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TomTom Telematics has announced the launch of  WEBFLEET for Sales Cloud, an app that integrates TomTom’s WEBFLEET telematics platform with Salesforce, making it easier for sales staff to use the CRM system on the road. It will also enable companies to manage their sales forces more efficiently and empower them to connect with customers, partners and employees in a whole new way.  The app is available on the Salesforce AppExchange marketplace.

The integration between WEBFLEET and Salesforce helps to reduce cost and administration time through automatic trip reporting and simplified appointment management. Businesses and drivers are also provided with greater insight into driving performance.

“Companies are looking to transform the way they connect with customers, partners and employees to thrive in the age of the customer,” said Ryan Ellis, VP, Product Management, AppExchange, Salesforce.

“By leveraging the power of the Salesforce App Cloud and integrating real-time telematics data with Sales Cloud, TomTom Telematics provides customers with exciting new opportunities to improve business performance through connected car technologies.”

Taco van der Leij, VP Marketing at TomTom Telematics added: “Integrating WEBFLEET with Salesforce is a natural extension of our Logbook application, which automates mileage registration for expense claims. Both help to make business administration easier for staff on the road, providing them with tools to improve their sales performance. Furthermore, by combining telematics and CRM, sales managers can gain visibility and insight into performance in the field.”

WEBFLEET for Sales Cloud allows office staff to assign client appointments in the Salesforce calendar to the employee’s TomTom Pro Driver terminal. Dashboards allow trip data to be compared with opportunities, leads and closed deals to analyse the effectiveness of each sales representative.

 

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The global field service market is estimated to jump from $1.58 billion last year to more than $3.5 billion by 2019, according to research firm MarketsandMarkets. This three-part series will look at how cloud is an enabler for field service organisations, how technology is allowing central control and improving people management, rounding off with a look at how technology can improve customer service and the issue of privacy.

The series has emerged following a recent panel debate with experts and academics, hosted by ClickSoftware and chaired by Forrester’s senior analyst, Paul Miller. The panel included: Tim Faulkner, Senior Vice President at ClickSoftware, Dr Carsten Sorensen, Associate Professor in Digital Innovation at London School of Economics, Katelyn Burrill, Product Marketing Manager at ClickSoftware, and Phil Wainewright, Chair at Euro Cloud UK.

The cloud as an enabler and the automation landscape

 Paul Miller opened the debate: “We're here to talk about cloud and field service. A lot of the visible manifestations are out in the field, for instance the device the engineer is holding when they walk into your house is probably accessing applications and data held in the cloud – but do we really need the cloud for all that? Why is the cloud important?”

“We all get excited about new technology,” Phil Wainewright responds. “What's changed now is the Internet and that's brought two things – digital connectedness and extremely powerful and not so powerful smart devices. There are more computers in the world today than there are people; cheap devices, with the ability to be connected to each other and to the computing power of the cloud, are falling right into the hands of individuals. The final ingredient is the hugely elastic scalable power of the cloud. You can pool it into a vast cauldron of big data and pop out analytics and use the information to develop more efficient processes.”

 

“For ClickSoftware it's a different model and it brings down barriers to adopting field service solutions that were there before,” said Tim Faulkner. “Any company with its own IT department probably had a traditional approach of evaluating a solution, looking at the integrations needed, buying the hardware, setting it up and making that capex investment – as an organisation, you bank on seeing returns as you ramp up and roll out.”

Faulkner continued, “That's not easy for a small organisation to do though. Cloud is a leveller and enables small organisations to adopt the same applications. For large corporations it helps them to deploy different methods. Maybe not the big waterfall approach, but a more agile incremental way in shorter timeframes. Cloud is definitely an enabler for that, opening new opportunities for business units within larger corporations. Last year, in Europe, the adoption of our cloud-based solutions surpassed my forecasts at the beginning of the year – we expected 25% of new customers and it ended up being closer to 50%!”

Miller interjects: “Allowing smaller companies to adopt the same solution as their biggest competitors?”

“Using cloud based field service technology allows flexibility and speed,” said Dr Carsten Sorensen.  “If you look at manufacturing, in the old days you'd have a siloed approach – by the time you got to the last person to sign for a new component, they'd realise it couldn't be made within the constraints and they'd have to go back and start again.

Dr Sorensen continued, “We need to understand all of the constraints straight away. One of the key things in business is to allow individuals to make rapid decisions while at the same time making sure they don’t make bad decisions for the company. In the past, these individuals had information in a handbook or on their computer back at the office or depot. In the 21^st century, individuals, wherever they are, need to make the right choices and the infrastructure needs to be in their hands to make those informed decisions. We haven’t really worked out how to utilise this yet.”

 

“Business infrastructure is an important angle,” said Wainewright. “The way businesses are organised needs to be changed to take advantage of the new technologies.”

Sorensen jumped in at this point: “They need to balance ERP systems that automate the process that tells people what to do at what stage. It makes it possible to have flexible communication. The challenge is for big companies to manage this to facilitate processes but also enable discussions and flexibility. The more lightweight infrastructure you have the better it is for flexibility. Cloud technology makes it more lightweight.”

Rounding off the first part of the debate Miller asked Katelyn Burrell how organisations are changing how they deal with their own customers, with cloud playing a big part of that. “When prospects come to ClickSoftware looking for a cloud solution from you, is that recognition part of the solution? Are they thinking about the broader strategic shift?”

“They are absolutely thinking about the broader strategic shift,” said Burrell. “We started nearly 20 years’ ago with on premise solutions only, we're experts at that. It has to be a transformative project where all stakeholders are involved up-front. What the cloud has done now is enabled more experimentation within the organisation, possibly without the involvement of IT. A business unit might come to us and say they want to make this transformation and need help selling to the executives. The cloud has enabled them to do a pilot project before going on a bigger scale.

What's really driving it for our customers is that their products and services are becoming more commoditised, and how they deliver their services is a key differentiator. They need to improve their customer experience, but also keep their operations and costs in check, servicing the needs of the business and the customer.”

Look out for Part Two of the debate, when the focus switches to central control and people management, and how development of the devices available allows greater oversight and communications with workers out in the field.

 

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Welcome to the latest edition of the Field Service Podcast.

This month we change the format slightly as we bring you a selection of the conversation highlights from a discussion group held with CLickSoftware that featured a number of senior field service executive leaders discussing the importance of Cloud computing as a platform for field service management solutions.

 

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Having undertaken a research project to assess the current appetite for the Cloud as a platform for field service management systems, Field Service News in partnership with ClickSoftware brought together a panel of senior field service executives to discuss the findings at the iconic Gherkin building in the heart of London’s business district...

 

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There is also a more detailed briefing report available for download if you want to know more - Access the full Briefing report by clicking here

 

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It was a typical British winters day: cold wet and grey. However when a selection of the field service industry’s senior executives came together to discuss the findings of a recent research report published by Field Service News in partnership with ClickSoftware the debate and discussion was lively, engaging and illuminating.

Held in the iconic 30 St Mary’s Axe, affectionately known by locals as the Gherkin, the backdrop to our conversations was the ever impressive London skyline, inspiring even with the cold, persistent rain beating down outside.

And perhaps what better place to discuss the Cloud than amongst the clouds?

The obvious starting point for the conversation was to identify who within the group was currently utilising a Cloud-based field service management solution and what had driven them to opt for the Cloud.

Keith Mackie, Director of UCC Coffee UK & Ireland was the first to offer us his thoughts.

“I’ve been with UCC Coffee for three years and when I arrived they had a solution that was partly Cloud-based but I changed it mainly because of the utility of the system itself.”

 

 

“The decision for me was based around the ability to get data out of the system. For me that is one of the keys to any system.”

 

“The Internet of Things is a big driver. What our customers want more and more is live data. How do we feed that data back to them?”

It was clear that this challenge around accessing and delivering data wasn’t unique to Mackie and UCC Coffee. The conversation quickly turned to the importance of being able to get data from the field and feed it directly into both a field service management system as well as the wider ecosystem of ERPs and CRMs etc.

Mark Jones, Head of Technical Services, Roland DG, commented: “I think in terms of having the engineer turn up equipped with the right tools and parts and in terms of being able to maintain a high first time fix rate, then it’s extremely important. That would certainly be one of the benefits we would be seeking”

 

 

“We’re not quite there yet, but in the next generation or generation after that of our product there will be that intelligence to take that information. That will also enable us to examine life-cycles of machinery.”

 

“Typically you see the bath tub curve: when your products launch you tend to get teething problems and you ramp up on calls and then as things mature and settle down you get a really good period where machines are reliable and ticking along smoothly. Then as you come to the end of the product life-cycle you start to see things ramp up again.”

“To be able to have that intelligent data, to measure that, would also provide a great tool for sales and marketing.”

The data highway

Jones’ point again reiterated the importance of data within the modern field service operation so the question was put to the group “Is it fair to make the assertion that the adoption of the Cloud, whether it be in FSM solutions or any others such as CRM and so on is hugely driven by the ease of access to data that it provides?”

John Cullen, VP Global Marketing Brand & Services, for mining and aggregates giant Metso, led the group in agreement that this is indeed the case.

 

 

“As everyone has been saying: if you can get information on the state of your equipment, then you can optimise your operations, you can know what services to deliver to your customers.”

 

“One challenge I see as a concern is that, yes there is lots of data, but I think you can actually drown under the data. You can have access to anything but in the end what is it you want it for? What is the business process that you actually want to be applying this to? If you don’t have that view, I think you can take the wrong path. In the marketing side of my work. I see a similar thing: through analytics we can have lots of information but we can get blinded by,  even paralysed by, the information.”

“The same thing can be true here; you have to have a view of what you want to use data for, then you select the right pieces of data. You start doing it in a structured way otherwise you end up with a system that doesn’t fulfil your needs.”

[quote float="right"]The question of how configurable is your system is for that very reason. I don’t want to be told what data I’m going to get, I want to choose what data I’m going to get.

Mackie then went on to add further to this point commenting: “There is the question of how configurable is your system is for that very reason. I don’t want to be told what data I’m going to get, I want to choose what data I’m going to get.”

 

“I might want to analyse it differently today than I do tomorrow depending on what I’m looking for. Am I looking for first time fix, parts usage, mean time between failure? All of those stats are important and you have to be able to configure them very easily.”

Again the consensus of the group was that this was very much a key desire for most companies. As Cullen stated: “Businesses evolve, they’re not static.”

Flexibility

This brought us again to another often celebrated benefit of Cloud computing:  the fact that the Cloud is scalable and Cloud based solutions can grow or shrink with a business accordingly.

Paul Hingley, CMR Business Manager, Siemens, took the mantle stating that by 2020 all their products will have the functionality to send diagnostic data. “Where we are going as an organisation is making our service department more proactive and the Cloud we are developing is completely open” he explained.

 

“The more that you open up the technology, and the diagnostics for the technology, then the more the data becomes relevant and has value. The other problem we have is that some of the large Big Data companies are selling data but there is nothing behind it and that is the worry, because it gives Cloud a bad name.”

 

Security in the Cloud

Of course no conversation around the Cloud can be held without mentioning the ever present elephant in the room, security. With Hingley raising the topic of a giving Cloud a bad name the conversation was steered to perhaps the one question that has dogged the Cloud since its inception - is it secure?

One of the interesting findings of the research was the amount of people who admitted that breaches in consumer Cloud products such as Apple’s iCloud impacted their perception of the security of enterprise level Cloud solutions.

But what was the feeling of those in the room when it came to the security of the Cloud?

“If you were to ask us what would be at the top of our list of our priorities I would certainly say security.” stated Caroline Winwood, Customer Services Director at Dyson. "We take it very seriously at Dyson across everything from our intellectual property through to our customer information.”

“In my role, I inherited a system which is server based. One of the reasons was that our back office ran this way so integration was deemed easier but security was also very high on the list.”

 

“The success of any software implementation lies in alignment between Operations and IT.  Both teams need to take on the shared responsibility for delivering a scalable platform that meets operational and reporting needs while ensuring that the fundamentals of security and on-going support are also taken care of,” Winwood added.

 

Indeed, Winwood’s point seems to be hugely pertinent in today’s landscape as the challenge for many companies is marrying this balance of the need for security often led by the IT department, especially for a company such as Dyson whose products sit at the top of their field in terms of the technology they deliver and the needs of the business in being able to deliver the levels of service also expected of a market leader.

However, Cullen’s Metso are one organisation that have embraced the Cloud across the business putting their trust within their Cloud provider to ensure their business data remains as secure as it would if they had remained with an on-premise solution. As a company we are actually embracing Cloud technology. Our complete storage and office environment has gone online with Microsoft, so we are trusting of Cloud security."

" Where we actually see an issue is with our customers and their machinery and the concerns that they have and those come on two levels. First is the commercial level: if you have a lot of data about their operations then you know exactly how they are doing in the market. You know if they are struggling or if they are doing well and a lot of companies feel uncomfortable about that.”

“Then the second area is when you are talking about the ability to get into the machinery and change settings. It has the ability to not only ruin a company commercially - for example, you could make their energy consumption go up - but also you could actually kill people as well by mis-settings. So the integrity and safety of their sites is an issue.”

Given the concerns being raised around security the question was put to Tim Faulkner, VP EMEA of ClickSoftware, of how he define the difference between the enterprise Cloud security against the Cloud in the consumer realm when speaking to his clients and prospective clients.

“Well there have been a number of interesting different points raised,” began Faulkner. “From a security perspective, if a company like Amazon Web Services has a breach it’s going to get into the news for sure because it’s a big company, it’s a clear target, so it’s newsworthy.”

 

“But companies like Amazon or Azure, that’s their livelihood. They are investing a lot into the policies, the protocols and the procedures for maintaining security into the sites and the resilience of the systems. They can afford to invest so much more than a normal enterprise can in security measures and most of the breaches actually tend to be within a company's own data centre.”

 

“I think media has an impact on our perception but in this case the security of the Cloud versus the security of a normal company, versus the measures of a normal company and what they can afford to put in place, I don’t think the perception is really aligned with the reality that we have.”

“For most companies it’s unaffordable to put in the same level of security that they should expect from a Cloud service vendor.”

One company that perhaps do fall into the bracket of being large enough to be able to build their own levels of security that could match that of a Cloud vendor however is Belgian telecoms giant Proximus. “I think it is also about losing control, or at least the perception of losing control,” commented Marc Cornelis, WFM Lead, Proximus.

“In our company, hosting ClickSoftware and other applications in the Cloud, it’s like giving up all the data, all your core business data, into the Cloud, where you don’t have the perception of control."

"We have more than one data centre, and we are managing our own data centres and also for other customers. Our point is: why should we host our own data in a Cloud solution without having control of where the data is in the world?”

“We just don’t see why we should run an application like ClickSoftware, which is one of the core applications for Proximus, in a Cloud solution.”

Enabling process change

Of course one of the often cited reasons for slow adoption for the Cloud in certain areas including field service is the existence of legacy systems and the mindsets that often come embedded in such long-standing processes.

As Cornelis explained “It’s about change, it’s changing the environment; we have always been used to having everything hosted in the Proximus environment. We need to change, see how it works and then build up the confidence and build up the controls.”

Indeed, the Cloud has sometimes been referred to as a great leveller within enterprise as those companies unencumbered by such legacy infrastructure are able to embrace the technology and its benefits perhaps more easily than their larger more established competitors.

 

“It’s something of a timing issue and also a generational issue as well, if I’m being honest,” commented Mackie.

 

“I could not imagine the cost of hosting all of our data on-site for a hundred thousand service calls. I think it is almost generational, people are so used to their information being hosted somewhere else.”

“If I was starting the business I work in now I wouldn’t even consider having an in-house solution, whereas for a multi-national that sense of control is more important but I think as things move on it’s a timing issue. I think as people become more comfortable with remote data access and using data that they don’t actually control then I almost think this problem will dissipate. I think we may be pushing at an open door.

In fact, there is evidence of such a swing in attitudes changing within the market already as Alistair Martin, Director of Product and Services, Unisys explained. “In fact we are seeing the opposite of what a lot of the conversation here is. We typically supply to some of the largest banks in the world through to the police force so very, very secure systems. But we are actually seeing that customers, because of demographics, because of a lack of skills, are becoming more open to look at Cloud solutions.”

“Applications as a Service is an area we are doing a lot of work in now, with customers coming to us now to actually run their applications somewhere out there. It’s a big change.”

 

As the rain continued to drench the London skyline, the consensus amongst our panel of leading field service experts was indeed very much in-line with the headline findings of our research.

 

The Cloud is gaining momentum as a valid platform for field service management solutions and wider enterprise applications. However, for those largest companies, legacy systems remain one challenge, whilst a need to overcome old ways of thinking around security and control are another.

What was interesting was that amongst our panel, every member understood the potential benefits of the Cloud, and that easy access to data was perhaps the biggest driver of all. But the lingering fears around security continue to cast a shadow for the Cloud for many and as such the journey to Cloud based computing still does seem to require an internal leap of faith, which is something each company can only achieve in their own time.

 

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Want to know more? There is also a more detailed briefing report available for download if you want to know more - Access the full Briefing report by clicking here

 

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Wider access to custom-fit mobility tools is driving new efficiencies for field service workers, says  Alison Clark,  Product Manager  for RhoMobile Suite, the app development platform from Zebra Technologies.

The proliferation of more affordable and richly-featured mobile technologies is finally at the point of transforming field service practices for companies of all sizes. The degree of tool customisation essential for maximising the efficiency with which field service tasks are carried out has finally democratised, moving away from being something isolated to big businesses with the budget to match.

Enterprise-calibre field mobility applications customised to meet the highly specific needs of an individual business can now utilise specialised tools that include barcode scanners, GPS, sensor data capture, and more. This wider access to custom fit mobility tools is producing exciting new trends in field operations, which any business looking to improve their own practices in the field would do well to study for possible adoption. Here are three of the most significant ways that custom mobility app technologies are driving new efficiencies for workers in the field.

1.  Optimisation of field workers’ driving routes is slashing transit times.
   App-based GPS, traffic mapping, and routing technology in every service vehicle and carried in the pocket of every worker in the field is giving company dispatchers a more sophisticated, holistic overview of the field resources at their disposal. Field workers now have their routes for the day continuously optimised by intelligent software. The days of the repair truck coming within a “window” of 9am to 9pm are ending. Rather, precise computer-assisted planning allows field workers to tell customers how many minutes they are away.

   More streamlined and customised interfaces are benefitting today’s field workers by removing pain points and making data capture fast and error-proof.

   More specifically, we’ve seen a move toward apps where dispatchers can simply assign work orders to field technicians using a drag-and-drop calendar interface – where appointments and geographic routes are then easily recalculated and optimised for the fastest possible travel. Field workers are now experiencing the ease of simply following GPS directions from site to site. Dispatchers work from a dashboard that includes not just field workers’ locations but analytical insights as their work progresses. This allows dispatchers to modify assignments on the fly to further optimise work efficiency. The result of this efficiency is more site visits and jobs completed in a day, happier and better-served customers, and sizable savings in fuel costs.
2. Digitised and streamlined interfaces are revolutionising data capture.
   
   The pens and clipboards still used by some field workers are now (or soon to be) antiquated relics. And while technology solutions that are not custom fit to a company’s needs may assist somewhat by digitising information, workers using one-size-fits-all systems will still need to capture data in different apps and send multiple files to dispatchers. Thankfully, more streamlined and customised interfaces are benefitting today’s field workers by removing pain points and making data capture fast and error-proof. To complete a work order, field service workers may need to capture arrival and departure times, labor hours, work notes, part and material numbers, digital images, customer consultation time, customer signatures, etc. In the worst-case scenario of using less efficient and downright unwieldy solutions, field workers might even have to return to sites to recapture improperly recorded data.

   more streamlined and customised interfaces are benefitting today’s field workers by removing pain points and making data capture fast and error-proof.

   We’re seeing a decisive trend toward app solutions with thoughtfully designed user interfaces and smart use of data capture equipment. These apps also tend to include business rules and task segmentation customised for precise company needs. They can use Bluetooth scanners for errorless capture of complex parts numbers and integrate data within work orders themselves at the time of capture for seamless processing. Dispatchers can then receive and make use of those filled out work orders in real time, as their software is custom made for this purpose.
3. Field mobility apps work just as seamlessly offline.
   
   Even when work order data cannot be transmitted to dispatchers in real time, the trend in these apps is to make sure that locally capturing and later syncing recorded data is automatic and painless. Many field workers frequently travel to locations where their mobility devices will read “No Service.” Apps capable of offline data syncing enable workers to capture information without Internet connectivity and have that data sync up with the software used by dispatchers at the home office once they return to an area with a better wireless signal. This means that data is safe and available for use as soon as possible. Businesses using field mobility technologies have found that the more customised the application they use is to their needs, the more efficiently it will serve them. As highly tailored app customisation is now within the reach of businesses of all sizes, companies deploying employees in the field should look for those trends that support their productivity and help the business’ bottom line.

 

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Leading UK gas distributor SGN has selected enterprise mobility company Kony, Inc.’s MobileFabric to develop and manage its mobile enterprise applications and streamline integration with its enterprise backend systems.

The move comes as SGN seeks to strengthen customer service and increase employee productivity. The company manages a UK network that distributes natural and green gas to 5.8 million homes and businesses across Scotland and the south of England. It operates over 74,000 km of gas mains and services.

SGN’s Accelerated Delivery Team will use the Kony cloud-based mobile backend-as-a-service (MBaaS) solution MobileFabric to rapidly develop mobile apps, secure interaction with backend services and simplify the app maintenance process.

“SGN is committed to delivering gas safely, reliably, and efficiently to every one of our customers. Our collaboration with Kony will allow us to deliver innovative mobile solutions that empower our employees and connect us to our customers,” explains Andrew Quail, Director of IT at SGN. “Customers are at the centre of everything we do and working with Kony helps us to fulfil our promise.”

MobileFabric is part of Kony’s mobile application development platform portfolio that allows developers to use any open mobile developer framework and tool without sacrificing security or quality. SGN anticipates greater efficiencies as MobileFabric will enable seamless integration with its existing enterprise systems.

“As enterprises realise how mobility can transform the way business is conducted, we are seeing organisations find more business processes that can be transformed and new capabilities that can be created," said Jonathan Best, vice president of Europe and Africa, Kony, Inc. “We are excited to partner with SGN as it uses the power of mobility to provide innovative services to their energy customers and increase business efficiency.”

 

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Welcome to the latest edition of the Field Service Podcast.

This month Field Service News Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland and Tim Faulkner of ClickSoftware discuss the findings of the latest Field Service News research which assessed the use of the Cloud in field service management systems.

 

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The latest headline findings from our exclusive research sponsored by ClickSoftware looking at the appetite for the Cloud as a platform for field service management solutions put together in one handy infographic....

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In the first part of this feature we looked at the ever growing importance of technology in field service and asked if Big Data or Enterprise Mobility will prove to be the key technology that drives field service forward. Now in part two Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief puts forward the case for Cloud computing and the Internet of Things... 

There is no doubt that Big Data will have a huge impact on field service like it will on almost every vertical. However, then there is the Cloud, a technology almost that a whilst again gradually becoming pervasive within the world of industry, is almost perfectly suited for the often unique demands faced by field service organisations.

Certainly the rapid rise of field service software provider ServiceMax is clear evidence of the industry’s need for and appetite for cloud based field service management systems. The ServiceMax story is one of dramatic and rapid success.

In an industry where the combination of huge amounts of coding to develop a product robust enough to be deemed suitable for ‘mission critical’ operational control sits against relatively low costs per user (in comparison to other IT led products) it is almost impossible for new vendors to penetrate the space. Yet ServiceMax have not only done so but have rapidly established themselves as a leading player within the market within a space of even years.

Indeed ServiceMax’s phenomenal growth is in part tied to their strong relationship with Cloud pioneer Salesforce.

In an interview with Field Service News, ServiceMax COO, Scot Berg commented “If you think of what it would have taken for us to launch a data centre and secure it, to build all the platform capabilities and redundancy, also that some of our first 12 customers were in the Middle East and Europe and there we were with two founders selling everything themselves out of northern California… how could that be right?”

“All because of the global reach and the global acceptance level of the Salesforce.com platform. So yes it was very important early on.”

However, whilst their relationship with Salesforce.Com undoubtedly opened doors for the California company, the truth is the appetite for Cloud as a platform for field service management systems was clearly there and not being fully exploited.

[quote float="left"]As with mobile computing there is a strong argument to be made for the Cloud being the technology to have had the biggest impact on field service in recent times.

 Our own recent research into the Cloud highlights this also with 86% of field service companies either being on, or considering a move to the Cloud for their next iteration of their field service management software.

 

So again as with mobile computing there is a strong argument to be made for the Cloud being the technology to have had the biggest impact on field service in recent times.

However, perhaps the most sensible viewpoint would be that it is the emergence of all three of these technologies at the same time that is the true driving factor behind the development of new field service management solutions that are driving ever greater efficiencies and productivity levels amongst field service companies. Indeed the most sophisticated current field service management systems all boast inclusion and utilisation of Big Data, Enterprise Mobility and Cloud computing.

Yet there is one other technology that has the potential to surpass the impact of all three of the above combined.

For while Big Data, Cloud and Enterprise Mobility have allowed field service companies to optimise their work-flows, it is the Internet of Things, that has the potential to completely realign those workflows, changing the dynamics of field service forever.

The often cited holy grail for field service companies is ‘the first time fix’ and as more and more devices in industry become connected (Gartner predicts 25BN connected devices by 2020) the impact of IoT on Field Service will be truly massive.

Why? Well, connected devices allow field service companies to move away from the costly traditional break-fix model of the past and into a far more efficient preventative maintenance model.

 

Yet unlike, preventative maintenance plans of ‘dumb’ or non-connected devices, which require often unnecessary scheduled checks by a field service engineer, preventative maintenance of connected devices will mean that not only will engineers only be sent out to provide maintenance when a fault is detected but they will, in the main be sent out to that particular job with an understanding of what the fault is, and with the tools or parts they need to complete the job.

With data being provided by the device itself to indicate that a fault is developing, the engineer can not only arrive armed in advance with the knowledge of what that fault is, but also will in many cases be able to rectify the fault before it escalates to a point where the device reaches critical malfunction that stops it from carrying out it’s function.

So not only will field service companies be able to direct their engineers to the most critical jobs, not only will the engineers spend less time resolving each job (with first time fix rates soaring) but also crucially companies will be able to deliver far greater up time to their customers.

This in turn can lead companies to adopting an outcome based solutions approach, whereby they are no longer selling a product and then the maintenance of that product, but selling a solution. There are of course numerous examples of companies adopting this business model, perhaps the most famous of all being Rolls Royce’s Power by The Hour contact whereby they no longer charge a flat fee for a jumbo jet engine, but instead charge for every hour one of their customers’ planes is in flight.

This is of course a seismic shift in business thinking and one that puts field service at the very heart of businesses operations if it is to be successfully deployed. Yet through the advent of IoT it is becoming a more and more plausible and attractive route - one of the key arguments for moving to what is referred to as a Servitization business model is greater profits.

 

So whilst the big three of Cloud, Enterprise Mobility and Big Data have helped field service reach new heights of efficiency in the form of modern field service management solutions, IoT truly has the potential to redefine the way our businesses operate on a fundamental level, and it’s impact will not only improve field service operations, but also place that at the centre of this new industry paradigm.

 

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