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In part one of this series, looking at the big trends we will see in Field Service this year we looked at way the business trend of servitization is set to become more commonplace this year.

 Now in the second part of this series Kris Oldland looks at the impact the Internet of Things and Augmented Reality might have in field service...

The Internet of Things has arrived and has two feet firmly in the field service industry

OK so this is a bit of a cheat given that in my intro I pointed out that this was the one I got right in 2015.

However, last year I mentioned it would start to become commonplace.

This time around I’m going to go all in and state that across 2016 we will see IoT implementation become a commonplace strategy for field service companies in all corners of the globe.

Perhaps one of the big myths that was firmly debunked on our pages last year was that IoT was sole domain of the largest companies only.

 

Yes we will have read the case studies and white papers by the likes of GE, Schneider and Phillips and yes the stuff these big guys are doing with IoT is really, pretty damn impressive.

However, there are also now a growing number of examples of smaller to medium sized companies who have harnessed IoT in order to improve the service they are delivering to their customers (and even to have moved towards a servitized business model in some instances.)

This was highlighted perfectly by leading service consultant Nick Frank in a presentation he gave during a Field Service News webinar last year.

Frank gave a number of examples of SME’s utilising IoT, often with fairly simple, and dare I say it relatively lo-tech solutions, that were as much about thinking about the service these companies were delivering and how ‘outside-the-box’ thinking could improve that service.

In fact it was a core facet in all of the companies Frank referred to in the webinar, and indeed also those companies he often refers to in his regular column for Field Service News, that they intrinsically understood what good service looked like for their customers, and they viewed the emergence of IoT as an enabler and facilitator in delivering and enhancing that service.

Of course, for some companies innovation sits within their DNA so adopting new technologies and approaches is nothing to be feared.

However, this isn’t necessarily the case for all companies, so it is perhaps the recent launch of ‘Connected Field Service’ by ServiceMax, that finally connects the IoT dots for the rest of the pack.

It was perhaps inevitable ever since ServiceMax and PTC got into bed together in May last year that we would see a fully IoT enabled, Field Service solution merge as the fruits of this union.

But when ServiceMax capitalised on the growing emergence of Salesforce as a business platform, they were a young, wet-behind-the-ears business,that slipped under their competitors radar before it was too late and suddenly everyone was trying to play catch-up.

 

You can be sure that they won’t be given as much grace a second time around and almost certainly other significant field service management software providers like ClickSoftware, IFS et al will soon be in the IoT game as well.

Indeed ServicePower are also rumoured to have an agreement in place with PTC so watch this space.

For field service companies though, whether they are blue chips, the smaller innovators that Frank has highlighted so well, or anything in between the ability to enhance service offerings through IoT are becoming both more accessible and more easily understood.

Indeed in our own exclusive research from October last year over half (55%) of our respondents stated they thought “IoT will become a fundamental part of field service operations in the future” whilst a further 21% went further stating that “IoT is critical to any field service organisation’s strategy”.

Augmented Reality will replace IoT as the new kid on the block everyone is talking about...

OK so if IoT is moving from the exciting cool tech everyone is talking about to the big ticket everyone is investing in, then Augmented Reality (AR) is the tech whose impact upon field service is still being outlined and explained somewhat.

However, once people grasp the concept, and the relativeease of implementation of the technology, and the quite frankly huge potential for AR to wipe significant cost lines from a field service P&L then they are almost instantly converted.

The thing is with AR that like IoT it has the potential to not just optimise the levels of productivity companies get from their service operations like mobile computing and the Cloud have done. It has the potential to completely change the way field service companies approach their service operations, and to do so for the better.

 

However, unlike IoT there isn’t the potential barrier of retrofitting hundreds, thousands or potentially millions of assets in the field.

In fact one AR provider that impressed me and everyone else that saw there demonstration at Field Service East last September (Help Lightning) offer their app as a download from the App store.

So what exactly is AR and why do I think it will have such an incredible impact?

Very simply AR is the overlaying of digital information onto the reality we see before us.

In field service, this has huge potential.

Often the largest single cost for any field service company is the cost of getting a highly skilled engineer, to fix that critical issue, for a key client ASAP. There is the cost of travel, accommodation not to mention the dead time lost whilst he is in between jobs.

AR allows us to get the experience of that engineer on-site without him being there. In fact we can utilize a less experienced engineer who is closer to the job, locally out sourced staff or even the customer themselves to undertake the physical maintenance whilst under the direct guidance of our experienced engineer who can be based in a centralized location, or even at home.

 

Through the use of AR our remote engineer can not only see exactly what the on site engineer is seeing and talk them through the repair, he can at any point freeze the image being captured by the on site engineers device and show his less experience colleague exactly what to do with hand gestures or even on screen annotations shown in real-time.

So instead of explaining over the phone ‘the dial near the mid-centre of the asset, turn it clockwise by about 20 degrees’ he can physically point to the correct dial and show how much it should be turned and this will be seen by the on site engineer on his device.

Studies have shown that the human brain is almost 20 times more receptive to being shown something via hand gestures than spoken word and this is at it’s core the power that AR provides.

And by replacing the need to ‘fly experience in’ with the ability to ‘dial it in’ field service companies could make potentially huge savings very quickly leading to a whole rethink about how we deploy our most experienced engineers.

This also leads us onto the other big area where AR could be deployed within field service, namely training.

As millennials become more and more a part of the field service landscape, the need for digitizing our knowledge banks becomes more pressing, and whilst AR can be used as a standalone training tool, for those companies utilising it actively in the field it is a simple case to record each interaction - thus building a digital knowledge library as a by-product of every AR based service call.

Given the benefits, low-cost implementation and potentially instant R.o.I surely AR will rapidly move from exciting new concept to industry staple and I think we will begin to see that traction this year.

 

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Look out for the part three of this series when smart glasses and rugged computing take centre stage…

 

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Telematics looks set to take centre stage over the next couple of years. In one arena, it will play a critical role in the connected car revolution; in another, there are predictions that the way companies buy fleet and workforce management solutions will be transformed. Sharon Clancy reports...

Fleet managers already appreciate the benefits real-time information telematics systems can deliver is deliver such as real-time vehicle location and driver performance data.

Increasingly they come with a range of other features that help field service companies manage both the vehicle fleet and driver behaviour.

This can include compliance with tax and working hours regulations, time-sheet management, vehicle maintenance scheduling and encouragement of more economical and safe driving by service technicians. It’s part of a trend where platform-based modular services for mobile workforce management have been growing in popularity.

 

Modular platform solutions encourage users to choose those apps and services which best suit their operations, providing customisation within an out-of-the-box offering. They are also user-friendly – you can start with the apps and processes that will deliver a quick ROI and add more functionality when business needs demands and when everyone in the organisation is familiar with new work processes. What’s all this got to do with telematics?

 

Well, the shift to web-based software-as-a-service means there’s no shortage of platform providers offering tracking and other telematics functions.

Not everyone calls themselves a telematics company, however.

Some telematics services have been added to other platforms as software-as-a-service companies seek to other one-stop solutions to their customers. Vehicle tracking companies, for example, now offer driver and vehicle performance monitoring tools.

Some telematics companies are using their telematics and fleet management expertise to offer a wide range of mobile workforce management: Fleetmatics is leveraging its web based fleet management platform to offer job management and other services. Microlise has developed its Clear solution specifically to answer the needs of field service organisations, while Telogis’s platform has been designed form the start for what the company calls “connected intelligence”.

 

Arriving from a different starting point is Trimble, which has added fleet management and telematics to its cloud-based field service management solutions.

 

So there are plenty of cloud-based solutions out there that will help you manage your fleet and activities in real-time.

Whatever the platform is called and whatever its original purpose, what they have in common is that all the modules are developed by the platform provider.

There might be partnerships with some third party providers, but it’s all controlled by the platform provider, not the application developer.

Unless you are TomTom, that is.

The Dutch company has moved the goalposts when it comes cloud-based services for mobile workforce management.

Whereas other companies in the telematics space are building their own eco systems with their own apps that customers can choose to customise their solution, TomTom has taken the innovative step of opening up its platform to third-party app developers.

“We want to make sure we have that end-to-end process and we also want to make it very easy,” explains Geroge de Boer, International Alliance, Manager, TomTom.

“All the apps in our app centre have out-of-the-box off-the-shelf compatibility with our Webfleet platform. All you have to do is plug them in,” he explains.

 

“Just as consumers are finding it to install an app on their smartphones, we want to make telematics as easy for our customers.”

 

Meanwhile, in the US, Telogis has become a partner with Apple, developing connected vehicle apps for the iOS platform.

The connected vehicle 

There’s a lot of current discussion about connected vehicles and the impact this will have on how we drive and used our vehicles.

Any field service company with a fleet management or telematics solution in place might wonder what all the fuss is about - telematics means they already have connected vehicles.

After all, telematics is all about real-time connectivity and data capture.

Data is collected from the vehicle, sent to a cloud-based platform where it is used for a variety of purposes depending on the app. It might be a location update, a video clip of a driving incident, or fuel consumption data.

However, with vehicle manufacturers’ focus now firmly on the connected vehicle, and with legislative pressure both in Europe and the US, the role of telematics is changing.

 

Connected vehicles are going to underpin safety initiatives such as Europe’s eCall, designed to ensure emergency services reach the scene of an accident in the shortest time possible by automatically sending an alarm.

 

After all, once that real-time connectivity is on the vehicle, why waste the opportunity to build-in more functionality?

Taco Van der Leij, Vice President Marketing with TomTom thinks the concept of connected vehicles will catch on fast.

“Usually when new developments such as connected vehicles are starting to evolve you need a killer app that proves there are benefits to customers. But fleet management and vehicle tracking is already happening – as an industry we already have millions of vehicles connected globally.”

With more connected vehicles out there, the number of apps using that connectivity will multiply, predicts Van der Leij.

“Field service companies will have much bigger scope and different possibilities to enhance their business. Imagine what it will be like if all vehicles are connected. You are looking at a different kind of application.”

“There is still a long way to go but that makes it interesting and challenging.”

Some manufacturers are developing their own  telematics solutions, others are not reinventing the wheel but turning to experienced partners to provide the platform.

Ford, for example, has turned to Telogis to provide the platform for its telematics solutions in the US and Europe. Other manufacturers are teaming up with local partners.

Business intelligence 

The more intelligence you have about your operations, the better equipped you are to be both proactive and reactive in making any changes to the business and the happier your customers will be.

 

Business intelligence can help you identify trends and patterns across all elements of the operation and discover where the bottlenecks and inefficiencies are, delivering insights into productivity, business process efficiencies, costs and customer service levels.

 

Telematics platforms play a key role: they receive the real-time data from vehicles and mobile device, cut-and-slice it the available data.

However, perhaps the biggest break through of all in the telematics space of recent years is that the technology is no longer restricted to the enterprise.

A raft of pay-per-user software-as-a-service models make the tools available to SMEs, enhancing their competitiveness, levelling the field and bringing thee benefits of up to date telematics systems to the wider market.

With the benefits of implementing a telematics solution both well documented and wide reaching, including improving driver behaviour, fuel efficiency and even reducing insurance premiums it makes sense for any field service company to adopt a telematics program of some sort.

 

Add to this the impending arrival of the connected fleet and the lower cost of implementation in the space and the barriers to adoption are also becoming fewer, which should also increase the widespread use of telematics in our sector.

 

However, as mentioned above the telematics providers market is a crowded one, with a number of differing approaches to be considered and assessing the pros and cons is an article in itself.

The biggest consideration however, must surely be to take a look at your service management suite as a whole and think how telematics can enhance your existing systems as well as how it can integrate with them.

For while the data produced from a telematics solution can be invaluable, as with any form of data it can also become quickly redundant if the data is not both easily accessible and effectively utilised.

 

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Despite the hype that has surrounded wearable computing we’ve yet to see widespread adoption in either the consumer or business world. Yet there is plenty of potential for wearable technology in field service. However, we need to change the way we see think about them argues Kris Oldland...

As far as recent technology trends go few have failed to live up to the hyperbole quite as much as wearable technology has done so far.

In 2013 Forbes magazine brashly claimed 2014 would be the year of the wearables. Then when 2014 came and went specialist mobile computing analysts CSS stated actually 2015 would be the year of the wearables.

Yet while the technology has evolved the fact remains that I’m still pretty much one of the only people I know to actually own a wearable device.

Even the ultimate technology-as-a-fashion statement brand Apple haven’t had anything close to the impact they were expected to have had.

Yet this is the consumer world, what about in the realm of industry? It’s no secret that Glass 2.0 is being geared towards the enterprise and in field service the application of such a device, which offers a completely hands free means of communication with the added bonus of the on-site engineer being able to provide a ‘see-what-i-see’ experience to a remote colleague, could potentially be truly ground-breaking.

Indeed Google shouldn’t wait too long to release a second iteration of Glass as there are plenty of other smart glasses manufacturers working with specialist developers such as Pristine IO who are already heavily engaged with the field service industry.

The fact is that smart glasses offer the opportunity for highly efficient remote assistance and often one of the biggest costs for a field service company is getting an experienced engineer half way across a continent to make that critically urgent fix for that key customer.

 

The cost of travelling, accommodation not to mention dead-time whilst the engineer is in transit could be wiped off the P&L if companies are able to get that engineer to ‘dial-in’ rather than fly-in. R.o.I could be hit within a matter of weeks and at the same time service levels are being improved as the customer is getting his assets up and running a gain far quicker.

 

The use case for smart glasses in our industry is clear. The same cannot be said for smart watches however.

Whilst some FSM solution providers have created smart watch apps, for me the benefits are minimal. An engineer still needs to turn his hands to read an incoming notification, so the solution isn’t really hands free.

Also whilst some smart watches like the Samsung Gear2 are capable of voice calls many aren’t so again hands free communication is a bit of a stretch for most smart watches.

 

And trying to manage inputting any amount of data or notes on a smart watch is a cumbersome task simply due to the limited screen real estate. Add to this the fact that these are companion devices (so the engineers need a phone anyway) and the cost/benefit equation doesn’t really stack up.

 

And this is why we to change our thinking around wearables and stop lumping smart watches and smart glasses together under the one blanket umbrella. The use cases for both are very different. One clearly has potential in field service, the other not so much.

And of course wearables aren’t just limited to glasses and watches either. Certain smart clothing could certainly play a big role in lone worker protection. Heart monitoring vests or wearable cameras certainly would have potential in this area for example.

Indeed personally I’m a big believer in the use of wearable technology within our industry. However, we absolutely need to stop thinking about wearables as a broad technology and focus on the use cases for specific devices and how they could be a useful addition to our technicians tool-kit. Once companies start doing that, then I am sure we will see more use of wearable computing within the field service industry.

 

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In this new series we’ll be exploring mobile device specifications, helping organisations decide what’s essential for their field service operations and what’s “nice-to-have-but-not-critical”. In this first article, we ask: is rugged best?

It all starts with what’s fit-for-purpose, explains Sharon Clancy...

More people now use smartphones and tablets in their personal lives, we are used to having these powerful computing tools in our pockets, helping us to organise our lives, entertain us keep in touch with family and friends and to buy stuff.

We take for granted multi-functionality, intuitive user interfaces, simple-to-use apps and easy connectivity.

As a result, expectations of mobile devices in the workplace have gone up.

The impact of this trend – often called "consumerisation of IT” - in field service is considerable.

It has given new impetus not just to the longstanding debate about the merits of rugged devices versus consumer devices but also what type of mobile device is best suited for the task in hand: handheld computer, touchscreen phone, tablet or notebook.

 

Another affect is that field service companies deploying mobile devices want shorter times from project start-up to roll-out and a return-on-investment within months.

There’s also been a shortening in device refresh cycle times – down from a typical five years to three. No-one wants to risk being disadvantaged in operational efficiency and customer service because they still have two years to go before the planned device refresh.

As the consumer market for smartphones and tablets matures manufacturers can no longer rely on consumers frequently upgrading devices.

Consequently, consumer device manufacturers are casting their eyes at the potentially still growing and lucrative mobile enterprise and B2B sector.

Fit-for-purpose

With no shortage of devices to choose from, deciding what’s best for your service operation is no easy task.

Fit-for-purpose should be the starting point for any deployment, say the experts. What tasks will the device be used for?

Ease-of-use of can have a big effect on productivity and user-acceptance – would an integrated barcode scanner, for example, be better than a more fiddly-to-use camera?

 

Mobile devices in field service are mission-critical – they are not just “nice-to-have”, they are the lynchpin of your operations essential to the efficient running of the operation.

Once you’ve made the shift away from paper, there’s no going back – the mobile device is your service technician’s new pen and paper; it carries the job schedule, customer details and equipment data. Your customers will become used to the higher service levels.

So, above all, the device needs to be reliable. Can it survive the technician dropping it? Are the processor and memory up to running several apps at once if that’s required? Is the screen readable in strong light? Will the touchscreen work if it gets wet? Can it last a whole shift without recharging the battery?

Make sure you can monitor devices and users once they have been deployed.

If you don’t know what is causing unreliability, you can end up in a cycle of blame between hardware and software suppliers and mobile network providers.

In mission critical operations, how will you manage repairs, replacements and connectivity issues?

Rugged devices usually come with pre-installed device management firmware for monitoring battery status, usage, scans per hour, docking and other activities. Battery-health monitoring, for example, can prevent mid-shift failures, but also the too early replacement of batteries.

Size matters

With smartphone screens getting larger and tablets now available with 5in and 6in screens, form factor is another business-case/fit-for-purpose decision service companies will need to make.

What practical benefit would tablets bring compared to a rugged handheld device or rugged smartphone?

 

Would it make the job any easier? A device that fits into a pocket and combines voice and data can be a productivity booster.

If field service operations are largely outdoors, for example, rugged tablets and notebooks have superior screen specs.

If a service operation is task-based in a simple check in an indoor environment, a rugged smartphone might fit the bill.

Fit-for-purpose also means recognising that the service organisation will have to manage different devices.

The proliferation of mixed estates will increase the need for managed services and mobile device management tools – not necessarily available with consumer devices.

Mobile Device Management (MDM) can capture a lot of granular data automatically from devices, which in turn can be used to improve productivity, address user issues and deliver predictive analytics about imminent battery failures.

Total cost of ownership

Companies who have already deployed rugged devices understand total-cost-of-ownership so are not being tempted by consumer devices.

However, the low initial cost of consumer smartphones and tablets can be attractive to field service companies on a tight budget – after all, you can buy at least two consumer devices for the price of one rugged and they have user-appeal shine, with touch screens and intuitive apps.

 

While this can help get a green light a shift from paper to electronic capture and deliver some productivity benefits, there are some risks to this approach – not least in-service reliability.

The less robust components are not designed to last the rough-and-tumble of intensive, eight hour, daily use.

Crucially there is a proven risk of higher breakdowns and failures with consumer devices – they are simply just not designed for the day-in, day-out intensive use they get when used in the field by engineers and technicians.

The appeal of rugged

Rugged tablets and notebooks have given excellent service in sectors such as utilities and emergency services, where processing power, outdoor screen visibility and high levels of reliability are required.

Rugged handheld computers, with small 3.5in screen and mini-keyboards, were at the forefront of capturing mobile data in the field: reliable, versatile and easily configurable and well-suited to simple data capture tasks – a barcode scanner or a sign on screen delivery confirmation, for example.

However, in response to the challenge of consumer devices, rugged computer manufacturers have developed hybrid tablets and touchscreen devices that bridge the gap between consumer and fully-rugged – and are also cheaper.

 

Hybrids have various names but what they have in common is consumer-style skins and touch screens necessary for user appeal, underpinned with rugged features to enhance in-service reliability.

Small 5in, 6in and 7in rugged tablets are now widely available.

There may have been compromises on ruggedness, but only for those operations where this would not compromise reliability. The manufacturers point out that they understand the need for in-service reliability and device management.

How to decide

The choice of devices for your field service operations has never been wider. But comparing specs and ensuring your devices are fit-for-purpose has never been harder.

Our Rugged Decoded series will help you do that. We’ll be unpicking the mysteries of IP ratings and drop specs, capacitive or resistive screens, and what it takes to make a device suitable for specific sectors such as ATEX and clean room environments...

 

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Research sits at the heart of Field Service News and every quarter we publish an exclusive research report identifying the latest trends to be emerging within our industry. Here we look at some of the key findings of our research reports from across the last year...

Mobility tools in field service

Working in partnership with Advanced Field Service we explored what types of mobility tools are being used by field service companies.

What types of hardware are most commonly being selected for our field engineers? What software is being used out in the field?

How are companies selecting the right solution for their engineers?

What type of feedback are those engineers giving? And what actual benefits are being delivered through digital mobility solutions?

In total 122 field service professionals responded to our survey which ran across February and March with respondents from companies with mobile workforces ranging from less than ten field engineers through to over 801 engineers and with an even number of representatives across the spectrum with no obvious spikes, the research offered insight into trends across field service as a whole.

Types of devices being used in the field

It is perhaps no surprise by now that most companies are using some form of digital device.

We have been going through a digital revolution across the last decade and no industry has felt the impact of this change as keenly as field service.

Indeed out in the wider world of industry the emergence of Enterprise Mobility as a definable, and eminently sizeable industry that will ultimately dwarf the size of the field technology sector considerably, has now firmly taken root.

However, the field service industry, which has more complex needs than its younger cousin of Enterprise Mobility, is also a far more mature market in general.

 

In fact our research indicates that the majority of companies are using a mix of differing digital devices, with 46% stating this is the case.

This would make sense as many field service organisations are now in their second, third or even fourth generation of digital device being rolled out to their field engineers.

However, when it comes to those companies that have rolled out just one device to their mobile workforce the results revealed some further insight into the trends now appearing amongst field service companies.

One of the biggest trends that is backed up by the evidence of this research, is the dramatic rise to prominence of smartphones as a genuine mobile productivity tool being utilised in the workplace.

It is of course not a surprising result given the widespread adoption of smartphones in both the consumer and business worlds but our research does confirm that smart-phones are the most popular device being used by field service companies when only they opt to provide one device to their engineers.

Of course every action has a reaction, and the rapid growth of smartphones as a tool for field service engineers has resulted in an equally rapid decline in the use of PDAs. In fact now just 5% of companies are using these devices – the smallest percentage of any device being used within the field.

One myth however that the research helps debunk is that Tablet computing his having a similar impact on the laptop sector as smartphones are having on PDAs.

Whilst it seemed at one point that the trend for tablet computing would see the laptop being edged out of both the consumer and rugged markets it appears the rumours of the death of the laptop have been greatly exaggerated.

In fact our research outlines that in terms of the devices being used on there own, both tablets and laptops have an equal share of the market at 14%.

However, we should also consider the fact that of those companies who provide more than one device to their engineers, a large proportion of companies are likely to offer a laptop as one of those devices, largely due to the fact that having a built in keyboard makes any significant manual input much easier.

So whilst it is likely that ultimately the traditional laptop will become replaced by the convertible or even the detachable laptop, the keyboard remains an important part of the field engineers mobile technology kit.

The last few days of pen and paper

What the research presents clearly is that the masses in field service have moved towards the new digital dawn. There are of course in any industry sector, laggards that remain behind the trend.

However, when it comes to the application of mobile technology amongst field engineers this group (i.e. those using no digital medium) now stands at just a nominal 3%.

Not only the is the group now just a very small minority, but our research also indicates that this group is potentially set to disappear completely within the next twelve months.

 

Of those companies still using pen and paper 100% stated they are considering moving to a digital mobile platform within the next twelve months.

The reasons for this are of course clear, as are the benefits of moving to any digital medium, including increasing productivity and streamlining a field engineers work-flow.

The fact is that those companies still relying on pen and paper are in danger of falling significantly behind their competition.

In fact of those companies still using pen and paper 100% of the respondents admitted that they felt they were at a disadvantage, with 50% stating that they felt that disadvantage was significantly impacting their ability to remain competitive.

Cloud as a FSM platform

Our next project, which was undertaken in collaboration with ClickSoftware explored trends amongst field service companies involving use of the Cloud for Field Service Management Systems .

The research was conducted online across July and August this year. The respondents were a mix of Operations, IT and Business Leaders working within organisations that had a field service operation.

Again company sizes ranged from SMBs with under 10 field workers to the enterprise level companies with over 800 field workers. In total 150 respondents answered the survey with respondents coming from a number of different verticals including Manufacturing, Engineering, IT solutions, construction, fire and security, healthcare and more.

As with our 2014 survey on this topic after the question ‘Is your current field service solution on premise or in the Cloud?’ The survey split into two in order to give us insight from those currently using the Cloud and those that are still on premise.

This enabled us to better ascertain the benefits being seen by those using the Cloud alongside the reservations of those who are not.

Mid-sized movement

The headline statistic to come out of the research was that indeed there has been a slight shift towards more companies using the Cloud than before.

In fact there has been a swing of 3% in favour of those using the cloud with 26% of companies now having their field service management solution in the Cloud versus 74% who are using on-premise.

Whilst a small movement, given the timeframe this increase could indeed help support the argument that the Cloud is slowly becoming more prevalent and that the move to Cloud is very much tied to companies moving from their legacy systems to more modern next-gen equivalents.

 

However, a logical continuation of that thinking is that we would find those companies with larger field worker numbers more likely to remain on premise than those smaller companies for the simple reason that they are more likely to have invested in the expensive infrastructure to run an on premise solution and would therefore potentially be more tied to their existing system – making a switch to a new solution harder work.

Yet when we drill down into the data and separate the companies out into three groups – those with less than 50 engineers, those with between 50 and 500 engineers and those with more than 500 engineers we find that in fact this doesn’t hold true.

Actually whilst the trends amongst the largest companies very closely mirror the respondents as a whole (25% Cloud vs. 75% On premise) it is amongst the smaller and mid sized companies that we see the biggest variance.

Interestingly smaller companies, who are generally viewed as being the most likely to be attracted to the Cloud due to the more affordable Software as a Service subscription model that most Cloud vendors offer, were the group that were most reluctant to have their field service operations on the Cloud – with just 17% doing so.

Meanwhile the mid tier companies (i.e. those with between 50 and 500 engineers) were the group that had the most Cloud based systems with 37% of these companies using the Cloud.

When we look at the same demographic in our previous research this is an increase of 21% of companies, so whilst on premise still remains the way the majority of run their field service management systems, a shift to the Cloud, amongst this demographic at least, is clear.

Still the question remains why are we seeing more acceptance towards the Cloud within these mid sized companies than amongst their smaller counterparts? (If we accept the earlier premise that those larger companies may take longer to adapt due to greater change management challenges.)

One possible answer could be found in the make up of the decision-making units of those smaller companies. Of those companies with less than 50 engineers that are not using the Cloud, only 15% of companies had input from their IT director or equivalent whilst of those mid sized companies that have adopted the Cloud 71% involved their IT Director or equivalent in the selection of a field service solution.

Could it be that amongst smaller companies it is a case that without the input of a technology specialist, some of the headline fears around the usage of Cloud persist.

Whereas amongst those larger companies, who have a more developed IT department adding their insight, perhaps there is more understanding of both the true benefits and dangers of the Cloud?

 

One question within the survey that could certainly give us further insight into this assertion was ‘Which of the following sums up your perception of the Cloud in business’ which had the following four options:

[unordered_list style="bullet"]

• I believe it is the future of enterprise computing
• I see its benefits but still have some concerns
• I wouldn’t trust placing sensitive data in the Cloud but would use for general applications
•  I think we should keep everything on premise, there is too much risk in the Cloud.[/unordered_list]

Given the fact that there was a fairly even balance between the two groups of company sizes, the varying responses certainly indicated a more cautious outlook towards the Cloud from the smaller companies than their mid sized counterparts.

Within the group of companies with between 50 and 500 field service engineers 58% felt that Cloud was” the future of enterprise computing”, with a further 32% stating that they “saw benefits of the Cloud whilst having some concerns.”

Interestingly not a single respondent from this group stated “we should be keeping everything on premise, there is too much risk in the Cloud.”

When we compare this to the responses of those companies with less than 50 engineers we see the confidence in the Cloud significantly reduce with only 38% stating they “believe the Cloud is the future of enterprise computing” whilst 20% “wouldn’t trust placing sensitive data in the Cloud but would use it for general applications” and “5% stating they think “we should be keeping everything on premise, there is too much risk in the Cloud.”

IoT and Field Service

Another key technology within our industry is of course IoT and this was at the heart of a research project undertaken with ServiceMax and PTC.

The research was conducted across a period of 6 weeks during August and September this year.

Again well over 100 field service professionals contributed to the research with respondents from both the operational side of business (field service directors/managers etc) as well as senior IT representatives (CIO/CTO etc.) participating alongside business leaders (MD,CEO etc.)

Once more we also had a variety of company sizes ranging from those with less than 10 field workers through to those with over 800 field workers, with a fairly even split across these groups so there was fair representation of opinions from companies of differing sizes.

Also whilst there was a slight UK bias in respondents, there were also respondents from India, Ireland, The Netherlands, Italy, Spain, Germany and the USA so there was a mix of nationalities amongst the respondents as well.

Before we began looking at the appetite for IoT amongst our respondents we first wanted to see if companies were actually well placed to benefit from adopting an IoT strategy.

 

To do this we needed to assess where the companies in our group were in terms of their approach to technology in general as well as how they approached their own service delivery.

Of course with the introduction of any new technology there will always be laggards and there will always be bleeding edge adopters and if there was a bias amongst our respondent group either way this should be taken into account when exploring other responses and trends identified within the research.

Therefore the first question we asked our respondents was “How regularly does your company invest in new technology initiatives to improve field service operations and performance” and we gave our respondents the choices of every year, every two years, every three years, every five years or other. It would seem our group was on average representing a slightly forward looking set of companies with 35% stating they would invest in new technology an annual basis.

Meanwhile 13% stated they did so every two years, 17% every three years and 16% five years.

A number of respondents also commented that their company’s investment in technology was slightly less strategic and on more of an ad-hoc basis although members of this group also stated ‘recently the investment in new technology is being increased’

Predictive or reactive?

The next question we asked in this initial section was whether our respondents were working for a company that is either adopting a pro-active or reactive model in terms of their field service planning.

Almost a third of companies (31%) state that their “service is half proactive and half reactive” whilst only a small fraction of companies (4%) were operating on a wholly reactive strategy.

Again this will be a good indicator of how ready field service companies are to adopt IoT as one of the significant factors in why IoT is predicted to be such have such a major impact, particularly in field service, is that it can be the key for companies moving away from the traditional break-fix delivery of service to a more efficient preventative maintenance approach to delivering field service.

Indeed it seems that the majority of field service companies do see the benefits of moving towards delivering service in a proactive rather than reactive manner, in theory at least.

Whilst the same amount of companies (6%) stated they were either “Fully pro-active with a mix of predictive and preventive maintenance, enabled by remote monitoring and M2M diagnostics” or “We are mostly pro-active using both predictive and preventive maintenance strategies but still have a small percentage of reactive calls.”

The largest group of respondents by a long way (44%) stated they “operate a proactive strategy where possible but are still mostly reactive.”

Meanwhile almost a third of companies (31%) state that their “service is half proactive and half reactive” whilst only a small fraction of companies (4%) were operating on a wholly reactive “Almost a third of companies (31%) state that their “service is half proactive and half reactive” whilst only a small fraction of companies (4%) were operating on a wholly reactive strategy. This would suggest that the perceived wisdom that field service companies should be moving away from the traditional break-fix reactive approach to a more proactive approach, which is better for service providers and their customers alike, is being adopted by the industry at large.

It also indicates that whilst this attitude is widespread, achieving a move away from break-fix models is harder to achieve than simply updating policies.

In fact responses to this question would certainly strengthen the case for Internet of Things being rapidly accepted and adopted amongst field service companies who can see the benefits of proactive maintenance but are unable to deliver it.

 

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As the last remaining vestiges of tinsel are tidied away from the corners here at Field Service News Towers, our Editor-in- Chief Kris Oldland dusts off his crystal ball and begins a new series looking at what is going to be the key trends for field service companies this coming year...

As the Editor of a trade magazine, you know you're always going to be asked to put some kind of list together come the start of the year predicting the big trends in the market, and you know invariably some of them you’ll get right and some of them you’ll get wrong.

Last year was no exception, I suggested that the Internet of Things would start to become an integral part of field service operations, which in some ways it did (there are certainly more case studies of field service IoT implementations now than there were a year ago), the Cloud would finally come of age as a platform for field service management systems (which our own research showed to be partially true, there is a growing move to the Cloud but it remains a gradual shift) and that 2015 would be the year that 3D printing would make a true breakthrough (woefully optimistic as despite huge potential I’ve yet to see a genuine application for 3D printing in a field service environment.)

Yet as I look through this year’s list I find that the trends I’ve highlighted are, in the main not so much about brand new emerging technologies or concepts, but more their evolution from fledgling ideas to real-life applications now soaring in full flight.

 

Therefore for once I’m feeling more confident that most of this list will come good by the end of the year.

Indeed, I would go as far as to say that if the last few years have been all about exciting innovation, as twenty first century technologies drive us into a Gene Roddenbury inspired brave new world, then 2016 may well be the start of a period of maturation, and fulfilment.

Is 2016 the year we finally stop talking about how things are going to be in the not so distant future and start realising that this is how we are going to be doing things in the here and now?

Only time will tell, but for what it’s worth, here’s how I see the year panning out...

Servitization will become a common way of doing business

On the outset a radical shift in business thinking, driven largely from the UK with an American English spelling, servitization has a number of different monikers including ‘outcome based solutions’, ‘through life-cycle services’ and ‘advanced services’.

The concept itself, which in reality can be dated back easily to the 1960’s and less tangibly so even earlier, involves the shift in thinking away from the traditional transactional nature of manufacturing a product to sell, and then providing services to ensure the upkeep of that product, towards an approach whereby a product is manufactured with the view of delivering a long-term service.

The (perhaps overly used and certainly overly simplistic) often cited example is ‘Don’t sell drills, sell holes’ something that many switched on sales people will be fully aware of as solutions based selling has been a staple of the consultative sell in the twilight of the last century and the early dawn of this one.

 

And at it’s heart that’s what Servitization is really all about.

However, it is doing so on a company wide scale, taking a neat, piffy one liner and reinventing the whole company structure around the premise.

The all time most cited example of servitization has to be Rolls Royce who in the sixties working with American Airlines adopted a servitized approach, coining it ‘power-by-the-hour’ and in doing so re-wrote the rules for the aviation industry.

Other big name examples of servitization also come from companies as diverse as Pearson, Caterpillar and MAN Trucks (UK) but for some time the examples of truly servitized businesses beyond these headline hogging few were in short supply.

However, in part due to the ongoing work from academia by the likes of Tim Baines (Aston), Andy Neely (Cambridge) and Howard Lightfoot (Cranfield) but also driven heavily by the emergence of the Internet of Things, Enterprise Mobility and Machine to Machine communications, we are finallystarting to see servitization beginning to really come to the fore.

At last year’s Spring Servitization Conference hosted by Baines and his colleagues at Aston University we saw academia and industry on the same page and companies ranging from global PLCs such as Air France KLM and recycling and mining giant Metso through to family owned transit packaging firm Nicklin all taking the steps towards building a servitized business operation.

 

With servitization bringing the promise of both greater long term profits as well as a better service for the clients (leading to longer-term contracts – which of course provides stability for a business,) it is little wonder that companies such as Sony are beginning to adopt the model and there is a definite feel that the concept is now gaining momentum.

For us in field service this is perhaps a double edged sword.

On the one hand it means that service now sits proudly at the top table as an absolutely critical part of a business strategy.

On the other however, it means that we need to be 100% on top of our game, as a fundamental factor in a servitized business model is that unless the client has uptime, the service provider isn’t getting paid.

However, the simple fact is that servitization is coming to an industry near you and it will perhaps be those companies that neglect to pay attention to the phenomenon that may come under threat.

 

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Look out for the second part of this feature where we look at the impact the Internet of Things and Augmented Reality may have on field service in 2016

 

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Field service companies tempted by low-priced consumer mobile devices should focus on Total Cost of Ownership, says Peter Molyneux, UK President, Getac, the  rugged laptop, tablets and handheld manufacturer.

The more numbers after the £ sign, the greater the likelihood of the specifier or procurement team to switch off to the technology - but it's a switch-off that could result in a significant unplanned-for cost rather than the planned expected saving.

The challenge facing all technology providers - as public sector strips costs to the bone, and business, still nervous about the economy, caps technology budgets - is breaking customers' focus on the short-term bottom line.

Take the single day on which a purchase is made of maybe several hundred consumer-based tablets in ruggedised cases for field service use - many procurement departments will likely believe it's a discounted deal well done. But three years on, that consumer-based equipment will have cost far more than forecast in comparison to initially more expensive purpose-designed and -made rugged tablets or laptops.”

It's an awkward fact that many buyers of technology - tablets or laptops - don't have the detailed knowledge of the field performance differences between a built-for-purpose rugged unit, and a consumer-based unit with a protective case.

But some technologies can look the part but fail to deliver. We have seen consumer-market brand technology failures of up to 30% a year when used in punishing, critical working environments similar to those experienced by both public and private sector organisations and businesses - and there's inevitably an unexpected and unplanned-for cost associated with failure.

 

There are some good consumer products working well in lighter-duty business and emergency service applications, but consumer technology is simply not designed for the daily demands of specifically critical working environments experienced by field service sectors.

The issue is that while rugged technology is a longer-term investment, business and public sector alike are understandably taking a short-term view on spending based on their currently extremely tight budgets.

However, there's a core of businesses and public sector bodies who have had their epiphany and realised that total cost of ownership of rugged computers is lower than consumer-based over the field life. However, there is also a surprising number of businesses and organisations who still buy outright rather than lease – with leasing offering reduced total cost and monthly cost against capex.

Estimation of total cost of ownership of consumer technology in critical working environments should be based on the expected working life of the device chosen - typically three years. This needs to include both the direct costs of purchase and the indirect costs of service and support. Longevity of supply and support of the device in the field must also be taken into consideration: consumer technology refreshes every six to eight months and therefore may not be supported across the duration of the project.

A consumer-market tablet cost of £550 including a 'rugged' case would typically return an annual field failure level of 25%, and possibly more, when used in demanding working environments. A purpose-built rugged tablet will cost £1,500 with a three-year warranty and support package, and have an expected field failure rate sub-3% over that three years. That's three times or so the initial cost, but a significant improvement on operational life expectancy, and minimum down-time in the field.

Rugged equipment isn't just more resilient but has features not available in consumer-facing products – high performance RF antennas and accurate GPS, and a higher level of integration, for example a 1/2D bar code reader.

In practice, that means downloading data faster or maintaining network connection in areas where consumer-based technology will not. It can mean finding the location of equipment needing attention faster and more accurately.

Operational efficiency and true mobility is delivered by a built-for-purpose feature set of which ruggedisation is just one component.

We speak from experience: we regularly support customer field trials and business case completion to ensure understanding of the total cost of ownership and return on investment in rugged technology versus consumer products.

There are two issues when it comes to using technology in the field: does it have the features and technical capability to allow a field service professional to do their job, but, crucially, does it have the resilience to keep working in sometimes extremely hostile environments? The fact is that even good consumer-market tablets and laptops, even if they are in toughened cases, will fail to perform in a demanding working environment.

Purpose-built rugged technology, such as produced by Getac, has features designed specifically for harsh environments. Not only does it survive drops, impacts and exposure to liquids, but it has performance - and the service and support infrastructure - which is simply not readily available on consumer technology.

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by:  Field Service News (sponsored by Solarvista)
Title BYOD and Field Service
Download: Click here to Download the white paper

By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis

What are the key benefits and major challenges of implementing a Bring Your Own Device strategy for field service organisations

Overview

If we cast our minds back just a few years, the talk amongst the enterprise was very much centred upon the new emerging trend of Bring Your own Device (BYOD).

With the phrase being first coined by Intel in 2009 before quickly rising to prominence across the next few years, largely driven by organisations such as Unisys and Citrix who saw the early potential benefits of the trend.

However, the explosion of companies officially adopting BYOD policies never quite materialised in Europe as it was predicted it would and in certain circles there are even whispers that the trend may even be slowing down somewhat in what is perceived to be the BYOD heartland of the USA.

In this white paper we will review once more the case for and against BYOD reflecting on the further learnings we have seen in the last few years in terms of both challenges and successes of applications that have been documented, as well as exploring whether in the realm of field service, an inherently mobile-led environment, is BYOD is an option with merits.

 

Topics in the white paper include:

The attractions of BYOD

The rise in popularity of BYOD can be attributed to a combination of driving factors including the consumerisation of technology, the evolution of the Cloud Computing as a reliable platform in the enterprise and also a gradual shift in attitudes to the work/life balance (itself the result of the impact of technology in our working lives alongside the growing influence of Generation Y employees within the workforce.)

Significant benefits that can be drawn from a successful implementation of BYOD within the workplace which include:

• Personal choice
• Better work/life balance
• Improved efficiency
• No cost for equipment
• Decreased support and training costs

The challenges of BYOD

Whilst the benefits of BYOD initially leap out and are in the most part fairly obvious, in reality the actual implementation of a BYOD policy within the enterprise is wrought with complex challenges such as:

• Security
• Increased support and training costs
• Establishing BYOD policies around device usage

Overcoming these challenges and introduction of CYOD

Of course whilst the threat of cyber security increases, so to do the relevant solutions to overcome these risks. Let us be clear, despite the above issues BYOD is certainly not impossible to implement. It does however, require a lot more additional consideration than perhaps was deemed necessary in the early part of this decade when the hype around BYOD was at its highest.

 

One potential suggested solution to meet the challenges of BYOD is to move towards a Choose Your Own Device but is this really the magic bullet to get the best of both worlds?

BYOD, fit for purpose and the field service environment

Of course there is then the big question for field service companies – are the consumer devices selected by the employees necessarily fit for purpose?

In mission-critical environments such as field service, reliable real-time communications are key for optimum performance, and for proactive management of service-level agreements and compliance with key performance indicators.

Mobile field service workers need real-time access to their business applications and data, whether it is receiving the next job, navigation to an address, accessing a product or customer database and so on.

The perennial question of consumer vs. rugged is perhaps of even greater relevance when field service companies are considering BYOD policies.

 

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Are UK field service companies keeping pace with the rest of the world?  In  Parts  One, Two and Three, of this exclusive four-part benchmarking report for Field Service News, Bill Pollock, President & Principal Consulting Analyst, Strategies for Growth SM, revealed the comparative performances of US and UK/European field service organisations, the key drivers influencing strategy for UK/Europe companies and KPI focus.  

Here, in Part Four, he reports on attitudes and trends regarding Cloud and On-Premise solutions. The publication of this research was sponsored by Kirona.

 

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Download the full report! Click here to download it now!

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By providing customers with the right mix of Web-enabled self-help capabilities, the leading UK/Europe organisations have essentially been able to run their respective services operations more effectively, while also increasing existing levels of satisfaction by allowing customers to become part of their own “support team”.

Self-help support capabilities, such as the ability to order parts, or view current work order status, saves customers – and FSOs – significant time in that an entire series of potential two-way vendor-customer status update calls can be avoided.

In addition, customers can create their own service tickets online, gain direct access to self-service resolution scenarios, receive real-time status update alerts, and track the shipping status of outstanding service parts orders themselves. Basically, the more power the customer has to perform any of these activities itself, the quicker service orders can be created, the quicker potential time-related problems can be identified and resolved, and the happier the customers will be with the services they are receiving from the provider.

By making the customer an integral part of the service delivery team, UK/Europe service organisations can continue to benefit from reduced time- and cost-related factors – while increasing existing levels of customer satisfaction. Customer access to online service order data and information is clearly a “win-win” scenario for all parties.

 

Growth in Cloud solutions

However, the greatest impact on the future of Field Service Management is most likely to come as a result of the growing acceptance of Cloud-based technology, as reflected in one particular series of questions included in SFG℠’s 2015 FSM survey questionnaire. Respondents were first divided into three (3) categories: those with existing FSM solutions already in place, those planning to implement in the next 12 months, and those considering an FSM implementation or upgrade in more than one year.

The results strongly suggest that we are currently in the midst of a fast-paced global sea change in the way FSM solutions are being marketed, sold and deployed.

Among those UK/Europe organisations currently planning an FSM implementation in the next 12 months (or considering doing so in the next 24 months), a Cloud-based solution is preferred by 29% of respondents, compared to only 14% citing a preference for Premise-based – a roughly 2:1 ratio in favour of Cloud.

However, more than half (57%) still remain undecided at this time (compared to only 26% for the general survey population). Still, Cloud-based FSM solutions appear to be the dominant preference. In less than three years since SFG℠’s previous FSM Benchmark Survey was conducted, this represents a sea-change from a market that has historically gone Premise-based for a majority of its FSM software solution needs.

However, the availability of Cloud-based FSM and SLM solutions now allows smaller UK/Europe FSOs to acquire the same types of functionality previously only available to larger organisations, thereby allowing them – in many cases for the first time – to compete directly against the historical market leaders.

 

Key Survey Takeaways

Based on the UK/Europe results of SFG℠’s 2015 Field Service Management Benchmark Survey, the key takeaways are: [ordered_list style="decimal"]

1. UK/Europe Field Services Organisations (FSOs) are driven to meet customer demands for quicker response; improve workforce utilisation, productivity and efficiencies; meet customer demand for improved asset availability, and increase service revenues
2.  A majority of UK/Europe FSOs are adding, expanding and/or refining the metrics, or KPIs, they use to measure service performance.
3. Over the next 12 months, more than three-quarters (79%) of UK/Europe FSOs will have invested in mobile tools to support their field technicians, and more than 53% will have integrated new technologies into existing field service operations.
4. UK/Europe Field Technicians are increasingly being provided with enhanced access to real-time data and information to support them in the field.
5. UK/Europe FSOs are providing customers with expanded Web-enabled self-help capabilities (i.e., to order parts, track the status of open calls, and create service tickets, etc.).
6. More than half of UK/Europe FSOs are not currently attaining their customer satisfaction or SLA compliance goals; and one-in-four are not achieving at least 20% services profitability (although services profitability, as a whole, appears to be improving).
7. Existing UK/Europe FSM platforms are reported as reflecting a more than 2:1 Premise-based over Cloud-based ratio; however, planned FSM implementations in the next 12 to 24 months are reported as more than 2:1 Cloud-based, or SaaS.

Historically, the primary factors cited as driving the UK/Europe – and global - services community to improve its operational efficiencies and service delivery performance have essentially been customer-driven; that is, with a focus primarily on meeting – and, even, exceeding – customer expectations for response time, first-time fix rate, mean-time-to-repair and the like.

However, the economic downturn of the past decade changed the way services organisations think by shifting their focus to ongoing rounds of cost cutting and downsizing (i.e., the denominator of the bottom line). However, this was quickly followed by a shift to the numerator, best represented by an all-out effort to increase service revenues, or turnover.

In 2016 and beyond, the focus will likely be even stronger on the customer in terms of striving to meet (and exceed) their demands, preferences and expectations – or “back to the basics”. UK/Europe FSOs will continue to plan to accomplish this mainly by developing and/or improving the KPIs they use to monitor their improved performance over time, investing in new tools to support both field technicians and customers, and integrating new technologies into their existing FSM or Service Lifecycle Management (SLM) systems.

 

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Download the full report! Click here to download it now!

 

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