AUTHOR ARCHIVES: Kris Oldland

Resource Type: White Paper
Published by:  IFS
Title: Digital Transformation and enterprise service management - what's next?

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Want to know more? This white paper is available to Field Service News subscribers but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription! Click here to apply for a subscription now and we’ll send you this white paper to your inbox now instantly as a welcome gift!

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Synopsis:

Digital transformation is the predominant trend impacting today’s global business. Broadly speaking, digital transformation speaks to the changes produced by the application of digital technology to society at large—just walk down a street or go into a coffee shop and look at the eyes focused on the ubiquitous smartphone.

But for business, digital transformation goes beyond the tactical application of technology—something that has been happening in enterprises for years—to the strategic incorporation of digital technology as the very basis for competition. It is transforming business models by speeding innovation and making ongoing practical gains in operational efficiencies, product design, development and delivery, and customer relationships. It’s changing the way companies think about coming to market.

In this age of digital transformation, the old methods of service simply don’t apply anymore. World-class organisations must now anticipate service needs before they manifest as problems by taking a proactive approach to service delivery. To be sure, the technologies driving the digital transformation are both ratcheting up the pressure on service while providing new opportunities. Those companies looking to what’s next as service continues to evolve will benefit greatly as the digital transformation continues.

Overview

The white paper focusses on three core elements of digital transformation in a field service context:

Impact of Digital Transformation on Field Service 

For service providers, the digital transformation will mean increasing competitive pressure in terms of time to response. At IFS, we believe there will be a rapid escalation in response time competition across the service provider industry. Response times are shortening because of customer expectations, technology capabilities, and competitive pressure .

Because of the disruptive nature of technologies such as IoT, the change will not be incremental. I

f your current response time is a week, it’s not enough to reduce it to six days. It will have to be a more dramatic reduction, and those that move first will have an advantage. Expectations are changing from days to hours or minutes, and those that are left behind will lose business.

Supporting the Digital Transformation in Service

A company pursuing digital transformation must have tools that allow executives and managers to review and orchestrate processes that align with their business strategy to ensure process execution delivers that strategy.

This means bringing data to the desktop, visually, to provide decision makers a complete understanding of which functions deliver real customer value, which are less effective, and which waste both time and resources in terms of meeting organisational goals. Ultimately, this enables businesses to accelerate the realisation of their business strategy—in this case, by moving to become a digitally transformed business—by making better decisions, faster.

 

This can happen by assessing real-time business performance in the context of how it affects key business processes and goals, giving managers real-time operational intelligence and actionable controls to solve issues before they become problems. The solution is about strategy acceleration and execution.

What's next?

A recent report on the state of digital transformation had some interesting results: 88 percent of companies surveyed said they were undergoing digital transformation efforts, but only a quarter had an understanding of what it is.

The challenge creating this gap, according to Forbes, was not investment in technology but rather the realignment of business models to reflect the transformation being sought. This underscores the point made by IDC: digital transformation is not just a technology trend, but rather a core business approach at the center of enterprise strategies across all industry segments and markets.

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Want to know more? This white paper is available to Field Service News subscribers but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription! Click here to apply for a subscription now and we’ll send you this white paper to your inbox now instantly as a welcome gift!

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Earlier this year Telogis launched a new mobile application 'Spotlight' at the CV Show. Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News, caught up with Sergio Barata, Telogis, General Manager, EMEA to see find out more about the application and to see how it has been received in the initial months after launch.

Telogis can often be a somewhat confusing organisation to pin down in terms of where their offering sits exactly. The easiest place to pigeon-hole them for many is simply alongside other telematics software solutions such as Microlise or their new(ish) stable mates Fleetmatics. But when you scratch the surface there is a lot, lot more to the Telogis platform that resembles much of the capabilities of field service centric solutions. Then there is the big, and growing focus on mobile.

This is something that Barata confirms when we speak commenting that the general trend for Telogis in terms of innovation in their solution across the last few years has seen "a big, big drive towards mobility enablement."

And this is really where Spotlight, the latest app from Telogis sits. As Barata explains:

"We started with some simple things [in terms of mobile applications] like vehicle inspection apps and driver behaviour coaching apps etc but what we have seen is that companies want to drive mobile adoption not just on those tactical business initiatives, we are actually seeing our customers wanting to engage less and less with most applications on a computer and they actually prefer to engage with a mobile app."

"I've certainly had this experience myself, I used to log onto my online banking on my computer all the time and now I rarely do it - maybe occasionally, for something very specific, but a mobile app will get me through about 80% of my requirement and it is just so much more convenient - and in my opinion secure because of technologies like fingerprint identifications etc."

"Our customers are going through those same experiences and creating their own similar expectations of our technologies. Spotlight really brings us a big step closer to delivering that experience."

So what exactly is Spotlight?

Barata describes it as "a mobile app that essentially brings all of the key metrics and key data for any fleet manager or operations manager into a single mobile experience." The application experience itself can split up the information it presents into all of the key areas of interest whether it be safety, efficiency, job execution, productivity, fleet utilisation etc. Which could certainly give handy at a glance insight to field service managers, especially those that are often on the road themselves. As Barata comments 'it is almost replacing the need to create automated reports and alerts and having to log into to web browsers each time you want to review some aspect of your operations."

Whilst having this information easily to hand could be of use, there is a danger that it could be useless unless configurable not only to specific organisations needs but also to specific needs based on the job function of who is using it. So how configurable is Spotlight and does it have the   same full functionality as a browser based dashboard type of tool we have become accustomed to? Is it configurable from the app or does it need to be set up online?

"Data metrics that come out of these systems can be overwhelming, there is a lot of data these days" Barata comments "therefore the key to the app being impactful and simple is that you go into the web portal and set up the configuration and essentially define the experience you are looking for on the mobile in the back end."

"A lot of the key users of our systems are typically quite operational themselves. There may be a field line manager who himself is managing 20 service techs, but has to physically be in the field himself, so is in that mobile state all the time."

 

"Having the ability for him to identify that job execution i.e knowing his engineers have hit there jobs and there planned schedules for the day, is a top priority whilst having things like driver safety, speeding or vehicle efficiency etc as a secondary priority and then having the app set up so they can the metrics that are important to them immediately as they log into the app - that is what makes it the data valuable for them. With that in mind the web portals and the solutions that we have for all our dashboards are very configurable, we have very comprehensive hierarchies and all the typical options you would expect allowing you to carve out the data for the right person. Spotlight is then a natural extension of that, that takes the concept of putting the right data directly onto the right persons mobile device."

Of course it could be argued that this is nothing particularly new and that many companies have offered such reporting in a mobile experience for a while now, Telogis are just playing catch up here rather than innovating.

 

"A lot of other companies are able to providing similar applications that are providing that sort of information, I think that is certainly true," replies Barata when our conversation turns to this point, "there are some solutions out there that offer similar capabilities, but the way we have always geared our proposition, as a full platform, means we are not just offering a vehicle centric view of the business. We have got scheduling, planning, planned-versus-actual capabilities and that similar operationally focussed metrics as well. So yes, whilst on the one hand we are providing our clients with the core vehicle metrics if that's what they are looking for, which some other companies may also do, I think the real value for someone in the operational world is more around questions like 'are we hitting our plan, are we hitting our jobs, our customer service metrics' and only with a full platform you gain that sort of insight and get that sort of view."

"The goal is to give the field management a holistic perspective of what is going on in their businesses. I doubt many are looking at safety and and speeding metrics all day, every day, I think they would take a weekly view on that, look back across the week and see who may need some additional coaching based on that insight. But the real time, angry customer, or strong customer expectation stuff where a company is deploying all of their resources, they're going to be looking at that 24/7 because that is their primary objective for everyday success."

 

The question I mentioned in the opening of this article was just how do we view Telogis? Should we see them as a provider of a fleet management tool with some field service management capabilities or a field service management tool with advanced fleet management capabilities?

Perhaps with Spotlight Telogis have answered in some way that question - as the tool allows the Telogis platform to be a useful vehicle maintenance tool (especially when aligned to vehicles provided by OEMs Telogis have partnered with) for the fleet manager, whilst simultaneously surfacing the right operational data that is important for the field service manager. Could the answer be simply that the Telogis platform is capable of being both fleet management and field service management and doing both well?

 

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Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News talks to Coen Jeukens, Chief Service Officer, D-Essence who was the Chair at this year's Field Service Forum hosted by Copperberg about the key themes of Agility and Disruption in Field Service

 

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Xplore Technologies Corp. and Intel Corporation have announced that the fastest rugged tablet available today, the Windows®-powered XSLATE R12, is gaining another significant boost in speed, power and storage capacity as Xplore becomes the first rugged tablet manufacturer to integrate Intel® PCIe Solid State Drives (SSD) into its portfolio.

The performance-accelerating Intel PCIe SSDs are now shipping as a standard feature on all XSLATE R12 Intel Core® Series i7 models, including a new 1TB configuration option. The new drives deliver over 2X improvement in disk performance, and when combined with the i7 vPro processor, a 48% improvement in overall system performance*.

“Xplore is deeply committed to bringing the latest technology and innovation to our rugged mobile customers, and that is demonstrated once again with our new enhancements to the XSLATE R12,” explained John Graff, vice president of marketing at Xplore. “Our long-standing technology collaboration with Intel is delivering improved productivity and performance to applications that require significant data storage and/or data processing, especially those used by manufacturers, utilities, first responders and field service organisations.”

 

Some of the mobile workers who will immediately benefit from the Intel PCIe SSD-equipped XSLATE R12 include those who:

• Opt not to store data in the cloud, either due to security concerns or application design, and instead need to store locally on the rugged tablet;
• Frequently rely on data- and graphics-intensive applications, such as those used to generate 3D CAD drawings or GIS location intelligence; or
• Have historically been forced to delete files to make room for the large amount of inspection, investigation or quality control photos and videos captured in a day’s work.

“The Xplore XSLATE R12 with an Intel Core i7-7600U processor and an Intel 600p Series PCIe-based SSD is, by far, the fastest rugged tablet we have ever tested,” noted Conrad H. Blickenstorfer, editor, RuggedPCReview.com. “It's amazing how Xplore's proactive adoption of leading edge technology is boosting rugged tablet performance to levels thought impossible just a short time ago."

*According to Passmark testing conducted in July 2017.

 

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Check out our own Hands On Review of the XSLATE R12 here 

 

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Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News reports live from the Field Service Management Expo where he spoke to Susannah Richardson and Neil Jones of mplsystems about the launch of AESOP a genetic algorithm based scheduling engine...

 

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In the Big Discussion we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...

This time around we turn to a brand new topic which is the Internet of Things and our experts are Paul Whitelam, ClickSoftware, Mark Homer, ServiceMax from GE Digital and Mark Brewer, IFS...

The first question of this topic was "Just how big is the potential impact of IoT on Field Service?" 

And onto this week's question...

 

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Question Two: Is IoT now making the shift from early adoption to mass adoption amongst field service companies?

Although IoT in field service is still relatively new, early adopters like manufacturers of capital equipment are approaching greater maturity. They’re leapfrogging other industries in terms of first-time fix rates and overall operational efficiency.

Other industries are beginning to recognise the potential benefits, and we’re seeing conversations around IoT shift from wide-eyed wonder to practical next steps. Utility and telecommunications providers are well positioned to benefit by making the infrastructure they maintain smarter and better connected. Consumer-facing organisations can better empower customers to participate in diagnosing and repairing problems.

The Smart Meter initiative in the UK is a perfect example where mass adoption by consumers will force manufacturers to advance. A couple years ago IoT in service was largely seen as tomorrow’s problem.

Today service providers are eager to take the next step.

 

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IoT hasn’t reached mass adoption in any market just yet, but certainly field service is seen as the ‘killer app’ for businesses. And it’s making fast progress.

Senior management are realising that service is the hidden gem within their organisations, largely due to the untapped potential of the Industrial Internet, and it’s something we’re seeing in our own global customer base.

Fuelled by the shift to outcome-based service models, shrinking product margins, and globalisation, and the Industrial Internet, industry watchers have been predicting that service revenue will eventually eclipse product revenue. Smart, connected, optimised equipment assets are accelerating that shift.

As companies begin to properly monetise service with sensors at the edge, they have the opportunity to increase service revenues and margins further, providing an effective hedge in a downturn economy.

That’s why we’re seeing greater adoption and acceleration in this space.

 

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Yes. The concept of IoT and IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) isn’t a new one.

It has been around for more than 20 years. But now, thanks to advances in technology and digital transformation, it is at the forefront of business opportunity. There are many field service sectors that have already been working with sensors and IoT technology for a few years now, such as the medical industry (like the IFS customer Sysmex).

Over the next five years we will no doubt see the number of IoT implementations rise among field service organisations as the industry becomes regulated and more best-practice cases are publicised.

 

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Next weeks question: What are the challenges of implementing an IoT strategy within field service operation?

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by:  Field Service News and eBECS
Title: FSM System Analysis report - Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service

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Want to know more? This white paper is available to Field Service News subscribers but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription! Click here to apply for a subscription now and we’ll send you this white paper to your inbox now instantly as a welcome gift!

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Synopsis:

Almost all industry experts including practitioners, analysts and vendors are in agreement that the selection of a Field Service Management (FSM) system is far more than just an IT decision.

Field Service has always been a mission critical operation, but as we move into a world of servitization and outcome based solutions, efficient field service delivery is more crucial than ever before.

With this in mind, the correct selection of a FSM system to meet the demands of your individual organisation is crucial and should be based on a thorough understanding not of only the technology but also how a vendor can work with you to ensure best practice implementation - to help you see the efficiency gains, productivity improvements and return on investment promised.

Microsoft is of course a name that has been synonymous with enterprise computing for decades and their FSM offering is, as would be expected, one of the leading solutions within the FSM sector, identified by Gartner as a leader within the space.

However, its deep level of functionality, as part of the wider Microsoft Dynamics ecosystem, can perhaps be daunting for some - resulting in organisations potentially not taking advantage of its full capabilities.

 

This is where specialist providers such as eBECS can add additional layers of value in helping companies through the implementation process in order to make sure they are able to get the most from the tools embedded within Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service (Microsoft Field Service) and do so as swiftly and efficiently as possible.

In this white paper we will be first taking a closer look at the key elements of Microsoft Field Service and then exploring the benefits of working with a systems integrator such as eBECS when implementing the system.

Overview

The white paper is split into two main sections. Each of which include:

Section One: The capabilities of Microsoft Field Service

The first section of the whiter paper explores the core functionality, pros and cons of Microsoft Field Service with a look at the following aspects of the solution:

• Major benefits of the system
• An overview of functionality
• Who is currently using Microsoft Field Service
• Scheduling Functionality
• Reporting Functionality
• The mobile aspect of Microsoft Field Service
• Integration capabilities of Microsoft Field Service [/unordered_list]

Section Two: Microsoft Field Service vanilla flavour vs. the added value of eBECS

In the second part of this comprehensive white paper we explore how an EBECS implementation differs to a standard implementation of Microsoft Field Service - here we look at two key areas the added IP that eBECS bring to the table and also their own approach to implementation.

Additional eBECS’ IP

Currently there are two additional software tools that are available exclusively to eBECS’ field service clients. Firstly, there is there is an additional tool to the Mobile Offering which is their Site Assessment Survey. Secondly, eBECS offer an ‘Accelerator Pack’ which is designed to help organisations take advantage of the powerful but often complex to set up tools such as PowerBI which is powerful part of the Microsoft technology stack discussed within the white paper.

Perhaps crucially, the eBECS approach is designed to not only aid organisations in getting the most out of their investment, but also empowering them to be able to continuously refine parameters themselves - something that in the fluid world of field service can be rewarded in significant savings in both time and money further down the line.

The eBECS’ Approach to Implementation

Whilst the added IP included within the eBECS solution is of undeniable value, it is arguably within their implementation process that the greatest benefits are to be found.

Michael Smythe, eBECS comments “When we talk about customisations and implementations etc, this is where we excel as we have built a team of industry experts - field service experts who haven’t just worked on IT implementation but have actually been in the industry and understand how these things work. People that can help you and work with you, side by side to build a platform that is suitable to meet your business goals.”

It is this intimate understanding of the industry that is perhaps key to their success to date. As it is this understanding that allows them to act within a truly  consultative capacity, rather than being simply a technology implementation team and again we explore this approach within the latter segment of the white paper.

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Want to know more? This white paper is available to Field Service News subscribers but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription! Click here to apply for a subscription now and we’ll send you this white paper to your inbox now instantly as a welcome gift!

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New research which examined how organisations are evolving from a traditional office environment to a digital workplace reveals that gaining competitive advantage and improving business process are among the top goals of their digital transformation strategy.

This is according to 40% of 800 organisations in 15 countries on five continents that were interviewed for Dimension Data’s Digital Workplace Report: Transforming Your Business which was published this week.

Another insight in the Report is that digital transformation is not just about adopting the technologies of the past: 62% of research participants expect to have technology such as virtual advisors in their organisations within the next two years. In addition, 58% expect to start actively investing in technology that powers virtual advisors in the next two years.

Today, the digital workplace is no longer just made up of managers and those managed; co-workers collaborating with one another to complete projects; and employees interacting with customers and partners. It’s increasingly populated by ‘virtual employees’ who do not exist in a physical sense, but nonetheless play an important role in the organisation.

While artificial intelligence (AI) technology is still in its infancy, it is sufficiently advanced to be working its way into companies in the form of virtual assistants, and, in certain industries such as banking, virtual tellers and virtual advisors. Manifested as bots embedded into specific applications, virtual assistants draw on AI engines and machine learning technology to respond to basic queries.

 

“It’s no longer enough to simply implement these technologies,” says Krista Brown, Dimension Data’s Group End-user Computing SVP. “Organisations have grown their use of analytics to understand how these technologies impact their business performance:  64% use analytics to improve their customer services, and 58% use analytics to benchmark their workplace technologies.”

Meanwhile, around 30% of organisations said they’re far along in their digital transformation initiatives and are already reaping the benefits, while others are still in the early stages of developing a plan.

Brown says one reason that could be holding companies back from implementing a digital workplace is their corporate culture. Often, technology and corporate culture inhibit – rather than encourage – workstyle change.  However, the number one barrier to successful adoption of new workstyles was IT issues, and research participants cited organisational issues as another.

“The complexity of the existing IT infrastructure can present a major hurdle to implementing new collaboration and productivity tools to support flexible workstyles. Successful transformation implementations are achieved when IT works closely with line-of-business heads,” says Brown and adds that these transformations are supporting new ways of doing business or supporting clients.

IT leaders were asked to rank which technologies were most important to their digital workplace strategies.

Robert Allman, Group Senior Vice President, Customer Experience and Collaboration believes that mobility is pivotal to a digital workplace. “Business leaders and CIOs are switched on to the importance of mobility in the digital workplace, with an even mix of companies supporting company-provided and employee-owned devices in the work environment.”

Enterprises are also turning to new workplace technologies to drive increased customer service, with 45% of respondents saying they’ve improved customer satisfaction as a result of their use of digital workplace technology.

 

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Field service appointments can be high-friction events, or strategic opportunities to engage customers and build trust. The outcome depends on whether customers, field agents, and back office support teams are informed and empowered throughout the process. Glympse, a pioneer in location services and location-powered customer experience, is teaming with Microsoft so businesses using Microsoft Dynamics 365 for Field Service can provide customers with constant, accurate awareness regarding the status of field service appointments.

The collaboration seamlessly embeds Glympse En Route, a location-powered customer experience management solution, within the Dynamics 365 for Field Service application through a new, off-the-shelf integration. As a result, end customers receive continuously updated appointment and technician visibility that culminates in a live map view of the technician's location as he travels to the appointment destination.

“Location and estimated time of arrival (ETA) management have become two of the most critical elements of successful field operations and customer interactions - whether it's for a cable installation, office equipment repair, furniture delivery or maintaining mission-critical medical equipment. Customers demand better information to help them manage their busy schedules, including visual, interactive digital engagements that fit their mobile, on-demand lifestyles. Static, one-way alerts aren't enough anymore, and service providers cannot afford to roll trucks to customers who are not available,” said David Troll, senior vice president of Sales and Customer Operations, Glympse.

 

“Our alliance with Microsoft means more field service organizations of all types and sizes, spanning industries across the globe, will have a faster, easier way to leverage Glympse location technology alongside Microsoft Dynamics 365,” continued Troll.

Jeff Comstock, general manager, Dynamics CRM at Microsoft, commented, “By working with Glympse, we're helping our customers provide their end customers even more visibility into technician location and ETA information with a custom branded web experience.”

Users of the joint solution can improve customer service and the effectiveness of field operations - and ultimately drive revenue growth. End customers get steady updates and can track the live status of a service agent, allowing them to more effectively coordinate their schedules with service providers. Prepared customers mean fewer missed, delayed or rescheduled appointments, fewer calls to customer care, efficient appointment execution and faster time to revenue. In addition, internal back office users get better operational visibility through location data, including metrics and live map views of technician teams.

How the Glympse Integration with Field Service Works

The integration package uses standard Field Service workflows to trigger Glympse En Route actions:

• End-customers receive automated periodic notifications containing a unique web link.
• This link directs customers to a web-based experience (accessible via a mobile device, browser or embedded in a customer portal) to view the ETA and/or location of their service representative. As the appointment draws closer, the status is continually updated.
• En Route uses location data from the field to provide organizations with increased internal visibility and performance metrics, helping them better manage their operations.[/unordered_list]

Installing the pre-built integration package is fast and simple. Field Service users with a Glympse license can add these capabilities by completing a simple set-up process.

More information about Glympse can be found here.

More information about Microsoft Dynamics 365 can be found here.

 

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Want to know more about Glympse? Check out our interview with David Troll filmed @ Field Service USA earlier this year here

 

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