Resource Type: eBook Published by: Solarvista Title: The top 10 “often forgotten” risks when selecting field service management software
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Aug 23, 2017 • Features • resources • white papers • White Papers & eBooks • Software and Apps • software and apps • solarvista
Resource Type: eBook
Published by: Solarvista
Title: The top 10 “often forgotten” risks when selecting field service management software
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!
Synopsis:
Selecting the right solution to meet your field service software needs is crucial. This eBook explores 10 often overlooked risks that companies must consider when selecting a FSM solution that could save expense and time during and after implementation.
Overview
The eBook focusses on ten often overlooked considerations field service organisations should address when selecting a new field service management solution. As well as identifying pitfalls to be aware of the eBook also looks at means of overcoming them.
The areas of focus within the eBook include:
1. It won’t actually do what you need it to do:
This seems an obvious one and one that everyone is aware of, right? Well, not quite. Defining how any software works (and especially with field service software) is a difficult and abstract exercise and unless you work in IT as a professional (and even then you are likely to find it hard), it’s an almost impossible to be truly 100% sure that the software will do what you need it to do.
2. It’s hard to access on the devices that people really want to use:
Over the last few years, the march of new smartphone devices has exploded and of course everyone has a position about “which platform is best”.
In reality, they all have their pros and cons. Devices shouldn’t be the deciding factor. You should let people use the device they feel most comfortable with. Some might prefer iPhones, some might prefer Android etc., some Windows tablets etc.
3. It won’t connect well (or easily) to your existing systems:
Let’s face it, integration is the bug-bear of any project. Over the years, different approaches have surfaced, each one meant to “make it easy” and, whilst there has been some success, it’s mostly, by its nature, hard to get right.
It’s not so much the technology, as the process and its impact upon resulting products you may have.
4. You buy it against a fully “thought-through” RFP documents, demos and then you find out it cannot do a particular feature exactly as you need it:
This sounds like it shouldn’t happen; after all, you spent a lot of time asking every stakeholder what they needed. But so often in this scenario, we see a good 10-20% of functionality is forgotten about and it’s need is only encountered “in project”.
This causes significant scheduling, resources and budget issues. Where do you find the extra time or money to pay for such expansion of scope?
5. Once implemented, your processes and needs change, so the system becomes less relevant and/or effective:
In selecting a product and vendor, you need to make sure that the future is catered for. You are buying a future, not just for today. Your business will change and the software needs to change with it.
6. The system slows down once in heavy use and over time:
One of the key reasons for choosing a new system may be that you want a more responsive system than the current older one. The performance of software is hard to predict, especially on systems and networks used for other purposes too, such as in-house servers and networks.
To mitigate this risk, the best solution is the cloud. With cloud computing, you have virtually limitless CPU, database and network power at your disposal.
7. Your staff don’t embrace the tool enough or it doesn’t get used properly:
Let’s start by saying this isn’t a criticism. But it’s human nature (and proven dynamic) that products that are easy to use, get used the most. Field service management software falls into “complex ERP” and certainly some parts of all ERP software is complex. The users at greatest risk of this phenomenon are mobile users, such as field engineers & technicians.
8. Information isn’t connected together so getting business intelligence is difficult:
Any ERP solution will generate vast quantities of data. Getting real insight from all this data is, again, a tricky task. We see so many systems procured where the business intelligence (“BI”) is assumed to be something done AFTER the system is implemented.
9. The time it takes to implement is longer than envisaged:
We’ve already mentioned several reasons why predicting the duration of an implementation can be difficult. But by avoiding many of these mistakes, the risk to timeline can be reduced or even eliminated.
One good way we recommend to make sure you meet timelines desired (and perhaps more importantly, budget!) is to use “Agile Project” styles for both procurement and implementation.
10. You start well, but as staff leave and new people join, the use of the system degrades and it becomes less useful/relevant:
We often see this referred to as “death by a thousand cuts”. It’s more common than many think. And almost impossible to see happening unless you look closely. Slowly, over time, your people lose contact with the software, function by function, process by process.
This eBook offers further details on each of the above challenges and how to overcome them.
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!
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Aug 22, 2017 • Features • Management • management • Nick Frank • Si2 partners • Trusted Advisor
Nick Frank, Founder of Si2 partners outlines some fundamental steps that field service organisations can take to ensure their field service technicians hit the holy grail status of ‘trusted advisor'
Nick Frank, Founder of Si2 partners outlines some fundamental steps that field service organisations can take to ensure their field service technicians hit the holy grail status of ‘trusted advisor'
In Field Service we have heard a lot about the undoubted benefits of developing the Trusted Advisor skill set, but very little on how leaders can achieve this goal. It is about time we looked at this journey from the perspective of the service technician, what kind of behaviours we expect of them and the support that they need.
In my experience, there are four key elements that enable a service professional to develop into a Trusted Advisor.
1. Fix yourself first!
The key to providing excellent customer care is to first know you! What you are good at, where you struggle and how you generally interact with others. Know this and you can start to develop some of the behaviours and capabilities needed to be a Trusted Advisor. Most important is to learn to be customer centred. In any interaction with your customers, a good rule of thumb is that the communication should be 2/3 the customer and 1/3 yourself. The customer must be allowed to explain their situation and expected outcomes.
The service provider should focus on questions that clarify the situation, take the actions required to address the concerns or issues, or explain the benefits of what has been done.
However, just being customer centred is not good enough. We have to know ourselves well enough to keep our emotions in check to stay assertive and solution focussed through the customer interaction.
2. Understand the business goals
The key reason for developing the Trusted Advisor skill set is to support our companies growth. This is not about being nice!! It’s about building a relationship where customers are open to a conversation on maximising value from their equipment. Tech companies such as Oracle have been starting to see this form of ‘Customer Success’ management as a key organisation capability, but it is equally important to equipment manufacturers.
To be able to deliver on this goal, service team members need to understand:
- How the business makes money and their contribution to that process.
- The expectations on them as a Trusted Advisor and where on the Support to Sales continuum we want them to be. This is key! One of the major reasons these initiatives can fail is that the service technician feels they have to sell, which can quickly destroy the ‘trust’ in the relationship. This is when communication and re-enforcement of the message is critical to success.
- The wider business offerings the company provides and the value they can bring to the customer
- In your industry, what does the customer really value and trust.[/unordered_list]
3. Fix the Customer
Only when you understand yourself and the customer, are you ready to act as a Trusted Advisor. There are some helpful guidelines that really can help technicians do an excellent job.
- Make sure there is a clear process and expectation for the customer interaction. For example I have heard many service managers use the mantra; ‘Fix yourself, Fix the customer, Fix the situation’
- Develop communication skills required to be successful such as ‘Active Listening’ to develop empathy with the customer, ‘Talk well’ to quickly identify the issue and ‘Develop Rapport’ to build the relationship.
- Make it easy to accesses information on the customer such as problem & upgrade history, BOM, visits and orders.
- Provide tools and training that helps technicians identify pain points and articulate the value of different options the customer might have.
- Provide a clear path to closing the sale that does not compromise the relationship. In most customer environments, trust is created because there is not a sales discussion but a benefits discussion. To close the sale, the Technician needs to have a very easy process that allows the customer to take the next steps without feeling they have been pressured. Generally this is either a lead generation process where inside sales will follow up and close the opportunity, or it might be the availability of a fast and easy order placement to satisfy the need for ‘low value’ orders.[/unordered_list]
4. Motivation - Practice makes Perfect
But how to ensure motivation? Some people are motivated by money and some are more motivated by solving the customer’s problems (generally technicians). There is no right or wrong answer, it all depends on your people and what makes them tick. Whatever direction you choose, you should make sure that the Trusted Advisor role is embedded in their job profile through balanced performance measures. Another important facet to motivation is to share best practices and experiences with colleagues.
Have senior technicians coach or mentor the more junior. Use direct customer feedback insights and processes to demonstrate that Trusted Advisor behaviour does make a real difference to customer’s satisfaction and loyalty.
Developing Trusted Advisor capability in your team is very much a management art. So gaining different perspectives from internal and external colleagues is extremely important as you raise self-awareness, discover the secrets of consultative selling, coaching and best practices.
If you would like more practical advice on how to get the most from your service operation, you can contact Nick Frank at nick.frank@si2partners.com
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Aug 21, 2017 • Features • Brexit • Future of FIeld Service • Weetabix • servicemax • Servitization • Spencer Earp
With Article 50 triggered and Brexit negotiations underway Spencer Earp, Senior Vice President EMEA & APAC for ServiceMax, a GE company asks just how important can field services be for UK PLC...
With Article 50 triggered and Brexit negotiations underway Spencer Earp, Senior Vice President EMEA & APAC for ServiceMax, a GE company asks just how important can field services be for UK PLC...
The last place you would expect to find a microcosm of Britain’s proposed industrial strategy is in a cereal bowl. As iconic breakfast brand Weetabix announced plans to invest £30m to expand its UK manufacturing facilities, its Chinese owner Bright Foods was considering a sale and there are plenty of suitors.
Weetabix is apparently bucking a breakfast trend, growing its market share and creating jobs but it is far from Brexit-proof. Price hikes it says are expected.
Just a week earlier UK Prime Minister Theresa May outlined her proposals for a new industrial strategy for Britain and Weetabix is exhibiting the sort of dynamism May hopes to re-create.
But while it may serve as a valuable example in developing the right conditions for growth, it may prove an exception to the rule.
While UK GDP figures put in a strong finish to a turbulent 2016, the outlook remains uncertain.
This year will be dominated by trading negotiations and a fluctuating pound and we are expected to feel the start of a pricing pinch.
Easier said than done. The focus will no doubt be on streamlining manufacturing processes, minimising costs, encouraging inward investment and using post-Brexit freedoms to use government subsidies to promote growth, such as targeted tax incentives and increased research and development grants. All good stuff but what can businesses do themselves?
How can the government proposals deliver ideas and strategies that touch all aspects of the supply chain, for example? How can a new business plan for Britain remove cost from the company and yet improve its attractiveness and productivity?
The analogies with the field service industry are startling. Field service has often suffered from under investment or derision. Businesses have regarded service as a cost to the business but this is changing.
New technology is turning everything on its head, with service increasingly seen as a critical business function. Business strategies are evolving along service lines, recognising that affordable sensors, automation and increased mobility are having a profound impact on how products are sold and of course supported. Brand reputations are rising or falling on the back of it and above all service led companies are increasingly profitable and efficient.
A recent report from Vanson Bourne revealed that 86% of execs surveyed said they expect field service to become a primary revenue driver in the next two years. Results from the Technology Services Industry Association (TSIA) Field Service benchmarking study also found that businesses “saw an improvement in renewal rates of up to seven points when field service engineers took the initiative to drive adoption versus engaging only in break/fix maintenance activities.”
In her speech to the World Economic Forum at Davos in January, Theresa May talked about facing up to change, redrawing the international image and making Britain truly internationalist.
The industrial strategy is part of this new thinking, but turning words into tangible actions will demand a cultural shift within organisations if the manufacturing sector is to be competitive and profitable.
It demands an automated, end-to-end field service management plan, one that empowers field service professionals in the business and recognises the value service can have to an industrial strategy.
Interestingly, GE drives more than 70 percent of its profits from the service business. It’s a strategy that works. Mobility and smart device technology are at the heart of this and something that will only accelerate rapidly with the advent of 5G networks.
In its Emerging Trends in Mobility report, the TSIA claimed that the rapid development of video conferencing, mobile knowledge management applications and wearables is rapidly creating an even greater positive impact on the service industry and business profitability.
It’s like a perfect storm and one that could and should carry UK manufacturing forward. It is this understanding of how the latest cloud-based technologies can underpin an industrial strategy that can help to drive differentiation and efficiency.
Not all manufacturers can do a Weetabix, but they can embrace ‘servitisation’. The industrialists and thinkers of Whitehall would do well to take note.
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Aug 18, 2017 • Features • Autonomous Vehicles • infographics • resources • Denmon Pearlman • Driveless Vehicles • driverless cars
The conversation around how driverless cars can be implemented in field service operations and the benefits they bring is an important one - however, one part of the conversation often overlooked is how autonomous vehicles could help field service...
The conversation around how driverless cars can be implemented in field service operations and the benefits they bring is an important one - however, one part of the conversation often overlooked is how autonomous vehicles could help field service organisations ensure their vehicles are being driven within legal limits.
Fortunately the good folks at Denmon Pearlman have put together an excellent infographic on the subject which should make interesting reading for field service and fleet management professionals alike...
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Aug 17, 2017 • Features • FLS • Mobile App • REWE • Workforce Scheduling • fast lean smart • Johannes Steegmann
REWE Markt GmbH, with more than 3,000 REWE locations and 90,000 employees, ranks among the leading corporations in the German food retail business.
REWE Markt GmbH, with more than 3,000 REWE locations and 90,000 employees, ranks among the leading corporations in the German food retail business.
REWE is not only a big player as a brick and mortar retailer, but it is also a leading online pioneer with the establishment of an online supermarket which offers delivery services. Since its opening in 2011, it has grown to reach roughly 40 percent of German households. Those customers are served from 30 locations that deliver to more than 75 cities and their suburban areas.
The challenge
“We strive to offer our customers supreme service, regardless whether it is on site at the supermarket or online“ says Dr. Johannes Steegmann, Director of Marketing, Strategy and Ventures at REWE Digital GmbH. REWE delivery service offers a large selection of the products of the brick and mortar supermarkets. REWE’s mission as well as it’s challenge is to get the merchandise to the customer’s doorstep at peak quality and promptly within the requested delivery window.
The solution
To ensure and further improve customer satisfaction while growing and expanding service, REWE decided in 2015 to implement new software for planning the routes of their delivery vehicles. Its main objective is to optimise timely fulfilment within short delivery windows. For that purpose, the software must be able to consider real-time components such as heavy traffic or varying idleness in its planning. The technology must be flexible to be customised to REWE’s delivery service, specifically providing scalability as well as customisation and interfacing with other systems.
The decisive factors for choosing FLS, Fast Lean Smart, as their software partner were the flexibility of the FLS software solutions VISITOUR and FLS MOBILE as well as the performance of their PowerOpt algorithm and cost based calculations.
Customer friendly delivery windows
Customers make their purchase at the online shop on the website or with the REWE delivery service app, then they decide their delivery window which can be set up to 13 days in advance. The choices are either short 2-hour delivery windows or half-day windows. The available appointments are provided via direct real-time interface with FLS VISITOUR.
FLS VISITOUR calculates an optimised virtual constellation route and instantly knows the relative cost of each possible time-slot given existing delivery commitments. REWE are able to provide not only high quality and reliable customer service, but also ensure a cost-efficient line-up of delivery appointments for the company. As soon as customers choose and confirm their delivery date and time, those appointments are added to the route planning, optimised with “what-if-when” considerations. FLS VISITOUR calculates routes in real-time and to street level detail and, despite the high user count and large offering of delivery slots, the software proves its enormous computing capacity.
Mobile App for real-time communication
Drivers receive their route data on their mobile app FLS MOBILE. Drivers then report their status back to FLS VISITOUR via the app and inform when deliveries have been completed. That way, central planning always has a real-time update on the status of all deliveries.
The benefits
“We are constantly developing new standards across all processes along the supply chain, as we aim to fulfil our customers’ requests even better “, says Jörg Unruh, Director of Logistics at REWE Digital. He is convinced: “The decision to use FLS VISITOUR and FLS MOBILE for scheduling and route planning was right on the mark. Furthermore, the software helps us as it simplifies processes and delivers consistent performance. Here, we can count on FLS as our reliable partner."
Awards for the online delivery service confirm that REWE keeps its promises to its customers. In 2015 the IT magazine “CHIP “named REWE delivery service “Best online delivery service” with significant lead ahead of the competition. In spring 2016 the “ComputerBild” magazine reached the same conclusion and to top it all REWE was crowned best multi-channel provider by the business press “Internet World Business” during their Shop Awards.
FLS has come to know the REWE delivery service as a nimble enterprise and this creates ideal conditions for partnership and to respond to the demands of the business model together with innovative solutions.
“On-line food retail is a high volume business and giving the best customer experience is key to brand loyalty. FLS VISITOUR real-time service optimisation technology has proven flexible to meet the needs of one of Europe’s largest retailers.”, commented Jeremy Squire, FLS UK Managing Director, “We enjoy an excellent partnership with REWE and have long term commitment to stretching the boundaries for customer service excellence in combination with operational efficiencies”
Highlights:
- Cost optimisation in route planning
- High scalability without sacrificing performance
Benefits:
- Considerable improvement of the appointment planning with simultaneous increase
in cost efficiency - Automation and simplification of route planning processes
- Ensuring the operative growth through transparency and continuous performance
- Seamless connection of the appointment portal for the customers and the operative
route planning
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Aug 10, 2017 • Features • Management • management • James Alexander
The New Driver of Business Success
Senior managers from all types of businesses in all types of industries are discovering that one role takes the spotlight in deepening key relationships—the field service engineer. No one has more potential impact...
The New Driver of Business Success
Senior managers from all types of businesses in all types of industries are discovering that one role takes the spotlight in deepening key relationships—the field service engineer. No one has more potential impact on the success of the company and its key customers than the FSE...no one. High-performing field service pros are where the action is, orchestrating a superb customer experience, proactively preventing problems before they occur, and leveraging relationships to rock out customers and lock out the competition.1
Research Validation: What Execs Say
Following are some executive comments taken from my research2 that reveal the power of the stellar field service professional.
One senior executive from a huge telecommunications company talked about it in terms of competitive advantage: “Our lifeblood depends on the capabilities of our top field service personnel to differentiate our company from others in the industry. They understand our customers’ issues and are creative in developing solutions to address them. They have become evangelists for our products and solutions and are often used in presales situations to demonstrate our capabilities.”
A global head of services for a manufacturing company put it this way: “Our field engineers make one million customer calls per year. When they build deep relationships, our customer loyalty soars. We must maximize this opportunity.”
Obviously, this is a topic of significance to business leaders and an evolution/revolution worth pursuing!
FLASH POINT: Unleash your service brilliance!
The Attributes of the Brilliant Field Service Professional
OK, so you’re convinced. But you’re probably wondering: What does a brilliant FSE look like?
Brilliant service professionals are, well, brilliant, and their glow lights the way to stellar performance.
Figure 1 illustrates the attributes of the Brilliant FSE. Let’s review this diagram from right to left, starting with the results: repeatable, sustainable performance.
Figure 1: Attributes of the Brilliant Field Service ProfessionalRepeatable, Sustainable Performance
When FSEs rock, the outputs are repeatable, sustainable, value-adding performance. The impact is huge: Loyal customers get phenomenal value from their investment in your company and sing your praises far and wide. Your company achieves strong, profitable growth, in both products and services, and locks out the competition. And you, the brilliant service pro, get the rewards and recognition befitting your contribution and your status. Sounds like a classic win-win-win to me!
Trust-Building Behaviours
Top performers get brilliant results by behaving differently from average service providers. They must do many things well, but the very best service pros act in ways that quickly build and maintain integrity. They ooze credibility as they proactively build trust.
Tools
The service rock star is a big believer in using tools. He enthusiastically embraces any checklist of required actions, set of practices, or relevant case study that can help him retain quality while doing his job faster and easier.
Competencies
Five competencies are integrated within the brilliant FSE:
#1 Value-creating mindset. The brilliant field services pro possesses a view of life based on creating value. He understands the big picture and collaborates with customers and colleagues to deliver business results and personal wins.
Here are what executives have said on this topic:
- “They build upon their credibility and relationship skills to find bigger customer needs and recommend appropriate solutions.”
- “They understand the big picture.”
- “Our top performers have a holistic viewpoint. They clearly see the importance and the fit of services and support as part of the overall solution when combined with hardware, software, and consumables. Our average performers fail to leverage the strength and diversity of our entire organisation.”
- “They have a program-level horizon instead of a project-level horizon.”
- “They look beyond their role with regard to ‘what would the CEO want to know?’”
#2 Customer acumen. The stellar FSEs knows a lot about his customers. He understands his customer’s industry, his customer’s markets, his company’s competitors, and his customer’s competitors. Furthermore, he is savvy about business in general.
Executive comments regarding customer acumen include:
- “They have knowledge of both the customer’s environment and our business. They take the trouble to understand more, and it pays off.”
- “They have a better grasp of overall business needs.”
- “They bring a rich portfolio of practical experiences and relationships with others, and they possess an understanding of business dynamics and market trends.”
#3 Relationship skills. The brilliant FSE knows that relationships are what matter in work and in all aspects of life. He is a master of the four core relationship skills of listening with intensity, probing with purpose, presenting powerfully, and acknowledging concerns.
Again, here are some direct quotes from my research participants that emphasise the criticality of these skills:
- “My top performers possess not just adequate or good communication skills, they have great communication skills.”
- “They communicate the invisible well.”
- “They display superior creativity in listening to customer issues and creating a solution strategy that clearly shows how it solves the problem quickly and thoroughly. The differentiator is their level of creativity, their understanding of issues, and the speed with which they react.”
- “They are superb communicators with clients, team members, and management within our company.”
- “They find a way to outline options and pros and cons to the customer in such a way that this becomes the customer’s direction.”
#4 Engagement management. The very best understand the steps to getting things done, how problems are solved, and how to best interact with the customer. Internally, he uses the knowledge management system, follows procedures, uses prescribed tools, and provides accurate updates on all work in a timely fashion.
#5 Technical proficiency. The brilliant services pro knows enough about his technology, products, and services to get things done. Interestingly, deep technical know-how is not vital in most situations.
Here are some comments from my research that demonstrate this point:
- “My star performers are all good technically, however, most are not technical experts--they know when to bring in technical gurus when needed.”
- “Interestingly, many of my people who customers see as trusted advisors are only technically adequate. They deliver their value through helping customers connect the dots--showing how the best use of our solutions can have a big impact on that customer’s issues.”
If You Want It, You Can Have It
So there it is: Five competencies that are enhanced by tools and mobilized by trust-building behaviors that will yield the results that customers crave and executives yearn for. Like anything of value, it will take some work, but the good news is that the attributes are known, the skills determined, and the steps to success defined. If you want it, you can have it.
Endnotes
- I talk in detail about the rising criticality of services within product companies and the opportunities and challenges it brings in my book Seriously Selling Services: How to Build a Profitable Services Business in Any Industry.
- Alexander, James A. 2007. “Transitioning Technical Experts into Trusted Advisors.” St. James City, FL: Alexander Consulting.
This article was adapted from The Brilliant Service Professional: Building Trust, Creating Value, Having Fun, by James “Alex” Alexander, and can be purchased on Amazon.com or the Alexander Consulting website.
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Aug 05, 2017 • Features • Future of FIeld Service • Mark Brewer • Mark Homer • Paul Whitelam • ClickSoftware • IFS • IoT • servicemax • The Big Discussion
In the Big Discussion we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...
In the Big Discussion we take one topic, bring together three leading experts on that topic and put four key questions to them across four weeks to help us better understand its potential impact on the field service sector...
This time around we turn to a brand new topic which is the Internet of Things and our experts are Paul Whitelam, ClickSoftware, Mark Homer, ServiceMax from GE Digital and Mark Brewer, IFS...
The first question of this topic was "Just how big is the potential impact of IoT on Field Service?" whilst the second answered was "Is IoT now making the shift from early adoption to mass adoption amongst field service companies?" and last week the questions was "What are the challenges of implementing an IoT strategy within field service operation?
And now the final question on this topic
Question Four: Are field service companies who are not adopting IoT at risk of becoming non- competitive?
The urgency around IoT adoption varies from one vertical industry to the next, but the cost of service delivery and need for greater visibility are universal concerns. The old business adage “you manage what you measure” certainly applies.
If your competitors have a level of insight that enables them to increase the number of jobs per technician per day or reduce critical failures by 90% thanks to preventative measure, the business benefits are powerful and quantifiable.
Increased efficiency and productivity, and slashing the cost of missed SLA penalties, that has direct impact on customer satisfaction and profitability. IoT can deliver exactly these types of insights and business outcomes, and only service organisations that invest in IoT capabilities will reap these rewards.
In a word, yes. This is much more than just a ‘nice to have’ scenario. In most industries, margins are too thin and competition is too fierce to simply guesstimate how much capacity a piece of equipment can cope with, and it seems positively archaic to run a reactive break/fix service mentality in today’s connected age.
Industrial downtime is no joke. Unplanned downtime in just about every industry has a significant impact.
The Aberdeen Group last year reported that the cost of downtime across industries went up to $260,000 per hour on average between 2014 and 2016. That’s a huge jump with a considerable hit on any business.
On top of that, most companies don’t know how best to optimise uptime availability in different conditions, such as managing volatility, meeting peak demand or managing performance in extreme conditions. If your competitors are addressing this problem and you’re not, you’re surrendering market share. Digital disruption is set to wipe out 40% of the Fortune 500 companies in the next 10 years and the Industrial Internet will play a big part in that disruption, as well as the survival and success of companies.
The question isn’t why would you, but rather why wouldn’t you?
Definitely!
The potential gains in cost efficiency and improved service offerings are tremendous. IoT has the potential to disrupt entire industries. Organisations that aren’t educating themselves on the potential, road mapping an IoT strategy, or structuring their organisation to be IoT-ready may not see the risk now but they will definitely be laggards in 5-10 years.
IDC predicts that the installed base of IoT endpoints will grow to more than 30 billion by the end of the decade from just less than 13 billion units in 2015.
As a consequence, machine-generated data will comprise an increasing share of stored data: by 2020, 10 percent of the 44 zettabyte digital universe will originate from IoT devices.
In five years, there will be seven times more IoT data than there is today.
Look out of the next topic in our Big Discussion series coming soon...
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Aug 04, 2017 • Features • Kirona • Paul Sanders • Software and Apps • software and apps
Paul Saunders of Kirona explains why just “making do” is a dangerous approach when it comes to your field service management systems...
Paul Saunders of Kirona explains why just “making do” is a dangerous approach when it comes to your field service management systems...
The majority of field service organisations have a mobile solution which meets their needs to varying degrees, however for a large proportion of these organisations, the solution was implemented for a specific contract and then rolled out to other contracts where it’s not a perfect fit or was implemented several years ago, met 100% of the “then” requirements of the organisation but has failed to keep up with the changing requirements of the organisation, their customers or even technology.
This leaves many “making do” with a mobile solution that is expensive to maintain, hard to adapt and less responsive when it comes to providing a competitive advantage above their competitors, mobilising new contracts or delivering additional value on existing contracts.
The contract won and the service delivered by a field service organisation three years ago is typically different to a contract to deliver a similar service today, with clients requiring a different level of service, more efficiencies, more flexibly, all with great visibility.
Organisations require a more flexible, enterprise class mobile solution that can “adapt” to meet the various needs of the field service organisation and contracts that it provides
Today as a minimum, a field service mobile solution should be capable of integrating with multiple back office solutions, as the majority of field service delivery organisations either end up having multiple back office works management solutions (as they acquire businesses or contracts) or have other systems such as HR, finance, etc.
A modern field service organisation needs a mobile solution that is independent of its FM back office capable of delivering a mobile job that varies from contract to contract, meeting the specific requirements of that contract. Therefore the mobile solution needs to be configurable allowing a single PPM or reactive job type to be modified to be specific to the contract that it’s deployed for.
As an example an organisation might have a standard PPM or reactive job type, with standard fields and workflow deployed to the mobile device, however when a job for contract ‘A’ is received by the mobile solution, additional workflows and data collection might be added automatically to meet the requirements of that contract prior to it being dispatched to the mobile device. This might be contract specific surveys, health and safety checks or intelligence gathering that might deliver additional benefit to the FS organisation or their customer.
Where does this additional data collected get held?
Typically the FS back office solutions are not flexible enough to enable this additional contract specific data storage therefore the mobile solutions server component needs to be capable of storing and making this information available either through integration or reporting.
As many field service back office solutions cannot handle the complex process workflows required by a modern field service organisation this is also something that is often required by the solution that is actually “doing the work”, i.e. the mobile solution.
The ability to implement workflows before and after a task has been dispatched to the field is another key component
Organisations would need to have developers who develop and tweak their existing solution to meet the needs of them or their customer, or they get their suppliers to do this. They should have a mobile solution capable of being configured and tested in minutes/hours, not days or weeks to meet their exacting requirements.
Kirona’s Job Manager Suite including Job Manager Mobile is a two part solution, JM Mobile and Control Centre. JM Control Centre is capable of being integrated with multiple back office solutions. Within JM Control Centre, users can configure what a standard job type is (such as PPM or Reactive) as well as what additional contract specific workflow or data requirements are required for each instance of this job on a mobile device all without the need for supplier or an organisations development team.
JM Control Centre and JM Mobile can also allow complex contact specific workflows to be implemented, ensuring compliance to the field service organisations standards and processes as well as their customers. This workflow also removes the need for back office intervention for follow-on’s jobs, special tasks, approvals, etc. reducing the resource requirements of organisations.
All of the above gives field service organisations and their customer’s greater flexibility whilst gaining in-house control of their job workflow, something most organisations have never had, enabling them and their customers to be proactive as well as reactive, collect more information for their customer and their customers sites and gain a competitive advantage to enable execute contracts more effectively and to win more business.
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Aug 03, 2017 • Features • Alistair Sorbie • crowd service • Future of FIeld Service • Paul Massey • ClickSoftware • David Yarnold • IFS • ServiceERP • servicemax • servicepower • telogis
There has been considerable Mergers and Acquisitions activity amongst field service management solution providers across the last eighteen months. At the same time we have seen a rapid rise in the adoption of servitization based business models,...
There has been considerable Mergers and Acquisitions activity amongst field service management solution providers across the last eighteen months. At the same time we have seen a rapid rise in the adoption of servitization based business models, which has driven a move away from traditional break-fix SLA based maintenance contracts to contracts based around guarantees of uptime and availability.
Does this provide both the opportunity and the need for the development of new breed of field based platforms - the Service ERP? Kris Oldland, FSN Editor-in-Chief, reports...
For as long as there has been Field Service Management (FSM) Solutions there has always been a conversation around how well a solution integrates with other key business systems in the B2B world it has largely been about connecting through an ERP system, in B2C the same conversation was centred around bolting on a field service solution onto a CRM.
Indeed for many years use of a dedicated FSM system could be avoided entirely either by some clever and hugely laborious recoding of the functionality of an existing tool such as SAP or Oracle for example, or alternatively some equally ingenious means of reworking existing processes and relabelling existing form fields to find a semi-workable solution.
With the advent of Cloud computing and the democratising impact of the emergence of the SaaS revenue model we have seen a far greater and more widespread adoption of FSM systems from companies of all sizes
However, with the advent of Cloud computing and the democratising impact of the emergence of the SaaS revenue model we have seen a far greater and more widespread adoption of FSM systems from companies of all sizes in all sectors.
In turn, this increased use of FSM systems has driven further product development and feature enhancements in what is a relatively small but Undoubtedly fiercely competitive sector.
Meanwhile, we have also seen service, and in particular field service rise in importance amongst the executive boards in all areas as the world begins to adapt to the twenty first century and it’s service centric, on-demand driven business models. Uber and Amazon are thrown around constantly as examples of best practice (even though the former have yet to break even apparently) in today’s data driven world, and are very much tools of their time.
Closer to home within FSM systems, indeed the gig-economy is one of a number of new twenty first century additions to the field service equation - as are challenges of an ageing workforce, dealing with a customer base more empowered and more vocal (via the joy of social media) than ever before, plus the emergence of game changing technology such as IoT and Augmented Reality.
With the investment in solutions at an all time high, we are seeing an emerging race to become the dominate platform for the increasingly lucrative and important field service sector begin to heat up with a series of FSM providers including IFS, ServicePower, ServiceMax, ClickSoftware and Telogis all being acquired - and the story in the large part is very much the same from each of them - the investment is intended to help them get to their technology (and sales and marketing) ready to take a podium finish.
This of course is driving development in terms of technology, further and faster than ever before.
Have we finally reached a point where we can see the solutions that are essentially today’s FSM systems ready to step out of the shadows of their business software cousins CRM and ERP and stand shoulder to shoulder with them as an equally valid business system?
With all the investment in the FSM sector are we reaching a point where FSM systems will no longer be just a humble add on for ERP but a mission critical service and business delivery platform within it’s own right. You use your ERP for product-based activities you FSM system for all service and aftermarket related activities with a CRM, and financial package sitting across the perhaps? Of course, the likes of Gartner and other such important acronym makers would argue (and they’d have a point to be fair) that such a system would be probably a bit more than FSM so we would need a new bunch of letters to put together.
My humble suggestion would be Service ERP (sERP) but this may cause confusion with those pesky marketeer types and their Search Engine Results Pages (hence why I went with a small s at the front), but quite frankly other than needing something to refer to in this article, I’ll let the real industry makers work that one out.
The important thing is the concept - which I genuinely think is the logical conclusion of all this talk around FSM platforms.
We are at a level now with integration and cloud technology, where things just talk to each other naturally, or at least they are supposed to and that is definitely the path we’re heading down.
With this in mind, I believe the route we are heading down will lead us to a point where companies will look at their mix of business systems and say OK my ERP is SAP (for example) and that handles my production and manufacturing side of a business.
And then my sERP/FSM system - which includes scheduling, a mobile piece (including Augmented Reality), customer management (including CSAT and other customer engagement pieces), parts management, reverse logistics, asset management (including IoT connectivity) and anything and everything else required for running the service and aftermarket side of the business - is in place to run that part of our operations.
Essentially, for a company that only offers third party service, the sERP platform could be all they need as long as it included a light CRM embedded in there as well.
From a field service management perspective there has always been a feeling that FSM has always been the bridesmaid and would never be the bride, that we would always be the slightly poorer relations feeding off the table crumbs of our close, yet infinitely more important cousins in the ERP and CRM world.
But given the rising growth in importance of service in the global business ecosystem, given the amount of Tier A companies shifting their business models, at least in part, to a servitized business model where delivery of uptime replaces traditional break-fix SLAs and sloppy service will result in direct loss of revenue – it is of little surprise that those companies offering the tools to ensure that service is delivered as efficiently and productively as possible have become a major focus for investment of late.
As mentioned above FSM is rapidly gaining in recognition as an important tool within the business software ecosystem, the question is just where will that rise to prominence end – so is the prospect of FSM ultimately being the opposite side of the coin to ERP likely?
Is it just a short-term bubble as the world realigns itself to a more service orientated future and the major ERP players re-interpret their platforms to add more attention and focus to service related activities
I recently discussed this conversation at length with Marne Martin, CEO of ServicePower, one of the key organisations within the FSM sector that have recently attracted significant Private Equity investment.
It is interesting to note that as with the private equity investment in both ClickSoftware and IFS, the intention does not appear to either asset strip the technology and look for a quick buck or prime the business for a bigger sale in the near future - which is so often the case of such investments. In fact, in all three cases it seems that the goal is to plough further resources into R&D and marketing to help each respective company flourish. In the case of ServicePower it is very much a case of a boost in resources to help meet what Martin sees as their own longer term vision a lot quicker than they could have done so organically.
Indeed, Martin’s comments on the matter are almost an exact echo of what Paul Massey Managing Director, IFS and Dave Yarnold, CEO, ServiceMax told me when I spoke to them both about the recent investments within their own businesses.
Yes, the cynic in me might see the similar sound bites as nothing more than holding up a business-as-normal-here flag to allay any customer fears and perhaps even more importantly those of prospective customers. Yet, I don’t think that is the case. At the last IFS world conference, Massey (and indeed CEO Alastair Sorbie) made a big point about Field Service being one of the top three priorities for the business in the wake of investment from EQT, given they are an ERP provider with a lot of other areas of focus within their business, this in itself was a significant endorsement of the vibrancy of the sector.
Similarly, when speaking with Yarnold about why GE Digital was the right home for ServiceMax, the conversation was very much focussed around how having access to both the technology of the Predix platform but also importantly the brand power of GE to open doors at the C-Suite level of enterprise, was a significant factor.
Close to a Billion $USD will certainly be part of the reason GE Digital were able to bring the market leader of an increasingly important technology market into their fold, but one also suspects that the opportunity for Yarnold to further expand his vision and ambition for the system he and two others launched in California just over a decade ago was another fundamental element to why GE Digital was the right destination.
Indeed he even commented at the “I didn’t just want to see us end up as part of another CRM/ERP system”.
So did Martin agree with my assertions that FSM would become equally as powerful and important as CRM and ERP in the future?
“I believe so, but with a few caveats” she replied
“If you think about what a CRM does, in it’s most basic, a lot of CRMs are structured around loading in your customer data, their buying patterns, and their contacts – so if you have sales people that churn then you have all that data still. At it’s most simplistic that is what a CRM covers at the basic level. That is pretty straight forward. And if they want all of the other functionalities of a more robust CRM provider then they can pay for it from one of the million and one CRM providers.”
“It’s the same as when you think of a typical ERP - a lot of that is built around finance and accounting packages there’s a million good finance and accounting packages out there and we’re not trying to become a finance - what we are interested in is the use cases around a mobile worker.”
“Give the mobile worker the tools to do everything they need to do in their business. So that they can access what they need to know about the customer, about the asset, where parts are, what they need to do on the service contracts and so on.”
One of the big shifts that we have seen in recent years is the power of data to transform the way we operationalise our business
Of course, one of the big shifts that we have seen in recent years is the power of data to transform the way we operationalise our business as Business Intelligence platforms powered by the Cloud, IoT and Big Data give field service organisations greater visibility into both their customers and their own operations more than ever before.
At large we are seeing a seismic shift in how field service is measured, both in terms of operational and success metrics.
“That’s very true.” Martin agreed when I put this point to her.
“The field service industry really is in a state of evolution. It’s on the verge of transforming itself into both a customer centric focus looking to bring the power of customer relationship management into the field, while also incorporating technology around machine learning, Internet of Things, and more actionable insights from data.”
“That’s also what is attracting so much acquisition activity. To get to the next level, any business with field based resources must invest in technology and business process consulting to move forward. Mobile workforce management is key to any organisation performing activities away from a plant or office.”
“We are still seeing companies at differing levels of business or use case complexity, some still moving from paper or less sophisticated platforms and others ready to move beyond their current technology to the next level technology in order to incorporate actionable insights and efficiencies from emerging technologies like wearables and IoT, the power of big data, and machine learning are also now realities. Whereas in the past they were nebulous concepts, their ability to be incorporated into mobile workforce software is reality today.”
Perhaps at the heart of the current spate of rapid development within our sector is the fact that all of these emerging technologies can be combined to solve traditional challenges. Whilst they can bring value to service operations by themselves it is when harnessed together alongside existing technologies that we are seeing true leaps forward.
There is a whiff of chicken and egg in the question as to whether business models are driving a need for improved technology or vice versa
But as we mentioned earlier there is a whiff of chicken and egg in the question as to whether business models are driving a need for improved technology or vice versa. Martin also recognises this fact.
“It is key to recognise that the shift isn’t only about technology adoption, the industry is moving quickly towards a more consumer-centric model where the customer experience is the overriding measure of success,” she explains.
“KPIs like schedule adherence and mean time to schedule continue to be indicative of customer satisfaction, however, up-time, customer value, and propensity to purchase additional services are emerging as more dominant, and are increasingly where focus and resources are applied, to improve profitability.”
“Customer relationship management is about more than getting your sales people to sell to your accounts. It has to be about how you delight the customer after the purchase of the equipment or service contract so that they stay with you, and come back for more.”
“We have also seen so much investment into call centre technology, but in reality, customers don’t want to talk to a call centre if they don’t have to. So technologies which improve the experience, like self-service customer portals which offer the ability to book real time appointments, monitor status, and interact with scheduled mobile workers before and during the visit, integrated knowledge management, machine learning, and actionable insights are what drive additional or longer term revenue, driving profitability. Customer satisfaction and profitability are the new reality for field service organisations.”
So the billion dollar question for Martin and her peers in the industry is has FSM become about more than just field service now? So where does she see the industry moving now?
Indeed, where are ServicePower heading now?
“As I said, to get to the next level, any business with resources that travel beyond a given plant or office must invest in technology to move towards improved profitability and efficiency. An integrated platform is also necessary in order to not run a business in silos, but actually with the greatest intelligence related to maximising the overall performance,” she replied.
As Adam Smith said, it is about labour, capital – and now technology. Staff, parts (if applicable), and technology all need to work together for a common goal. This is also why mobile workforce technology should be on top of mind for the C-suite. CRM and ERP technology isn’t enough to have a great performing organisation if you have workers in the field”
“Mobile workforce management technology therefore isn’t only for organisations which offer field service, traditionally thought of as repair or maintenance. Any mobile worker’s productivity can be improved, the customer experience can be improved, while those traditional metrics like cost and mean time to schedule can be improved at the same time.”
“What I see often is that not only does technology have a role to play, but also equally critically, companies must be looking at business and field processes, and how to use the data within an organisation to agree actionable insights.”
The opportunity for our market is exponential - Marne Martin, ServicePower
“Mobile workforce management can be used in every one of those verticals to improve the service delivery process, improve operational metrics and delight the customer, which in turn drives additional revenue. It also when applied with the customer facing technologies as well, can bring the power of the CRM to the customer you want to retain and make another investment in your equipment or services after the point of sale. Only mobile workforce management takes your brand and your people to your current customers in a way that CRM and ERP does not.”
In conclusion she adds the final statement “The opportunity for our market is exponential.”
And I wholeheartedly concur with her on this.
We may see a few new acronyms pop up in the next few years but the future of FSM, in whatever new guise it may take, looks to be in a good place.
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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