IFS, the global enterprise applications company, announces that BRITA, one of the world’s leading companies in drinking water optimization, has selected IFS’s comprehensive service management solution covering field service management, workforce scheduling & planning, and customer engagement.

BRITA is fully committed to customer service as the main point of competitive differentiation. To power its pursuit of becoming global market leader, the company needed a comprehensive service management solution that could ensure a consistent and positive customer experience globally while delivering workforce efficiency and data accuracy.

THE importance OF FIELD SERVICE management for global enterprises

Following a competitive bid process involving several enterprise software vendors, BRITA selected IFS based on the solution’s wide-ranging field service management functionality and native integration with workforce scheduling and planning capabilities. 

The central IFS solution will unify a number of manual processes with a holistic end-to-end platform that spans the entire service value chain, from service request management to automated technician dispatch and maintenance and repair completion. The solution will also help BRITA in the future to return and recycle spent water filter products. 

The IFS solution, which will be used by BRITA’s field and customer service staff in Germany, France, Switzerland, Benelux, and the UK, will be fully integrated with the company’s existing enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) systems.

“Customer service is a vital part of our value proposition and a key differentiator in our highly competitive market segment,” said Tanja Manegold, Senior Group Director Service Prof. Dispenser at BRITA. “Investing in a best-in-class service management suite will help us advance our leading position. IFS was able to present us with a fully integrated platform that can deliver one version of the truth, which will help us deliver on our service-level agreements and enhance our first-time fix rates.”

Marcus Pannier, IFS Managing Director, Germany, Switzerland, and Austria, added, “We are honored to work alongside such a globally renowned brand such as BRITA. All around the world, leading-edge manufacturers like BRITA are looking to service and servitization strategies to boost revenues and earn more customer hearts and minds. At IFS, we have anticipated this shift and are ready to equip these early movers with robust enterprise software that is designed to enhance workforce efficiency while safeguarding a great customer experience.”

Further Reading:

• Learn more about IFS Service Management  @ https://www.ifs.com/service-management/
• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Read more about IFS on Field Service News @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/ifs
• Learn more about IFS @ www.ifs.com
• Read more about BRITA Group @ www.brita.com

Of decision-makers that experienced a digital transformation project failure, 25% experienced financial loss alongside a number of other damaging implications. 

While today’s macro-economic disruption has failed to dampen digital transformation plans, when diving deeper into the ramifications surrounding project success and failure, the need to get transformation ‘right’ becomes imperative, according to a global research study from IFS .

THE long-term impact Of it project failure

While 58 percent of respondents plan to increase digital transformation spending, it’s the numbers surrounding the success of previous projects that demonstrate the severity of getting it ‘wrong’. The research highlights the long-term implications of IT project failure, with 34 percent of all respondents expressing it took two to three years to recover from project failure and 92 percent stating it took more than a year. Under the weight of today’s macro-economic pressures, businesses simply don’t have that amount of time to waste.

The reality is that, when IT programs fail, executive heads roll. The impact can be hard and long-lasting with damage felt across UK respondents in areas such as reduced headcount (20 percent), loss of customers (24 percent), financial loss (25 percent) and a loss of market share (23 percent). The latter results were consistent across the six global regions with a quarter experiencing both loss of customers and financial loss.

Those in the UK that experienced failures also experienced negative impacts including complete shutdowns of critical business departments (18 percent). The fear of failure impacted subsequent projects too, 26 percent were deterred from investing in similar projects, and half (46 percent) had budgets cut in other areas. In the face of COVID-19 recovery, and with the Centre for Policy Studies ‘After the Virus’ report championing innovation as a recovery response, the repercussions of such failures could be more damaging now than ever.

"While many people might assume that respondents concerned with the current economy would pull back on technology spending, the reality is that investment is increasing..."

While reported plans to invest in digital transformation indicate businesses are being proactive in the face of disruption, data suggests that making those investments will pay off. The majority of respondents said past digital transformation projects were successful, using a number of different assessment measures. Demonstrating that the benefits outweigh the negatives, success was achieved in on-time completion (71 percent globally) and delivering expected results (53 percent across all six regions).

While many people might assume that respondents concerned with the current economy would pull back on technology spending, the reality is that investment is increasing. The survey data indicates that, during these dynamic times, plans to increase spending on digital transformation tracks closely with concerns about economic conditions disrupting the business. In fact, the survey indicates that people concerned with economic disruption were 20 percent more likely to plan increased spending on digital transformation.  

 “The study confirms that many companies are wisely using the global downturn to divert resources to technological renewal and innovation,” IFS Industries Senior Vice President Antony Bourne said. “As the majority of businesses are adapting to the anticipated economic recovery, and not permanently scrapping digital transformation initiatives, there is reason to believe that companies with a progressive mindset toward technology investment will be well equipped to rebound. While enterprise software will doubtlessly play a role in accelerating recovery, it is important to remember its vital role in helping companies here and now. Providing the necessary process transparency and analytics to ensure effective and informed decision-making is critical in these trying times. Nothing less than a considered and resolute attitude toward adopting digital transformation will help companies thrive, now and in the future.”

Further Reading:

• Download a complimentary copy of Digital Transformation Investment in 2020 and Beyond here
• Read more about IFS on Field Service News @ https://www.fieldservicenews.com/ifs
• Read more about Digital Transformation @ www.fieldservicenews.com/digital-transformation
• Find out more about IFS @ www.ifs.com/
• Follow IFS on Twitter @ https://twitter.com/ifs

New research charting the servitization journey of companies shows a significant gap in progress between firms with only 3% surveyed at a stage of maturity.

The study, instigated by IFS and extrapolated by global analyst firm IDC, surveyed 420 global manufacturing companies, active across the physical value chain, who were at varying stages of their servitization strategy.

From the data, IDC developed a Servitization Maturity Framework (The IDC Servitization Barometer) comprising four levels that segments companies based on their level of adoption.

The Four Stages of Servitization Adoption

The ‘Splintered’ stage, and the lowest level, represented 14% of firms.Typically these companies operated in silos, running dis-jointed, manual processes and fragmented business systems producing little or no visibility in performance.

The next stage, ‘Side-Car’, was the largest representation of companies (49%). Here firms had standardised their back and front office operations but were yet to integrate the two.

‘Joined-up’ companies have integrated front and back offices in both directions and have progressed to leverage technologies such as IoT to feed core systems with real data. This segment was represented by 39% of firms surveyed.

Only 3% of canvassed firms operating at the fourth ‘Borderless’ stage (or “Servitization Nirvana,” the report says). These companies have processes that start and end outside of the organisation with operations and technology facilitating the connection between different elements of the value chain.

However, IDC said those firms at the ‘Joined-Up’ stage, who were exhibiting some, but not all elements of a servitization strategy, for example an integrated back and front office and the use of IoT, were still able to show significant financial proof-points, with service revenues - on average - one third larger than their peers’ as a proportion of total revenue.

“Organisations that bundled projects with services or offered their capabilities in a consumption-mode are already enjoying competitive advantages,” Phil Carter, Chief Analyst at IDC Europe and one of the authors of the report says. “Manufacturers engaging in this transformation should demand applications that are natively connected across the full value chain, from the shop floor to customer support and service.”

IFS carried out the survey in July 2019 and the President of the firm’s Service Management Business Unit Marne Martin said IDC’s maturity framework identified the key barriers firms are facing in their quest for full servitization adoption. “The IDC Servitization Barometer lays out the key hurdles facing many manufacturing organisations,” she says, “including the lack of internal know-how and the perrenial problem of running legacy, disjointed business systems.”

Further Reading: 

• Read the full report IDC Sertvization Barrier - Charting your Path to New Revenue Streams here.
• Read more about customer servitization in field service @ www.fieldservicenews.com/servitization
• Find out more about IFS here.
• Find out more about IDC here. 

Covid-19 affected client influences swift deployment of Merged Reality remote assistance solution.

A software solution using Merged-Reality (MR) has been made available by IFS after a customer affected by the impact of Covid-19 required a remote solution to remain operating.

Impact of Pandemic on the Field Service Sector

The technology's route to market came in record time following a request from one of IFS' long-standing customers, Munters, who had been monitoring the spread of the outbreak.

At the beginning of March and with the knock-on effect of global travel restrictions soon to take hold, the global supplier of sustainable air-treatment solutions, realised a solution would be required if service tasks were to continue.

“Our President Peter is in Italy, and as Coronavirus began to spread, he saw the immediate need to leverage remote assistance to help support both our field and manufacturing operations,” says Roel Rentmeesters, Munters Director of Global Customer Service. “By the beginning of March, it became urgent for us to get this technology in place to continue to be able to serve our customers and support our manufacturing operations.”

Rentmeesters contacted IFS on 6 March and the company were training staff six days later on the technology.

Currently, the firm are expanding the use of the technology to more than 200 users globally, which it hopes to complete within a fortnight.

IFS Remote Assistance utilises MR technology to create a real-life situational context that engineers can share with appropriate product experts operating remotely.

The solution blends to real-time video streams into an interactive environment for mobile devices. The app also includes, telestration, document sharing, three-party calls, screen capture, recording, call tagging and satisfaction surveys.

Further Reading: 

• Find out more about IFS' remote assistance solutions @ https://www.ifs.com/corp/solutions/service-management/remote-assistance/
• Read a detailed overview of this case study @ https://blog.ifs.com/2020/03/munters-rolls-out-ifs-remote-assistance/

IFS’s business applications for FSM, ERP and EAM can now connect large and fast-changing data pools using Boomi’s integration capabilities, global enterprise applications company says.

Zack Bergreen, Astea’s outgoing CEO, has nearly 40 years in the service sector. As the firm finally confirms its merger with IFS, Mark Glover speaks to IFS’s Marne Martin to discuss the dynamics of the transition.

Marne Martin is telling me when she first met Astea’s Zack Bergreen. “I’ve known him since 2013,” she recalls “when I tried to convince him to merge with the company that I worked for at the time.”

Of course, Martin bats in IFS colours these days, but seven years on she is finally overseeing the acquisition of Bergreen’s Astea, a deal confirmed in December which saw Bergreen step aside as CEO, allowing Martin to assume the position during the period of integration, absorbing the task into her current mantle as President of IFS’s Service Management Business Unit with overall responsibility for the merger. But as is the case for any transition, both parties need to work together. How will the pair make this handover work?

“Zack and I have a good relationship,” Martin explains. “He’s not involved in the day-to-day post the transaction, but absolutely is involved in the customer transitions and has been very supportive. For example, he and I together will go to Japan in early February.”

As I write, both may well be in the Far East, smoothing relationships in a market foreign to IFS’s strategy. That Bergreen curated business in such unorthodox regions at the time is testament to the customer focus that Astea created and as Martin alludes to, this will be an important factor going forward given IFS’s larger global presence.   

“Astea has a wonderful customer base,” she explains. “Customers reach out to him and that’s been a great conduit in the early days because Zack and I can compare notes around customers. Hopefully they’re hearing the messages that we’re investing even more in them!”

Martin of course is no stranger to such business transitions. The Astea deal will be her second go-private to add to her two previous IPOs. “An even-steven,” she says, laughing.  I quote from an old press release where she is referred to as an “industry veteran”, a term that in the UK at least, evokes an individual on the cusp of retirement, but one full of experience and knowledge.

“Although I’m not as much an industry veteran as Zack,” she retorts, musing over the phone. “He actually founded Astea not long after I was born.”

Zack Bergreen, one could argue, is a genuine veteran of the service sector, bringing Astea to market in 1979, a digitally baron time when the first clunky and commercially available mobile phone would not appear for five years and Tim-Berners Lee, the man credited with the internet, was ten years away from presenting his idea.

“With Workwave, I did need to bring that company into a place where it was part of IFS and part of our strategy and really rationalise how it all fits together..."

Since then, before IFS’s acquisition, Bergreen had built the company into one of the leaders in global service management software. It’s meant, according to some analysts, the firm has been ripe for takeover for some time. “Astea has been on the list of potential acquires for as long as many of the market analysts can remember,” says Bill Pollock, “It is not a surprise that it has finally been acquired – the real surprise is that it took so long.”

Despite the delay though in Astea being acquired, Martin remains on-brief with IFS’s CEO Darren Roos, who tasked her on arrival to create and grow the Service Management Business Unit. With the integration of Astea, the successful go-to-market implementation of WorkWave, and strong organic growth of the products acquired previously by IFS, Martin is on track.

Skilfully, Martin recruited Dave Giannetto to take over the day-to-day as Workwave’s CEO, him being promoted approximately a week before the Astea deal was closed out.  Having worked alongside Giannetto for eight months leading up to his appointment, Martin felt confident handing over the reins.

“With Workwave, I did need to bring that company into a place where it was part of IFS and part of our strategy and really rationalise how it all fits together,” Martin recalls, “but it was also a talent expansion strategy, so with Darren’s support, I recruited in Dave and I was able to transition these CEO duties to him.”

However, she was quick to credit the team around her and the recruitment of those bought in for the fantastic growth IFS is experiencing in the Service Management Business Unit and with the Astea transition. This included Simon Niesler who joined in December as CRO, laying a foundation Martin says, to sustain their rate of growth – the division’s bookings growth was over 100 per cent in 2019 – and successfully absorb Astea. “It was absolutely time to bring in a CRO, and with again Darren’s support, we were able to bring in another very strong talent,” she says. “I'm thrilled, as it enables us to keep scaling and gives me the confidence we really have someone who is best in class in the role.”

Through Q1 at least, IFS will retain the knowledge of another class act in Bergreen, who has an advisory role as a sort of relay between Astea’s customer-base and its integration with IFS. Officially, he will take on the role of Senior Advisor of IFS’s Group Management and be an influential voice in the Service Management Advisory Board.

Come Q2, we will know more about the success of the transaction. Given Martin’s track record however, don’t be surprised, if there were any cynical Astea customers, our bet is that they will be more than appeased with the engagement and customer focus.

Enjoyed this article? You can read more analysis and news from Marne and the IFS team by clicking here 

Firm says enhanced customer-focus contributed to strong figures.

IFS has announced its financial results for the full year ended December 31, 2019, revealing a 51 per cent business growth in its Field Service Management business.

“I am incredibly proud to lead the team that has delivered this impressive performance. Our employees clearly understand our focus, feel ownership of our progress, and stand united in a passion for our customers. Our differentiator is not that we talk about customer centricity, but that we commit to delivering customer value.” IFS Chief Executive Officer Darren Roos said. “The investments made last year into our product and partner enablement will benefit the company in the long-term and will have a positive impact for our customers – and our own business – in 2020 and beyond.”

The year the firm added notable brands to its roster across the five focus industries it serves, including SPIE, Rolls-Royce, Tietex, Revima, Resolute Mining, Primo and Cryostar. It also joined with PTC for product innovation, Acumatica for channel innovation and, in December, completed the acquisition of Astea International.

The Field Service News editorial team offer analysis on the stories circling in the service sector...

As IFS finally completed its full acquisition of Astea, Mark Glover ponders the challenges ahead for Marne Martin, who is tasked with overseeing the transition...

It’s not new news, but IFS finally completing its acquisition of Astea, following the announcement the pair had signed a definitive agreement in October, meant a fresh press release pinging into Field Service News’ inbox confirming a deal that many had been predicting for a while. 

As is the form for acquisition announcements the release took a postive angle, explaining what benefits the merger will bring to IFS and its customer base. “With the acquisition of Astea, IFS has strengthened and deepened its ability to help customers innovate in field service and service management,” affirmed Nicole French, VP and Analyst at Constellation Research in a quote taken from the release. Delivering innovation to its customer base falls sqaurely on the shoulders of IFS’ Marne Martin, who is set to assume leadership of Astea, taking the reins from Zack Bergreen, who founded the company in 1979. 

In an interview with Martin, just after the confirmation announcement in December, I asked how the dynamic between the pair will operate through the transitionary period. However, in response she reveals the pair could have been working together seven years ago. “I’ve known him since 2013, when I tried to convince him to merge with ServicePower,” she recalls.

“Customers reach out to him [Bergreen] and that’s a great conduit because he and I can compare notes around customers.Hopefully they’re hearing hearing the messages that we’re trying to speak to them about.”

Martin is no stranger to acquisitions, being at the helm of ServicePower when it merged with IFS in 2017, but three years on and this time absorbing a company that has a dedicated, loyal and expectant customer-base, the task ahead could be one of her biggest challenges to-date.

The full interview with Marne Martin will be published Thursday 5 February.

... and Field Service News’ Editor-in-Chief, Kris Oldland, also reflects on what the big stories in the news are for him...

For me the most exciting story that leaps out of our news round-up this month is that Nokia are entering the race to solve the headaches of last mile delivery.

This story albeit just a tempting snippet and a glimpse of a potential solution will come as very welcome news to all field service providers as the challenges of inner-city congestion are just set to worsen as we enter the third decade of the twentieth century.

Not only does the introduction of a company with a history of pioneering innovation entering this arena to solve what I fear may be the biggest challenge of the coming years for field service companies bode well for overcoming this challenge. They are also looking to fix it with cute little delivery robots.

Finally, the year 2020 is living up to its billing of being ‘the future’. I might even get the personal jet pack I’ve been dreaming of since I was 11 at some point in the next few years as well!

In terms, of industry trends I think that the move by WebFleet to introduce a sustainability initiative is not only smart but also a likely sign of things to come. Indeed, I was discussing this exact topic with Rich Agostinelli’s the new CEO of ByBox recently (look out for that discussion in an upcoming edition of the Field Service Podcast) and I think we will see plenty of companies across the next year tapping into the ‘green dollar.’

As I mentioned to Rich, it may be that I am just a bit of a cynical old man, but I think the true driver behind much of the moves towards more sustainable operations will still inevitably be economic rather than some sudden shift in the corporate mindset to save the world.

However, given the current high focus on the well intentioned, but somewhat naive actions of the likes of Extinction Rebellion and their teen messiah Greta Thunberg, the societal pressure for businesses to at least be seen to be focussing on green issues are moving from huge to enormous. However, the fact is that solutions like ByBox’s overnight delivery services ultimately reduce costs and increase efficiency within a field service operation, whilst simultaneously reducing carbon emissions due to less idling.

So we get to improve our bottom line and save the planet from impending doom at the same time. Now that’s got to be classed as a win-win in anyone’s book?

The only question that remains is ‘will we be able to play snake on those cute little Nokia robots?

AI to support automation, support labour shortage and drive upskilling as Industry 4.0 accelerates, study shows.