The Difference Between Effectiveness and Utilisation

Oct 29, 2021 • Features • Martin Summerhayes • Digital Transformation • Covid-19 • Digital Symposium • GLOBAL

Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Martin Summerhayes, Head of Digital Transformation Services at MDB Service Consulting.

Salesforce Upgrades Field Service Management to Prepare Mobile Workers for a Changing World

Oct 28, 2021 • News • Future of field servcice • field service management • Salesforce • Managing the Mobile Workforce • GLOBAL

Today, Salesforce introduced four new capabilities for Field Service to help businesses equip their mobile workforce for the future.

These features will enable businesses to scale resources to handle more complex jobs, customize mobile apps to tailor employee experiences, provide customers with flexible scheduling, and use video for both improved customer and employee interactions.

Customers today expect businesses to deliver world-class service whether they're working with an agent in a call center, engaging with a bot, or interacting with an agent in the field. But field technicians and organizations often don't have the tools, skills, and information to meet these expectations. In fact, 80% of field service professionals say the skills required for their job have evolved from just two years ago, and 81% see a direct link between their work and business performance. But learning those skills and delivering these experiences in the field isn’t easy -- especially at scale.

“With customers and employees looking for fast and easy digital service, the field service industry is ripe for change,” said Paul Whitelam, GM of Field Service Management at Salesforce. “Salesforce is a leader in field service management thanks to our powerful platform that delivers a complete customer view, and today’s innovations bring more trust, speed, and convenience to every field service interaction.”

FIELD SERVICE IS BUILT FOR CHANGE

Salesforce Field Service is a complete solution to manage your mobile workforce. Providing scheduling, mobile capabilities, AI to manage jobs and solve problems on the first visit, and swarming capabilities with Slack. It’s built on the world’s #1 CRM and part of a complete service offering that connects customer data and your service experts on one platform.
Today’s additions to Salesforce Field Service include:

Running on Hyperforce, Salesforce’s next-generation platform architecture, the Enhanced Scheduling and Optimization Engine will enable businesses to handle complex field service jobs in more locations around the world. For example, an IT services company can now expand to serve global customers on the same platform, and instantly get up and running in a new region. Optimization comes into play when a job requires several steps and technicians: for example, a Utility digging a hole for a new electric pole, installing the pole and wires, and adding wiring to nearby structures. Salesforce Field Service will enable companies to chain these steps together so dispatchers can see complex jobs in their entirety and better manage worker capacity.
Lightning Web Components for Field Service will enable businesses and partners to easily customize the Salesforce Field Service mobile app with advanced features and workflows to provide a better employee experience. For example, a water delivery company can create a custom app that pre-populates order information — like the delivery cadence and quantity — from Service Cloud into one page, saving the delivery person time on approvals and the headache of having to fill out the same information over and over. Lightning Web Components also provides new opportunities for partners and SIs to create industry-specific applications, such as a streamlined workflow for home security companies or industrial machinery manufacturers.
Appointment Assistant Self-Service Scheduling enables customers to schedule their own appointments and cancel, confirm, or reschedule, all without waiting on hold. And as customers make these changes, technician schedules and service resources will automatically adjust.
Visual Remote Assistant Two-Way Video now lets both agents and customers share their cameras in real time to troubleshoot issues. For example, an agent can show a customer step by step how to reset their cable box. On-site technicians can get real-time training or pull in additional support from contact center agents when needed.

Organizations are using Salesforce Field Service to respond faster and build trust

Organizations in dozens of industries around the world are using Salesforce Field Service to respond to the changing needs of their customers:

Hologic: "With Salesforce Field Service, Hologic is able to reduce time spent on site by equipping field service engineers with AI-powered recommendations and ensure we can get the right person to the right job at the right time, with the right part,” Pierre Malboeuf, Senior Director, National Field Service, Breast & Skeletal Health. “Field Service is a game changer and enables us to build a deep sense of trust with our customers."
AAA: "Today's consumer has zero tolerance for having to repeat themselves. Omnichannel servicing allows a customer to begin a request or service from one chosen channel and complete the request in a whole other service channel without losing a beat,” Shohreh Abedi, EVP, Chief Operations Technology Officer, Member Experience, The Auto Club Group. “Field Service has reduced over 25% of the volume that is being handled completely digitally without human interaction, through AI, chat or other digital self-service capabilities. The result of having a customer-centric approach is a happier, more delighted member, and Salesforce is a big part of our journey."
SafeStreets: “We needed a smart tool that would allow us to schedule security installs quickly in a matter of minutes and bring our reschedule rate down, because rescheduling often results in the customer cancelling the job,” said Eddie Prignano, VP of Systems Architecture. “Salesforce helped us create a great customer experience in a short amount of time that gives us confidence in our scheduling and gives the customer all the information they could want — from the name and photo of the technician, to where they are and their ETA, so the customer never feels like they’re in the dark. And as customers’ expectations require updates to these experiences, we have the flexibility to simply and easily make changes as necessary.”
MTI: "MTI provides security and tablet solutions to businesses like retailers, restaurants, hotels and hospitals, and the pandemic drove tremendous change in all of those businesses. By leveraging Salesforce Field Service, we’ve been able to reduce manual scheduling needs by 50% and run 70-80% of service trips through our optimization model,” Mary Jesse, CEO. “Not only that, but we’re able to drill down and see to the minute when somebody is on site, what they’re doing and how it relates back up to a complete customer project. The average time to resolve a case has decreased as we’ve leveraged multiple applications within the Salesforce ecosystem — increasing the speed and efficiency of our business."

DocuSign automates contract obligations in the field

Announced yesterday, DocuSign CRM for Field Service will allow customers to automate how they track, enforce, and update contract terms across departments and while in the field. Bringing in data on warranties and service level agreements (SLAs) from DocuSign CRM contracts directly into Service Cloud contract objects will enable smarter and more automated service experiences, and efficient service contract execution.

Additional Information

To learn more about how Salesforce Field Service is empowering mobile workforces to build trust and scale, watch the latest episode of At Your Service and visit the product page for more details.

Availability

Enhanced Scheduling and Optimization is currently available in beta.
Lightning Web Components for Field Service is currently available in pilot.
Appointment Assistant Self-Service Scheduling is generally available.
Visual Remote Assistant Two-Way Video is generally available.
DocuSign CLM for Salesforce Field Service will be available in 2022.

Demand for IFS Cloud Drives Strong Q3 Performance for IFS with Cloud Revenue Up 104% YoY

Oct 27, 2021 • News • Digital Transformation • IFS • Technology • GLOBAL

IFS, the global cloud enterprise applications company, announced its Q3 2021 year-to-date (YTD) financial results, ending September 30, 2021.

Driving strong performance in Q3 was the increase in customer demand for IFS in the Cloud, with cloud revenue up 104% year-on-year (YoY). In line with this, recurring revenue now constitutes 81% of software revenue, representing a 19% increase YoY.

With customers achieving faster time-to-value because of the improved deployment capabilities of IFS Cloud, as well as more partners implementing IFS solutions, the contribution of software revenue now represents 72% of IFS’s total revenue, up 17% YoY.

Industrial asset & service proposition drives momentum with major customer wins

The improvements against every leading KPI demonstrate IFS’s continued growth as well as an impressive revenue mix that is delivering consistency and predictability. Combining this with IFS’s differentiated proposition for companies managing asset and service needs, provides a headwind for strong end of year.

In Q3, IFS also added depth to its offering with the acquisition of Customerville. Customerville is an award-winning feedback platform that elevates feedback and listening across the entire customer journey thanks to its unique design-driven approach. It enables companies to get a better understanding of their customers, address issues and unearth new opportunities so that they can ultimately deliver amazing Moments of Service™.

Testament to IFS’s leadership in Service Management is recognition from Gartner who named IFS a Leader, for the sixth consecutive time, in the Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management. In Q3, IFS also won competitive tenders with its industrial asset and service proposition, adding one of the world’s largest packaging and one of the world’s largest telecoms companies as customers.

Commenting on the results, Darren Roos, CEO of IFS, said: “At heart, IFS is a technology-driven software company and the investments we have – and continue to make – into the IFS Cloud platform and our customer-facing services evidence themselves in these stellar results. The strong growth in software revenue is testament to us attracting new customers, but also in our commitment to our current customers whose ongoing success is of paramount importance to us. I’m proud of the work that our team has done to create market differentiation with our industrial asset and service capabilities, which continues to create positive momentum.”

IFS CFO, Constance Minc, added: “It is hugely impressive for a business of our size to be growing at such a pace, while at the same time building resilience and consistency into our revenue mix. We are continuing to deliver to plan which provides us full confidence in how we will close out the year.”

Summary of the financial highlights from Q3 2021 YTD:

Software revenue was SEK 3.4bln, an increase of 17% Year on Year
Recurring revenue was SEK 2.75bln, an increase of 19% Year on Year and representing 81% of software revenue
Cloud revenue increased 104% Year on Year representing more than 29% of software revenue

* Note: all figures based in Swedish Krona and reported in constant currency.

In line with WorkWave establishing itself as a standalone business at the end of Q2 2021, the performance reported above excludes WorkWave’s contribution to the IFS Group. Performance including WorkWave saw software revenue grow at 24% YTD. The IFS Group is on track to achieve $1bln USD revenue in 2021.

Is Now the Time to Re-evaluate the Key Performance Indicators of Your Company?

Oct 27, 2021 • Features • KPIs • Martin Summerhayes • Digital Transformation • Covid-19 • Digital Symposium • GLOBAL

Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Martin Summerhayes, Head of Digital Transformation Services at MDB Service Consulting.

Martin has over 30 years of experience in the service industry in the UK working for organisations such as HP, the Metropolitan Police and Fujitsu, and he focuses on leading key clients to a successful transition of services into new, agile, ways of working.

During the conversation, the two discuss a wide range of topics related to the acceleration of digital adoption during the pandemic and what this means for the future of service organisations.

In this excerpt from that conversation, Martin and Kris explain why now might be the right time for service organisations to reevaluate the KPIs that indicate success within their field of operations.

Want to know more?

FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full-length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium. If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more.

Successful Digital Transformation: Learning From Failures

Oct 25, 2021 • Features • Martin Summerhayes • Digital Transformation • Covid-19 • Digital Symposium • GLOBAL

Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Martin Summerhayes, Head of Digital Transformation Services at MDB Service Consulting.

During the conversation, the two discuss a wide range of topics related to the acceleration of digital adoption during the pandemic and what this means for the future of service organisations.

In this excerpt from that conversation, Martin and Kris discuss how failures in the process of implementing and adopting new technologies are actually a learning point and can help organisations move forward and achieve a successful digital transformation.

Want to know more?

FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full-length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium. If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more.

How the Pandemic Has Changed the Approach to Digital Adoption for Companies and Customers

Oct 22, 2021 • Features • Martin Summerhayes • Digital Transformation • Covid-19 • Digital Symposium • GLOBAL

Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News is joined on the Field Service News Digital Symposium by Martin Summerhayes, Head of Digital Transformation Services at MDB Service Consulting.

During the conversation, the two discuss a wide range of topics related to the acceleration of digital adoption during the pandemic and what this means for the future of service organisations.

In this excerpt from that conversation, Martin and Kris discuss how much the impact of COVID-19 has accelerated digital adoption even for those companies and customers who were very reluctant to approach remote services before the pandemic.

Want to know more?

FSN Premium subscribers and FSN Elite members can access the full-length interview plus many, many more in the Field Service New Digital Symposium. If you have an FSN Premium account you can access the video on the button below. If you are currently on our FSN Standard subscription tier you can upgrade your subscription by clicking the link below.

If you are yet to subscribe you can join 30,0000 of your field service management peers by subscribing to FSN Standard for free to gain access to a monthly selection of premium content or select either FSN Premium or FSN Elite for even more resources. Click the button above to visit our subscription page to find out more.

Latest Update To IFS Cloud Adds New Functionality And Simplifies Composable Application Deployment

Oct 21, 2021 • News • Artificial intelligence • Augmented Reality • Digital Transformation • IFS • Technology • GLOBAL

IFS, the global cloud enterprise applications company, today announced the latest update to IFS Cloud™, which is now generally available. IFS’s twice annual release cycle allows customers to constantly evolve their solution without the need for big...

The latest evolution of IFS Cloud delivers a long range of innovative, industry-specific new capabilities. For one, IFS is helping businesses collect the data needed to demonstrate their compliance and improve their performance against environmental sustainability standards - IFS Cloud Sustainability Hub is now available and integrated inside Microsoft Teams. Secondly, IFS Cloud for HCM and Talent Management solutions now provide the flexibility of using either basic or out of the box functionality for recruitment, onboarding, and development of your most key resource – your people.

New features include ESG capabilities, Advanced Analytics and innovative user experience

Available now are new APIs that connect factory machinery with IFS Cloud to deliver a connected shopfloor – this provides real-time intelligence that enables companies to better manage their supply-chain and production in line with order demands. New Intelligent Asset Monitoring and Maintenance functionality uses machine learning to improve predicative maintenance capabilities and efficiency.

The new Advanced Analytics feature that is accessible through the user-customizable Lobbies leverages modular tabular analysis models to clearly display business-critical information relevant to the user. End users can visualize their data in real, detailed graphical renderings suitable to the way they access and consume data, reducing the skills needed to make insights available to everyone.

As a market differentiator and ongoing driver for the evolution of IFS Cloud, the platform’s UX has also been updated. New branding capabilities allow the customer to integrate their own look & feel, helping to create a more engaging experience for users. Adding customization and analytical capabilities enables users to join up data, insights, actions and transactions in one place.

Additional capabilities added to IFS Cloud include:

The Update Studio puts customers in control of the update and cadence of functionality, allowing them to analyze the release update and understand what impact it might have on configuration or customization, before making any changes, which is especially critical to customers in regulated industries. The Update Studio is at the heart of enabling our customers to stay evergreen.
The Dispatch Console, which is part of IFS Cloud for Service Management, now features capabilities based on four personas of dispatchers, ranging from those that rely on a mostly automated process to those that will complete a whole process start to finish manually. IFS Cloud now gives each user profile the power to make sure they are delivering their Moment of Service™ for their customers.

IFS Chief Product Officer Christian Pedersen commented, “The updates we have built into the latest release of IFS Cloud are meaningful for our customers, both in how customers engage with the software through the UX improvements, as well as the additional functionality that has been added to help them manage and address the issues they face and the opportunities ahead of them. An example of this is the new IFS Cloud Sustainability Hub – there is no customer who does not want to improve the impact they are having on the environment and communities we all work in. Sustainability is a critical item for not only our planet, but IFS and our customers. We are continuing to see the world over that businesses want and need to transform if they are to prosper. Therefore, having regular, meaningful updates to our platform is key to enabling customers to remain evergreen and empowered to continually drive value from their software.”

IFS is committed to delivering an ever-evolving set of solutions for customers along their transformation life-cycles – future-proofing their operations, limiting risk to their businesses, and allowing them to create increasing value to their own customers.

“We’ve been expanding our digital transformation globally with IFS’s help, and since we initiated IFS Cloud six months ago, it’s proving to be key in how we deliver on our ambitions,” said pioneer IFS customer Cimcorp’s Director of Corporate IT, Pekka Nurmi. “IFS Cloud provides a big step forward in technology and capability for us and our customers and will continue to support our global growth strategy. The biggest value provided by IFS Cloud is the ease of use for the everyday end user – our users are excited and even our management has shown particular interest in the new user interface and functionalities."

To find out more about the latest IFS Cloud release, visit: https://www.ifs.com/ifs-cloud/cloud-21r2/

Security is Solely the IT Department’s Responsibility, Say 45 Percent of Workforce – KnowBe4 Research

Oct 20, 2021 • News • IT Management • Security • GLOBAL • knowbe4

The issue of building cybersecurity awareness is still a concern for many organisations as found in KnowBe4’s State of Privacy and Security Report, which found that a lack of IT security training is directly correlated with the risk of cyberattacks in the workplace.In fact, 45 percent of the workforce believe that they have no need to take additional safeguards regarding cybersecurity because they don’t work in an IT department.

THE RESEARCH SHOWS HOW A LACK OF IT SECURITY TRAINING FOR EMPLOYEES IS STRONGLY CORRELATED TO THE RISKS OF CYBERATTACKS IN THE WORKPLACE

The report evaluated the amount of training the workforce was being given about cybersecurity and privacy best practices and then determining how much was being understood by employees. Furthermore, the report investigated how employees were dealing with the realities and security challenges of working from home.

Key findings include:

24% of employees believe that clicking on a suspicious link or attachment in an email represents little or no risk
Only 31% of employees believe that allowing family members or friends to use work devices for personal activities outside of work hours is risky or a serious risk
31% believe that using the default password on their home router represents a significant level of risk
55% of employees had continuous cybersecurity and data privacy training throughout the lockdowns

Key sector findings include:

Only 14% and 22% of government and healthcare employees, respectively, are very confident that they can describe to their senior management the negative impacts posed by cybersecurity risks
Employees in government, healthcare and education have the least understanding about a variety of social engineering threats. When asked about the extent to which employees understand five types of social engineering threats (phishing, spear phishing, business email compromise, vishing, and smishing), only 15% of employees in the government space responded with an average of “very well,” while employees in the healthcare and education industries fared little better: 16% and 17%, respectively.

To download the 2021 State of Privacy and Security Report, visit www.knowbe4.com/hubfs/2021-State-of-Privacy-Security-Awareness-Report-Research_EN-US.pdf

Managing Service Profitability in the Age of Digital Transformation

Oct 19, 2021 • Features • Joe Kenny • Coen Jeukens • Digital Transformation • servicemax • GLOBAL • service profitability

We know that the service department is probably the single largest contributor to the margin of your organization. But when I would ask you: when do you know you are doing a great job? What is your reference, your yard stick? We know the call for great, greater and greatest. CFO’s want even more margin contribution. CEO’s want to have more revenue and market share.

In this article, Coen Jeukens, VP of Global Customer Transformation at ServiceMax, and Joe Kenny, Vice President, Global Customer Transformation & Customer Success at ServiceMax, will show you some basic building blocks to manage your Service Profitability & Growth agenda.

It is an age-old dilemma for Operations Managers. Your CEO wants XX% revenue growth, your CFO wants XX% cost reduction, your CRO wants better references and higher NPS scores, and you are supposed to deliver all of this with zero additional investment, because – of course – you have been doing this for years with no additional cash, so why would you need it now?

To top all of this off, you had very little idea of where you stood, operationally or financially, at any given time. And this was due to the fast that access to real time data, a current view into work in process, and accurate financial information was all impossible to come by.

Historic Challenges

I often speak at conferences and participate in webinars, and I often relate this anecdote – in March I would lay out my operational plan, based on the most recent P&L statement I had received (January’s), intending to address performance weaknesses I had uncovered. My team would execute the plan and in May I would receive my March P&L to see if the response to January’s performance shortfalls were successful of not. It was madness.

Now, layer onto that, the fact that 30, 60, 90-day invoicing accruals were also Operation’s responsibility, even though we had an AP department. This process greatly impacted both revenue and cost, as the cost of service was consumed, but the associated revenue may not have arrived in 90 days.

Enter the Age of Digital Transformation

Fast forward to today, and service operations managers have been given a lifeline—digital transformation. Digital transformation can be like a light switch, illuminating what is happening in real time, allowing service operations leaders to adapt to circumstances immediately. They can reallocate precious resources instantly, validate payment status and credit status prior to service delivery, and see and understand the impact of operational plans in real time.

Digital asset and service management platforms can provide real time performance measurements, both foundational and top line. This includes data round first time fix rate, mean time to repair, mean time between failures, and equipment up time. With this data, operations managers can organize and drive for peak utilization of labor resources while ensuring that the training and quality of the work is optimal, thereby increasing the efficiency of their organization and lowering the cost to deliver excellent service.

With today’s platforms, functionality and tools, service operations are finally on par with our commercial partners and can see, and act, on upsell, cross sell, renewals, and service contract extensions instantaneously. In addition, we can support sales by identifying and helping them target competitors’ equipment for targeted replacement, becoming the eyes of the commercial team on the customer’s location.

Newfound Financial Control

Utilizing a digital solution allows for real time tracking of labor, parts consumed, travel, and any other costs associated with a service call, regardless of whether it is a T&M call or in support of a warranty/service contract entitlement. This is a key advantage that enables service operations leaders to not only manage labor and parts expenses far more granularly, but they can also evaluate the revenue associated with the service provided to validate if the pricing is correct based on their revenue and margin targets.

This ability to understand the Cost to Serve an asset or entitlement agreement in real time is a huge step forward for service operations. It gives them the data they need to truly align entitlement pricing, cost control, operational efficiency and productivity to accurately manage and forecast their performance and address fundamental issues that are obstacles to achieving their own performance objectives.

The evolution of equipment and asset service management platforms has greatly assisted service operations professionals in attaining the insight, visibility, and control that their commercial and financial counterparts have enjoyed for decades. As asset and equipment maintenance and service becomes a larger and larger part of most organizations’ revenue and margin contributions, it is important that they equip teams with the technology that enables them to better manage and control their operations.

ServiceMax will be exhibiting at the Field Service N Expo on October 27^th and 28^th and can be found on stand B6.

To sign up for the FSN Expo please click here.

ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘global’ CATEGORY

The Difference Between Effectiveness and Utilisation

Want to know more?

Further Reading:

Salesforce Upgrades Field Service Management to Prepare Mobile Workers for a Changing World

FIELD SERVICE IS BUILT FOR CHANGE

Organizations are using Salesforce Field Service to respond faster and build trust

DocuSign automates contract obligations in the field

Additional Information

Availability

Further Reading:

Demand for IFS Cloud Drives Strong Q3 Performance for IFS with Cloud Revenue Up 104% YoY

Industrial asset & service proposition drives momentum with major customer wins

Further Reading:

Is Now the Time to Re-evaluate the Key Performance Indicators of Your Company?

Want to know more?

Further Reading:

Successful Digital Transformation: Learning From Failures

Want to know more?

Further Reading:

How the Pandemic Has Changed the Approach to Digital Adoption for Companies and Customers

Want to know more?

Further Reading:

Latest Update To IFS Cloud Adds New Functionality And Simplifies Composable Application Deployment

New features include ESG capabilities, Advanced Analytics and innovative user experience

Further Reading:

Security is Solely the IT Department’s Responsibility, Say 45 Percent of Workforce – KnowBe4 Research

THE RESEARCH SHOWS HOW A LACK OF IT SECURITY TRAINING FOR EMPLOYEES IS STRONGLY CORRELATED TO THE RISKS OF CYBERATTACKS IN THE WORKPLACE

Further Reading:

Managing Service Profitability in the Age of Digital Transformation

Further Reading:

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