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FeedHenry, has analysed customer data and industry RFPs from organisations with more than 1,000 employees and identified five myths surrounding the building of enterprise mobile apps in today's mobile-first world.

Read a more detailed overview of these 5 myths here... 

As the organisers of the Field Service Solutions Theatre at this year’s Service Management Expo, Field Service News was on hand to speak exclusively to a number of leading industry professionals straight as they stepped off the theatre podium. In this video series we are pleased to bring you the highlights from the Field Service Solutions Theatre.

Here we hear from Conor O'Neill, Director of Product Management at Feed Henry explaining why mobile first development is critical in a field service environment if you are going to allow IT to become an enabler to your business rather than a blocker.

FeedHenry, provider of the  open standards based mobile application platform for enterprise, has just announced the release of it's first ever fully dedicated Field Workforce Management mobile solution.

The solution provides 'out-of-the-box' field workforce management features which has a high level of customisation available through what seems to be a fairly intuitive drag and drop process.

As our own research here at FIeld Service News recently revealed with roughly a quarter of companies struggling to fit there work processes around their software solution such simple yet effective customisation is a big positive. The mobile workers apps can be easily configured to support company-specific field workflow processes, backend data integration, forms, and branding. The solution is also cross-platform supporting deployment to all major mobile devices, and as you would expect makes use of location, camera, signature capture and other device features.

Powered by FeedHenry’s flagship FeedHenry 3 platform, the new Workforce Management (WFM) solution gives businesses the option to implement as a standalone solution, or to securely integrate into existing work order, ERP or other systems. FeedHenry’s cloud-based platform architecture supports secure backend integration, data storage and caching, online/offline data syncing, user authentication, and app management that underpin secure, scalable and sustainable mobile innovation.

“In today’s era of mobility, it’s no longer enough to simply port legacy field workforce solutions onto a mobile device and expect high performance,” said Cathal McGloin, CEO of FeedHenry. “Mobile-first organisations are demanding a more flexible mobile experience that delivers a faster return on investment. For companies where field operations are critical to business results, we’ve created a ready to run cloud-based mobile solution that provides secure, real time updates to and from the field, all with a great user experience.”

Key features of FeedHenry’s Field Workforce Management solution include:

Cross-Platform Development and Deployment – Using the functionality of the FeedHenry 3 platform, the new WFM solution supports both development and deployment across multiple devices and platforms: iOS, Android and Windows Phone. Featuring built-in scalability and security, the solution’s backend connections are reusable, making subsequent app developments fast and cost-effective.

Ready-To-Use Functionality – A flexible off-the-shelf solution, major field force management features are already built out and ready to use, including scheduling, dispatch, data capture, forms, location, reporting and messaging. The WFM solution also helps organisations to take full advantage of native mobile device features, allowing for text, photo, signature and barcode capture with the ability to add GPS and timestamps for any work order type, with zero coding required.

Drag and Drop Forms - Flexible workflow configuration is supported with drag and drop forms which allows non-developers to define job order types, without the need to change business processes.

Real-time communication between back office and frontline staff – FeedHenry WFM provides a highly functional web portal that provides a range of administration tasks. Office supervisors can communicate with workers in the field by creating, managing and dispatching new work order information as well as sending in-app messages to the workforce. Real time reporting is available, complete with worker tracking, helping to increase collaboration across teams and improve response times.

Designed to provide high mobile ROI – FeedHenry’s cloud-based WFM solution includes cloud storage and caching to improve app performance and scalability. In addition cloud data sync functionality allows workers to continue using their apps while offline, with data automatically syncing when back online.

“Enterprise mobility has the power to improve employee productivity, transform business processes and drive new revenue streams. This has elevated mobility to a strategic level,” said Chris Marsh, principal analyst at Yankee Group. “Companies should look to cloud-based and agile mobile application strategies to support their growing mobile workforces, without which enterprise productivity and profitability improvements will suffer.”

2014 has been deemed the "year of the wearables" and field service is one industry that could profit greatly if the potential advancements being discussed in such devices could come become a reality, in this exclusive feature, Conor O'Neill, Director of Product Management at Irish mobile application platform provider, FeedHenry takes a closer look...

While Google Glass may have been dismissed as a fad a couple of years ago, it offers obvious benefits for field service efficiency and lone worker safety. A report into mobile workers' device preferences, undertaken by Aruba Networks, surveyed 5,000 people worldwide and found that a fifth want to be provided with wearable technology within the next five years.

Augmented reality on wearable glasses allows workers to make better and quicker use of business information. This offers organisations an opportunity to reduce costs, by allowing employees in the field to report back to base and get relevant information while they are still on site, thereby reducing, or eliminating the need for a repeat call out. Field service engineers can also be more productive by gathering visual information and feeding this back to head office, while leaving their hands free to complete the tasks they are engaged in.

Adoption of wearable tech is still niche. IDC anticipates only 111.8 million wearable tech units worldwide by 2018. However, BYOD adoption of wearable devices and major players offering supporting apps could rapidly accelerate market adoption. For example, Salesforce.com Wear is a developer pack to aid the creation of apps for wearable devices including the Pebble Smartwatch; Samsung Gear; the Myo gesture controlled armband and Google Glass

Organisations that are adopting a Mobile-First strategy tend to be led by their users on device selection and app design. Innovation is often driven by field service engineers, the people on the ground who undertake tasks on a daily basis. These organisations tend to take an open an agile approach to their mobile app development.

Mobile-first organisations are willing to transform processes and involve frontline workers in order to completely re-invent the user experience and help them to be more productive. For example, Severn Trent Water recently announced its intention to trial Google Glass so that lone workers can protect their eyes, receive information and provide live feedback on their health and safety status, while leaving their hands free to complete the work. However, initiatives like this require support from the top. Executive sponsorship will improve the traction of wearable tech.

Adoption of any mobile technology involves risk because, by necessity, it allows employees to carry company data beyond the traditional enterprise perimeter. Robust user authentication and authorisation are essential, but keep your focus on enabling users. Your security measures should be invisible and respect the user experience. The key is to secure corporate information rather than restrict the use of apps.

CIOs need to be prepared for wearable devices to come into their organisations and to put the relevant security policies and controls in place.

From our point of view, the devices that employees select are less important than the information that they process and that involves managing the lifecycle of the apps end to end.

When organisations use an end-to-end mobile application platform (MAP) to support their mobile app strategy, field service employees gain the freedom to select the right devices to suit their roles, whether they are handheld or wearable, without sacrificing any app functionality. This is because MAPs securely link enterprise back end systems with mobile apps that can support multiple OS and various device form factors. Meanwhile, enterprises gain the ability to plan their mobile app strategies to support current and future devices, without having to redevelop code for every new batch of devices.

When the Spice Girls arrived on the scene some 18 years ago (has it really been that long?) they predicted that what we wanted, what we really, really wanted was a Zigazgaarrr (whatever the hell that is). To be frank, that prediction hasn't come to much fruition. However, Feed Henry CEO Cathal McGloin's assertion that multiple OS and a choice of devices is what we really, really want (in field service at least) carries a bit more weight and may 'spice' up field workers' mobile experience...

In the beginning

Traditionally, field service teams have been equipped with rugged mobile devices, running some flavour of Microsoft's compact operating systems (generally either Windows CE or Windows Mobile), to allow engineers to tick off work orders and update inventory. Defacto wireless devices have been rugged, heavy notebooks or tablets, with limited functions and based on proprietary or embedded technologies.

Greater expectations

As field service employees have enjoyed their own consumer smartphones and tablets, their expectations of workplace mobility have changed.  Industrial handhelds appear archaic next to the latest Android or iOS smart devices. This is driving a shift towards acceptance of consumer mobile devices as the new rugged industrial mobile handheld. Attendees at the Field Service Europe Conference held in Amsterdam last October, were polled on their investment plans for workforce management and mobility. In the resulting 2014 European Services & Trends report, 43 per cent of decision makers reported that they were allocating budget to providing tablets to their field service teams, while 33 per cent reported that they were investing in smartphones.

It’s a hard knocks life

Despite being more expensive, Windows ruggedised devices had the edge over smart devices from Nokia, BlackBerry, Samsung and Apple, because their operating systems could not support field service apps such as Cognito and SAP. In addition, Microsoft devices were well-supported by an array of peripherals such as handheld printers, scanners and bar code readers. However, Microsoft failed to gain traction with Windows Phone, its successor to Windows Mobile, opening the door to Android, iOS and Blackberry to step in to the market. In terms of app development for smart devices, cross-platform solutions and toolkits have made app development faster, more affordable and easier, while also enabling apps that run on multiple OS platforms. While the newer smartphones and tablets provide attractive user interfaces and much richer functionality, some level of ruggedness is necessary to avoid downtime caused by battery life and the harsh working environments that field service employees operate in. Some organisations have addressed this by using rugged covers for consumer devices. VDC Research analyst, David Krebs, has highlighted problems with the ruggedisation of smartphones and tablets using simple covers. He points to their lack of robustness when field service employees are working in damp and dusty environments; problems when employees try to operate swipe screens while wearing protective gloves; poor battery life and device failures caused by vibration, knocks and temperature extremes. Conversely, ABI research found that the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a smartphone-based mobile field service strategy was up to 85% less than alternative rugged device deployments. These savings come from the smartphones' lower hardware costs, as well as increases in efficiency, owing to their connectivity, usability and portability, not to mention the lower cost and greater flexibility of app development.

Best of both worlds

When asked, most field service employees want the appearance and ease of use of consumer devices, combined with the robustness, stability and battery life of a traditional field service device, running apps that help them to work more efficiently. What we have to remember is that not every field service employee is working in a damp, dusty tunnel. Different roles demand different devices. In the same report 66 per cent of respondents stated that their organisations now view field service as a profit centre rather than a cost centre. As a result, we are starting to see enterprise demand for apps that can work across different devices and multiple operating systems, so that field service employees can select the devices that make them most productive.

Enterprisation of consumer devices in field service

We have worked with logistics, rail infrastructure and construction companies, that are starting to adopt new robust devices from Panasonic, CAT, Samsung, powered by Android. Even Apple devices are starting to make an appearance. These Android and iOS devices have a much larger pool of app developers and ISVs to feed them, as well as the availability of more modern software toolkits to accelerate the app development, deployment and update cycles. Legacy Windows apps appear very limited when compared to the latest field service apps being written for these smart devices. Typically, these enterprises have field service departments employing hundreds or thousands of skilled people, performing a variety of roles. Working with an enterprise mobile application platform provider like FeedHenry, these organisations are able to rapidly develop, deploy and maintain a range of sophisticated apps, tailored to a range of job roles within their field service departments. These apps can be managed on premise, or cloud-side, regardless of the devices selected by their engineers, quantity surveyors, foremen, crane drivers, radio and radar specialists and electricians.

Ask field service employees what they really want

From speaking to our own customers, the critical considerations for a sound field service mobile strategy are: 

• Seek input from actual end users before specifying device type and app functionality. The trend is towards a multiple OS environment, so plan for this in terms of sustainability and portability.
• Select open standards so as to increase the available pool of developers, access to developer toolkits, code re-use,while avoiding vendor lock-in
• It’s not just about creating an app. Consider the whole app lifecycle and how this is managed. Apps, by their nature, require frequent updates and upgrades so choosing an infrastructure that supports this will quickly pay off.
• Evaluate your enterprise data capture and backend system integration requirements The ability to unleash data efficiently, securely and seamlessly to the device is critical.
• Consider the durability and environmental conditions that the devices will have to withstand. Protective cases help but do not always address the full spectrum of device durability issues such as exposure to extreme temperatures, dust and vibration. However, expect that innovations will give consumer devices a better fit for these harsh environments.

ABI Research has found that the primary benefits that drove lower TCO for ruggedised smartphones were improved worker productivity and lower device costs. Productivity benefits were achieved through the longer battery life of smartphones, integrated mobile voice and data connectivity and the ability to push application updates over the air. Smartphone device costs are as much as eight times less than rugged devices. Even considering the higher replacement rate for smartphones, ABI has found that lower lifetime hardware costs are a key driver for companies choosing smartphones over rugged handhelds for their mobile field force applications.

Back to the Future

According to a recent report into mobile workers’ device preferences, undertaken by Aruba networks, 45 per cent reported that they want to be able to connect and communicate with the business from their cars. A fifth of the survey sample stated that they want their employers’ to provide them with wearable technology within the next five years. When organisations use an end-to-end mobile application platform (MAP), field service employees can gain the freedom to select the right device for their job, without sacrificing any app functionality. This is because MAPs securely link enterprise back end systems with mobile apps that can support multiple OS and various device form factors, so employees can select the device that is most appropriate to their working environment. Meanwhile, enterprises gain the ability to plan their mobile app strategies to support current and future devices, without having to redevelop code for every new batch of devices.

FeedHenry, who are a next-generation provider of cloud based mobile enterprise applications have recently announced a technology partnership with AirWatch which could prove to be significant for the field service industry.

AirWatch themselves are one of the leading Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) providers with a solid track record within the industry, whilst the relatively young Feed Henry have already established a strong reputation after a number of successful projects involving the creation of mobile enterprise applications, including developing a large number of apps for different elements of the network rail group which saw the transportation giant improve field service efficiency dramatically.

Working together the two companies will provide a joint solution, which will enable the simple and rapid creation of mobile enterprise applications which will be able to be immediately deployed and managed within the AirWatch app catalogue.

AirWatch CEO John Marshall commented;

“IT organisations often need to develop, deploy and maintain mobile applications quickly and securely to accelerate business opportunities and promote employee productivity,”

“FeedHenry’s platform integration with AirWatch provides enterprises the ability to secure their mobile devices and to simplify app development with connectivity to backend systems through RESTful APIs in the cloud.”

By integrating with AirWatch, Feed Henry’s Mobile Application Platform enables companies to develop, integrate and secure mobile enterprise applications as well as content on mobile devices, whilst giving IT departments the ability to manage policies and provide access controls at the enterprise level.

Feed Henry CEO Cathal McGloin comments:

“The integration of our next generation Mobile Application Platform with AirWatch’s EMM solution now gives enterprises secure device management, along with the ability to develop, host and manage native, hybrid and HTML5 applications,”

“Most mobile enterprise deployments have been focused on the development of one off, tactical applications for specific groups of employees or customers. Increasingly however, organisations are looking towards more advanced mobilisation of a broader set of assets and back-end data sets. We believe that agile, cloud-based mobile application platforms, alongside MDM solutions, will play an important role in this enablement.”

The benefits that Feed Henry can offer to AirWatch users include simplifying and securing the connectivity of apps with any enterprise systems through Feed Henry’s ‘mobile backend as-a-service’ and accelerating development cycles and go to market by deploying apps to the device server-side code to the cloud – whether it is public, private or hybrid with just one push.

Developers can also now publish apps and make them AirWatch enabled seamlessly whilst being able to push app updates to all enrolled devices on the AirWatch MDM platform and enterprises are able to monitor and tack all newly created apps via the AirWatch console.

Find out more about mobile enterprise application and field service software providers including case studies, videos and other resources in our online directory here.