ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘software-and-apps’ CATEGORY

ClickSoftware have created this great infographic looking at the uses of Gamification within businesses and how it has evolved throughout the years.

Some key points highlighted include:

• By 2015, 40% of top 1000 companies by market value will use gamification as the primary mechanism to transform business operations
• IBM, AutoDesk and SAP are some of the companies who have successfully adopted Gamification
• Gamification is a key element In consumerisation of enterprise strategy in companies such as Cisco, Pearson and Salesforce

 

The team at service management specialist software provider Tesseract are in for a busy October as they take to the road to showcase their software on both sides of the Atlantic this October.

If you’re in the US you can find them at the MD Expo – Orlando. This event showcases the very latest products and technology in the medical equipment industry.

With a solid reputation for attracting a senior audience, the show runs from the 1st - 3rd October 2014 at Hilton Orlando Bonnet Creek Resort, Orlando, Florida.

Tesseract, who were the first company to ever develop a cloud based service management solution will be showcasing the latest iteration of their software, Service Centre 5 to the events delegates, having established themselves as a leading player in this sector by working with companies such as Toshiba Medical for many years.

Back in the UK the Tesseract team will also be attending another important event within the medical sector the Healthcare Estates Conference, Exhibition & Dinner which runs from the 7th - 8th October 2014 at Manchester Central Convention Complex.

This is a unique event that brings together the highly prestigious IHEEM Annual Conference, Awards Dinner as well as the UK’s largest trade exhibition for the sector, for which of course enterprise mobility solutions can mean not just impacts on companies bottom line, but can be the difference between life and death itself.

Finally the team will be attending the Ceda Catering Equipment Technical Conference 8th October 2014, Staverton Park Hotel, Daventry, Northants.
This year’s conference will include headline speakers and interactive workshops and will be of great interest to both the general management and the service management of both distributors and suppliers to the catering industry.

 

Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Advanced Field Solutions
Title:  Which Solution is right for your business: End-to-end or best-of-breed
About: As part of our series exploring end to end field service we are pleased to be able to offer you this excellent white paper published by Advanced Field Service that questions whether an end to end service management solution or best-of –breed solution is the right move for your company.
Download: Download the white paper by clicking here

Overview: As the tough economic environment of recent years starts to recede and a measure of confidence returns to the industry, service organisations are increasingly looking to invest in systems that can help them to make the most of the upturn. Replacing your current service management system is never a decision to be undertaken lightly. However, whether you already have a software solution for service in place or have depended heavily on manual processes such as spreadsheets, making the transition to a more powerful, up-to-date solution with modern functionality such as mobile capabilities can impact your whole service process…for the better. Among the potential benefits to be realised with today’s technology are:

• Full traceability of every job and status change – from job creation through to completion

• Instant access to account information from any location – including order, call, equipment and site history

• Engineers arrive at a job equipped with the right documentation, parts and site history, aware of any customer issues

• Engineers can record time sheets and expenses, download technical documents and equipment lists, and securely capture photos and signatures on-site

• Efficiency increases as engineers can remotely view planned work and close jobs on site, send proactive alerts and deliver automatic status updates to the back office

• Control of stock is improved, with full visibility of parts availability and automatically re-orders

• You deliver great customer service as you offer specific appointment times, bill the customer promptly, maintain a full audit trail and complete work quickly and efficiently

In short, you’ll increase the likelihood of a first-time fix, with improved customer satisfaction while reducing your costs. It’s an attractive prospect. This whitepaper looks at some of the options available to field service organisations as they review the market. It also offers some guidance on selecting your new technology, and outlines a suggested eight-point process.

These eight points are prioritise, requirements, expertise, create a shortlist, integration, planning, support and supplier stability are all discussed in further detail in the white paper.

Field service management is a huge playing field with some pretty big players. Typically when organisations talk about field service management they talk about having the right person in the right place at the right time with the right information. But what about ensuring that they have the right tools? Leadent Solutions', Emma Newman asks... 

Just like in any marketplace, within the workforce management software market there is distinct brand loyalty at play. ClickSoftware, SAP, IBM and TOA dominate the market with their products and continue to expand their suite of field service applications to include, for example mobility. Many customers of these solutions will look at the systems they currently have in place and stay loyal to the same brand. Gartner feeds this brand loyalty mentality with field service software organisations clambering to be at the top-right of the eponymous quadrant. Companies look to, and in some cases rely on, Gartner for guidance as to which provider is “best of breed”. But I think you would be wise to remember that what is considered to be “best of the best” doesn’t necessarily mean the best for your organisation.

Generally the big boys of field service will now offer a “suite” of solutions claiming to cover the whole end-to end process, packed full of features and marketed using all the on-trend buzz words.

Is it right that an organisation which has a scheduling and rostering solution from one vendor should automatically choose mobility or reporting tools from the same provider? The larger players would certainly lead you to believe that this is the case, and there are some heavy arguments for this route. For example: easy installation with out of the box plug and play functionality, instant integration with the other products in the suite, similar user interface, easy licensing and just one provider to pay. These solutions are usually at a cheaper price or marketed as “free”.

Many customers are led to believe that if you buy licenses for modules X & Y you get free licenses to unlock the functionality held within another, the reporting module, for example. A common tactic used by software providers as an apparently cost effective incentive for prospects to procure an entire suite of products.

But is this the right approach to take? Do we need to turn the way in which we research and purchase field service software on its head?

Levelling the field service playing field

The workforce management software playing field is becoming far more level in terms of feature-functions, and whilst brand recognition is important, it’s not – and nor do I believe it should be - the be all and end all when making a purchase decision. With most software vendors now offering managed cloud based solutions along with far more robust and proven integration platforms, we find ourselves at a junction of endless possibilities.

Today’s workforce management market is all about the customer. Software providers and workforce management solution consultants alike must seek to support this ethos and look to more creatively architect solution landscapes to effectively blend and integrate products so that they can best resolve today’s far more demanding customer service orientated challenges.

Not many organisations can purchase an out-of-the-box product and just plug-and-play as promised; most will need some level of customisation to fit the business processes. A recent MPL Systems and Field Service News survey found that a quarter of the organisations who took part in the survey admitted to changing the way they worked to fit around their workforce management software. But it should be the other way around – your field service software should meet the needs and requirements of your business processes.

Before you embark on any decision making about workforce management software, you should first look at the processes you are trying to improve. Not only this, but you must focus on really understanding the areas that need to be optimised and automated in order to achieve the biggest ‘value-add’ to the customer experience. To assume value will deliver itself from a packaged suite of ‘same brand’ products is not the forgone conclusion it perhaps once was.

The end game

The future of field service software should be flexible. It should enable customers to pick and mix to create an end-to-end solution that will fit their needs; and these solutions should be supple enough to integrate with ease into other products in the market.

Interestingly the “Technology in Service Management” report found that 74% of companies were working with multiple vendors and the statistics from the 2014 report show an increase of 2%. This would indicate that organisations are demanding that they not only have choice but that they deem it to be important. Yes organisations want an integrated end-to-end service management solution, but not necessarily all from one vendor.

 

 

Welcome to the latest edition of the Field Service News podcast. This month we are featuring a guest podcast recorded by field service management specialist, Aubrey Fox of Trimble Field Service Management.

In this podcast, which is supported by a series of slides Aubrey looks at just what type of companies can benefit from field service management systems before looking at the challenges field service companies can face. Basing his discussion on research undertaken and collated by Trimble FSM, Fox delivers an excellent and authoritative commentary, exploring how field service companies can transform the way they work  through the use of technology.

 

 

Please note that that promotion of this download is a joint venture between Field Service News and Trimble FSM and by downloading the podcast you agree to the fascinating terms and conditions which are available right here.

You can also find out more about Trimble in the Field Service News Directory by clicking here

Cathal McGloin, CEO of mobile enterprise app developer FeedHenry takes on the role of myth buster as he debunks a few false beliefs regarding mobile development across the enterprise.

This is following the mobile app platform provider analysed customer data and industry RFPs from organisations with more than 1,000 employees.

Myth #1:  Enterprise apps take at least six months to develop and deploy

Industry received wisdom dictates that apps, especially those designed for enterprise, can take at least half a year to build and launch. With some organisations requiring anywhere from 10-100 apps to serve different business units, the time required to build apps can appear prohibitive. However, the right mobile platform can halve app development time to just 60-90 days. The key is to reuse code and backend services where possible in order to speed integration.

Myth #2:  Data is king, but it's too complicated for apps to access legacy systems

Enterprise organisations that have already made large investments in systems, such as ERP, are hesitant to develop mobile apps that cannot seamlessly plug into existing mission-critical technologies. On average, a suite of enterprise apps connects to between 2 and 6 backend systems and APIs, including Sharepoint, Oracle, MySQL and SAP. Because 2 in 3 of these backend systems do not have accessible APIs, this can slow down the development process or make mobile apps unusable. Using an enterprise-grade mobile backend as a service (MBaaS) with an API infrastructure solves this issue by enabling legacy systems to be easily accessed by mobile devices.

Myth #3: Mobile app developers must keep up with a myriad of coding languages and frameworks – it's impossible

Learning new development languages in order to build individual apps for each device platform can be tedious, and for some enterprises entails constantly hiring fresh developers with different skill sets. According to Forrester, when creating hybrid cross-platform apps, developers often employ as many as 10 different coding languages for enterprise app development projects. Common coding languages required include HTML5, JavaScript, Objective C, C#, Sencha Touch and Node.js. and these don't even include languages proprietary to traditional MEAP platforms. To simplify development, developers can use mobile app platforms using a "Bring Your Own Toolkit" approach that allows them to use the languages and toolkits they are most comfortable with.

Myth #4: Enterprise apps are always data-heavy, placing high loads on handsets and backend systems

The best mobile app platforms take large amounts of data from the backend and transmit a small filtered set of data to the handset: reducing overall demands. For each enterprise app session, the size of data transferred for each app should be less than 1MB.

Myth #5: Having a "Chief of Mobility" is the best way to handle company-wide app development

This myth assumes that one central figure will successfully oversee app development and deployment across the enterprise. In reality, the average enterprise mobile app development project requires at least 20 personnel, including business heads, developers, project managers, IT and employees. By collaborating and using the same technology standards and requirements, a Mobile Centre of Excellence or Mobile Steering Committee can guide mobile projects across multiple business units without creating new silos.

Today's technology allows for the swift creation of apps without vendor lock-in should take advantage of the new technologies at their disposal. Agile, open, collaborative and powerful cloud-based mobile application platforms now render obsolete long-held notions around lengthy and complex app development and deployment.

Check out FeedHenry's infographic that outlines these 5 myths here!

 

Resource Type: White Paper
Published by: Exel Computer Systems

Title: Five benefits of a modern field service management system
About:  Understanding what benefits a modern field service management system can provide is vital if you are going to be able to secure the investment required from senior management to take improve the productivity of your field service operation. The following is compiled from extracts of that white paper

Download: Download the white paper by clicking here

It has been stated often and by many well respected industry commentators that a modern field service management solution is an essential tool for field service companies to operate efficiently...

It is imperative that companies no longer view the costs of such a system as an expense but an investment that can yield both increased revenue and reduced operational costs that will ultimately pay for itself.

A key element to building a successful case for securing the funds for that investment is understanding the benefits that a modern field service management can bring. In this white paper published by UK field service management specialists Exel Computer Systems we see five of the key benefits of a modern field service management solution.

1. Stock Visibility

Establishing a healthy cash-flow can be a challenge for companies of all sizes and stature and for field service companies one of this challenge is often magnified by costs being tied up in inventory.

A modern field service management system can provide visibility across the mobile workforce, something which would simply be impossible with either a manual system or an older technology platform. A modern field service management system will also help you identify which items are fast or slow moving helping to further extend a ‘Lean’ approach to inventory management.

2. Job Scheduling

Effective job scheduling sits at the centre of the argument for almost all modern field service management systems but in practice these fall into two separate categories which should be understood when selecting the field service management system that is right for your business.

At one end of the scale there is the simple ‘Call Allocation’ model, which does precisely what you would expect in that it simply allows an operator to decide which engineer gets which job based on their own guestimates. As you can imagine this model is heavily reliant on skilled operators.

At the other end of the scale is ‘Intelligent’ or ‘Dynamic’ scheduling which constantly rearranges the schedule automatically based on prescribed rules and data. As opposed to the ‘Call Allocation’ model which is reliant on human expertise an ‘Intelligent’ scheduler is reliant on having lots of incoming data which can be a costly exercise in terms of both initial resource and finance if it is to operate correctly.

Finally there is a newer, third type of system that bridges the gap and is becoming increasingly popular which is referred to as ‘Assisted Scheduling’. This combines the other two systems in that it utilises rules based logic to provide a suggested schedule but is adaptable by the operator. Understanding which type of system will benefit your organisation the most is an important factor in choosing the best field service management system for your organisation.

3. Time to Invoice

Ten years ago a delay of between 6-8 weeks between an engineer visit and an invoice reaching the customer was common place. As with understanding inventory, such a delay can put unnecessary strain on the P&L. With a modern field service management system the ability to invoice on a same day basis, even when the engineer is still onsite is very much a reality.

4. Costing

Keeping a track on costs is an essential, vital and fundamental element of any business. However, for companies with a field service division it is perhaps less transparent and therefore harder to achieve.

When workload doesn’t always necessarily mean profit then it is absolutely critical that you are able to have real-time access to the visibility of your costs alongside effective business reporting to allow you to measure and then manage. This is again a key benefit of a modern field service management system.

5. Customer Relationship Management

Okay so if we are completely honest the cliché that ‘the customer is always right’ may not always ring true in one thing is for certain, knowing and understanding your customers is the most effective way of doing business with them. A modern field service management system combines all the widely accepted benefits of a CRM system with the unique information relating to each interaction for every customer, including interactions with the field service engineers.

The greatest advantage is that this information is also available to every member of your mobile workforce, allowing for greater service as well as ensuring service contracts are up to date so work isn’t given away for free!

Want to know more? Click here to download the white paper and get further information on each of these benefits.

 

DA Systems' David Upton looks at how we must try to change the perception of technology costs from an expense to be justified to a necessary investment when approaching the board...

Recent research undertaken to understand attitudes towards investing in technology highlighted a generic problem within the transport and logistics industry. Companies all appreciate the benefits mobile technology can bring, yet they are not succeeding in securing the necessary investment required from business leadership. Why? Because technological investment is seen as an expense to be justified rather than an investment in reducing costs and generating more profits.

It was a problem for 80% of survey respondents, 88% of whom said that they wanted to introduce new mobile technology, but faced budget restrictions.

This suggests a further underlying issue because it means that they are not developing a compelling enough business case to address the return on investments to be expected. If they were, the funds would be flowing more freely. Most business cases centre on increasing revenue.

Obviously there is a revenue element to consider, but the primary advantage of mobile technology is that it increases the likelihood of a parcel being delivered first time around – which minimises some of the largest costs associated with business operations. This article explains how to develop a business case for technological investment and prioritises the benefits.

In the case of investing in mobile technology to provide customers with an estimated time of delivery to reduce the cost of failed deliveries, building a compelling business case should be relatively straightforward. The overall impetus should be cost reduction, with a focal point of preventing the cost of a missed first time delivery. This is estimated in the region of £23 per drop and causes a very significant erosion to profit margins when it isn’t achieved.

On average, 15% of deliveries fail on the first attempt because the customer was not aware of the delivery time, which could be managed by adopting mobile technology. Even absorbing the inefficiencies of a slightly empty delivery van because orders that have been pre-loaded get cancelled, is better than the cost of a missed delivery.

 

Optimising a delivery round to take the most economical route means saving on fuel, mileage time and being able to do more drops per vehicle. In turn this means a reduction in the number of drivers and vehicles, which again saves money. So taking all these factors into consideration, the emphasis in a business case should be on technology, which is self-financing, with payback achieved within the first year of investment at the latest.

Taking DPD as a good example of how costs can be reduced and revenues increased as a result of technological improvements, they have grown sales by over £100 million as a result of implementing ETA messaging. Of course enhancing customer interaction is an important factor, but the real benefit is derived from getting deliveries right first time and reducing the cost base.

If 15% of operational costs can be saved by getting deliveries right first time, achieving better optimisation of delivery routes and requiring fewer journeys means fewer drivers are required. And courier productivity levels can be further increased by using route optimisation software, which in turn can reduce the number of miles to be driven by 10%.

For a large delivery company with a £16 million fuel bill, this creates the potential to save up to £1.6 million on fuel costs. Given their profit margin is roughly 10%, this creates a net increase to the total bottom line of 10%, a huge bonus.

To quote another delivery company example, after it implemented route optimisation, fleet mileage was cut by 17% and overall fleet size was reduced by 7%. This is the type of rationale that needs to be used in a business case for technological investment, going beyond customer and branding benefits to deliver hard cost savings and potential for greater profits.

So far we have outlined just a few of the solid cost saving justifications to be included in a business case for investing in new technology and there are many more, ranging from improved communication with call centre staff and traffic management options, to reduced fuel consumption.

When developing a business case, delivery companies need to be clear about the tangible benefits and turn the way they approach investing in technology around. Think of it as less of ‘an expenditure to be justified’ and more as a way to make greater profits with immediate payback.

Managers have access to more performance data than ever before but simply don’t know how to use it to drive operational efficiency. Trimble Field Service Management's John Cameron explains...

A high-performance culture is the heartbeat of any successful organisation however managing business performance levels effectively can be challenging.

As the business adage goes, “you can’t manage what you can’t measure” and this has never been truer – especially when it comes to the performance of field service organisations.

A field service operation is extremely dynamic and often unpredictable. Each day, managers are faced with complex issues which require fast action. However lack of real-time visibility into what is actually happening out in the field can result in managers making poor decisions; directly impacting the performance level of their mobile workforce.

In order to develop new strategies which will improve operational decision-making and drive future performance, field service managers must begin to utilise instant and accurate information about key trends occurring in the field. Real-time data about why a service window wasn’t met, how many planned jobs were left incomplete, duration of tasks and which technicians are performing well, can all be used to drive service performance levels. By using in-depth insight, managers are able to effectively transform the way work is planned, allocated, managed, reported and evaluated.

Field service managers have access to more data than ever before. But are they actually using it effectively to measure service levels so they can improve operational performance? The simple answer is no. Often field service managers view big data as simply too big or too fast to manage and analyse. They have large quantities of data but simply don’t know what it means or how to use it to help manage performance.

Fortunately, advancements in performance management analytics technology are taking the complexity out of big data analysis. By providing greater visibility and enhanced analytics capabilities, the technology helps field service managers monitor the productivity of their operations while at the same time analysing key trends in order to optimise the way they operate.

Based on actual location data, technology can generate and customise digestible reports that showcase the key measures including quality of service, statistics for individual workers, actual tasks completed against the total time of the working day, actual against estimated task duration, total tasks completed, total fuel usage and distance travelled.

By adopting performance management analytics technology, the field service manager is able to quickly identify what is preventing their workforce from completing more jobs. Managers can look at regions, teams and even individual workers by job type and performance to gain insight into how to improve the utilisation and productivity of their staff.

Aberdeen Group, a leading analyst firm, has found that best-in-class companies were more than 35 per cent more likely to use workforce management solutions such as performance management tools to optimise resources and workforce processes. Aberdeen Group says laggards need to act now and start to automate the management of their workforce in order to catch up with the efficiency and enhanced response times of best-in-class companies.

 

Driving productivity and performance has been on the top of boardroom agendas for years and this is still certainly the case in the field service industry. A recent survey by the Service Council, a research and advisory company, reaffirms this fact with the study finding performance management and visibility continue to top the list of key business concerns.

Reassuringly, developments in technology have meant that businesses now have a way of addressing these concerns directly. Managers can collect, analyse and report operational performance based on data they can trust and generate real value from the information to make educated decisions that positively impact their businesses bottom line.

This increased insight also means that not only are field service managers provided with the ability to constantly learn from day-to-day experiences, but all the relevant stakeholders across different business units have the salient information they need to manage the daily performance of the organisation. Such performance analysis can also help feed into strategic business planning on targets, budgets and resourcing.

Knowing what is happening in the field and having the ability to measure its effectiveness is crucial to delivering higher levels of service excellence. As a result, business leaders need to start exploring new and cost-effective ways to manage and optimise the performance of their workforce. Investment in technology is the first logical step. Technology has the power to place the right information in the right hands to ensure the right decisions are made which will ultimately foster a high-performance culture that guarantees short- and long-term business success.