Across December and January we asked our readers to nominate candidates for the inaugural #FSN20, a list of the twenty most influential people in field service. We received nominations from across the globe through social media, email and even a...
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Feb 19, 2015 • Features • aberdeen • Aly Pinder • FSN20 • Fujitsu • Future of FIeld Service • Hilbrand Rustema • Martin Summerhayes • Noventum • Bill Pollock • IBM • Steve Downton • Steve Street • Strategies for Growth
Across December and January we asked our readers to nominate candidates for the inaugural #FSN20, a list of the twenty most influential people in field service. We received nominations from across the globe through social media, email and even a phone call or two directly into the news-desk.
Armed with a list of candidates, a Field Service News panel selected the final list of twenty based on the number of nominations, their impact on the industry (past, present and future) and their sphere of influence in both the physical and digital world.
After much long deliberation, heartful debate (read arguing) and enormous amounts of coffee we managed to whittle our list down to a final twenty which we pleased to present to you here the inaugural edition of the #FSN20. You may not agree with our selection and if you don’t tell us, tell your friends, tell your colleagues, hell tell the world – because at the heart of it that’s what this list is all about, getting people talking about excellence in field service and raising the profile of those leading us to a better future.
We are now announcing who made the list in alphabetical order in four sections across four days. So without further ado we are pleased to bring you the final five of the #FSN20
Aly Pinder, Senior Research Analyst, Aberdeen
One of the most prolific authors in the industry and also one of the nicest guys in Field Service to boot. Pinder had more nominations for this list than any other candidate, which speaks volumes.
Having written or co-authored over 50 research reports, and benchmarked more than 4,000 service executives across 5 years with Aberdeen, he writes and speaks with authority and understanding and is widely respected across the market.
Bill Pollock, President and Principal Consulting Analyst, Strategies For Growth
Pollock is one of the industry’s most respected authors and commentators with a long and distinguished career focused on field service.
Having worked for Gartner, Aberdeen and been a founding partner of The Service Council, his analysis is highly sought after and he has authored some of the most detailed research available in the industry. His white papers, blogs and posts are widely read across the globe.
Hilbrand Rustema, Managing Director, Noventum Service Management
Co-author of seminal service book, “Service Economics” and managing director of one of Europe’s most prominent Service Management consultancies, Noventum Service Management, Rustema has been at the heart of evolving service thinking across the continent for many years and remains at the forefront of the sector today.
Steve Street, IT Security & Infrastructure Architect, IBM
Steve Street, IT Security/Infrastructure Architect, IBM – In a long industrious career with computing giants IBM Steve has been an excellent servant to service science. He has worked with many of the key leaders and thinkers in this area including Professors Irene Ng, Scott Sampson and fellow Cambridge University Alumni Andy Neely on a wide range of initiatives to unite academia, government and industry in the development and promotion of service science as a discipline.
He remains a key figure in the evolution of the area and his work is shaping the way leading organisations are seeking to deliver services.
Martin Summerhayes, Head of Strategy and Business Development, Fujitsu
One of a few on the list that started their a career as a service engineer, Summerhayes’ career has been quite remarkable.
He was the man who devised HP’s service strategy which became a billion dollar proposition, he has advised London’s Metropolitan police force working with local and national government, paramilitary and commercial companies, before taking on his current role as Head of Strategy for Fujitsu. And he still finds time to take a proactive role in promoting service excellence in the UK nonprofit group, The Service Community.
Follow Martin @martinsummerhay
Special Mention - Steve Downton, Downton Consulting
Whilst Downton sadly passed away in 2013 his long-standing legacy remains both in the approach he developed to service as outlined in the book, ”Service Economics”, which he co-authored with Hilbrand Rustema and Jan Van Veen, as well as in the non-profit organisation he created, ”The Service Community”, which continues to operate as a significant organisation dedicated to sharing best practices amongst service companies operating the UK.
Steve’s impact on the field service industries will be long felt.
See the rest of the list here: Part One, Part Two, Part Three
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Sep 12, 2014 • Directory • Events • Field Service Events • Steve Downton • The Service Community
Next Service Community event:
Date: 1st October Time 1pm - 5pm Venue: Sir William Siemens House, Princess Road, Manchester, M20 2UR To Register: Attendance is free but you must be registered Click here to email the Service Community team to register
Next Service Community event:
Date: 1st October
Time 1pm - 5pm
Venue: Sir William Siemens House, Princess Road, Manchester, M20 2UR
To Register: Attendance is free but you must be registered Click here to email the Service Community team to register
All about... The Service Community:
"The Service Community is made up of people interested in finding out more about the service industry from its participants. The Service Community aims to provide opportunities to find out what practices have worked for others, and what hasn't worked, and why; to move away from the theory of what could be done by examining what others do and evaluate successful practices. Meetings (no fee is charged) will aim to provide content which doesn’t appear to be readily available, and to stimulate and inform in a format that is easy to access and use, and relevant to the user." - Steve Downton
Founded by the late Steve Downton, The Service Community is a non-profit organisation that seeks to drive service improvements and innovation through collaboration. Run by service professionals for service professionals The Service Community runs a series of events across the year with expert presentations from some of the UKs leading service professionals from a wide array of industries. Recent speakers include: [unordered_list style="bullet"]
- Mark Rawding, Coca-Cola Enterprises
- Andy Beer, Pitney Bowes
- Martin Gilday, Elekta
- Martin Summerhayes, Fujitsu
- Graham Coyne, Siemans
[/unordered_list] Attendance is free for all Service Professionals and each event is not only a fantastic opportunity to hear of best-practices from leading industry professionals but also to network with other service professionals across the day also.
News & Features from The Service Community:
Next Service Community event announced
The next session of the Service Community has been announced and will be held in Manchester on the 1st of October.
Following on from the fantastic success of the last meeting which was dedicated to the memory of founder Steve Downton this event sees yet another fantastic line up of service specialists from across the a broad spectrum of industries speaking. Click here to read more
A sense of community… Service Community special event review
The Service Community’s Special Event attracted nearly 60 service professionals who were clearly up to the challenge of debating key service challenges whilst paying tribute to the legacy of Steve Downton, founder of the Community who lost his battle with cancer in January this year. Click here to read more
Service Community to host Steve Downton tribute
Field Service News is delighted to announce the Service Community is hosting a business as usual event this June to celebrate the achievements of the late Steve Downton within the service industry.
This includes presentations from businesses influenced by Steve’s way of thinking; Pitney Bowes, Coca Cola, Elektra, Fujitsu and Siemens. Click here to read more
Steve Downton: A friend, guide and mentor to the whole of the Field Service industry
The field service industry made it’s final farewells to a trusted friend, guide and mentor yesterday as one of it’s leading lights Steve Downton was laid to rest after a long fight with Cancer. Click here to read more
Jul 12, 2014 • Features • Management • management • Steve Downton • The Service Community
The Service Community’s Special Event attracted nearly 60 service professionals who were clearly up to the challenge of debating key service challenges whilst paying tribute to the legacy of Steve Downton, founder of the Community who lost his...
The Service Community’s Special Event attracted nearly 60 service professionals who were clearly up to the challenge of debating key service challenges whilst paying tribute to the legacy of Steve Downton, founder of the Community who lost his battle with cancer in January this year.
The generous host for the event was Unisys, coordinated by Alistair Martin, who ensured guests were treated to first class refreshments and facilities at the Customer Services Centre in Milton Keynes
Clara Downton, Steve’s second eldest daughter opened the session with a touching message from the Downton family reflecting on the spirit of the occasion and how proud Steve would have been to see the passion that was on show. Steve’s widow Kate, was guest of honour and engaged with old friends and new community members throughout the event.
The agenda had been deliberately paced to pack in many presentations and practitioner case studies to showcase the Community at its best. We were not disappointed.
“Transforming for Tomorrow” kicked off the presentations in earnest. Pitney Bowes’ Field Service Management Andy Beer and Mark King shared a fascinating case study of how they deployed a service application to avoid meaningless data and to provide real-time information to ensure that their field service team were truly optimised.
To follow this punchy opening, would take something special, luckily Mark Rawding of Coca Cola Enterprises was ready for the challenge. Mark’s insight into deploying technology for customer satisfaction, dovetailed perfectly with the Pitney Bowes’ experience. The key messages of Mark’s success were appropriate for a mobile application; focus on device selection and engage more with the customer. Both these opening presentations generated great interest from the audience, with pertinent questions and full engagement a true indicator that the sessions had nit the mark.
Martin Summerhayes picked up without missing a beat, deliberating about the reality of field service practices, describing what is known at Fujitsu as the ‘infinity loop’ of the service cycle
The penultimate presentation got underway, Martin Summerhayes picked up without missing a beat, deliberating about the reality of field service practices, describing what is known at Fujitsu as the ‘infinity loop’ of the service cycle. His interactive style ensured that Martin gained optimal feedback as he demonstrated why he has been invited to speak on several occasions at the Service Community events.
Incredibly after what was aptly described as a ‘marathon sprint’ the final presentation was underway. Graeme Coyne of Siemens hit a chord as he described the challenges of inspiring the next generation of Service Engineers and producing a powerful service operation. The audience responded energetically, asking hard hitting questions about how to relate to young people in a way to attract them into the service industry. It was a lively conclusion to the formal presentations and generated relevant content for a future meeting.
This packed Special Event easily delivered on its objectives, whilst the energy and involvement of the guests certainly demonstrated that active participation is the only type that matters. Chris Farnath of Allocate Software chaired the event and wrapped the formal session. As indicated ahead of the event, he then invited interested guests to debate the future direction of the Service Community. As a testimony to the success of the proceedings, nearly three quarters of the guests remained for the break-out session, where it became very clear, very quickly that the Service Community had relevance, longevity and a unique position to offer service professionals.
The content of the meetings is the life-blood of The Community, followed closely by the generosity of participants to offer facilities and key skills such as PR, marketing promotion or other services that will keep The Service Community alive. To this point, the next event is scheduled for September – date to be confirmed.
Jun 05, 2014 • Management • News • management • Service Community • Steve Downton
Field Service News is delighted to announce the Service Community is hosting a business as usual event this June to celebrate the achievements of the late Steve Downton within the service industry.
Field Service News is delighted to announce the Service Community is hosting a business as usual event this June to celebrate the achievements of the late Steve Downton within the service industry.
This includes presentations from businesses influenced by Steve’s way of thinking; Pitney Bowes, Coca Cola, Elektra, Fujitsu and Siemens.
Steve founded the Service Community in 2011 to provide a networking environment for people in the service industry and the event will be followed by an opportunity to feedback on the future direction of the Service Community beyond 26 June.
This special event will be taking place at Unisys Customer Service Centre in Milton Keynes on 26 June 2014 from 12.30pm, with the future direction break out session starting at 4.30pm. To attend the event, contact theservicecommunity@gmail.com. We hope to see you there.
Feb 25, 2014 • Features • resource • resources • White Papers & eBooks • exel • integrated solutions • Software and Apps • software and apps • Steve Downton
The late Steve Downton was widely regarded as one of the service industries truly great thinkers. His forward outlook on how the industry can and must evolve has helped shape many best in class service organisations over the years and we are pleased...
The late Steve Downton was widely regarded as one of the service industries truly great thinkers. His forward outlook on how the industry can and must evolve has helped shape many best in class service organisations over the years and we are pleased to be able to offer you the opportunity to download this excellent white paper commissioned by Exel Computer Systems and written by Steve.
The paper explores exactly why fully integrated solutions can now be seen as the only effective way forward for those companies who are aspiring to achieve best in the class levels of service. It examines how the companies recognised for delivering service excellence are achieving success through taking full advantage of the technology available and utilising it to create effective and streamlined processes, taking full advantage of the ability to widen the individuals knowledge base and capabilities through a fully integrated approach.
The paper looks at the importance of the fully empowered customer, who have the power at their fingertips to assess not only your company but your customers as well. In todays environment it is essential to be seen as being efficient and effective. Customers’ expect a joined-up experience and offer little understanding if they meet with poor processes which ultimately lead to a poor customer experience.
However, integrated service delivery puts us on the cusp of a completely new way of doing business that actually provides value for the customer and the service provider alike. The paper highlights the importance of breaking down the siloes that are the legacy of outdated, old-style thinking and building clear transparency across the core operations of a business such as service, logistics and call centre.
When this is achieved and the service operation is fully integrated with the other elements of the organisation, a company can become ‘super charged’ in terms of reducing effort (cost/time) whilst simultaneously improving the service experience for customers and staff alike.
As the paper continues Steve outlines how such an integrated approach cannot only bring benefits in the present but can shape an organisation to become future-proofed for further evolution as service standards continue to develop, adapt and grow. The paper also explore the advance of mobile solutions, the key factors to understand when making the move towards a mobile mid-set and again looks to the future and the incoming generation of staff to whom mobile computing is nothing more than standard.
On the whole the white paper provides an intelligent, balanced and forward looking perspective on why field service companies should be looking to integrated solutions. Nothing less than you would expect from one of the industries sharpest minds.
Download your copy of this excellent white paper for free here
Jan 28, 2014 • Features • Management • Steve Downton
Steve Downton: A sad loss to the field service industry
Steve Downton: A sad loss to the field service industry
The field service industry made it’s final farewells to a trusted friend, guide and mentor yesterday as one of it’s leading lights Steve Downton was laid to rest after a long fight with Cancer.
Personally I only had the pleasure of speaking with Steve on a couple of occasions. Firstly when I took over the editorial reigns of the now closed Service Management Online and still wet behind the ears in terms of field service, I made sure Steve was one of the first people in the industry I turned to for advice from as his reputation for being both a brilliant thinker and genuine good guy was well renowned right across the sector.
In that first conversation, Steve displayed both of these qualities plus an abundance of industry knowledge that set me in good stead and his willingness to help and his sheer passion for the industry shone through throughout the hour or so that we spoke.
And then secondly Steve was one of the first people I looked to for guidance when we decided to launch Field Service News and I’d like to think that the course we are steering with FSN is very much inline (and will continue to remain so) of Steve’s own objectives with his own Service Community, i.e delivering high quality insight and analysis for all field service professionals, so we can all continue to learn and grow together as this ever fascinating industry evolves.
The following comments are from others in the industry who knew and worked alongside Steve for far longer than I and I think are a fitting testament to how well respected and well loved Steve was within the Field Service community.
If you would like to add your own thoughts and memories of Steve please feel free to do so in the comments section below:
"Everyone is special, but there are some who have that little bit ‘more light’ about them. Steve Downton was one of those people. For the past 30 years he has truly been on the cutting edge of service innovation thinking in the real world of UK business. With a razor sharp mind and an openness to the world around him, Steve kept that half step ahead of the rest of us. His passion for the role of services in industry drove his career in leading consulting businesses such as Coopers & Lybrand, Accenture and Noventum. For many years he ran his own consulting firm, supporting hundreds of clients to increase their value from services.
His Outside-In, Positive, People centric approach with a touch of humility epitomised some of the key attributes to be successful in services. Although his life on this world was tragically to short, I myself along with many others will count ourselves fortunate to have been touched by this extra-ordinary man."
Nick Frank. Noventum Service Management
“Steve worked with us for several years. His experience in the industry was unmatched and he could see things in a different way to others. But what struck me most was that he was simply one of those chaps that you liked to meet-up with and work with. A warm hearted, super-friendly person, yet with a razor sharp mind that facilitated new views about old subjects. He will be sorely missed by all.”
Paul Adams. Solarvista
“Steve was just nice man who had seen it, done it, wanted to make a difference and did. His service management knowledge and its application is making many end users around EMEA satisfied and the delivery companies profit. The greatest contribution any man can give is willingness to help, and Steve did that in abundance and the industry is in better place thanks to Steve`s contributions"
Glyn Dodd, Centrex Services
"We worked closely with Steve over a number of years and he was a major contributor to our educational and seminar content at Service Management Expo, where his sessions were always popular and engaging. His depth of knowledge and standing in the community was second to none, but more significantly he was a gentleman to work with and much liked by all that knew him."
Fergus Bird. Event Manager, Service Management Expo
“There are few people that positively inspire you from the moment you meet them, Steve Downton was one of them. Having met Steve in the late 90’s when working at HP, we kept in touch over the years and collaborated on numerous projects.
Steve was THE customer services expert that you could always count on. He would bring a customer centric, “out side in”, up to date, content rich, but most of all pragmatic approach to how to deliver excellent profitable customer services. Most of all he was a gentle, warm and genuine person to know and I and many others miss him greatly.”
Martin Summerhayes. Fujitsu
“I had known and worked with Steve for over 14 years, and whilst his knowledge of the industry was second to none, his key strengths are how he engaged with everyone, engineer or CEO, making them immediately at ease. Even if you were in a roomful of people, you felt he was talking to you and engaging everyone.
Wherever he is now, I know he will be making people smile. A true special soul and what I hope is that his enthusiasm and spirit will live on and rub off on all of us”
Simon Spriggs. Exel
“Steve helped me greatly, both personally and professionally. He carried an empathy and insight in his field of specialty which was matched in his one to one, personal relationships.
There was never a hidden side to Steve. In a world full of questionable motives where words often exchanged without meaning, he was one of the few genuine characters. He said what he meant and he always thought of others.”
Saul Sherry. Former Editor, Service Management.
Field Service News is published by 1927 Media Ltd, an independent publisher whose sole focus is on the field service sector. As such our entire resources are focused on helping drive the field service sector forwards and aiming to best serve our industry through honest, incisive and innovative media coverage of the global field service sector.
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