Resource Type: White Paper Published by: IFS Title: The IFS Digital Change Survey
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Nov 22, 2017 • Features • Future of FIeld Service • White Paper • White Papers & eBooks • Digital Transformation • IFS • Internet of Things • IoT
Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: IFS
Title: The IFS Digital Change Survey
Want to know more? Access to this resource is available to Field Service News subscribers only - but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription!
If you are a field service professional you can apply for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription and we will send you a copy of this white paper along instantly.
(Please note that by applying for your subscription via this link you accept the terms and conditions here and a plain english version is available from our main subscriptions page here)
Synopsis:
When a car leaves a factory, this no longer signifies the end of the relationship between manufacturer and vehicle. The car goes into the next stage of its lifecycle, where it must be maintained and serviced. Businesses are realising that this servicing offers a significant revenue stream. For example, automotive manufacturer margins on new vehicle sales range from eight to 14 per cent, whereas servicing a brake disc carries around a 65 per cent margin.
As businesses become service-oriented, digital transformation gives them the tools to change.
By enabling visibility of an asset using the Internet of Things (IoT), the provider can better understand its use in the real world and feed that back into its research and development (R&D) process. Any issues from the manufacturing process that affect usage and failure rates of equipment can be managed via the IoT feedback loop. Data analysis using business intelligence or big data and analytical tools can derive value from that data.
Historically, companies have seen service as a cost centre and a necessary evil. Now, Digital Transformation is enabling more organisations to realise the potential that service has as a profit centre. Yet there is considerable variation in maturity across the sector globally. This exclusive white paper by IFS offers key insights into their research of Digital Transformation and how it is being implemented.
Overview:
Service: Leading the Way
Across many industries, manufacturing and products have become commoditised; service is now the differentiator. The winners in the service sector are those able to stand apart through their ability to support a product across its lifecycle, or support a client whose services they manage.
When set against other sectors, service organisations are leading the field in innovation and transformation
The top five factors behind digital transformation reflect this potential, with four of the five being sales, innovation and customer relationship-driven. Chief among these is ‘growth opportunities in new markets’. In reality, these growth opportunities are not new but have been expanding for some 20+ years. What is changing is recognition of these opportunities. Many organisations have been slow to recognise service as being a key driver to their overall business success.
A New Hope:
The service industry is reaching a critical point with its ageing workforce. An enormous level of knowledge, possessed by the veterans and gurus of the industry, is walking out of the door as these workers reach retirement, or are no longer effectively supported by the business. This can have more of an impact in service than anywhere else, as the level and quality of service on offer can be directly impacted by the individual that performs the service.
In developing and recruiting talent, DT has a significant role to play. Intelligent knowledge management systems can enable a six-month recruit to perform those maintenance or repair services that would have previously been the [quote float="right"]Where firms operate a service within a service, such as an elevator in a hotel, it is in the interest of both the hotel operator and the elevator service organisation to create the optimum customer experience, because they share the same end consumer
domain of a 10+ year veteran. Technologies such as augmented reality (in the form of Google Glass or Microsoft HoloLens), can be usedto virtually project onto the physical equipment an animated disassembly procedure for swapping out a part onto the physical equipment.
The greatest talent gaps reported by service providers are in the areas of business intelligence (BI) and cybersecurity, with the former particularly keenly felt in North America.
Big data/analytics and BI are crucial in supporting a quantifiable business, and unlike many other industries, service is very easy to measure. Metrics such as first-time fix rate, mean time to repair, mean time between services, and service level agreements are commonplace. It is crucial when marketing a service that the provider is able to cite a percentage level of service and agree that level with customers in their SLA.
Joining Forces:
The need for collaboration is higher in the services sector than in any other, based on the IFS cross-industry research. At a sector-wide level, the delta between desired levels of collaboration and actual levels of collaboration is 2.7 points on a ten-point scale, meaning there is a desire to increase levels of collaboration by 49 per cent.
Where firms operate a service within a service, such as an elevator in a hotel, it is in the interest of both the hotel operator and the elevator service organisation to create the optimum customer experience, because they share the same end consumer
The demand for close collaboration is not surprising – firms such as Dell have a fully outsourced service provision for their field technicians, which means a considerable source of potential revenue is in the hands of trusted third parties.
Where firms operate a service within a service, such as an elevator in a hotel, it is in the interest of both the hotel operator and the elevator service organisation to create the optimum customer experience, because they share the same end consumer, who is jointly judging the product and judging the service.
Given the delta, many firms are clearly still not optimised in their digital transformation and will need to achieve a stronger bond between their partners and their internal teams to realise the full value of servitization.
Want to know more? Access to this resource is available to Field Service News subscribers only - but if you are a Field Service Professional you may qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription!
If you are a field service professional you can apply for a complimentary industry practitioner subscription and we will send you a copy of this white paper along instantly.
(Please note that by applying for your subscription via this link you accept the terms and conditions here and a plain english version is available from our main subscriptions page here)
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Oct 26, 2017 • News • Avaya • Future of FIeld Service • Klaus Hüftle • Bosch • Digital Transformation
Bosch Group, a leading global supplier of technology and services, have announced the expansion of its partnership with Avaya to help support Bosch’s digital transformation strategy across its global operations.
Bosch Group, a leading global supplier of technology and services, have announced the expansion of its partnership with Avaya to help support Bosch’s digital transformation strategy across its global operations.
Avaya Private Cloud Services (APCS) has signed a $60 million agreement with Bosch to provide a range of business communications solutions to 160,000 Bosch associates worldwide.
The five-year deal builds on Avaya’s existing relationship with Bosch and is part of the group’s wider “Next Generation Workplace” project, designed to further support a globally connected and agile workforce. The "Next Generation Workplace" is a long-term project for Bosch that aims to make efficient mobile working even easier for associates. Through the Avaya APCS solution provided, Bosch can reduce total cost of ownership (TCO) for the provision of voice services by as much as 20%.
Avaya will provide a range of private cloud-based voice, contact centre and collaboration services, helping Bosch’s central IT department to roll out standardised solutions to all Bosch group companies worldwide. Avaya’s infrastructure integration solution will also provide enterprise-class assured voice services to Bosch users where they are interfacing through the Skype for Business desktop client.
As a leading Internet of Things (IoT) company, Bosch offers solutions for smart homes, smart cities, connected mobility, and connected manufacturing, delivering innovations for a connected life.
“We have made a major commitment to drive agility by investing in our IT infrastructure. Accordingly, we need trusted partners that can help us deliver on our vision of the “Next Generation Workplace” and deliver the required levels of quality and service to our associates. Avaya’s proven ability to deliver to demanding deadlines, deep knowledge of our business needs and the technical expertise to execute flawlessly makes them a natural choice to be one of those trusted partners. They are helping us to create a global standard solution that will be made available to Bosch’s 440+ subsidiaries and regional companies.” Klaus Hüftle, Senior VP, Bosch GmbH
“This new agreement reflects the confidence and trust that Bosch has built up in Avaya, our capability to deliver on this scale of project, and our ability to create innovative solutions that go beyond our own product space. We are strengthening our relationship with a world-leading technology company, and playing our part in helping Bosch to achieve its digital transformation objectives and empower its workforce. Avaya is proud of the endorsement in us that this agreement reflects and we look forward to working more closely with them over the coming years.” Nidal Abou-Ltaif, President, Avaya International.
The contract with Avaya will also enable Bosch to deliver future innovation, through the introduction of Avaya Breeze applications and Avaya Oceana customer experience solutions.
Avaya Private Cloud Services (APCS) enable companies to create simple, dynamic environments that allow them to roll out new applications and services faster, support new devices, improve application uptime, and gain significantly reduced total cost of ownership (TCO) and better return on investment (ROI).
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Jul 27, 2017 • Features • Future of FIeld Service • resources • white papers • White Papers & eBooks • Digital Transformation • Enterprise Service Management
Resource Type: White Paper Published by: IFS Title: Digital Transformation and enterprise service management - what's next?
Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: IFS
Title: Digital Transformation and enterprise service management - what's next?
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!
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.
A company pursuing digital transformation must have tools that allow executives and managers to review and orchestrate processes that align with their business strategy
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.
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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Jul 19, 2017 • News • analytics • Artificial intelligence • Future of FIeld Service • Krista Brown • Digital Transformation • Dimension Data
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...
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.
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 - Krista Brown, Dimension Data
“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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May 10, 2017 • Features • Management • Nick Frank • Digital Transformation • Si2 partners
If the key to adoption of new technologies in Field Services lies more in people than technology itself, then embedding the self-learning DNA gene must be the priority for all organisations wanting to be winners writes Nick Frank, Si2 Partners...
If the key to adoption of new technologies in Field Services lies more in people than technology itself, then embedding the self-learning DNA gene must be the priority for all organisations wanting to be winners writes Nick Frank, Si2 Partners...
Previously we have observed that those field service organisations that have been able to quickly adapt to the fast evolving digital environment display a common trait “the self-learning gene”.
This is the innate ability to continually move through the problem, solution, problem, solution learning loop that propels organisations forward, such that they are comfortable experimenting with new approaches, have an outside-in perspective, are able to solve problems systematically and generally embrace change as an exciting part of business life.
There are many change methodologies that can be used to achieve this goal, but if leaders are not careful, they can find themselves hiding behind the process.
Perhaps harder to grasp is that there is no defined roadmap to follow, but there are guidelines, which we can apply to our particular situation. If you want to achieve a high performing, adaptive organisation through developing your ’self-learning genes’, then these are seven principals you may consider:
Communicate, collaborate and communicate again:
This is the mind-set of leadership change. Get comfortable with being out there, in front of your team providing a clear direction, but with the clear understanding that it is your team members who will deliver a great solution.
As Dwight Eisenhower US president and Army General said: “Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done, because they want to do it”
Ensure your team has a sense of purpose:
A sense of purpose is what drives us all forward in both a private and work environments. It comes from 3 perspectives:
- Know why we are here!
- Feel that the business we work for stands for the things we believe in
- That there is consistency between what a business says and what it does.
By constantly focussing on these three elements, sharing experiences, best practices and success stories people start to believe in an organisations purpose.
Focus on the language of solutions:
It is hard for many English speakers to appreciate, but language is the gateway to understanding culture. Without speaking French, it is challenging to truly understand what it means to be French. The same is true in companies, which means achieving a common solution focused language is a critical step in embedding a ‘way of thinking’ within the DNA of the organisation.
For example a phrase that was embedded in me while I was running a Field Service organisation was “Fix yourself, before you fix your customer”. It was used and applied to every person in the organisation and is still used today!
Be a role model in what you say and do:
It is important to remember that you cannot tell people how to think. They have to figure that out for themselves. The only tools you have is to influence your team by what you say and what you do! A great examples would be the key performance indicators you focus on to manage your business. These say a lot to your people about what are your priorities.
Relentless follow up and training:
Evolving a company intrinsic DNA is not a one shot event. It’s a journey, its relentless, be prepared for the long haul. In small teams it is possible to drive this as a manager, but within larger organisations, a more formalised programme is required to touch every individual.
Training and support programmes that emphasis and re-emphasis solution thinking should be embedded into your annual budget if you are really serious about change.
Be open to Outside-IN thinking:
It’s a sad fact, but people will often listen more to people outside their immediate organisation, whether that be another department, customer or consultant. Be aware of this and use it to your advantage to influence and embed the ‘Self-Learning gene’ in your people
Be prepared to manage people out of the organisation:
Sometime people for whatever reason are not prepared to change. In my experience more people than you might think can live with change (I am an optimist), but when it’s clear that its not working, be prepared to be ruthless and actively manage poor performers out of the organisation.
In a short article it is difficult to fully discuss all the aspects of the self learning culture and why it is important. So in co-operation with Field Service News, we propose to organise a virtual round table later in the year to discuss with peers how to embed the ‘Self-Learning gene’ into your organisational DNA.
If you would like to participate, please contact either Kris Oldland or Nick Frank.
Si2 ON-Demand is a unique advisory and support service that enables top performing leaders to solve problems and get things done, quickly, easily and cost effectively.
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Mar 21, 2017 • Features • Management • Lucio Golinelli • Maximize Europe • Pay TV • Digital Transformation • field service • servicemax • Sky Italia
Kris Oldland, talks to Lucio Golinelli, Senior Director of Service & Delivery with Sky Italia about the digital transformation they are undertaking and how it is helping to drive new profits....
Kris Oldland, talks to Lucio Golinelli, Senior Director of Service & Delivery with Sky Italia about the digital transformation they are undertaking and how it is helping to drive new profits....
There were a number of interesting case studies presented at the recent Maximize Europe event held by ServiceMax from companies across many different industry verticals.
However, one that really caught the eye was that of Sky Italia who worked closely with the field service management provider as part of an ambitious company wide digital transformation program.
As Europe’s largest Pay-TV company with dominant presence in the Pay TV sector across five European countries (UK, Ireland, Germany, Italy and Austria) Sky is a household name that resonates across the continent. However, the Pay-TV vertical has become increasingly competitive over the last few years and customer experience and satisfaction are two key differentiators in the sector.
So it was perhaps no surprise that improving customer experience through digital transformation was at the heart of the organisation’s move to dramatically change their business operating systems.
Indeed, Lucio Golinelli, a Senior Director of Service & Delivery with Sky Italia who has responsibility for both field services and the supply chain explained that the key benefits his organisation sought through the digital transformation - whereby they moved away from their traditional processes of field service delivery to a more digital centric process, were equally centred around both customer experience and financial KPIs.
However, from Golinelli’s side of the business this meant working closely with ServiceMax to find a solution that worked across their whole supply chain rather than simply adopting an off the shelf solution.
The main reason for this is that when it comes to installations, Sky Italia operate within the framework of an outsourced model.
“We have a multi level approach in that we have 400 company partners, which tend to be smaller companies or ‘entrepreneurs’ rather than large organisations - who then manage for Sky approximately 2500 installers,” Golinelli explained to me as he talked me through the challenges he faced throughout the transformation process.
“For Sky Italia, installation is not a revenue stream but a cost stream,” he continued. “Because for us the installation is just an enabler to provide the services to our customers.” So whilst traditional benefits of increased installer productivity may be a side effect of the implementation this was never an end-goal for Sky Italia.
We have a multi level approach in that we have 400 company partners, which tend to be smaller companies or ‘entrepreneurs’ rather than large organisations - who then manage for Sky approximately 2500 installers
In order to best achieve this Sky Italia simultaneously replaced their old FSM, CRM and marketing tools bringing them all together on one new Cloud based solution and working alongside ServiceMax to find a customised solution for their FSM tools.
Currently in the process of undertaking this transformation program, digital visibility will be built across the whole chain from Sky through to their end customers. This is vital as it means they are not just changing the way they interact with their customers, but even changing the interface with which they undertake such interactions.
Of course, the main challenge for any company that outsources its service is that they essentially need at least two flavours of the same solution. From a Global operation with a nationwide presence, Golinelli’s team will need different dashboards, KPIs and control rooms to those that the majority of their partners will require.
It has taken Sky Italia working directly with ServiceMax over two years to develop a solution that works across Sky themselves, their partners and their customers but it seems that all that effort is now beginning to reap it’s rewards.
They have already launched the initial phase of the development with almost 1,000 installers already on track - and Golinelli appears immensely proud to see his team flourishing.
“There are two aims, “Golinelli explains.
“Firstly, the real benefit of improved efficiency for us is less errors,and in particular less mistakes in administration - that has now been largely overcome and is being dramatically reduced.”
Secondly, it is also important that if Sky Italia’s new processes are to succeed, that the various new tools used in isolation.
“We moved from customised platform for CRM, custom FSM software, and a customised platform for marketing to a common cloud solution shared across all divisions,” Golinelli expands.
Now we have all of the key operations based on the same cloud platform. This is very effective as the power of this system is the real-time exchange of information, from installer to an operator in a call centre or vice versa
It is in this last concept that Sky Italia are truly seeing the largest benefit, the shared platform gives them a much better opportunity to upsell their products.
For example let’s say an installation is being undertaken and the installer can see there is a Manchester Utd flag. In real-time he can then check if the customer has the subscription for Sky Sports and can either try to make the upsell himself or feed that information straight back to his marketing department.
Although only mid-way through the process, the results so far have been impressive to say the least. The field service division is now responsible for generating more revenue than any other part of the business having seen a rise in the percentage of revenue generated by installers leap from 11% to 21%.
For Golinelli, the significant factor in their success so far is the easy movement of data from one business unit to the next. Meanwhile, for Sky Italia, the shift to a digital workflow is already beginning to reap it’s rewards as they move field service from a cost model to a cost + revenue model whilst customer satisfaction levels increase at the same time. Perfecto!
Field Service News is published by 1927 Media Ltd, an independent publisher whose sole focus is on the field service sector. As such our entire resources are focused on helping drive the field service sector forwards and aiming to best serve our industry through honest, incisive and innovative media coverage of the global field service sector.
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