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Whilst there were not that many surprises emanating from Cupertino with the latest Apple announcement (a 5inch iPhone had already be confirmed by leaks from a manufacturing base in China, whilst the fact that Apple have been working on a wearable is probably the worst kept secret in technology history) the fact is that when the folks at Apple launched the first iPhone it changed field service and enterprise mobility solutions forever. So what does this latest iteration mean for field service? Click Software's Gil Bouhnick takes a look...

So, what can the new iPhone and Apple Watch do for the field service?

The answer is: it depends. You probably don’t need the duo immediately, but the features are such that for workers out in the field, especially those that work for utilities, communications service providers, capital equipment, or even traveling healthcare workers, the benefits will be a boost for both employee and employer.

Here are a few advantages that may prove useful for field service organisations:

Size

From a competitive standpoint we had been seeing a fair number of organisations move to Android devices for 2 reasons: cost and size. The new iPhone (the 6 coming in at 4.7” and the 6 Plus at 5.5”) address the size issues, giving workers in sometimes difficult environments more room to type, more text to read, bigger images, troubleshooting guides and all sorts of size-related advantages.

Durability and Readability

The device includes a new polariser in the glass that offers better bright sunlight readability. And Apple touts the new iPhone as being stronger and more durable. While it’s no Toughbook, the device is certainly moving away from its fragile beginnings and is now more compatible with the realities of life in the field.

Predictive Text

Predictive typing with Apple’s QuickType keyboard (in iOS8) is said to be smarter, more personalised and intelligently take context into account, such as who the recipient is. Understanding the way people communicate and providing contextual guidance improves the speed of communications between workers and the office, workers and each other, and workers and customers.

I’ve been a long fan of iOs keyboard, and the way it quickly learns new words. If indeed this is going to be better as promised (so far my tests with iOS 8 beta is inconclusive) – it’s going to be by far the best keyboard out there.

Camera

While Apple spoke at length about selfies, mobile workers, especially in complex or low-light environments, will benefit from the new 8MP image sensors the iPhone 6 cameras feature what Apple is calling Focus Pixels, which more quickly focuses and snaps a shot. The iPhone 6 Plus offers optical image stabilisation to help reduce image blur in low light — iPhone 6 offers only digital image stabilisation.

Wi-Fi Calling

While reportedly only available with a limited number of carriers right now, we anticipate more will follow soon. And when they do, this will be helpful for workers who may or may not have access to cell coverage.

Apple Watch

I’m cautiously optimistic that the Apple Watch will significantly enhance the employee experience in the field.  With the ability to respond, via voice or quick touch, to messages or alerts, the watch has the ability to take wearables from a “nice to have” object to a real everyday tool in the enterprise.

With the predictive features, availability of maps, and turn by turn directions, it may become the powerhouse piece of hardware that let’s workers do most of their work with the watch, and only need to pull out the phone when they need to larger screen environment for lengthy typing or to access large amounts of information.

Field employees often need to react quickly and respond to emergencies, notify their customers about their ETA, and report back to the back-office. Those are typically short interactions, and the Apple Watch may become the go-to device for such actions. In order for that to happen, the apps running on the watch must offer solid capabilities beyond notifications. I think Apple is almost there.

The HealthKit, which was touted for fitness junkies, also has real and impactful benefits in the field. With biometric feedback, heart rate detection and a host of other features, it will go a long way to adding to health and safety measures of workers in dangerous or remote locations. We’ve seen organisations ask about such capabilities (especially about simple wearables) and using apple’s HealthKit API’s, apps are now capable of providing these capabilities in that area.

Ahead of taking part in a live panel discussion on End to End field service management at this years Field Service Europe Conference, Field Service News Editor Kris Oldland, will be writing a series of features around the topic…

End-to-end field service management is a topic that we keep hearing about. Indeed our own recent podcast featuring Paul Sparkes, Product Director at Advanced Field Services focussed on the big question – just what is end-to-end field service management?

Paul gave both a detailed and candid response to this question, looking at the broader picture rather than from just his own organisations standpoint and if you haven’t yet listened to this podcast you can find it on the link above.

However, whilst we talked in depth about the end-to-end concept from a software point of view, from field service specific point of view as well as the wider viewpoint of having a number of systems (such as ERP and CRM) fully integrated as well, the conversation remained focussed on software and software alone.

All well and good but if we are to explore a fully end-to-end field service solution then we must consider other elements as well.

What type of hardware do our field service engineers require? What about in-vehicle computing? Telematics? Will our field service engineers be creating orders in the field? In which case what about mobile payment options? What about printing options for providing invoices and receipts?

Understanding the needs of both your customers and your field service engineers is crucial to ensuring that you’re investing in the right technology.

Understanding your customers lifecycle

The first place to focus, as with almost anything in business, is on your customers.

Whilst the benefits of implementing the right technology will of course improve your field service operation, the underlying reason for investment in technology should be "how can my customers benefit from this."

Of course the two are not mutually exclusive, indeed if you bring anything into your business that benefits your customer then it will almost certainly bring benefits to your company as well.

For example if your field engineers are given devices that are capable of video calls and 4G data transfer; the likelihood is that your field service engineers will be far more likely to improve first time fix rates as they will be able to access a wider pool of engineer knowledge whilst on premise than they would have had previously.

Your customer is happy as the disruption to his business is minimal.

 

The benefits to your company are that your field service engineers are working more effectively, so they are achieving more with less, all while maintaining great service standards.

This example, whilst highlighting the point of working to a customer centric model, is fairly obvious. However, if you keep your customers at the heart of your focus other less obvious but equally important points may arise.

For example, I mentioned in my introduction mobile printers. Do you know how your clients deal with receipts or invoices for example? Many companies including ourselves here at 1927 Media try to minimise the use of hardcopies in an effort to be more environmentally focussed.

What a waste it would be to invest in a mobile printer for each van in your fleet only to find out that 90% of your customers throw the hardcopy away after they have scanned it and would have preferred being sent documents by email anyway!

This information is almost certainly already held in your company somewhere; probably the easiest way of finding out is by asking your accounts team. I’m sure they could easily put together an overview of which of your clients require paper invoicing pretty quickly as they are dealing with your customers invoicing on a regular basis.

Lets say 50% of your clients need printed documents, maybe you could allocate printers based on the daily workload each field service engineer rather than fitting all your vehicles with them?

Would this be a more cost effective route? Of course you would have to look at the options. However, by taking a greater interest in your customers needs then you are able to seek out smarter ways of implementing your own technology

This of course can free up funds for other areas of investment too.

Understanding your field engineers working environment

Another important factor when considering purchasing hardware for your mobile workforce is the environment they will be operating in.

For some companies such as couriers or delivery organisations often a simple consumer device can be sufficient. If your mobile worker simply needs an interface that allows him to see his updated schedule and collect a signature then a low cost tablet could very well be the solution.

However, what if your engineer works in a more demanding environment where the device is likely to get wet, or is required to operate in temperatures beyond normal operating thresholds? Is the device likely to be knocked about a bit as part of its general day to day use?

As Ian Davies of Motion Computing noted in his excellent article on this subject

“A recent survey from VDC highlights the causes of this expense in using consumer grade units.  As part of a research project among IT decision makers at 215 companies managing a mobile device deployment, VDC discovered that the leading cause of device failure was that the tablet had been dropped.

The second cause was software issues but this was only marginally ahead of exposure to water and liquid (and just over 1 in 4 tablet PCs will face such exposure). Other leading causes of failure include excessive heat / cold, dust exposure and vibration.”

Understanding Total Cost of Ownership is a massive factor in deciding whether you should be perhaps taking the more expensive option, if in the long term you will see a greater lifespan per unit. It is essential you take into account your field service operatives working environment as well as their general workflow when considering which type of mobile hardware is right for your organisation.

We have barely scratched the surface of another area in the great end-to-end field service management question by looking at just some of the many considerations around hardware.

However, we will be continuing this series of features across the coming weeks to help you build a wider picture of all of the factors you should be considering when looking to build a fully end-to-end service management solution including revisiting some of the questions around software, a closer look at hardware and of course telematics, yet another crucial piece of the puzzle.

I am also particularly looking forward to participating in a panel debate on this topic at the Field Service Europe Conference which is shaping up to be a fantastic event.

 

 

Varlink, the York based specialist IT distributor founded in 2005, has completed the integration of their EPoS sales division, EPoS Distributor.

This process has resulted in significant benefits for retail system supplying resellers who can now access the full product portfolio including EPOS terminals, receipt printers, touchscreens, cash drawers and other EPOS peripherals online at www.varlink.co.uk alongside Varlink's comprehensive mobile computing and data capture product set which also encompasses leading brands Honeywell, Casio, Datalogic and Zebra Technologies.

 

Mike Pullon, Varlink CEO, commented “When the EPoS Distribution division was established there was a clear separation between the products purchased by EPoS specialists and those taken by our established Varlink customer base. Over time, whilst there remains some fundamental differences, there are many product sets that are of interest to both segments of our customer base. We have therefore moved from two websites to a single Varlink branded site which carries all mobile computing, label printing, data capture, networking and EPoS brands.

 

Whilst we are retiring the EPoS Distributor brand, our three EPoS sales team members will continue to work, exclusively, with our retail focussed customers.”

Since the establishment of EPoS Distributor in 2009, it operated as a separate brand entity focusing on the trade supply of EPoS hardware to the hospitality and retail sector, internally however, it has always shared technical, despatch, finance and marketing resources with Varlink.

All customers, regardless of their size, will continue to have the same dedicated sales contact ensuring a seamless integration with no detrimental effects to pre or post sales customer support.

For the first time, the full EPoS Distributor range of products will be available to order online allowing resellers to view real-time stock levels and individual buy prices. Not only this, but Varlink's feature rich e-commerce website enables customers to manage their entire account online 24/7, with the ability to view quotes raised by their dedicated sales contact, raise quotes, place orders, check proof of delivery and order status, view invoices, and raise RMAs fuss free.

While the brand integration strengthens Varlink's company image and provides the best use of company resources, it also provides resellers with the choice needed as technology trends around tablets and mobility within the workplace continue to grow. Resellers can source everything from semi-rugged to ultra-rugged tablets, handheld terminals, Smartphones, barcode label printers, card printers, associated printer consumables, barcode scanners, EPOS terminals and peripherals from one local distributor.

In addition to UK warehousing facilities, which enable next business day delivery as standard on in stock items, Varlink work closely with their customers providing pipeline management, credit facilities, technical services including configuration support, and free of charge marketing services fulfilled by an in house marketing team.

To help customers monitor and manage their energy usage, British Gas is rolling out smart meters as standard to homes and businesses across Britain by 2020, as part of a Government mandate. A team of 1200 field engineers (known as Smart Energy Experts) are responsible for this task. To work efficiently, these Smart Energy Experts need appropriate IT devices to support them, but the existing tablet estate was aging, and at the limit of its designed capability....

Computacenter solution

British Gas partnered with Computacenter to help upgrade its tablet estate to Dell devices running Windows 8. Computacenter was responsible for sourcing, testing, pre-configuring and asset tagging the devices before delivering them as required to British Gas sites. The project was successfully completed on time to aggressive timescales.

Results

Smart Energy Experts use the new tablets to support every stage of the smart meter installation process. This includes receiving their jobs and updates through the day, workflow through different types of jobs, as well as the commissioning activities for smart gas and electricity meters. Using the new devices has simplified their day-to-day tasks, and improved employee satisfaction, productivity and customer service. This will help British Gas achieve its goal of ensuring the smart meter installation is a seamless experience for its customers.

Customer profile: Powering homes and business across the UK

British Gas is the UK's leading energy supplier, and serves around 12 million homes in Britain – nearly half the country's homes – as well as providing energy to one million UK businesses.  British Gas provides "value for money, dedicated customer service, innovative energy solutions and the highest quality Home Services expertise in the country."

Business challenge: Helping customers be smarter about energy usage

By 2020 smart meters will be rolled out as standard across the country as part of a Government initiative, replacing current gas and electricity meters. British Gas adopted a strategy to introduce smart meters early in order to bring the benefits to customers as soon as possible, and currently leads the industry with more than one million meters already installed in customers’ homes and businesses.

Each home receives a smart gas meter, a smart electricity meter and a smart energy monitor. Smart meters communicate how much energy is being used to a smart energy monitor so customers can see their energy use and its costs in pounds and pence in near real-time. The smart meters also record energy use at up to half-hourly intervals and send these readings back to the energy supplier, once a day, putting an end to estimated bills.

Alan Fairhurst, Technical Consulting Manager with British Gas Strategic Systems, explains: “British Gas has already installed over a million smart meters into homes and businesses, and the roll-out is gathering pace as we look towards the Government deadline of 2020.”

To ensure British Gas can achieve this goal and safeguard the quality of customer services, the Smart Energy Experts need to be equipped with the right tools. “The IT devices they use have a big impact on their productivity. We need them to be able to focus on their customers and the job in hand, without worrying about IT issues and downtime,” says Alan.

The team was using tablet devices that were originally selected for their toughness, but the devices lacked the features and ease of use needed to maximise productivity.

Computacenter solution: New Windows 8 tablets for 1200 Smart Energy Experts

British Gas partnered with Computacenter to upgrade the tablet estate. “We have worked with Computacenter for a number of years,” explains Alan. “Mass device change is not our core business, so when it comes to projects such as this, we need a partner with expertise and experience, such as Computacenter.”

Following an internal exercise to evaluate the devices available on the market, British Gas turned to Computacenter to help procure and build the selected Dell Latitude 10 tablets, which run the Windows 8 operating system.

Computacenter helped British Gas negotiate pricing with Dell, and from June 2013 took responsibility for building and delivering the new devices over a four-month period. “Computacenter managed the logistics of the project, which included monitoring and tracking shipments to ensure they arrived on assigned dates so we could meet our tight deployment deadlines,” comments Alan.

Following delivery at Computacenter’s Hatfield Configuration Centre, each device was BIOS-tested, pre-configured and asset tagged. They were then packed with accessories, including a ruggedised Griffin survivor case, and retained at Computacenter’s buy and store facilities until British Gas required delivery.

Results: Improved engineer satisfaction and customer experience

By partnering with Computacenter, British Gas was able to mitigate the risks associated with deploying such a large number of devices within a short timeframe. “It was quite an aggressive project where we had to get the new tablets out to our Smart Energy Experts quickly and get it right first time,” confirms Alan. “With Computacenter’s expertise and experience, we were able to successfully complete the project to deadline without having to invest in additional resources and space.”

As a result of working with Computacenter, British Gas has been able to:

Reduce project risks: Computacenter’s commitment to British Gas’s tight deadlines, vendor relationships and best practices helped ensure the project was a success.

Simplify the installation of smart meters: The British Gas Smart Energy Experts use the new tablets every day when installing smart meters. They receive full details of each property and task, and track the progress of every job, via the tablets. The devices are also used to take photos of the meters in location for future records.

Improve engineer productivity: The enterprise-grade Windows 8 tablets bridge the gap between the corporate and consumer world, combining the reliability of a corporate device with the ease-of-use of a consumer interface. This not only simplified training, but also maximises productivity on a daily basis.

Increase employee satisfaction: Although corporately owned, the devices are personally enabled so Smart Energy Experts have an incentive to look after the tablets. They also enable them to take advantage of a growing range of helpful apps.

Enhance customer service: As Smart Energy Experts can access all the details they need about each customer and site quickly and easily, they can provide a better informed and more efficient service.  They are also able to demonstrate a number of British Gas services and products whilst at the customer premises.

“With support from Computacenter, our Smart Energy Experts have the tools they need for the job. They are happier, more motivated and able to provide better customer service,” concludes Alan. “This will help us achieve our goal of installing smart meters as standard to homes and businesses across the country by 2020.”

 

In part one of this exclusive interview with rugged specialist manufacturer Getac's UK president Peter Molyneux we looked at how long we can expect a rugged device to last as well as whether Microsoft could return to power in the mobile arena. Now in the concluding part we look at how the rise of tablets has changed the landscape for rugged devices, whether there is still a future for rugged laptops and why Molyneux thinks that BYOD just won't work...

One of the major changes in mobile computing across the last decade has been the rise of tablets themselves. This has led to a number of Getac’s competitors, perhaps most notably Panasonic appearing to shift focus away from their traditional fare of rugged notebooks and laptops. However, this isn’t the case for Getac.

When pushed on whether there is still a market for the rugged laptops Molyneux reacted with a clear belief that there is still plenty of space in the market for laptops, tablets and of course their lovechild the convertible.

“We are very committed to continue to develop our fully rugged notebook range” he states effusively “The B110, B100 and the X500 all fully rugged and we are continuing to push them”

“We have just won a couple of large projects (with rugged laptops) in Europe but we’re finding that our main competitor are not doing the same. Now that may mean they are focussing on tablets as their primary offering from here on but we are continuing to develop our Android platforms, we will continue to develop our windows 7 and 8 platforms and we will continue to develop our Laptop platforms so we can keep that broadness open.”

“The question may be will we continue to support Win Mobile and ther I’d say probably. But certainly rugged notebooks and rugged tablets of all form factors and both OS’s we will continue to develop” Molyneux added

In fact Field Service News ran a feature earlier this year asking if we were seeing the Death of the Rugged Laptop and our conclusion was that whilst rugged tablets may well become the form of choice, there is still very much a need for rugged laptops especially when large amounts of data input is required. Molyneux echoed these sentiments alos.

“Although you are right to say there is still very much a market for rugged notebooks, tablets have certainly taken some of the fully rugged notebook market. However, the main impact will be on the 3.5” win mobile market. Even in transport logistics they’re thinking of tablets now. Frankly the performance and cost of tablets is much better compared to the older 3.5 inch mobile computer.”

Having touched earlier on the consumerisation of mobile workforce and now discussing perhaps the end of line of the handheld computer the conversation began to lead inevitably to Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) which has been a topic of conversation for a number of years but has failed to materialise into the major trend it was anticipated to be.

 

“Openly speaking I have seen the subject around for the last three years.” opens Molyneux  “Maybe it’s because I’m slightly separate from that community but I have yet to come across an actual BYOD project. I do think it is an opportunity but in my mind the reliability, the replacement cycle, the insurance, the security risk I still think there is a lot of unanswered questions.”

He stops for a moment as if confirming his thought process before continuing “When you are looking at mainstream IT in the field, I think there could be a need for something in perhaps the lower demand area, something running on a  HTML5 basis where someone just needs to see something…” he says as he ponders the concept a moment before reaffirming his initial thoughts “…but in a critical working environment like delivering gas, water, electricity or delivering facilities management in a nuclear production plant I can’t see how BYOD can fit.”

“I’m open to be told I’m wrong,” he continues  “But I’ve seen this approach being presented and reviewed and a full BYOD deployment is a very tough call for an IT infrastructure.” He adds.

However, whilst BYOD might not be something Molyneux sees happening on a major scale anytime school there is a related trend that he does think we may see.

“Coming from the other side, we are hearing from a customer perspective, especially from local government that they are looking to roll out devices to their workforce that can be used for both business and pleasure.”

“There are many benefits to this…” he continues  “To cite an old statistic I heard when Blackberry first released launched, you would see an increase in 25% in productivity per user beause they takes the device home and work. It’s true and we all fell for that one! Have a Blackberry and work more and now it’s common practice to be at home working tapping away whether it’s on your iPhone or a rugged computer. Look at the way Microsoft are marketing their devices now – we all do it these days we all take our work home”

“Also of course another additional soft benefit is that is that the device is yours so you look after it more. Which is another major positive for businesses and one which I don’t think would be particularly hard to map in terms of seeing a tangible return on investment.”

So whilst Molyeux doesn’t see a future for BYOD he does see an exciting prospect in a similar concept but in reverse.

“Absolutely – reverse BYOD is definitely on the cards” he agrees “we just need to put our heads together to think of a decent new acronym now"

Towards the end of April this year specialist rugged computer manufacturer Getac launched perhaps one of the sleekest fully rugged devices yet to be seen in the T800. With heavyweight processing power, in a slim line 8.1-inch chassis yet still meeting the full militarised rugged standards it is an extremely impressive device for sure. But with the on-going consumerisation of business hardware what does the future of hold in store for rugged devices in the field service arena?

We spoke exclusively to Getac UK President Peter Molyneux and looked at how he saw the market for rugged devices evolving.

There are of course a number of considerations for companies when it comes to selecting what hardware is right for a their mobile workforce. One of the biggest of these considerations is how long a device will last.  With this in mind the first thing we asked Molyneux is what type of life span should we expect from devices today?

“Typically if you look at fully rugged notebooks customers will look for 5 years.” Molyneux states before pausing a moment. “I’ve actually seen some customers push their assets to seven years, which is quite an impressive return frankly. But generally in the tablet market at least, customers in utilities and field service are looking to hold onto their devices for three years.” He adds.

However, three years it would seem is a minimum expectation for Molyneux. “At Getac, we will uplift warranty to four or five years or even further – it’s one of the service models that we offer.” He comments revealing a subtle confidence and pride in his company’s offerings.

Of course there are a number of factors that will impact on the life of your hardware as Molynuex alludes to “It comes back to maybe your software requirements will change, although this is not always the case, especially in utilities sectors where they do tend to fix their software and operational performances rather than replace programs, but in field service, software is very key to delivery, so by purchasing the the very latest technology in terms of hardware, you are giving yourself the best opportunity for a long unit life span and I expect from that perspective you could push top end units past five years.”

An  extended life span sits at the heart of the argument for specialist rugged device manufacturers when faced with cheaper consumer devices such as Apple and Samsung who through domination of the consumer tablet and smart phone market have been able to establish a presence in the enterprise mobile computing sector. The total cost of ownership is often far better when opting for a specialised device and the cheaper option at the time may not prove to be the cheaper option in the long term.

 

As Molyneux explains “It does depend on the working environment and how the devices are treated but with better technology you have a better chance of extending the life of the unit. Clearly if you look now at customers now that are looking at the Smart phone market as an alternative then the lifecycle is perhaps 18 months maybe even just 12 months.”

Another consideration for selecting hardware for your mobile workforce is how its software will sit with your other back office systems. It is interesting to see that the T800 is back to being on a Microsoft OS after Getac’s previous tablet launch was on Google’s Android OS.

In fact the T800 is capable of supporting both Windows 7 and Windows 8.1 although according to Molyneux the devices 8.1inch size makes it a perfect host for the latest iteration of Windows. So does Molyneux see Windows getting back on track in the enterprise mobile space via Windows 8.1 after WinMobile lost siginificant ground to both Android and Apples IoS?

“Starting from a device perspective, the new intel processors are windows 8 compliant which is an important factor” Molyneux starts “As for 8.1 as a business application in the B2B market… we work very closely with Microsoft in the UK and we have seen Microsoft getting very committed in the last 6 months by focussing resource and technical expertise in how to take your business from Win7 to Win 8”

Of course with Windows being so dominant in the office space, a strategic effort to aid companies to upgrade, aligned with the fact that Windows 8.1 is essentially comfortable across both desktop and tablet could see them start to reclaim lost market share in mobile devices.

Whilst the company became a little lost in their direction not so long ago, new  CEO Satya Nadella has ushered in a clearer focus for the Redmond giant of being a device and services focussed organisation and Molyneux believes we are already seeing the impact of this.

“I see their strategy as becoming quite cohesive now” he says before diving straight into one of the seemingly endless real life examples he is able to think back to at any given moment.

“I’ve been surprised how open government has been to windows 8 particularly in the police forces…” he begins  “one particular constabulary were using BitLocker in a single stack for their security compliance so there are certain features we are seeing in Windows 8 that allow the customers to move quickly.”

Look out for the concluding part of this feature where we discuss why Moloyneux thinks BYOD will never become a trend in field service

It is practically a given in technology that for every new trend, application and problem solved, somebody somewhere will coin a name to label the solution and market beyond its original boundaries. But this is more than just a matter of semantics when it comes to Field Service Management and it's younger but far bigger cousin Enterprise Mobility Management. Motion Computing's Head of UK, Ian Davies explains why… 

The naming of new industries and their obligatory acronyms is in itself is no bad thing as it leads to the creation and refinement of entire markets.  Once upon a time, someone at Gartner coined the phrase ERP, and that is now a billion dollar industry in its own right.  Likewise the same for CRM.  And even document management.

But within field service, this rush to label activity has led to some confusion.  As mobile computing solutions have become ubiquitous, present throughout an organisation, from the boardroom to the delivery van and beyond, field service has been swallowed up by the name of enterprise mobility.  Whilst it would be easy to fall prey to hyperbole, this is a dangerous development.

Field service - more specifically, field service management (FSM) - refers to a system that is often hosted or cloud-based and combines hardware and software - typically internet services - to support companies in locating vehicles, manage worker activity, schedule and dispatch work, ensure driver safety, and ideally integrate with inventory, billing, accounting and other back-office systems.

FSM usually refers to companies who need to manage the installation, service or repair of systems or equipment.  Typically this means utilities, telecommunications, construction and logistics organisations, though this is by no means an exhaustive list.

FSM is already a pretty mature market.  Gartner research puts the revenue for packaged field service dispatch and workforce management software applications, not including service revenue, at approximately $1.2 billion in 2012, with a compound annual growth rate of 12.7% and Gartner estimates that market penetration for field service applications has reached just 25% of the addressable market.

 

By comparison, enterprise mobility  - or to give it the inevitable three letter acronym, enterprise mobility management (EMM) - is the set of people, processes and technology focused on managing the increasing array of mobile devices, wireless networks, and related services to enable broad use of mobile computing in a business context.  Critically EMM is an emerging discipline that has become increasingly important over the past few years as mobile computing, via smartphone, laptop or tablet has become the norm.

 

Figures on the entire EMM market vary wildly but the incredible growth of tablet manufacturers, mobile application developers and network providers point to a market undergoing explosive growth.    Aberdeen Group highlights that over 1 billion smartphones and 200 million tablets have shipped globally since 2007.

Which fish eats which?

So, the question now becomes one of hierarchy - does FSM live within EMM or the other way around?  Whilst field service management has a greater legacy than enterprise mobility, it is clear that the reach of enterprise mobility will soon far outstrip FSM.  And therein perhaps lies the answer: FSM is essentially a collection of business critical processes that relies upon enterprise mobility in order to get the job done.

Why is this important?  If FSM is just an example of EMM at work, why does it need to be so carefully labelled and kept separate?  Simply put, because the very value of EMM is dependent on the specific business context of the mobile deployment.

For example, it is pointless giving consumer grade tablet PCs, without the right accessories and running cheap, yet unproven software to a legion of field engineers and expect anything other than chaos to result.  The tablets will not be rugged enough and they will break.  The lack of correct accessories will hamper productivity and work flow.  The software will not interface with back office systems and jobs will be lost.  This is nothing against the tablet or the software itself - just that it is not fit for purpose in the FSM context.

Of course, elsewhere that same tablet and cheap app may be ideal - for example in a controlled office environment. The point is that the very value of FSM is that it is a specific example of enterprise mobility, but that the generic nature of EMM will not sit well in the FSM context.

So what does this mean for those field service managers looking to explore mobile technologies?  Firstly it means that they must recognise that they hold the key to a valuable deployment of mobile technology that will bring real ROI.  Traditionally these decisions have lain with IT or perhaps finance - but for EMM to work for a field service organisation, it must be operationally driven.

And secondly it means that field service managers must become well versed in the options available to them.  If the Gartner figures are correct, then the remaining 75% of the field service management market will - over the next three to five years - be intensely active with many enterprise mobility technologies moving into the industry.  Separating those technologies that truly are field service specific - and not just named as such - will be vital.

Motion Computing's Ian Davies looks at the true value of rugged computing and why going for the cheaper option is a false economy...

Every IT director and line of business manager looking at a tablet PC deployment will, at some point face the question “why invest in a ruggedised solution when we can get two or three consumer units for the price of one ruggedised tablet and just swap them out if they go down?”  Even allowing for the restrictions of consumer devices in terms of software, operating systems and processing power, the initial numbers can - at first - be attractive.

But, speak to any manager or director who has then faced the issues of deploying and managing non ruggedised hardware and those numbers soon evaporate.  In fact, research shows that the total cost of ownership for non-ruggedised tablets is three times greater than ruggedised alternatives over a three year period.

A recent survey from VDC highlights the causes of this expense in using consumer grade units.  As part of a research project among IT decision makers at 215 companies managing a mobile device deployment, VDC discovered that the leading cause of device failure was that the tablet had been dropped.  The second cause was software issues but this was only marginally ahead of exposure to water and liquid (and just over 1 in 4 tablet PCs will face such exposure). Other leading causes of failure include excessive heat / cold, dust exposure and vibration.

Summarising these factors, when respondents were asked to rank their satisfaction with various tablet features, the level of hardware ruggedisation around dust and water was ranked lowest.  By comparison, satisfaction around issues such as operating system was far greater.  Simply put, we now have the level of tablet deployment that means customers are facing the issues of fragile, non-ruggedised tablets as they fail in the field and that those issues have become the dominant concern, especially for those applications involving wet environments.

  do such factors around device failure matter?  Because each device failure can cost an organisation upwards of 200 minutes in lost labour - a little under three and half hours.  This can be seen in a loss of productivity, the time spent to redeploy a new unit and the time spent in between with diagnosis and any necessary repair. And it is worth noting that these costs are per device failure - in a fleet of hundreds of units, this can soon amount to weeks of downtime.

 

Even without incidences of failure, it is worth noting that these softer costs make up a substantial amount of the TCO of a unit.  Initial and ongoing user training, system maintenance, technical support, upgrades and application management all contribute to TCO and for a consumer unit, these can be substantially more than a dedicated enterprise tablet.

However, factoring in the incidences of failure, the research found that IT costs and loss of productivity accounts for 89% of the TCO of consumer grade tablet PCs. To put that into hard figures, on an annual basis, a ruggedised tablet will have a TCO of around €2000.  By comparison a non-ruggedised tablet costs in excess of €4000.  That is despite the fact that the initial hardware cost of a ruggedised tablet will likely be double that of a consumer unit.

Figures such as these show the increasing importance for strong metrics such as ROI and TCO to not only validate investments but to track and measure use of mobile solutions within the enterprise throughout deployment. Furthermore it is clear that, because line of business mobile solutions are often mission critical, organisations need robust and reliable solutions to support them.

It is critical to align the right mobile solution with the users and application environment. But amidst the flood of consumer technologies in the enterprise that has driven a spike in failure rates, it is important to remember that consumerisation of IT all about introducing consumer experiences – NOT technology – into the enterprise.

Recognising this, many businesses now see that the cost of supporting and managing a device post deployment is just as - if not more - important that the upfront device investment.   There is much more to consider than the initial set up costs of the mobile solution. Organisations demand that IT investments deliver tangible benefits and incur predictable costs.  From platform consistency and sustainability, to the impact of device failure in various use scenarios – it is critical to understand the actual cost and impact of your mobile device deployment against the choices available and the increased interest in low cost consumer grade tablets.

 

Want to know more? Ian will be discussing this topic in further depth at this year's Service Management Expo on June 17th - 19th in London's ExCel. To get your complimentary pass click this link

 

 

 

Find out more about Motion Computing in the Field Service News Directory. Click here to visit their page

 

 

JLT Mobile Computers, developer of rugged computers for demanding environments, has recently launched the VERSO+ 10 computer with QuickLock, which they have dubbed as a 'new class of rugged vehicle terminals...'

Equipped with an Intel® Core™ i5 processor, the VERSO+ 10 computer offers strong performance in one of the industry’s smallest rugged form factors, making it a good choice for installations in tight cabins or other small areas. The QuickLock feature offers quick and easy mounting with the computer easily detached and attached in the vehicle to simplify service, being moved between vehicles or prevent theft by removing it at the end of the working day.

The new devices have a 10 inch sunlight readable XGA display and scratch resistant multi-point touch screen placing the VERSO+ 10 computer in the same family of heavy-duty JLT VERSO series that also includes 12 inch and 15 inch computers. JLT claim this youngest sibling will also provide the same high reliability as the rest of the series when used within very tough environments such as agriculture, ports, freezer storage, yard-logistics, and forestry

The VERSO series only launched in the first quarter of 2013 but has grown quickly and JLT have attracted customers from around the world with high demand for performance, ruggedness and reliability. With the new VERSO+ 10 computer, with QuickLock feature and a smaller form factor, customers now have a more flexible and compact alternative, but with the same performance and ruggedness.

As with all JLT computers, the VERSO+ 10 computer is built from the ground up to deliver maximum reliability and function in very demanding environments. It comes with an Intel Core processor or an Intel dual-core Atom D2550 processor. Built-in features include a 9-36 VDC power supply, a backup battery to ensure uninterrupted operation during power drops, WLAN communication with built-in highly sensitive PIFA antennas, custom-made for reliable Wi-Fi connectivity in environments with poor coverage.

New with the VERSO+ 10 computer are Bluetooth PIFA antennas with a resulting reliable communication with low-power hand carried peripherals, and the option of external antennas for both WLAN and Bluetooth for very demanding environments such as ports and other wide areas. The VERSO+ 10 can also be equipped with 3G WWAN communication. The VERSO+ 10 computer can be ordered with Windows 7 Pro or Windows Embedded Standard 7, Windows 8.1 and Windows Embedded 8 Standard operating systems.

“With the new VERSO+ 10 computer, we build on the success of the VERSO series of heavy-duty vehicle computers that, since its launch in January last year, is being selected by customers within mining, sawing mills, off-shore, ports and other demanding applications,” said Per Holmberg, CEO at JLT. “With the VERSO+ 10 computer, we reinforce our leading position within the high-end of the market by providing the smallest form factor and greater flexibility with the same high performance.”

Another key draw for companies is the JLT:Care Service Level Agreement. With this ”No-Questions-Asked” service added, customers are guaranteed a high support level and short repair times to maximise the up-time of the computer at predictable cost, an important benefit.

The VERSO+ 10 computer is available now with a dual-core Intel Atom processor D2550 and can be ordered from JLT Sales Partners. The Core processor option will start shipping in the second half of 2014.