Sector insight required for Strategies For Growth℠'s 2019 Servitization Journey Benchmark Survey.
ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘future-of-field-service-2’ CATEGORY
Aug 01, 2019 • News • future of field service • Bill Pollock • Strategies for GrowthSM • Survey
Sector insight required for Strategies For Growth℠'s 2019 Servitization Journey Benchmark Survey.
Research analyst and consulting firm, Strategies For Growth℠, has launched its inaugural 2019 Servitization Journey Benchmark Survey and is seeking responses from the service industry.
The campaign represents the first of what will become a series of annual tracking surveys that provide drill-down insight into the Servitization Journey as defined by survey respondents.
The campaign represents the first of what will become a series of annual tracking surveys that provide drill-down insight into the Servitization Journey as defined by survey respondents.
Similar to SFG℠’ s past surveys, this questionnaire is designed as a targeted, multiple choice questionnaire. All responses will remain strictly confidential, and will only be tabulated and reported in the aggregate. However, if respondents provide their name, title, company and e-mail address, SFG℠ will forward a copy of the top line survey results in a complimentary executive-level analysts take/summary report to be published following the data collection and analysis.
Field Service News' contributor and SFG℠'s President and Principal Consulting Analyst, Bill Pollock, will be contributing an exclusive article to Field Service News outlining the survey's findings later this year.
You can take the survey by clicking here.
You can take the survey by clicking here.
Jul 30, 2019 • Features • Augmented Reality • future of field service • Software and Apps • Augmentir
The number of Augmented Reality companies focusing on the field service sector has dramatically increased over the last couple of years. Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News sat down with Chris Kuntz, VP of Marketing for one of the...
The number of Augmented Reality companies focusing on the field service sector has dramatically increased over the last couple of years. Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News sat down with Chris Kuntz, VP of Marketing for one of the newer organisations in the space Augmentir in California recently and came away impressed...
Augmentir is a relatively new startup in the growing Augmented Reality (AR) space that is focussing on the field service sector. Indeed this is a market that is becoming quite quickly crowded with AR vendors dominating industry conferences both in the US and Europe this summer in terms of the new entrants into the market.
However, three things, in particular, made Augmentir stand out from the crowd when I met with their VP of Marketing, Chris Kuntz, at the Field Service USA conference in Palm Springs recently. Firstly, there is much pedigree in this seemingly wet behind the ears startup.
The team that has put together Augmentir have been together for a long time on different projects which have included bringing the pioneering industrial IoT platform ThingWorx to market, as well as Wonderware, which was the first HMI interface in the manufacturing sector and is now in place in an estimated 60% of manufacturing plants worldwide.
So before we even start to look at the technology driving Augmentir, it’s fair to say that there is more than a good chance we shall potentially see another success story here.
However, the fact is that even without the well established pedigree, the vision behind Augmentir have taken a different yet thoroughly logical approach that sets them apart from many of their peers in the market.
As Kuntz, explained when I met with him in California, “We’re taking a different spin on what’s out there today. We’re the first software platform built on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the world of the augmented or connected worker. Historically, what’s happened in field service is roughly as follows: A new job is created when a customer reports a problem with a piece of equipment. This results in a worker getting dispatched, who then attends the job and either fixes the product or has to reschedule a second visit. Then at some point later, he updates a system with the notes outlining the actions he took,” Kuntz says recalling a scenario many of us in the sector recognise.
“However, the activities that happened from the time the engineer was dispatched to the time that that job is complete, remain a relative unknown, it’s a black box today. People don’t know what’s happening on the job site. Is that worker struggling with some of the steps? Does that worker speed through the repair procedure? Did the worker follow the right steps to meet health and safety requirements?”
There are all sorts of things happening. The problem then gets compounded for some companies who offer self-service or routines their dealer network or to their end customers. Now, you don’t know if they’re following the correct maintenance procedures or not. This, in turn, could affect the warranty status, and so on and so forth.”
"Augmentir have taken a different yet thoroughly logical approach..."
Of course, the result of the scenario Kuntz outlines is one many of us are familiar with. Companies have thus started to push technology down to the worker to make them better connected, to make them ‘augmented’.
This is at the heart of the current play for many AR providers, which in essence builds upon the case put forward for mobile a decade ago. Ultimately field service organisations are still attempting to solve the perennial question of “How can we give our engineers more information, give them more instructions on how to guide them through their process”.
“That’s all fine,” Kuntz states referring to the approach most of his peers are taking in resolving these issues, “But most companies aren’t collecting how their engineer’s work is performed. They’re just saying to the engineers, ‘Here are your instructions.’
“What we’re doing is taking that one step further. Firstly, we provide what we call ‘augmented work instruction’. By that, we mean work instructions that have information related to the case the engineer is doing, the piece of equipment they are working on and its work history that make the instructions interactive and personalised work instructions.
“If you’re an expert, that’s gone through this procedure a million times, you might get a more summarised view of the instructions, whereas if you’re a novice and this is the first time on a specific repair, our AI engine might provide you with a required training video along with a more detailed step-by-step guide. All to meet the goal of fix it right the first time …in the least amount of time.
“The next thing we do is we’re collecting all the granular data on how the workers performing their job and interacting with the instructions. We’re then using this data with our Artificial Intelligence engine in a way to help them become better at what they’re doing.
“Maybe an engineer is performing tasks slower than the average worker, is that an opportunity for training? Maybe they’re faster than the average worker? Is it an opportunity to tap into that person to say, how are you doing it? Have they found a more effective way of completing a task? Alternatively, maybe most of the workers are having trouble with a specific procedure/step – is there an opportunity to improve the instructions or associated training materials?”
Compliance is, of course, a crucial part of a field engineers role - both for legislative and internal efficiency purposes. However, often, it is the case that compliance steps happen after the fact.
One of the crucial aspects of digital transformation is making sure actions like these can now be electronically verified in real-time, in an interactive manner - and not just be an afterthought added to the notes a service engineer completes at the end of the job.
It is a small shift in a workflow that can have multiple big benefits, and the fact that Augmentir has baked such factors as this into their solution from the get-go does suggest they have a firm understanding of the field service engineers day to day workflow and the broader processes of the field service operation.
“This information can be used for compliance purposes, can be used for warranty purposes, it can be sent back to the customer to say, ‘this is a service procedure, this is exactly what happened,’ offer them a full inventory, step by step of what happened,” Kuntz explains: “We’re taking augmented reality, infusing it with artificial intelligence to collect the data, analyse it, and push it back to the organisation. Moreover, we’re doing it in a way that offers our enterprise software platform in a more modern approach.”
It is here we come across the third facet of Augmentir’s approach that also separates them from much of the pack - their route to market is equally accessible for the SMB sector as it is the large enterprise.
Kuntz continues: “If you think about how companies in this space adopt technology, Salesforce, Clicksoftware, ServiceMax; it’s a very lengthy process to implement any of these systems. Certainly, when it gets down to other AR solutions, it is no different and implementation can become even more time consuming. A pilot may take nine months; it could cost up to $150,000 to test out an AR solution.
“What we’re doing is trying to take a model that Slack, Atlassian and Dropbox have taken - make it easy to try, easy to buy, easy to own. The way people adopt Dropbox, the way people adopt Slack today is typical of how the modern world works, and we think we can apply that to the field service sector.
“What that allows us to do is not only work with the large enterprise companies, but also the small to mid-sized companies that don’t have the time and money to spend a large amount of money on implementing a large complex system."
This strategy really could be a game changer in the Field Service/Augmented Reality sector, which for a long time I have identified as one that has a vast potential to improve field service delivery, yet has ultimately struggled to truly take a prevalent hold in any meaningful way as yet.
SMBs are in prime position to benefit from many of the potential benefits, both in terms of reducing costs and increasing revenues that AR could yield. A solution that allows them to step into this world, virtually risk-free could become a massive gateway for widespread adoption on a mass scale.
The pedigree of Augmentir’s senior team, the intelligent well thought out use cases presented and a strategy that makes the solution easy to trial are three significant areas that can make them stand out from this increasingly busy pack.
However, the biggest reason I see Augmentir becoming an established provider within our sector is that I don’t actually think they are an AR provider at all. Instead, having spent some time with Kuntz looking at and discussing the solution, I believe they are best described as ‘an AI company that specialises in knowledge transfer and interpretation, who happen to have chosen AR as the primary interface for their solution'.
It might not roll off the tongue quite as easily, but it sure ticks a lot of boxes that many, many field service companies are looking at - and this may make Augmentir a key solution in the sector.
Augmentir is a relatively new startup in the growing Augmented Reality (AR) space that is focussing on the field service sector. Indeed this is a market that is becoming quite quickly crowded with AR vendors dominating industry conferences both in the US and Europe this summer in terms of the new entrants into the market.
However, three things, in particular, made Augmentir stand out from the crowd when I met with their VP of Marketing, Chris Kuntz, at the Field Service USA conference in Palm Springs recently. Firstly, there is much pedigree in this seemingly wet behind the ears startup.
The team that has put together Augmentir have been together for a long time on different projects which have included bringing the pioneering industrial IoT platform ThingWorx to market, as well as Wonderware, which was the first HMI interface in the manufacturing sector and is now in place in an estimated 60% of manufacturing plants worldwide.
So before we even start to look at the technology driving Augmentir, it’s fair to say that there is more than a good chance we shall potentially see another success story here.
However, the fact is that even without the well established pedigree, the vision behind Augmentir have taken a different yet thoroughly logical approach that sets them apart from many of their peers in the market.
As Kuntz, explained when I met with him in California, “We’re taking a different spin on what’s out there today. We’re the first software platform built on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the world of the augmented or connected worker. Historically, what’s happened in field service is roughly as follows: A new job is created when a customer reports a problem with a piece of equipment. This results in a worker getting dispatched, who then attends the job and either fixes the product or has to reschedule a second visit. Then at some point later, he updates a system with the notes outlining the actions he took,” Kuntz says recalling a scenario many of us in the sector recognise.
“However, the activities that happened from the time the engineer was dispatched to the time that that job is complete, remain a relative unknown, it’s a black box today. People don’t know what’s happening on the job site. Is that worker struggling with some of the steps? Does that worker speed through the repair procedure? Did the worker follow the right steps to meet health and safety requirements?”
There are all sorts of things happening. The problem then gets compounded for some companies who offer self-service or routines their dealer network or to their end customers. Now, you don’t know if they’re following the correct maintenance procedures or not. This, in turn, could affect the warranty status, and so on and so forth.”
"Augmentir have taken a different yet thoroughly logical approach..."
Of course, the result of the scenario Kuntz outlines is one many of us are familiar with. Companies have thus started to push technology down to the worker to make them better connected, to make them ‘augmented’.
This is at the heart of the current play for many AR providers, which in essence builds upon the case put forward for mobile a decade ago. Ultimately field service organisations are still attempting to solve the perennial question of “How can we give our engineers more information, give them more instructions on how to guide them through their process”.
“That’s all fine,” Kuntz states referring to the approach most of his peers are taking in resolving these issues, “But most companies aren’t collecting how their engineer’s work is performed. They’re just saying to the engineers, ‘Here are your instructions.’
“What we’re doing is taking that one step further. Firstly, we provide what we call ‘augmented work instruction’. By that, we mean work instructions that have information related to the case the engineer is doing, the piece of equipment they are working on and its work history that make the instructions interactive and personalised work instructions.
“If you’re an expert, that’s gone through this procedure a million times, you might get a more summarised view of the instructions, whereas if you’re a novice and this is the first time on a specific repair, our AI engine might provide you with a required training video along with a more detailed step-by-step guide. All to meet the goal of fix it right the first time …in the least amount of time.
“The next thing we do is we’re collecting all the granular data on how the workers performing their job and interacting with the instructions. We’re then using this data with our Artificial Intelligence engine in a way to help them become better at what they’re doing.
“Maybe an engineer is performing tasks slower than the average worker, is that an opportunity for training? Maybe they’re faster than the average worker? Is it an opportunity to tap into that person to say, how are you doing it? Have they found a more effective way of completing a task? Alternatively, maybe most of the workers are having trouble with a specific procedure/step – is there an opportunity to improve the instructions or associated training materials?”
Compliance is, of course, a crucial part of a field engineers role - both for legislative and internal efficiency purposes. However, often, it is the case that compliance steps happen after the fact.
One of the crucial aspects of digital transformation is making sure actions like these can now be electronically verified in real-time, in an interactive manner - and not just be an afterthought added to the notes a service engineer completes at the end of the job.
It is a small shift in a workflow that can have multiple big benefits, and the fact that Augmentir has baked such factors as this into their solution from the get-go does suggest they have a firm understanding of the field service engineers day to day workflow and the broader processes of the field service operation.
“This information can be used for compliance purposes, can be used for warranty purposes, it can be sent back to the customer to say, ‘this is a service procedure, this is exactly what happened,’ offer them a full inventory, step by step of what happened,” Kuntz explains: “We’re taking augmented reality, infusing it with artificial intelligence to collect the data, analyse it, and push it back to the organisation. Moreover, we’re doing it in a way that offers our enterprise software platform in a more modern approach.”
It is here we come across the third facet of Augmentir’s approach that also separates them from much of the pack - their route to market is equally accessible for the SMB sector as it is the large enterprise.
Kuntz continues: “If you think about how companies in this space adopt technology, Salesforce, Clicksoftware, ServiceMax; it’s a very lengthy process to implement any of these systems. Certainly, when it gets down to other AR solutions, it is no different and implementation can become even more time consuming. A pilot may take nine months; it could cost up to $150,000 to test out an AR solution.
“What we’re doing is trying to take a model that Slack, Atlassian and Dropbox have taken - make it easy to try, easy to buy, easy to own. The way people adopt Dropbox, the way people adopt Slack today is typical of how the modern world works, and we think we can apply that to the field service sector.
“What that allows us to do is not only work with the large enterprise companies, but also the small to mid-sized companies that don’t have the time and money to spend a large amount of money on implementing a large complex system."
This strategy really could be a game changer in the Field Service/Augmented Reality sector, which for a long time I have identified as one that has a vast potential to improve field service delivery, yet has ultimately struggled to truly take a prevalent hold in any meaningful way as yet.
SMBs are in prime position to benefit from many of the potential benefits, both in terms of reducing costs and increasing revenues that AR could yield. A solution that allows them to step into this world, virtually risk-free could become a massive gateway for widespread adoption on a mass scale.
The pedigree of Augmentir’s senior team, the intelligent well thought out use cases presented and a strategy that makes the solution easy to trial are three significant areas that can make them stand out from this increasingly busy pack.
However, the biggest reason I see Augmentir becoming an established provider within our sector is that I don’t actually think they are an AR provider at all. Instead, having spent some time with Kuntz looking at and discussing the solution, I believe they are best described as ‘an AI company that specialises in knowledge transfer and interpretation, who happen to have chosen AR as the primary interface for their solution'.
It might not roll off the tongue quite as easily, but it sure ticks a lot of boxes that many, many field service companies are looking at - and this may make Augmentir a key solution in the sector.
Jul 29, 2019 • Features • future of field service • Mergers and Acquisitions • servicemax • zinc
If it seems like only a few short years ago that GE Digital’s acquisition of ServiceMax, at an eye-watering price that exploded the market, was dominating headlines across and beyond the field service sector, that is because it was. Kris Oldland met...
If it seems like only a few short years ago that GE Digital’s acquisition of ServiceMax, at an eye-watering price that exploded the market, was dominating headlines across and beyond the field service sector, that is because it was. Kris Oldland met with their new CEO Neil Barua and President of newly acquired Zinc, Stacey Epstein to see if this time around the recently announced Silver Lake acquisition may prove to be more of a success.
I know many people at ServiceMax. Many good people. Heck, I even helped one or two of them get the job there. “It’s a good company, with a great ethos, that just really gets service,” I would say when people asked me for my honest appraisal of the company.
That was before they became acquired for close to a Billion dollars back in late 2016. Now, to be clear, I’m not saying that their ethos changed at that point or that they lost track of being a field service management software company that ‘really had their head around field service’. In fact, I’d say the transition from the independent company it was under former CEO and founder Dave Yarnold, to becoming part of the family at corporate giant GE, a transition led by then-new CEO Scott Berg – who had been Yarnold’s number two for many years, was just about as smooth as these things can be.
Indeed, the last time I spoke with Scott, whom I’ve known as long as I have Dave, there were still echoes of his former boss’ approach in his words and his vision. However, it was clear that that vision was now slowly becoming integrated with the bigger whole and wider picture that belonged to GE.
And then things did seem to go quiet for a while. ServiceMax in their first incarnation were constant innovators and boundary pushers. Sometimes they got it wrong like they did when they developed several apps for smartwatches and Google Glass. Sometimes they got it right, very right – like they did when the launched Connected Field Service and got the jump on all their peers in bringing IoT to the world of service.
They also had a knack for working with brands that matched their ambition. Companies like Elekta who were shipping their med-tech devices with 56K modems some thirty years before IoT was even the first concept of an idea that would become a ‘thing.’ Companies like Schneider Electric who somehow managed to fully roll out a new FSM and Mobility solution worldwide within just six months. Companies like Sony who were taking pioneering steps forward into servitization within the broadcast sector supplying one Spanish broadcaster with an entire news studio on a cost per use basis in Madrid in a complete industry first.
All pioneers, proudly empowered by ServiceMax.
“It will take time for them to become fully embedded before we see the real fruits of the union between ServiceMax and GE,” was the consensus as to why the noise that we were used to coming out of those offices in Pleasanton, California and London in the UK had quietened down significantly over the last year or so.
The problem was that by the time that integration was even close to happening, by the time the last person at ServiceMax had finally gotten their new business cards and at last become used to giving out their new GE email address, their acquisition by Private Equity (PE) firm Silver Lake had suddenly been announced.
In my experience this can be a great thing to happen to a company sometimes, PE firm EQT is doing a great job at the helm of IFS for example and driving that business forward. In other cases, which I shall not name and shame, but plenty do exist, PE acquisition can be a hellish scenario of asset stripping and cost-cutting to nightmarish proportions.
So which type of PE owner will Silver Lake be? Well, their track record is certainly impressive in the technology space, so that goes some ways to alleviating initial fears. However, understanding the new vision of the company, in this third iteration, was still at the top of my agenda when I sat down with Neil Barua, the new CEO of ServiceMax and Stacey Epstein, President of recent ServiceMax acquisition Zinc.
You see for me, a healthy ServiceMax is good for the market in general. Most industries, but field service especially, tend to go through ebbs and flows of consolidation, with periods of stagnation and innovation correlating closely to the number of strong players within the sector.
“In terms of how we think about companies, you can test out that with any of the companies that we own and have owned,” replies Barua when I question Silver Lake’s motives for acquiring ServiceMax in a manner vaguely akin to a father assessing suitors for his daughter. “It’s all around how you take a business and grow it. There are several flavours of PE, I’m sure you’ve covered PE owners in the past that come in and like to cut costs and maximise the P&L and cash flow. Others, like ourselves, prefer to grow a business and that’s where we’ve made our money and why we tend to buy assets of similar flavours.”
In many ways, it all does seem a little bit surreal, given the high publicity of the GE acquisition to be sitting here discussing yet another new chapter in the ServiceMax story just a few years on. However, as Barua explains, it was an unusual opportunity that Silver Lake was quick to spot and agile enough to take advantage of. “We shouldn’t have been able to buy it, GE should have retained it,” he comments. “They were going through their financial issues, and we picked up an asset that, as a standalone business we think, given our capabilities and the momentum the team already has, we can take to a whole different level.
“You’ve talked before about the technology and also the importance of understanding the customer as being something of a secret source here at ServiceMax. I think I also saw that, which is why I aggressively put my hand up to be part of this and to take on the role that I’m now currently in,” he adds.
"A healthy ServiceMax is good for the market in general..."
So does Barua think that the last few years with GE will have tainted the once glowing ServiceMax brand? The sheer high-profile nature of the original acquisition and the figures involved mean that selling so shortly after would indicate something of a failure in the deal, in perception terms at the very least.
“I actually think we’re way in the lead right now,” he replies when I put this to him, “I really don’t think things have gone negative in terms of going through the GE experience and in fact it made us stronger as a company. Now, as a standalone business, we’ve got the agility and the shareholder base to move quickly on behalf of our customers.”
Of course, we wouldn’t expect a newly appointed CEO of any company to say anything other than such. It is the standard, forward-looking, front foot standing statement that I would have expected from any new CEO. However, I must admit that Barua puts his message across with the type of swagger that was fairly prevalent at ServiceMax pre-GE. He’s certainly not your cookie cutter PE CEO, and I’ve come across a few in my time. There is an undercurrent of enthusiasm in his voice and mannerisms, which is both unexpected and infectious.
“Failure is not an option for this company. There’s an element of the legacy of this business and the history of this business and that’s part of the reason why I feel so great about the company, and why Silver Lake equally does,” he states.
Falling back on the legacy as our discussion rolls on, we trade some stories around the history of the business, which is one I have been close to for some time and have watched progress in its journey from the small rented office Dave Yarnold lovingly referred to as the ‘Beige Palace’ back in San Francisco right through to today.
“Dave and Scott were awesome guys,” Barua nods showing a great deal of respect for his predecessors. “The teams that they led, they made a difference to people. I just think that there is still so much more that we could do for that customer base and that’s the excitement that Silver Lake and I have now, and the strategy and the optimism around what this company can do is fascinating.”
Of course, solidifying that link to the past is Stacey Epstein, who in her role as President of newly acquired Zinc is the newest member of the ServiceMax executive board, yet as former CMO of ServiceMax has roots right back to the beginning. “I remember the first iPad app, and we were the only people that even thought about putting something on the iPad,” she recalls.
“There has been this tradition of ServiceMax leading the market. I think you look at some of our earliest peers, the likes of TOA or ClickSoftware; they were good software but were only focused in one area of field service, really hyper-focused on scheduling. ServiceMax was always innovative across the whole full-service lifecycle.
“Click was what Click was. They solved a problem, and they did it pretty well. TOA then came and did it in the cloud, but it was still kind of the same problem.Then ServiceMax came along and said, ‘let’s look at parts, let’s look at logistics, let’s look at warranties and time elements.’ We saw there was a bigger service life cycle, and that was what field service management grew into. I think now we have an opportunity with some of the really cool and exciting technologies that are coming on the scene to do what we call service execution management, which involves tools like Zinc, that deliver real-time communication.”
As the evening progressed, it dawned on me just how important the acquisition of Zinc and Epstein’s return to the fold was for ServiceMax. Yes, the technology within Zinc is fantastic, but more importantly, it is one of a handful of solutions that can fill a hole not just in the ServiceMax solution but in the industry at large as well. It is absolutely on point with the current trends towards ever increasing customer engagement and improving customer experience and in that sense, it is precisely the type of well thought out solution that traditionally ServiceMax would have developed and then championed.
It is an innovation that can lead an area of growth within the wider industry and is a hugely valuable acquisition from that point alone. However, equally, it is symbolic of something else, as it is perhaps the spark that could well reignite the fire in the bellies of the sleeping beast of marketleading innovation that made ServiceMax such an essential and dominant player in the FSM market in the first place.
Even Epstein herself is the perfect personification of the old and the new coming together in this latest iteration of ServiceMax. After the official interview period ends the three of us share some further stories across a glass or two of wine, and at this point, it becomes apparent to me just how strong a potential team Epstein and Barua could be.
There is a natural the rapport between the two and while it is little wonder that someone with such experience in our sector as Epstein should have an impressive depth of knowledge of field service operations, I must confess I was pleasantly surprised by just how genuine Barua’s passion for empowering great service actually was.
There is a good balance between the two with complimentary skill sets and approaches and I can genuinely see them forming a formidable leadership duo if things remain on the current path.
So while there is still a long way to go before I’m prepared to shout this from the rooftops - as experience tells me there may still be be some further twists and turns in this tale, I’ll say it once, just as a whisper to try it out…“I think ServiceMax are back.”
Jul 26, 2019 • News • future of field service • Global Mobile Broadband • broadband
Taiwan heads the list with 37 of the top 50 located in Europe and the UK sitting in 34th place.
Taiwan heads the list with 37 of the top 50 located in Europe and the UK sitting in 34th place.
A survey of 207 countries' broadband speed has revealed Taiwan as the fastest provider with average speeds of 85.03 megabytes per-second. In contrast Yemen, the slowest, recorded speeds of 0.38Mbps. The UK, was 34th fastest clocking up an average speed of 22.37Mbps.
A survey of 207 countries' broadband speed has revealed Taiwan as the fastest provider with average speeds of 85.03 megabytes per-second. In contrast Yemen, the slowest, recorded speeds of 0.38Mbps. The UK, was 34th fastest clocking up an average speed of 22.37Mbps.
The research was designed and compiled by Cable.co.uk, and the data gathered by M-Lab, an open source project with contributors from civil society organisations, educational institutions, and private sector companies. M-Lab is led by teams based at Code for Science and Society, New America's Open Technology Institute, Google, Princeton University's PlanetLab, and other supporting partners.
Last year, the five fastest countries had download speeds around 88 times faster than the five slowest. That gap is widening. This year the top five are 125 times faster than the five slowest. Taiwan tops the table at 85.02Mbps, compared to Yemen, which is 224 times slower at just 0.38Mbps.
Europe fared well with 37 of the top 50 fastest-performing countries are located in the continent, with ten in Asia & Pacific, two in North America, and just one in Africa. By contrast, 25 of the 50 slowest-performing countries are located in Africa, 12 in the Arab States with ten in Asia & Pacific, and three in South/Latin America
However, 141 countries failed to achieve average speeds above 10Mbps, a speed deemed by UK telecoms watchdog Ofcom to be the minimum required to cope with the needs of a typical family or small business.
Jul 23, 2019 • News • connected devices • future of field service • Medical Devices • Berg Insight
Research finds that high use of connected care solutions in North America.
Research finds that high use of connected care solutions in North America.
A new report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight has found that around 18.0 million people in North America were using connected care solutions at the end of 2018.
The figure refers to users of medical alert systems, connected medication management solutions and remote patient monitoring (RPM) solutions in Canada and the US. RPM is the largest and most mature segment having a total of 16.1 million users at the end of 2018. The market for medical alert systems is considerably smaller with an estimated total of 3.1 million users, whereas the number of connected medication management users reached 900,000 at the end of 2018. There is an overlap between the market segments as medical alert users can also be equipped with a medication management solution or an RPM solution, and vice versa. The market is forecasted to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.3 percent during the next six years to reach 49.4 million connected care users by 2024.
The leading use case for RPM have thus far been sleep therapy monitoring. Patients that suffer from sleep-disordered breathing such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) are typically prescribed an airflow generator, but many patients find the device unpleasant to use and poor compliance is common. Payers thus increasingly require that patients comply with their treatment plans to be reimbursed for the device which has driven equipment vendors to connect the devices. Philips is the largest provider of connected airflow generators. ResMed follows closely thanks to the company’s decision to include cellular IoT connectivity as standard in its Air Solutions product family.
The North American market for connected care solutions is affected by several trends and developments that will have an impact on the competitive landscape in the following years. Changing demographics is driving the demand for home care, while technological developments and regulatory changes affect the competitive landscape for solution vendors. One of the major ongoing changes is the sunset of the landline telephone networks and cellular 3G networks, which forces equipment providers to upgrade their products. At the same time, the industry is becoming more patient-centric which calls for integrated systems and improved interoperability of connected care solutions. New companies are entering the connected care market and connected medication management solutions are today in the centre of attention for start-ups.
Jul 19, 2019 • News • future of field service • Berg Insight • smart meters
The installed base of smart electricity meters in North America will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.0 percent between 2018 and 2024 to reach 142.8 million at the end of the period, according to a new study.
The installed base of smart electricity meters in North America will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 8.0 percent between 2018 and 2024 to reach 142.8 million at the end of the period, according to a new study.
A research report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight also says smart meter penetration among electricity customers in the UK and Canada Over is projected to increase from around 60 percent in 2018 to more than 80 percent by the end of 2024.
“North America has long been at the forefront of smart grid technology adoption and a large share of the major utilities in the region are now either fully deployed or in the implementation or planning stages of full-scale rollouts. The market is however highly heterogenous in terms of penetration. Some states or provinces remain skeptical towards the business case for advanced metering investments whereas others are soon to begin a second wave of deployments”, said Levi Ostling, IoT Analyst, Berg Insight and author of the report.
Canada has reached a high penetration of smart meters through ambitious initiatives in its most populous provinces. Continued growth in North America the next few years will largely be driven by the large investor-owned utilities in the US that are yet to roll out smart meters for their customers. In addition, the large number of smaller cooperative and municipal utilities will also be playing an increasingly central role for penetration growth.
According to the report, yearly shipments of smart electricity meters in North America will grow from 8.8 million units in 2018 to 19.9 million units in 2024. Over the next few years, first-wave deployments by utilities such as Consolidated Edison, Duke Energy, Ameren, Entergy, PSEG, National Grid and Xcel Energy will boost shipments. Second wave deployments will gradually make their way into the shipment numbers at the end of the forecast period. “While increasingly powerful meters with edge intelligence capabilities coupled with advanced data analytics software will drive second wave deployments, the utilities are now also looking to leverage their existing RF mesh networks for a wider array of applications beyond metering, bringing an increasingly diverse set of devices onto their networking platforms,” concluded Mr. Ostling.
A research report from the IoT analyst firm Berg Insight also says smart meter penetration among electricity customers in the UK and Canada Over is projected to increase from around 60 percent in 2018 to more than 80 percent by the end of 2024.
“North America has long been at the forefront of smart grid technology adoption and a large share of the major utilities in the region are now either fully deployed or in the implementation or planning stages of full-scale rollouts. The market is however highly heterogenous in terms of penetration. Some states or provinces remain skeptical towards the business case for advanced metering investments whereas others are soon to begin a second wave of deployments”, said Levi Ostling, IoT Analyst, Berg Insight and author of the report.
Canada has reached a high penetration of smart meters through ambitious initiatives in its most populous provinces. Continued growth in North America the next few years will largely be driven by the large investor-owned utilities in the US that are yet to roll out smart meters for their customers. In addition, the large number of smaller cooperative and municipal utilities will also be playing an increasingly central role for penetration growth.
According to the report, yearly shipments of smart electricity meters in North America will grow from 8.8 million units in 2018 to 19.9 million units in 2024. Over the next few years, first-wave deployments by utilities such as Consolidated Edison, Duke Energy, Ameren, Entergy, PSEG, National Grid and Xcel Energy will boost shipments. Second wave deployments will gradually make their way into the shipment numbers at the end of the forecast period. “While increasingly powerful meters with edge intelligence capabilities coupled with advanced data analytics software will drive second wave deployments, the utilities are now also looking to leverage their existing RF mesh networks for a wider array of applications beyond metering, bringing an increasingly diverse set of devices onto their networking platforms,” concluded Mr. Ostling.
Jul 18, 2019 • News • future of field service • Ericsson • smart automation • smart factory
Ericsson’s first fully-automated smart factory in the world will be operational in early 2020.
Ericsson’s first fully-automated smart factory in the world will be operational in early 2020.
Ericsson have announced plans to build its first fully-automated smart factory in the US. The state-of-the-art factory will produce Advanced Antenna System* radios to boost network capacity and coverage, including rural coverage, as well as 5G radios for urban areas, both necessary for rapid 5G deployments in North America.
The new smart factory complements Ericsson’s global supply chain, which ensures the company is working close to customers through its European, Asian and American operations, securing fast and agile deliveries to meet customer requirements. This builds on Ericsson’s previously announced strategic initiative is the U.S. market. Ericsson is also fast-tracking the launch of the next-generation smart manufacturing through a modular and flexible production setup in its existing own factories in Estonia, China and Brazil.
Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks at Ericsson, says: “We continue to focus on working closely with our customers and supporting them in the buildout of 5G globally and in North America. With today’s announcement, we conclude months of preparations and can move into execution also in the U.S. In addition, we are digitalizing our entire global production landscape, including establishing this factory in the U.S. With 5G connectivity we’re accelerating Industry 4.0, enabling automated factories for the future.”
Location will be announced upon concluding discussions with state and local authorities. The company is committed to the factory being operational in early 2020. The smart factory will be powered by Ericsson 5G solutions tailored for the industrial environment and will also advance Ericsson’s commitment to sustainability, including registration to pursue LEED Gold Certification.
Fast and secure 5G connectivity will enable agile operations and flexible production. This will be achieved through automated warehouses, connected logistics and automated assembly, packing and product handling, and the use of autonomous carts.
The latest technology products created in the 5G factory will enable a faster rollout of commercial 5G across the region. To ensure the high quality of products, Ericsson runs its new product introduction** and early production in-house. Over time, activities to support new product introduction will also be added to the new factory operations as local competence and knowledge of 5G is built.
Ericsson plans to initially employ approximately 100 people at the facility, which will have highly automated operations, as well as a modular and flexible production setup to enable quick ramp up and rollout.
Ericsson began operations via a production partner for the first radios for the U.S. market produced at the end of 2018. The company also established a new R&D site – a software development center – in Austin, Texas. It is located close to the Austin ASIC Design Center, which opened in late 2017 and focuses on core microelectronics of 5G radio base stations.
Ericsson have announced plans to build its first fully-automated smart factory in the US. The state-of-the-art factory will produce Advanced Antenna System* radios to boost network capacity and coverage, including rural coverage, as well as 5G radios for urban areas, both necessary for rapid 5G deployments in North America.
The new smart factory complements Ericsson’s global supply chain, which ensures the company is working close to customers through its European, Asian and American operations, securing fast and agile deliveries to meet customer requirements. This builds on Ericsson’s previously announced strategic initiative is the U.S. market. Ericsson is also fast-tracking the launch of the next-generation smart manufacturing through a modular and flexible production setup in its existing own factories in Estonia, China and Brazil.
Fredrik Jejdling, Executive Vice President and Head of Networks at Ericsson, says: “We continue to focus on working closely with our customers and supporting them in the buildout of 5G globally and in North America. With today’s announcement, we conclude months of preparations and can move into execution also in the U.S. In addition, we are digitalizing our entire global production landscape, including establishing this factory in the U.S. With 5G connectivity we’re accelerating Industry 4.0, enabling automated factories for the future.”
Location will be announced upon concluding discussions with state and local authorities. The company is committed to the factory being operational in early 2020. The smart factory will be powered by Ericsson 5G solutions tailored for the industrial environment and will also advance Ericsson’s commitment to sustainability, including registration to pursue LEED Gold Certification.
Fast and secure 5G connectivity will enable agile operations and flexible production. This will be achieved through automated warehouses, connected logistics and automated assembly, packing and product handling, and the use of autonomous carts.
The latest technology products created in the 5G factory will enable a faster rollout of commercial 5G across the region. To ensure the high quality of products, Ericsson runs its new product introduction** and early production in-house. Over time, activities to support new product introduction will also be added to the new factory operations as local competence and knowledge of 5G is built.
Ericsson plans to initially employ approximately 100 people at the facility, which will have highly automated operations, as well as a modular and flexible production setup to enable quick ramp up and rollout.
Ericsson began operations via a production partner for the first radios for the U.S. market produced at the end of 2018. The company also established a new R&D site – a software development center – in Austin, Texas. It is located close to the Austin ASIC Design Center, which opened in late 2017 and focuses on core microelectronics of 5G radio base stations.
Jul 15, 2019 • AI • copperberg • Data Analytics • future of field service • Field Service Forum • IoT
Despite words like innovators and pioneers being regularly used to describe high profile companies, there is an argument that in business you never really want to be the first. Wang Computers released the Wang 3300 five years before the Apple 1....
Despite words like innovators and pioneers being regularly used to describe high profile companies, there is an argument that in business you never really want to be the first. Wang Computers released the Wang 3300 five years before the Apple 1. Friendster arrived two years ahead FaceBook. The difference between bleeding edge and earlier adopter can be critical to success as Rohit Argawal, Editorial Director at Copperberg writes...
The ‘creation of a technology’ and the ‘adoption of the technology’, what’s more important? One way to look at it is that technology prowess for an organisation helps it advance and differentiate but its scope is limited unless the technology is adopted widely and simplifies tasks or generates revenue.
Narrowing down to the Field Service Industry, keywords such as ‘Democratised Service’, ‘Augmented Workforce’, ‘Humanoid Field Workers’, are abundant and very easy to encounter today in most articles, podcasts and webinars. The hype around IoT, AI, AR and VR is causing Field Service Directors to sweat and are inducing fear of being left behind in the digitalisation race.
The major question of the hour is: has the industry crossed ‘The Chasm’ yet for digitalisation? For those not familiar with the technology adoption lifecycle curve, the curve breaks down technology adoption into five phases with respect to time. When a new technology is introduced, the innovators (read tech geeks, influencers and technology over-enthusiasts) are the first to try it. In the field service area, these innovators would be large field service companies that have an abundant budget, manpower and cushion to fail for new innovations.
Once these innovators find a use case for the technology and deem it fit is when the early adopters start using the technology. This is the make or break zone for most technology. The number of users increases non-linearly and more rapidly compared to the initial phase.
To move from the innovators to the early majority is the toughest phase for the technology and is known as ‘crossing the chasm.’ After the ‘chasm,’ the use of technology increases rapidly till peak usage when the market starts to saturate and the late majority comes in. The laggards are technophobics who are last to adopt the technology. Most field service companies that consider keeping machines up and running as important play it safe and would be in the ‘early to late’ majority category.
Coming back to digitalisation in the field service industry, the majority of field service organisations have started addressing the need for IoT and data collection to ramp up their field service offerings and have more satisfied customers. At the recent Field Service Forum 2019 in Amsterdam, Europe’s leading event for field service, more than 115 Field Service Directors came together to discuss the present trends in field service, the upcoming challenges and the future of customer satisfaction.
"To move from the innovators to the early majority is the toughest phase..."
Most of them agreed that IoT and data will have a major impact on service businesses and that they need to start small, arrive at results and then move forward. They acknowledged the speed of technology development today and also benchmarked their own services to the standards set by the keynote speakers. Acknowledgement of the impact of the technology by the wider audience and relating to case studies show that IoT has crossed the chasm and reached the early innovators. All those not on board the IoT bandwagon are now scurrying to do so.
According to Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2018 report, IoT platforms will reach their plateau of productivity in the next 5-10 years. The Field Service Directors who have adopted IoT and data collection reflected that tech trends can be misleading and that they should rather focus on business problems. Translating the data to meaningful insights that can lead to better business decisions. There was also contemplation and debate on whether machines could take over humans in the workplace, though the consensus was that it wouldn’t be likely.
One technology that can help in this data processing and generating insights is AI. However, only the early innovators and technology leaders have tested it so far. Has AI jumped the chasm in the field service industry? Not yet.
Most innovators are still creating use cases and the projects are on test-beds. The majority of field service leaders are starting to see the potential and value in using AI in their data processing, but then the implementation, adaptation and ROI are a long way down the path.
Another technology that is premature but is deemed to have high value is augmented and virtual reality. The potential to have an experienced technician assisting a new line of the on-field workforce is very appealing but will the customer be satisfied and confident with the blunt show of inexperience? Will the chances to have faulty repairs increase once the technology is out of test trials or on the field?
There is always a debate about technology, its potential forecasted and the actual benefits derived. Over the next few years, we will realise if these technologies will jump the chasm and go on to become basic necessities in the field service business.
To be involved in the Field Service Directors Community, pre-register here for the Field Service Forum 2020.
The ‘creation of a technology’ and the ‘adoption of the technology’, what’s more important? One way to look at it is that technology prowess for an organisation helps it advance and differentiate but its scope is limited unless the technology is adopted widely and simplifies tasks or generates revenue.
Narrowing down to the Field Service Industry, keywords such as ‘Democratised Service’, ‘Augmented Workforce’, ‘Humanoid Field Workers’, are abundant and very easy to encounter today in most articles, podcasts and webinars. The hype around IoT, AI, AR and VR is causing Field Service Directors to sweat and are inducing fear of being left behind in the digitalisation race.
The major question of the hour is: has the industry crossed ‘The Chasm’ yet for digitalisation? For those not familiar with the technology adoption lifecycle curve, the curve breaks down technology adoption into five phases with respect to time. When a new technology is introduced, the innovators (read tech geeks, influencers and technology over-enthusiasts) are the first to try it. In the field service area, these innovators would be large field service companies that have an abundant budget, manpower and cushion to fail for new innovations.
Once these innovators find a use case for the technology and deem it fit is when the early adopters start using the technology. This is the make or break zone for most technology. The number of users increases non-linearly and more rapidly compared to the initial phase.
To move from the innovators to the early majority is the toughest phase for the technology and is known as ‘crossing the chasm.’ After the ‘chasm,’ the use of technology increases rapidly till peak usage when the market starts to saturate and the late majority comes in. The laggards are technophobics who are last to adopt the technology. Most field service companies that consider keeping machines up and running as important play it safe and would be in the ‘early to late’ majority category.
Coming back to digitalisation in the field service industry, the majority of field service organisations have started addressing the need for IoT and data collection to ramp up their field service offerings and have more satisfied customers. At the recent Field Service Forum 2019 in Amsterdam, Europe’s leading event for field service, more than 115 Field Service Directors came together to discuss the present trends in field service, the upcoming challenges and the future of customer satisfaction.
"To move from the innovators to the early majority is the toughest phase..."
Most of them agreed that IoT and data will have a major impact on service businesses and that they need to start small, arrive at results and then move forward. They acknowledged the speed of technology development today and also benchmarked their own services to the standards set by the keynote speakers. Acknowledgement of the impact of the technology by the wider audience and relating to case studies show that IoT has crossed the chasm and reached the early innovators. All those not on board the IoT bandwagon are now scurrying to do so.
According to Gartner’s Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2018 report, IoT platforms will reach their plateau of productivity in the next 5-10 years. The Field Service Directors who have adopted IoT and data collection reflected that tech trends can be misleading and that they should rather focus on business problems. Translating the data to meaningful insights that can lead to better business decisions. There was also contemplation and debate on whether machines could take over humans in the workplace, though the consensus was that it wouldn’t be likely.
One technology that can help in this data processing and generating insights is AI. However, only the early innovators and technology leaders have tested it so far. Has AI jumped the chasm in the field service industry? Not yet.
Most innovators are still creating use cases and the projects are on test-beds. The majority of field service leaders are starting to see the potential and value in using AI in their data processing, but then the implementation, adaptation and ROI are a long way down the path.
Another technology that is premature but is deemed to have high value is augmented and virtual reality. The potential to have an experienced technician assisting a new line of the on-field workforce is very appealing but will the customer be satisfied and confident with the blunt show of inexperience? Will the chances to have faulty repairs increase once the technology is out of test trials or on the field?
There is always a debate about technology, its potential forecasted and the actual benefits derived. Over the next few years, we will realise if these technologies will jump the chasm and go on to become basic necessities in the field service business.
To be involved in the Field Service Directors Community, pre-register here for the Field Service Forum 2020.
Jul 08, 2019 • News • 5G • future of field service • research report • Ericsson
Ericsson has released a new ConsumerLab report - 5G Consumer Potential - which busts industry myths surrounding the value of 5G for consumers and outlines the opportunities available for communications service providers.
Ericsson has released a new ConsumerLab report - 5G Consumer Potential - which busts industry myths surrounding the value of 5G for consumers and outlines the opportunities available for communications service providers.
Backed by solid research from one of the biggest ever consumer expectation studies, the report looks at the potential of 5G to benefit consumers, uncovering certain realities about them (“consumer realities”) to bust the following four common industry myths:
1. 5G offers consumers no short-term benefits.
2. There are no real use cases for 5G, nor is there a price premium on 5G.
3. Smartphones will be the “silver bullet” for 5G: the magical single solution to delivering fifth-generation services.
4. Current usage patterns can be used to predict future 5G demand.
The study brings some sense of reality to the ongoing debate in the ICT industry about whether there is an opportunity for a premium consumer offering based on 5G’s extra capabilities.
The key findings of the study include the fact that consumers expect 5G to provide relief from urban network congestion in the near term – especially in megacities, where six in 10 smartphone users report facing network issues in crowded areas. The respondents also anticipate more home broadband choices to be available with the launch of 5G.
The key findings of the study include the fact that consumers expect 5G to provide relief from urban network congestion in the near term – especially in megacities, where six in 10 smartphone users report facing network issues in crowded areas. The respondents also anticipate more home broadband choices to be available with the launch of 5G.
The report also dispels the ICT industry myth that consumers are unwilling to pay a premium on 5G. In fact, smartphone users state that they are willing to pay 20 percent more for fifth-generation services, and half of early adopters as much as 32 percent more. However, four in 10 of these high spenders expect new use cases and payment models as well as a secure 5G network in addition to a consistently high internet speed.
Another key finding is that current 4G usage patterns are not indicative of future usage behaviors. Video consumption is set to rise with 5G. Consumers expect to not only stream video in higher resolutions but also use immersive video formats such as Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual reality (VR), resulting in an additional three hours of video content being watched weekly on mobile devices by users in the 5G future when they are out and about, including one hour wearing AR glasses or VR headsets. The study also reveals that one in five smartphone users’ data usage could reach more than 200GB per month on a 5G device by 2025.
Another key finding is that current 4G usage patterns are not indicative of future usage behaviors. Video consumption is set to rise with 5G. Consumers expect to not only stream video in higher resolutions but also use immersive video formats such as Augmented reality (AR) and Virtual reality (VR), resulting in an additional three hours of video content being watched weekly on mobile devices by users in the 5G future when they are out and about, including one hour wearing AR glasses or VR headsets. The study also reveals that one in five smartphone users’ data usage could reach more than 200GB per month on a 5G device by 2025.
From these insights and more, Ericsson ConsumerLab has drawn up a consumer roadmap of use cases involving 31 different applications and services. The roadmap is divided into six use-case categories, namely: entertainment and media; enhanced mobile broadband; gaming and AR/VR applications; smart home and fixed wireless access; automotive and transportation; and shopping and immersive communications.
Jasmeet Singh Sethi, Head of ConsumerLab, Ericsson Research, says: “Through our research, we have busted four myths about consumers’ views on 5G and answered questions such as whether 5G features will require new types of devices, or whether smartphones will be the silver bullet for 5G. Consumers clearly state that they think smartphones are unlikely to be the sole solution for 5G.”
Jasmeet Singh Sethi, Head of ConsumerLab, Ericsson Research, says: “Through our research, we have busted four myths about consumers’ views on 5G and answered questions such as whether 5G features will require new types of devices, or whether smartphones will be the silver bullet for 5G. Consumers clearly state that they think smartphones are unlikely to be the sole solution for 5G.”
This latest Ericsson ConsumerLab study is based on 35,000 interviews with smartphone users aged 15 to 69, carried out in 22 different countries. The views of the participants are representative of almost 1 billion people. To gain a perspective on industry sentiment regarding the consumer value of 5G, a further 22 interviews were conducted with experts including academics as well as senior executives working for telecom operators, handset and chip manufacturers, start-ups and think tanks.
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.
Leave a Reply