Field Service News' Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland says change is coming, and we should embrace it...

It seems that the current Zeitgeist amongst our collective of excellent columnists here at Field Service News, which is usually a pretty good indicator  of the general mood of the industry at large is one of seismic change.

It seems that in one way or another the vast majority of our commentators have zoned in on change in one form or another.

The technology is perhaps the easier bit to get our heads around. We all have a vague understanding of how AI, IoT and AR can work together to improve our service delivery.

We do need to understand how we handle the data that new technology reveals though as Aly Pinder states in his article around convergence of man and machine  “To turn emerging technologies such as the IoT into the promise being trumpeted, organizations must transform the way they manage this data.” And in terms of the strategy, how many of us can say we have such a firm grasp around the nuanced challenges of embracing servitization?

Yet, the future of field service will inevitably be one of servitized business models and outcome based service offerings - so we had better get our ducks in a row sooner rather than later in this regard. Although it is easier said than done, as Bill Pollock comments in his article, we are essentially going to have to write a whole new book when it comes to understanding what the next iteration of field service efficiency looks like, with a whole new set of metrics and while we are at it, whole new ways of monitoring them.

Bill is of course, an old friend of mine as I have often referred to in this column, and he is without doubt the go-to guy when it comes to analysis into benchmarking KPIs in use by field service organisations - so I hope to catch up with him on an episode of the Field Service Podcast to discuss our own research into this topic and get his ‘Analysts Take’ on our findings.

Speaking of which if you haven’t yet taken a look at our new dedicated online home for Field Service News Research, then you can find it here where you’ll be able to check out all of our latest research reports and also join our list of respondents - each of whom get rewarded handsomely (well they get a Starbucks voucher) for taking part in our ongoing research programs.

Talking of change, I’d also like to just take a moment to wish Zack Bergreen a very, very well deserved, long and happy retirement as he steps down from his role as CEO of Astea after 40 years.

Zack has been a pioneer within the service management industry and is as well respected as he is well liked, so I am sure I am not alone in wishing him all the very best as he steps down.

One thing is for sure, Zack will have seen some incredible change in the 40 years he has been at the helm of Astea. There wasn’t even an internet back then, just things. And remote work really was remote.

But I’d put a hefty wager that the change we are embracing now is more radical and game changing than ever before. As Pollock says, “What we have gotten used to is all about to change.”

Check out the latest issue of Field Service News with all of the features referenced above by clicking the link below now!