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Sathivel Adrin Anusanth has joined Asolvi's global workplace to play a key role in implementations of the cloud-based Tesseract product, Asolvi's longest-standing service management solution.

Sathivel will be working with the consultancy team to ensure smooth, successful delivery of Tesseract to customers. Comprehensive yet easy to use, Tesseract has been a market favourite since 1985 and continues to optimise the service chains of thousands of organisations in the field service industry all over Europe.

Sathivel brings 15 years' experience in delivering IT solutions to the B2B market in Europe, Asia and Africa, and has a good understanding of the cultural values and variations and diverse customer needs in those markets.

He has successfully managed many large banking and finance projects on time and on a budget, exceeding customer expectations along the way. His expertise at both technical and commercial levels enables him to help customers in a multitude of industries identify the right solution for their business needs.

Asolvi's new technical consultant, Stuart Page, will help bring the benefits of its well-established Tesseract service management product to field service organisations Europe-wide.

Tesseract is Asolvi's longest-running application and known for its extensive functionality and user-friendly interfaces. Stuart is expected to be involved in all technical aspects of a Tesseract implementation, from solution scoping to installation and rollout. His remit includes project work and upgrades to the latest version of the Tesseract system for existing customers.

Stuart brings 18 years of experience in deployment of business solutions, primarily ERP, helpdesk and quoting systems, working closely with clients' technical staff as well as management representatives and end users.

"That fact that Asolvi is a business consultancy as well as a software provider is what drew me to it," says Stuart. "It's not just concerned with selling software. It cares about making sure its customers succeed and are profitable in their respective industries. I was also drawn by its significant European and international presence and ongoing expansion plans. Asolvi is determined to play a key role in shaping the future of field service for businesses of all sizes, particularly those finding it difficult to compete. I'm excited to be a part of that."

Stuart and Sathivel are the latest in a string of hires as Asolvi moves to position itself as the leading provider of service management software for small and medium-sized enterprises across Europe.

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Kevin McNally, Sales Director, Asolvi takes a look at how technologies such as Cloud and IoT are levelling the playing field and giving small and medium-sized businesses the opportunity to deliver service standards that meet and exceed those of the traditionally dominant enterprise-sized organisations...

Want to know more? The bad news is the full white paper is only available exclusively for fieldservicenews.com subscribers.

The good news is that if you are a field service practitioner then you may well qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner.

The even better news is we will send you a copy of this white paper when you apply as a welcome!

Click here to apply for your complimentary industry subscription to fieldservicenews.com and access the white paper now!

Note: Please do take the time to our T&Cs (available in plain English at fieldservicenews.com/subscribe) and note that this content is sponsored by Asolvi

One thing is certain in today’s field service sector, that never before has service delivery been so empowered by the technology that now underpins field service management.

Cloud is, of course, one such technology and the introduction of the Software as a Service (SaaS) model that it gave life to has undoubtedly changed the way that smaller field service organisations can operate.

Cloud has given them access to SaaS-based Field Service Management (FSM) solutions that in the previous CAPEX world of the late twentieth and an early twenty-first century would have been simply too cost-prohibitive for them to access.

IoT, has the potential to go even further and not just enhance the way field service operations are undertaken, as Cloud and Mobile have done, but entirely revolutionise the fundamental ways in which we approach field service delivery.This is one very clear example of how technology has very much levelled the playing field for smaller field service companies.

Another key technology, IoT, has the potential to go even further and not just enhance the way field service operations are undertaken, as Cloud and Mobile have done, but entirely revolutionise the fundamental ways in which we approach field service delivery.

The long-standing break-fix methodology, which has been at the core of field service operations by necessity since the inception of field service itself, can be circumvented and replaced by proactive preventative maintenance.

In a world of IoT, the service provider is no longer dependent upon the customer to report a fault, the asset itself can identify that it needs maintenance and the service call can be arranged in advance of the failure.

IoT absolutely offers the keys to a far better future for field service - for both service provider and customer alike, but for smaller to medium-sized companies are we entering once again into an era of cost-prohibitive technology?

Has the playing field so neatly levelled off by the introduction of the Cloud, once again become skewed in favour of the enterprise-sized organisations?

The importance of Cloud:

As I alluded to in the introduction there is no denying that the emergence of Cloud computing has been a core driver in the ability for smaller field service companies to be able to compete with their larger competitors.

This development is mostly the result of the introduction of SaaS-based subscription-style licensing which makes access to such systems possible.

It seems like a long, long time ago that Tesseract, an Asolvi product became the first company in the world to offer their full FSM solution in the Cloud and on a SaaS model. Indeed, today almost all FSM providers now offer their solution in such a manner.

Many aspects of introducing an FSM solution can become more challenging the larger an organisation isThis means that the smaller companies can have access to tools like scheduling, stock and parts management and mobile work management applications for their field-based staff to access via a mobile device.

Yet, they also have the advantage of being more agile, more streamlined and less weighed down by legacy systems and processes that their larger peers undoubtedly face.

In fact, many aspects of introducing an FSM solution can become more challenging the larger an organisation is. For example, optimised scheduling engines need to be ‘taught’ the rules under which they are to operate – the larger the workforce and the more diverse the skill-sets within that workforce, the more ‘lessons’ that need to be fed into the scheduling system for it to operate as intended.

In terms of FSM solutions, the shift to the Cloud has absolutely changed the competitive dynamics within various industries in favour of those smaller companies who are savvy enough to embrace cloud-based FSM and unencumbered by challenges such as the above which larger companies may face.

Can IoT work for SMBs?

Earlier, I outlined the potential seismic disruption that IoT is set to have on field service delivery as a whole.

Yet, when we hear about those companies that are harnessing the power of IoT, invariably we often tend to look at examples of companies who all tend to sit within the largest bracket of organisations.

Rolls Royce, GE, Sony et al have often dominated the headlines in terms of the successful application of IoT platforms that have radically changed their approach to field service. So one could be forgiven for thinking that IoT is perhaps something only the largest organisations are capable of implementing – but is this necessarily the case?

The reality is that there are a growing number of SMB-sized field service organisation who have embraced IoT to become a truly disruptive force within their respective sectors.The reality is that there are a growing number of SMB-sized field service organisation who have embraced IoT to become a truly disruptive force within their respective sectors.

Take for example regional German IT and document management services provider IBS Bürosysteme (IBS).

By utilising a machine-to-machine solution called Evatic Consumable and Meter Management (ECMM) they have been able to boost productivity, dramatically eliminate washed toner and streamline their processing. They have done this by integrating ECMM with their fleet management solution and directly processing data from all of the printers within their fleet, generating consumable replacements and subsequent invoices automatically.

This provides a clear win-win scenario in that their customers’ are receiving an improved service and massively reduced downtime, whilst IBS are able to improve their own efficiencies both within the field service and consumables areas of their business.

However, for those companies that embrace IoT, the rewards can be even greater than mere efficiency and cost savings.

As an example of a smaller company truly utilising the power of IoT let’s take the example of Espresso Service – a third party service provider operating within the coffee sector.

They have taken an active approach to utilising IoT data from across the fleet of coffee machines that they service and in doing so have not only been able to improve their own service delivery but have subsequently been able to develop additional advanced services based on their ability to translate the data from the assets they serve into truly meaningful insights that help their customers better understand how the assets are being utilised.

This allows them to tailor their own marketing and business strategies to be closer in line to how their own customers wish to be served.

It is in examples such as this where we see the true impact that IoT can and will have on industries of all sorts.

IoT naturally paves the path towards preventative maintenance, thereby simultaneously reducing the cost of each truck roll whilst improving customer satisfactionFor whilst as we’ve discussed IoT naturally paves the path towards preventative maintenance, thereby simultaneously reducing the cost of each truck roll whilst improving customer satisfaction, it is within the data generated by connected assets that we will find the most valuable new revenue streams.

As seen with Espresso Service, being able to offer customers advanced services that are based around the insight from data collected within their assets, can open up potential new revenue streams while firmly embedding an organisation within their customer’s business ecosystem.

Yet, while the data is the tool that underpins such advanced services, it is an organisation’s ability to think beyond the bounds of the currently accepted status quo of what good service within their sector is, and to seek what the new normal should be and bring that forward to their client base, that is the critical genetic component of almost all disruptive companies.

This is certainly not a trait that belongs exclusively to enterprise companies.

Indeed, a strong argument could be made that it is the entrepreneurial environment that exists within many smaller organisations that can allow such ideas and concepts to be nurtured and ultimately flourish.

Another factor for consideration here is also that examples such as that of Espresso Service are largely reflective of an organisations ability to truly understand the market they serve and their customers needs within that market.

In today’s world where service has become a core differentiator, this can allow the SMBs to flourish should they embrace the current technology available to them.Again, here we see an advantage that many smaller companies may have over their larger peers in that the relationships they often have with their client base are that much more intimate – giving them perhaps better opportunity to really get under the skin of what their customers’ most challenging issues are and making them better placed to develop strategies and solutions that can solve the issues at hand.

The rapid development of technology we are seeing today means that smaller organisations are now able to access technology that can push their service standards on par and above those of the larger, traditionally dominant companies within their competitive sphere.

In today’s world where service has become a core differentiator, this can allow the SMBs to flourish should they embrace the current technology available to them.

Want to know more? The bad news is the full white paper is only available exclusively for fieldservicenews.com subscribers.

The good news is that if you are a field service practitioner then you may well qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner.

The even better news is we will send you a copy of this white paper when you apply as a welcome!

Click here to apply for your complimentary industry subscription to fieldservicenews.com and access the white paper now!

Note: Please do take the time to our T&Cs (available in plain English at fieldservicenews.com/subscribe) and note that this content is sponsored by Asolvi

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IBS Bürosysteme reports that in 2017 it saved thousands of hours and nearly quarter of a million euros thanks to Asolvi's leading-edge software platform, Evatic.

IBS Bürosysteme is an IT and document management services provider based in Münster, Germany. It started out as a small sole proprietorship founded with very little capital by Karl Isfort in 1966.

It wasn't long before Isfort's entrepreneurial spirit and zest for success transformed the business into a leading player in office services, and one site spanning 170 m² became six sites spanning 15,000 m². In 1996, the IBS Logistics Centre became the largest office retailer in Münsterland.

Evatic has been contributing to the company's success for the last nine years, but last year its cost savings hit the stratosphere.

IBS Bürosysteme uses Evatic's sophisticated scheduling functionality, automated service ticket creation and the specially designed Evatic Mobile Service app for field engineers.

CEO Olaf Isfort explains, "These features combined save IBS Bürosysteme 30 minutes of manual and paper-driven activities on each and every service project. Since IBS Bürosysteme’s 12 field engineers undertake about 40 jobs each day, time saved per day is in the region of 20 hours. Last year this saved us an enormous €216,000."

Isfort is keen to stress that the benefits of Evatic for IBS Bürosysteme go beyond cost savings.IBS Bürosysteme also uses Evatic Consumable and Meter Management (ECMM), a machine-to-machine solution that boosts profitability, cuts out wasted toner and streamlines processing. ECMM is seamlessly integrated with IBS Bürosysteme's fleet management system and directly processes data from all the printers and copiers in the fleet, generating invoices and consumable replacements automatically.

"Evatic cuts out 45 hours a month of manual billing and toner replacement tasks," says Isfort. "Last year this generated a saving of €24,300 for IBS Bürosysteme."

But Isfort is keen to stress that the benefits of Evatic for IBS Bürosysteme go beyond cost savings. "We're able to keep a much closer eye on our profitability, performance and customer satisfaction than we could before Evatic's implementation," he says.

"Evatic's user-friendly dashboards let us monitor contracts, machines and customers, service and toner management, and whether we are meeting SLA requirements and reducing repeat service visits."

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Welcome to the relaunched and revamped Field Service Podcast hosted by Field Service News Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland.

In this episode, Kris is speaking to Kevin McNally, Sales Director for Asolvi about the importance of building a request for proposal when they are searching for a new field service management solution as well as sharing his insight into some of the key considerations that an organisation should have in mind when approaching building the actual RFP document.

Did You Know? You can now subscribe to The Field Service Podcast on iTunes! Check it out here and subscribe to get the podcast straight to your phone each week! 

Want to know more? Kevin and Kris have co-authored a white paper that expands on this topic which is available exclusively for Field Service News subscribers.

If you are not yet a subscriber and are a field service professional you can apply for a complimentary subscription below (after reading our T&Cs here first) and we will send you a copy of the white paper as soon as we receive your application.

 Click Here to apply for your subscription now!

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Kevin McNally, Asolvi gives us the inside track on what makes a strong RFP when looking for a new FSM solution, and the benefits the process can yield...

Want to Know More? There is a white paper that expands upon which is available to Field Service News subscribers. Not a subscriber? If you're a field service management professional click here to apply for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription

When building your initial RFP (i.e. the document you give to prospective solution providers that outlines your needs and objectives) for a field service management system, you are able to establish not only a firm understanding of what the challenges are that you are looking to resolve, but also a reasonably wide-ranging understanding of what is possible.

I recently co-authored a white paper with Kris Oldland, Field Service News that offers five fundamental points for consideration to help you ensure that your RFP gives you the very best chance of selecting a solution provider that will be able to work with you to deliver the right solution to help you improve efficiency in the mission-critical operations of field service.

The white paper looks at each of these in some depth but let’s take a quick look at each now.

Consideration #1: Don’t wait until you’ve completed your RFP to approach potential Field Service Management solution providers use them to develop and refine it from the outset...

Some companies like to come to the table with an understanding of what their needs are and will approach the market with a fully formalised RFP. Other companies may be less sure of what a solution can provide so they may engage with a number of providers at an earlier stage.

In today’s business world we are in the era of Everything as a Service, where business and system ecosystems and outcome based contracts require building deeper relationships - a strong argument can be made for the latter approach.

In fact, there are a number of reasons behind why this approach is becoming more and more popular and in the white paper we take a look at three of these which are:

1. You’ll never know what you don’t know you don’t know!
2. Get a feel as to if a potential provider is in it for the long-haul or the quick-buck
3. Strong relationships are built over time, but all have to begin somewhere

Consideration #2: It is crucial that you keep the fundamentals in place of what you require from a new field service management solution as you build the RFP...

As you begin to develop your RFP it is absolutely crucial that you keep the fundamentals required in mind when bringing together the roadmap for where you want your service operation to go and how you want your new solution to take you there.

Whilst the obvious starting place is to look at your current pain points, far too often companies can tend to put too much emphasis on various small problems rather than focus on the bigger picture

During this stage, you really need to be thinking macro rather than micro.

Consideration #3: Get a firm understanding of the key baseline technologies that you should be expecting from a modern FSM solution...

You’re looking for your FSM solution to become the link between your back office operations and your field workers. At its core this means that the functionality you need as a minimum requirement is to facilitate communication - whether that be between dispatcher and engineer, engineer to engineer or even the easy flow of data to and from the field and all other co-dependent business units.

Real-time information flow is therefore absolutely critical and something that you should be seeking from any modern FSM solution that you consider.

Consideration #4: Don’t make a decision from the top of an ivory tower - make sure you take in some feedback from the guys who will actually be using the system day in, day out...

It is important to get an understanding of your existing work-flows and how the end users in your team are going to be using a system. A natural default is to focus on how the engineers are going to utilise a system, but don’t fall into the common trap of glossing over how a new solution will impact on the way the back office support team works as well.

Those companies that tend to get the most out of a new FSM solution are often those that have built up a fuller picture of how they will be using the system throughout the process of building their RFP.

It is very often the case also that the companies that get this right have taken the time to listen to their end users both in the field and in the back office.

Consideration #5: Integration needs to be at the forefront of your thinking - will the FSM system play nicely with both legacy systems and even systems you may need in the future?

In one sense it almost feels that in today’s world where, as we’ve already alluded to, easy data flow should be at the top of your list for any prospective new FSM solution (or business system in general for that matter) that integration should be a bit of a gimme.

However, things aren’t quite as simple as that - it is still an important question to ask, just as it is important to understand that one integration to another can be hugely different.

There will be certain integrations that are a given - but there may well be some that fall outside of that group, so it is important that you understand the whole ecosystem of your business network across various different units of your organisation.

Want to Know More? There is a white paper that expands upon which is available to Field Service News subscribers. Not a subscriber? If you're a field service management professional click here to apply for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription

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Asolvi have continued their expansion within the European field service management sector with two new key hires who have recently joined them from Xerox Norway.

The two new hires are:

Lars Løkkevik

Løkkevik has 25 years of experience from sales, management and business development.

Lars worked 11 years in Xerox in various positions in Business Development, Channel and Services. In his new role with Asolvi he will be responsible for further developing their partners more towards a consultative driven sales process where solutions with a service packing provide clearer differentiation and build new revenue streams.

He will work at Nordic level and with Asolvi's prospects, existing customers, manufacturers and dealers.

John Alfred Hustvedt

Hustvedt has a long experience from B2B sales of IT and IT. Has led several projects to win the majority of Xerox's major Norwegian contracts.

John Alfred has worked with the print service concept Managed Print Services (MPS). He is used as a lecturer on the subject, and is a member of the International Print Service Association (MPSA), a member of the Standards & Best Practices Committee, which deals with industry design and industry standards for the print service.

In his new role with Asolvi, he will work at European level and towards manufacturers, dealers, prospects and end customers.

These two key hires would appear to be further evidence of the ambition and rapid expansion of Asolvi, who recently rebranded from Evatic having acquired well respected UK based field service management solution providers Tesseract as well as Swedish firm WinServ who offer specialist field service management solutions tailored for the print copy market.

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Industrial Cleaning Equipment Ltd (ICE) is the UK’s largest independent provider of industrial cleaning machines and associated services. Five years ago, it began using Tesseract, Asolvi's longest-standing service management product. It was a move that caused ICE to undergo a complete operational transformation.

ICE specialises in the supply and maintenance of efficient, forward-thinking cleaning solutions and protecting clients from unplanned equipment downtime. It partners with leading manufacturers of industrial vacuum cleaners, scrubber driers, road sweepers, steam and pressure washers and combination machines to bring the latest in cleaning technology to the retail, leisure, transport and commercial sectors. An enduring commitment to service and innovation has won the company multiple awards.

A big contributor to its success is the elite company-wide service management system that underpins it: Tesseract. A big contributor to its success is the elite company-wide service management system that underpins it: Tesseract. “It’s the one database we use for everything,” says Mike Bresnihan, chief operating officer at ICE. “Our admin staff, field-based engineers, product specialists and finance teams all use Tesseract. And our customers can access it via the web or our new mobile app.”

ICE has in place the latest iteration of the Tesseract product: Service Centre 5.1. Customers notify ICE of any problems with their cleaning equipment by logging in to Tesseract’s Remote Customer Access portal. Remote Engineer Access lets field engineers generate live reports, order parts, close down maintenance jobs and raise same-day invoices from their tablets. Call Control is used to schedule drivers and engineers to collect, deliver and maintain equipment, and Parts Centre automatically manages stock levels.

A huge step up from the old system

Pre-Tesseract, ICE used a custom-built application to manage its planned and reactive maintenance work. However, the software’s functionality was extremely limited. The company couldn’t use it for invoicing, ordering parts or maintaining stock levels. Customers could log a call and write notes, but they couldn’t see how their call was being dealt with, so it did little to manage their expectations. ICE’s drivers and engineers had no access to the software; they had to fill in paper delivery notes and worksheets and post them to the office. This meant, after each job was complete, ICE had to wait a few days to update their records.

We had piles of paperwork to get through, an abundance of spreadsheets to fill in, and we often had to enter the same data multiple times“It was very chaotic,” says Liz Osborne, ICE’s HR manager and former service manager. “We had piles of paperwork to get through, an abundance of spreadsheets to fill in, and we often had to enter the same data multiple times in order to keep different departments within the company up to date.”

So ICE selected Tesseract to operationally transform the company. Today, thanks to Tesseract, ICE is virtually paperless. Its drivers and engineers use tablets, allowing Head Office to receive job updates and information in real time. Deployment is faster, manual stock-checking is a thing of the past, and accuracy of information along the service chain is vastly improved. Mike Bresnihan explains, “We’re all on one system, which means data can flow freely between each department and we have full visibility of everything that’s going on. By automating and optimising our service operation, Tesseract has given us the capacity to focus on our customers, rather than managing a system that is supposed to be managing us.”

No downtime

Tesseract is a cloud-based product that is maintained and continually honed and developed in-house by Asolvi. The biggest benefit of this for ICE is the in-built disaster recovery; if any part of the system goes down, Tesseract will seamlessly and automatically switch to another cloud environment.

Unlike the server-based system we had before, which could go down at any moment, there’s no chance of downtime with Tesseract,“Unlike the server-based system we had before, which could go down at any moment, there’s no chance of downtime with Tesseract,” says Mike. “We’re able to depend 100% on the resilience of Tesseract’s cloud and not worry about our office, our field engineers or our customers losing access to the system.”

Easier to grow

In the last two years, ICE has experienced a growth spurt. It’s acquired three previously competing companies, each of which had its own service management system. But these systems were old, driven by paper and disparate bits of software, with too many places their teams had to go to get information. As a result, all of their data was extracted and inputted into the Tesseract system, and Tesseract was rolled out across all of them.

Tesseract actually facilitated the acquisition process. Mike explains, “Tesseract gave us visibility of the new organisations really quickly, and expedited our integration with them. Inputting these companies’ data into the Tesseract system was easy, as was adding new users. Now every company in our group uses it as we do. In effect, Tesseract has made growing ICE into a leading player in the industry possible, and a far less daunting prospect than it could’ve been.”

The future: fewer silos, more integration

ICE is currently looking at breaking down remaining silos within its organisation and fully integrating Tesseract with its existing systems. There is already an interface between Tesseract and ICE’s financial software, removing the need for double entry accounting. Now the plan is to integrate Tesseract with its customers’ workflow management systems.

ICE is currently looking at breaking down remaining silos within its organisation and fully integrating Tesseract with its existing systemsAt the moment ICE updates a number of its customers’ systems with progress on repairs and service jobs. This is something it also does in Tesseract, so an interface between the two databases will save ICE from having to do it twice.

Also on the agenda is an interface with ICE’s asset tracking system, which allows them to monitor where, when and how equipment and company vehicles are being used.

“Our relationship with Asolvi grows stronger all the time,” says Mike. “At the moment we are looking at further automation and integration and we are working closely with Asolvi to achieve this. We know that with the system’s inherent flexibility and adaptability, virtually anything’s possible — and we look forward to what the future has in store.”

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Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News talks exclusively to Dan Sewell, COO of Espresso Service about the improvements to their service delivery that they have seen come to the fore since the implementation of a dedicated field service management solution, in this instance Tesseract Service Centre, an Asolvi product.

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Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News talks exclusively to Dan Sewell, COO of Espresso Service about preventative maintenance.

Dan and the team at Espresso Service have embraced the Internet of Things and preventative maintenance with open arms and have already seen some fantastic benefits from doing so.

We look at what those benefits and improvements were as well as getting Dan's advice for any organisation looking to follow in their footsteps exploring what the best initial steps are for adopting such an approach.

This video series is sponsored by:

 

 

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