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In the video below Tash Quinn, Product Manager with eBecs gives us an overview of what we can expect from their latest webinar being held on the 31st January 2017.

The webinar will cover:

• Ensure that your field service technicians are prepared with the right information and equipment to get the job done right the first time, on time.
• Create efficiencies so that more work orders can be completed with more satisfied customers, allowing your business to grow.
• Forge lasting and trusted customer relationships, building new business through positive word of mouth recommendations.

 

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http://ebecs.wistia.com/medias/ozk3pu81s8?embedType=async&videoFoam=true&videoWidth=640

 

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To join this webinar click here for the registration page

 

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Infographic from ClickSoftware explores the consumer and suppliers views of key field service consumer frustrations...

 

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Having undertaken a detailed research project together assessing the use of IoT in field service and also the relationship between IOT and the growing trend of servitization, Field Service News and Gartner field service management magic quadrant leader ServiceMax delivered a webinar exploring the research findings.

You can find links to download the full webinar and the related white paper below but here as a taster is a brief section of the Q&A held at the end of the webinar featuring Patrice Eberline, VP Global Customer Transformation and Kris Oldland Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News

 

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Click here to access the research report

 

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Click here to access the webinar

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by:  Astea
Title: What is the next phase of service innovation

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Click here to download the white paper now

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By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis:

Innovation causes company evolution and every year service is becoming more important to companies not only as a source of revenue but also as a key driver of customer loyalty...

It is no longer enough to merely deliver quality service in a timely manner. Customer demands and competitive pressures are driving service companies toward service innovation – developing new service offerings and service delivery mechanisms that their customers will find valuable.

To remain competitive, service organisations need to make investments in developing and designing new service products, tapping into new markets, and finding new ways to deliver service – making innovation part of the culture, from the executive suite to the field technicians.

This White Paper published by Astea takes a look at best practices for companies looking to innovate their service and it covers:

• Where the best opportunities for service innovation exist
• How to institutionalise innovation with 'service innovation teams'
• What metrics to use to measure the ROI of innovation activities

Overview:

As service has grown in importance as a source of revenue and a key driver of customer loyalty, customer expectations of service delivery have increased. It is no longer enough to merely deliver quality service in a timely manner. Service organisations have to do more than simply keep costs low and maintain market share.

Customer demands and competitive pressures are driving service companies toward service innovation – developing new service offerings and service delivery mechanisms that their customers will find valuable.

This type of service innovation has become an increasingly vital component in a company’s competitive strategy. Executives recognise that focusing on cost control is not in line with long-term value creation. To grow, organisations need to reinvent customer relationships and embrace new technologies and business models.

Where is Service Innovation Needed?

In March 2016, The Service Council (TSC) conducted a survey on service innovation to gauge respondents’ perceptions of their own organisations.

When asked how innovative their entire organization was, the majority of respondents said their company was somewhat innovative (58%), while roughly one-third (31%) said their company was innovative. Asked specifically about their service organization, the responses were very close, with 23% responding “innovative,” 56% “somewhat innovative.” A slightly larger group said the service organization was not innovative (11% for service compared to 3% for the entire company).

Service companies can innovate on a number of levels: the service delivery process, customer management and communication, service design, new product/ service development, the client interface, and in their technological choices.

Institutionalise Innovation

According to The Service Council survey, just 31% of respondents have a service innovation team in place. For service organisations to thrive in a marketplace that puts greater value on innovation, that has to change.

Service organizations have to look at innovation on a strategic level, and at all the ways that the service team can innovate – from developing new services and process-oriented changes to focusing on external service delivery processes and finding more opportunities to provide service.

These companies need to develop a service innovation team focused on fostering such projects. The team should include input from supervisors and managers, frontline employees/technicians, VP-level service leaders, regional leaders, and C-level executives.

Measure Your Success

Those innovation investments can’t be made blindly, however. Establishing whether a given innovation provides a return on investment (ROI) requires metrics around those innovation activities and their results. In The Service Council survey, just 20% of respondents said they already had innovation metrics in place.

Measuring innovation is a combination of art and science, which makes those metrics difficult to develop. You have to find the right things to measure; every company has its own organizational culture, so every company must fine-tune what it measures to reinforce the goals, values, and norms that it finds critical for inspiring innovation and best practices.

Technology Enables Innovation

One key enabler of both new service products and new service delivery mechanisms has been technology. Digital technologies have driven radical change and disruption in the service sector.

These include customer self-service portals and mobile apps, mobile field service automation and work order management solutions, GPS-enabled fleet tracking/management systems, and automated dispatch and scheduling solutions.

Getting Started

Service organisations that want to improve these efforts should institutionalise innovation by establishing dedicated innovation teams and resources and develop metrics to measure the effect of innovation. Frontline employees should be involved, and customer needs and insights should be analysed to develop an innovation road map.

• Begin with customer insights
• Understand the funding mechanism
• Determine who will develop and deliver new innovative service products and models
• Track innovation activity
• Institutionalize innovation

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Click here to download the white paper now

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Resource Type: Research report
Published by:  Field Service News and ClickSoftware
Title: Is field service finally moving to the Cloud (2016)

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Click here to access to the research report

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By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis: 

In 2015 Field Service News and ClickSoftware teamed up on a research report to look at the appetite for Cloud based Field Service Management (FSM) systems. Now 12 months on we've come together again on a fresh project to see what trends are emerging...

Having connected with over 150 field service professionals in this exclusive independent research project Field Service News, in partnership with ClickSoftware are pleased to present this detailed research report which digs deep into the findings to uncover the trends within our industry when it comes to the adoption of Cloud based field service management systems.

Download this report now to establish how your own companies approach to the Cloud sits in context with the wider trends that are evidenced by your peers, colleagues and competitors...

Download this report to find out:

• Are field service companies now finally turning to the Cloud as the platform for FSM systems?
• What are the driving reasons for Cloud adoption?
• What are the benefits being felt by those who have made the move to Cloud based FSM systems?
• What are the barriers to adoption for Cloud based FSM systems?
• Is security still the number one concern around Cloud based FSM systems?
• What percentage of those now using the Cloud would recommend it over an on-premise solution?

Overview: 

In this white paper, co-published by Field Service News and ClickSoftware, we shall review the data from our latest research, providing year-on-year comparative analysis to identify what new trends have emerged and how attitudes towards the Cloud have evolved amongst senior management within the field service industry.

Previously identified trends:

To begin let’s briefly recap the findings of last year’s research (which was the second time we had focused on the use of Cloud within a field service context as a subject for our research.)

Whilst the headline findings of that project identified that a large majority of field service companies (74%) were still using on-premise solutions, there was clear evidence that a shift to Cloud was on the horizon.

There were two key findings that supported this hypothesis.

Firstly, there was the overwhelming evidence that the Cloud was proving to be a success amongst those companies that had made the move away from traditional on-premise solutions. In fact, when we asked those respondents who had made such a move ‘would you recommend a Cloud based field service management solution over an on-premise solution?’ 100% of them replied that they would.

However, the findings were perhaps even more telling when we turned to those companies that were still using on-premise solutions.

Amongst this group of respondents, we found that over two-thirds of companies (69%) admitted they would consider moving to the Cloud when they next upgraded their FSM solution.

 

Such findings led us to arrive at the hypothesis that eventually we would see a widespread move to the Cloud. It was our prediction that we would potentially see a complete pendulum shift, with up to 75% of companies using Cloud based FSM solutions within the next five years. Last year’s research also identified that concerns around the security of the Cloud were the biggest potential barrier to adoption.

In fact, 38% of respondents that were not using a Cloud based FSM solution stated that they felt that security was the greatest issue with Cloud. Yet that same research also highlighted that this is generally not the case -     security issues were less prevalent than both connectivity and integration issues amongst companies actually using a Cloud based FSM tools.

It was our assertion last year that there was a need for greater education and understanding of the security of the Cloud, particularly at the enterprise level amongst executives within the field service sector - so that perception and reality could become more closely aligned. Once this was achieved we would likely see the shift to Cloud becoming the most widely used platform for FSM systems gaining greater momentum.

So how have the opinions of field service professionals changed across the last twelve months?

Year-on-year trends:

The headline finding of this year’s research is that we have indeed seen a continued shift towards more companies using the Cloud for their FSM systems. When comparing data from 2014, 2015 and 2016, we have also seen increasing year on year growth.

Indeed, the number of companies now using Cloud based FSM systems is well over a third, with 36% of our respondents stating that they are now Cloud users. This is a year on year increase of 8% in terms of companies using the Cloud for FSM systems.

Not only does this show a continuing move to the Cloud, but it is also a relatively significant increase in the year-on-year growth we saw in the previous year’s research. In fact, the increase in companies moving to the Cloud within the last twelve months is almost three times more than it was in the previous year (9% vs. 3%)

This would certainly add weight to our conclusions last year that Cloud was gaining traction as a platform for FSM tools, and that we would see this continue to increase as companies begun.

Further reading within the research report: 

• The question of security
• The benefits of moving to the cloud
• Remaining barriers to adoption
• Cloud in other areas of business
• Expert insight from ClickSoftware's Marina Stedman & Paul Whitelam

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Brand new infographic from Astea shows how field service organisations can work towards innovating their service delivery mechanisms...

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Want to know more? Click here to download the companion white paper to this infographic now

 

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Want to know more? Click here to download the companion white paper to this infographic now

 

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In his leader for this issue, Kris Oldland discusses the challenge in finding a metaphor powerful enough to reflect the potential transformation that is happening in field service organisations across the globe...

 

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Click here to download a digital copy of Field Service News issue 14 now

 

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The title came to me easily enough and it is in evidence all throughout this issue. Advanced Services is a field/movement that is advancing at rapid pace.

 

But how best to convey this in the artwork?

In my mind the shift towards Advanced Services is growing in momentum and as it begins to hit the tipping point it will become an unstoppable force, driving into every corner of business, across every part of the global economy.

Why?

Well as ServiceMax CEO Dave Yarnold comments in our exclusive interview on page 24 “Of course outcome based services makes a ton of sense to customers. It’s far more balanced, it’s what customers want.”

Ultimately, this is why Advanced Services will flourish. Because it brings balance to relationships between service providers and their customers, and in doing so brings benefits to both. I remember someone telling me once that a good negotiation is where both parties feel like they have lost something. Where both have had to make some concession to the other.

Advanced Services is perhaps the first business model I’ve come across where that actually doesn’t hold up.

So one of my first thoughts around the artwork was something like a tidal wave or tsunami. A great unstoppable force of nature that would sweep everything before it, leaving space in it’s wake for rebirth - rebuilding and replacement of the old ways with something new.

However, I felt that this imagery was to destructive, to uncontrollable, to urgent. One thing about the Advanced Services movement is it has been patient. Patiently waiting for cultures and technologies to catch up since at least the mid 60s when Rolls Royce were forced by American Airlines to come up with a new business model because the old one wasn’t working.

So now that the time is finally right for Advanced Services to take hold it will be much more of a steady march ever onwards than a flash in the pan incident.

 

Which lead me to the imagery that I settled on, although I still had considerations around whether the image of an army walking across a battlefield was right to convey something that as I mentioned previously, is a movement that brings balance to the force provider/consumer relationship?

After consideration I realised that of course an advancing army isn’t always one of invasion and oppression but alternatively can be one of liberation and freedom.

OK maybe I’m taking the metaphor too far here, but essentially the companies that have pioneered the SaaS model in the software industry such as Salesforce absolutely broke the chains of monopoly that were restricting all but the biggest players.

Whilst the likes of IBM, Microsoft and Oracle mocked the Cloud, innovative start-ups were getting a head-start, reinventing the game so both they and the customer had more control and freedom than ever before- which ultimately pushed the need for innovation across the whole industry, leading to mass disruption.

You can bet that large manufacturers and others have watched this development across the last decade and a half keenly and are looking to see how they can be sure they are on the Advanced Services train, so they don’t get left behind playing catch up, like the big players in Software had to.

Of course, that’s the other flip-side of the cover image I opted for. Ultimately it does invoke thoughts of a battle or war and in such conflicts there are always winners and losers.

I can’t help but feel that right now we are at a pivotal time in the history of enterprise.

I see us at a fork in the road where those companies who take the right path now, those that embrace technologies like IoT and business concepts like Advanced Services will truly flourish across the next decade.

And as for those companies that don’t... I have just one word of advice.

Kodak.

 

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Click here to download a digital copy of Field Service News issue 14 now

 

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Resource Type: White Paper
Published by:  IFS
Title: Software selection for enterprise service management

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Click Here to access the white paper

 

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By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis:

Choosing to invest in a new service management solution is one thing, selecting the right system for your organisation is an entirely different challenge...

Service is becoming a central pillar of most organisations operations and investment in the tools to improve your service delivery are well documented to deliver clear R.O.I. However, the market for service management systems is highly competitive with numerous different vendors offering a multitude of solutions.

This white paper written by IFS's Tom Bowe, one of FSN's 20 most influential people in Field Service, offers some excellent, impartial and objective advice as to how you can identify the right solution for your organisation...

Overview:

This white paper, published by IFS, discusses the following key topics:

• Common business challenges including rising competition, greater margin pressures and burgeoning communications demands
• How the right software can address these business challenges including improving vision, knowledge sharing and flexibility
• A dozen key questions to ask when selecting the right service management solution for your organisation

Common business challenges:

Rising competition:

Competition in services is rising, from both big players and small players. Consider a manufacturer providing field services to customers that have purchased their equipment. Today there are huge service players that come in saying they can service everything, as well as small, nimble service organisations with a regional focus.

So for the manufacturer, sophisticated global competitors pressure service at the top end and agile competitors with a local or regional focus pressure service at the bottom end. They’re getting squeezed, and in this they are not alone among service organisations.

Greater margin pressures

In many business sectors, markets have matured for strong product growth, threatening revenue streams and driving down margins. The challenge and opportunity here is service growth: a part of the business heretofore an afterthought has moved to the front in executive suites. The immediate need is to turn service from a cost centre into a profit centre. The window of opportunity to do this effectively will not stay open forever.

Burgeoning communication demands

The proliferation of technology has had multiple effects, all of which act to increase the need for fast and pervasive communications. We see this embodied in the ubiquitous smartphone, conditioning a generation to expect access to information 24/7/365 and answers to questions immediately at the touch of a screen or click of a mouse. This has changed the game in service delivery, where performance issues (i.e., risk) have become more pronounced with lack of responsive speed or inability to deliver as promised.

The flip side of this risk is the opportunity that comes with new technology. Consider what McKinsey reported from a survey at the decade’s outset, as emerging Web-based technologies were beginning to create the networked enterprise: “The attainment of higher operating margins ... correlated with a different set of factors: the ability to make decisions lower in the corporate hierarchy and a willingness to allow the formation of working teams comprising both in-house employees and individuals outside the organisation. These findings suggest that Web technologies can underwrite a more agile organisation where frontline staff members make local decisions and companies are better at leveraging outside resources to raise productivity and to create more valuable products and services.”

 

How the right software can address these business challenges:

The right enterprise service management software supports an organisation’s ability to meet emerging challenges and respond to constant change by providing the foundation for enterprise agility. The concept of business agility involves the development of capabilities to achieve sustained competitive advantage in an unpredictable environment. Agility is the product of three foundational blocks—vision, knowledge, and flexibility—that effectively designed and developed software facilitate across the business.

A dozen questions to ask when selecting service management software

1. DOES THE SOFTWARE PROVIDE ESSENTIAL ACCESS TO DATA—THE RIGHT DATA FOR
   THE RIGHT PEOPLE AT THE RIGHT TIME?
2. SOFTWARE SELECTION FOR ENTERPRISE SERVICE MANAGEMENT
3. DOES THE SOFTWARE ALLOW FOR FUTURE GROWTH?
4. IS THE SOFTWARE APPEALING TO TODAY’S GENERATION OF WORKERS?
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To get the full list of questions (and why these questions are important) download the white paper by clicking the link below and completing the brief for and it will be sent straight to your inbox.

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Click here to access the white paper 

 

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Resource Type: eBook
Published by:  coresystems
Title: An Introduction To Field Service Management

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Click here to download eBook now

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By downloading you agree to the T&Cs listed available here

Synopsis:

Over the course of the past several years, field service management (FSM) software has evolved to keep pace with the changing technologies that have emerged in recent years, such as the cloud and mobility.

In the modern environment, it’s now necessary for field service software to integrate CRM and ERP functionality in order to ensure that all aspects of service can be managed more effectively.

This eBook takes a detailed look at the core fundamental areas of field service management and how you can improve your own processes to ensure your field service delivery is best in class.

Overview:

This eBook looks at the following topics across six chapters

Technology and Field Service

We look at the role cloud and mobility have played in transforming field service and also assess what new security concerns these two technologies may bring. We also look at emerging technologies including IoT and 3D printing and explore what role they could have in field service delivery.

High Value Field Service

For high value industries, which suffer substantial losses when downtime occurs, FSM solutions can help to mitigate the risk of downtime, as well as design, plan, implement and report on high value services which are typically complex  industrial installations.

It’s thought that on average, businesses lose between $84,000 and $108,000 in revenue for every hour that they suffer network downtime. This section focusses on the cost to the customer of poor field service delivery and what ultimately that cost could be to your business also.

What to look for in a FSM solution

When it comes to choosing the right FSM solution for your organisation, there’s a lot to consider. It’s necessary to properly understand how it will be used within the business and how it aligns with business goals. It’s also important that the solution is future-proof in order to allow for existing technologies to work for the organisation, as well as consider how these might change in the future.

In this section we explore what some of the key considerations are in terms of identifying the right type of business to meet your organisations field service delivery demands.

Managing the Field Service Workforce

One of the most important aspects of your FSM solution will be team management. In order to make full use of integrated FSM, it’s necessary that your solution have the functionality to allow you to effectively collaborate and mobilise the workforce. In this section we look at how best-in-class organisations effectively utilise their FSM solution to better manage their mobile workforce.

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