how long a device will last.  With this in mind the first thing we asked Molyneux is what type of life span should we expect from devices today?

“Typically if you look at fully rugged notebooks customers will look for 5 years.” Molyneux states before pausing a moment. “I’ve actually seen some customers push their assets to seven years, which is quite an impressive return frankly. But generally in the tablet market at least, customers in utilities and field service are looking to hold onto their devices for three years.” He adds.

However, three years it would seem is a minimum expectation for Molyneux. “At Getac, we will uplift warranty to four or five years or even further – it’s one of the service models that we offer.” He comments revealing a subtle confidence and pride in his company’s offerings.

Of course there are a number of factors that will impact on the life of your hardware as Molynuex alludes to “It comes back to maybe your software requirements will change, although this is not always the case, especially in utilities sectors where they do tend to fix their software and operational performances rather than replace programs, but in field service, software is very key to delivery, so by purchasing the the very latest technology in terms of hardware, you are giving yourself the best opportunity for a long unit life span and I expect from that perspective you could push top end units past five years.”

An  extended life span sits at the heart of the argument for specialist rugged device manufacturers when faced with cheaper consumer devices such as Apple and Samsung who through domination of the consumer tablet and smart phone market have been able to establish a presence in the enterprise mobile computing sector. The total cost of ownership is often far better when opting for a specialised device and the cheaper option at the time may not prove to be the cheaper option in the long term.

 

As Molyneux explains “It does depend on the working environment and how the devices are treated but with better technology you have a better chance of extending the life of the unit. Clearly if you look now at customers now that are looking at the Smart phone market as an alternative then the lifecycle is perhaps 18 months maybe even just 12 months.”

Another consideration for selecting hardware for your mobile workforce is how its software will sit with your other back office systems. It is interesting to see that the T800 is back to being on a Microsoft OS after Getac’s previous tablet launch was on Google’s Android OS.

In fact the T800 is capable of supporting both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 although according to Molyneux the devices 8.1inch size makes it a perfect host for the latest iteration of Windows. So does Molyneux see Windows getting back on track in the enterprise mobile space via Windows 8.1 after WinMobile lost siginificant ground to both Android and Apples IoS?

“Starting from a device perspective, the new intel processors are windows 8 compliant which is an important factor” Molyneux starts “As for 8.1 as a business application in the B2B market… we work very closely with Microsoft in the UK and we have seen Microsoft getting very committed in the last 6 months by focussing resource and technical expertise in how to take your business from Win7 to Win 8”

Of course with Windows being so dominant in the office space, a strategic effort to aid companies to upgrade, aligned with the fact that Windows 8.1 is essentially comfortable across both desktop and tablet could see them start to reclaim lost market share in mobile devices.

Whilst the company became a little lost in their direction not so long ago, new  CEO Satya Nadella has ushered in a clearer focus for the Redmond giant of being a device and services focussed organisation and Molyneux believes we are already seeing the impact of this.

“I see their strategy as becoming quite cohesive now” he says before diving straight into one of the seemingly endless real life examples he is able to think back to at any given moment.

“I’ve been surprised how open government has been to windows 8 particularly in the police forces…” he begins  “one particular constabulary were using BitLocker in a single stack for their security compliance so there are certain features we are seeing in Windows 8 that allow the customers to move quickly.”

Look out for the concluding part of this feature where we discuss why Moloyneux thinks BYOD will never become a trend in field service

In this second part of this series looking at the findings of our exclusive research report into field service software we focus on management reporting. You can read the first part of this series which looked at scheduling and integration and interaction here.

If you want to read the full 10 page benchmarking report then you are able to download it by clicking here.

About the research:

Across April and May of this year (2014) Field Service News in partnership with mplsystems undertook a research project to assess the current usage of field service software.

The survey was split into four categories. Scheduling systems, integration and interaction, management reporting and future options. In total we spoke to over 120 field service companies of differing sizes and differing industries. These were predominantly UK based although there were respondents from all over the world including Europe, America, Africa and Asia.

Reporting:

It may be a cliché but the maxim “You can’t manage what you don’t measure” rings true in all industries and with technology now offering more measurement and analytics tools, with greater levels of sophistication than ever before management reporting is an important element of service management software.

In fact 78% of respondents stated that as a manger the ability to get clear and comprehensive management reports from their service management software was an important tool. Further to that, 63% of these went on to define management reporting as “Critical – I couldn’t do my job without it”

When we also factor in that a further 19% of respondents stated that management-reporting tools were “Helpful” it is clear that such tools are utilised by all but a very small minority  (less than 5%) of field service managers.

It may have been what we expected to find but the findings of the research absolutely confirm the fact beyond all doubt. Management reporting is an absolutely integral facet of Field Service Software.

However, whilst management reporting is clearly such vital piece of the field service management software whole, it appears that when it comes to functionality and performance, there remains plenty of room for improvement in the eyes of many field service managers responding to our survey.

In response to the question “Is the reporting functionality you get from your current system up to the task” almost two thirds of respondents stated that they found their current system merely “Acceptable”

So whilst the functionality of these tools is workable, they are still far from perfect. In fact whilst there are a reasonable amount of companies (21%) who identified their reporting functionality as “Excellent”” there is a similar amount of companies (20%) who state that the management reporting of their current system “Doesn’t meet their needs at all”

 There certainly a number of different considerations when purchasing a field service software solution , research is absolutely essential and taking the time to identify your own reporting needs both now but also in the future, before comparing this with the options available to you will potentially save both time and money for your organisation in the longer term.

 

Of course within field service perhaps one of the most important aspects of reporting is real time visibility into the actions of your mobile workforce.

In this area there is an interesting division between companies.

It seems that a large percentage of the companies in the industry (42%) are able to provide real time location and status of their field technicians to not only their dispatchers but also their help desk and customer service teams.

This is an improvement of 24% compared to 2012 figures. Such a dramatic rise is likely due to the fact that such a level of visibility is a powerful tool both in terms of managing efficiency as well as delivering excellent customer service and therefore a key area for investment.

Despite this fact, a surprisingly large number of companies (30%) still have no visibility at all into the activities of their mobile workforce. Whilst this figure has decreased by 9% since 2012 it remains a significant proportion of the industry.

Such a large number is somewhat worrying in that without any visibility there is little hope of these companies being able to improve the efficiency of their field service operations at all. It also means that the levels of customer service are potentially impacted as well.

This gap in implementation of technology could lead to a genuine division appearing in the industry. Those companies who are able to continue to deliver excellent service in today’s modern environment of demand twenty first century consumers, and those whose service standards remain stagnant and out-dated.

When it comes to competing on service, which has become a key battleground for businesses in recent years, there can only be one winner…

If you want to read the full 10 page benchmarking report then you are able to download it by clicking this link.

By registering for this white paper you agree to the fascinating terms and conditions which you can read right here.

You can also now find the third part of this series looking at the future of field service software here

Masternaut, one of the largest European providers of telematics solutions, has announced the MT400 telematics hub which has been designed exclusively by Masternaut’s dedicated R&D team for Masternaut’s Connect platform.

The MT400 delivers unprecedented levels of connectivity, modular applications, and over-the-air device & application management. Masternaut’s patented technology for Vehicle CANbus data acquisition is fully integrated so that real time, accurate odometer, fuel, diagnostics and other floating car data can be extracted for reporting and telemetry applications such as driver behaviour, risk profiling, crash detection, and remote diagnostics.

The MT400 can integrate directly with tachographs, temperature control units, salt dispenser units, weighing sensors and other on-board vehicle equipment. All of this data & control is seamlessly integrated with Connect to provide accurate and flexible reporting, alerting, visualisation and control. MT400 can connect to smartphones, tablets, and other screen devices for rich driver integration features including navigation, messaging, workflow, etc.

MT400 is designed using latest automotive grade electronics and mechanics to provide best-in-class performance and reliability, with a streamlined installation and in-field support process, minimising vehicle installation times, and ensuring devices can be fully managed remotely.

Alex Rothwell, Masternaut’s CTO comments “The MT400 transforms in-vehicle solutions and is a step-change from current “black-box” technology. It is the culmination of substantial R&D investment, building on Masternaut’s patents and know-how from 10 years designing market leading telematics devices.

“To ensure our customers get the most out of Connect, they need flexible in-vehicle solutions which provide the telemetry, vehicle system integration, and driver interaction demanded by advanced telematics applications. MT400 addresses this need, and with a new automotive grade design also provides superior performance and reliability.”

Martin Hiscox, Masternaut’s chairman and CEO, added  “Masternaut is unique within in the industry in that we design and develop all components of our core service ourselves, from hardware right through to SaaS-based end-user applications. Our vision is clear, and by structuring the development process in this manner – and supporting it with the largest telematics R&D team in Europe – it is our responsibility to execute it.

“To ensure our customers get the most out of Connect, they need leading hardware which is not only versatile enough to support our full suite of modular applications, but which delivers business intelligence based solely on absolute vehicle data. The introduction of the MT-400 technology as standard provides even greater accuracy for our customers, enabling them to get even more return on their telematics investment.”  

 

As the organisers of the Field Service Solutions Theatre at this year’s Service Management Expo, Field Service News was on hand to speak exclusively to a number of leading industry professionals straight as they stepped off the theatre podium. In this video series we are pleased to bring you the highlights from the Field Service Solutions Theatre.

Here we hear from Rob Burgess, European Service Manager at TCSJOHNHUXLEY discussing the process he went through when choosing a software provider, and how he has been able to improve the efficiency of his field service operation since implementing mplsystems field service solution.

Download the slides from Rob's presentation by clicking this link