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Swedish enterprise mobility and ERP provider IFS recently announced the hiring of former ServicePower CEO, Marne Martin, as President of their Service Management Business Unit, part of a dual role she has taken on alongside being CEO of IFS subsidiary, WorkWave. Kris Oldland, Editor-in-Chief, Field Service News reflects on this appointment and why it is a good thing not just for IFS, but for the wider industry as a whole...

I have known Marne Martin for some time now, speaking to her once or twice a year either for interviews, or just catching up at various industry events we've both been speaking at.

When she was included in a previous edition of the #FSN20, our annual list of key industry leaders, it was me that put her forward to the committee. That was in part because I had always found her to be engaging and intelligent when speaking to her, as well as being passionate for the industry we operate within - but then again, these things for me at least should be a given for any CEO within the sector.

Marne, of course, had all of these traits in abundance, but what always made her stand apart from the many other excellent leaders we have in our sector, what made her seem just that little bit more dynamic and exciting to speak with and why I put her forward for the #FSN20 (something we take very seriously here at fieldservicenews.com) was her ability to see the trends that were just beyond most people's range of vision, those that were over the horizon.

"What Marne has demonstrated time and again is that she is able to go that one step further and identify what will be the challenges and opportunities around how any given technology will ultimately be utilised..."

Sure, we can all get a feel for what technologies are set to emerge - a quick look at Gartner's current year hype cycle will allow us to see what we can expect to come along in the next few years. It might not always work out as we anticipate (think about the early clamour around wearables and in particular Glass as an example of this), but most of us who pay attention to these things are fairly able to put together a reasonably accurate picture of the future.

What Marne has demonstrated time and again is that she is able to go that one step further and identify what will be the challenges and opportunities around how any given technology will ultimately be utilised - and such foresight, is a much rarer attribute.

For example, I remember Marne outlining to me the importance that Quantum Annealing would play within field service management systems - in particularly within dynamic scheduling, long before the topic was even close to being something that was discussed outside of high-tech computing circles.

Indeed, the last time we spoke at any great length we had a long and detailed conversation about how and why field service management systems would need to ultimately evolve from being an additional feature sold alongside an ERP or CRM system and become acknowledged as something of equal status and importance within the world of enterprise computing.

Essentially we agreed, FSM needed to be, and eventually would be recognised as a category within its own right. This is something that we are now absolutely beginning to see happen in certain pockets of the industry, including IFS - who have across the last couple of year's publically stated that FSM is a core priority within their wider portfolio - something that was reiterated at their World Conference in Atlanta earlier this year by new CEO Darren Roos.

"As far as benefitting our industry as a wider whole, there are few places I feel Marne could have such a big impact, as at IFS..."

So as you can imagine, when we heard Marne was stepping down from her role as CEO of ServicePower, I had an inkling that it would be more au revoir than goodbye, I just had a feeling in my gut that we would see her again soon enough somewhere familiar.

However, as far as benefitting our industry as a wider whole, there are few places I feel Marne could have such a big impact, as at IFS. They have shown that they have the ambition, vision and capability to push the industry forwards (indeed the newly launched FSM6 is an excellent solution utilising best of breed technology), but perhaps also they have shown that they have a strong commitment to FSM that will surely raise the bar further for the quality of solutions available to field service organisations.

After all, as John F Kennedy famously quoted a rising tide lifts all boats.

Also, we must consider that Marne is bringing in exceptional leadership experience, industry knowledge and vision into a team that is already full of excellent leaders and thinkers.

For example, the always impressive Mark Brewer, Global Industry Director Service Management who has established an excellent reputation both within the company and the industry since having joined from PTC almost two years ago. Another would be Stephen Jeff-Watts, who is responsible for IFS' product strategy for Enterprise Service Management and is another with a canny knack for understanding where the future lies within the sector. Then, of course, there is Paul White, former CEO of mplsystems who IFS acquired last year who brings a huge level of detail around the latest developments around omni-channel communications to the table, or Tom DeVroy, personally, someone I hold as one of the best author's contributing to publications including ourselves around.

Indeed, the list is long and Marne's appointment at the head of this group, is set to make IFS an even more formidable force within our industry on both sides of the Atlantic and beyond.

Finally, it is also interesting to note her dual role.

"Once such a precedent has been set by such a significant industry player as IFS, it is likely that we will see other companies follow suit..."

When IFS acquired WorkWave late last year, I wrote about how the acquisition essentially gave IFS full market penetration.

Traditionally, they have always served the mid-enterprise tier well, in recent year's we have seen them begin to open some more doors in the larger enterprise sector as well. However, the SME market has always been an area that has been somewhat underserved, yet could be potentially lucrative, as WorkWave has proven.

With Marne taking on dual responsibilities for Enterprise Service Management and WorkWave it seems that IFS may potentially be seeking to firmly organise a significant section of their business around their FSM  capabilities - exactly the type of shift in thinking that Marne and I had discussed a year ago and also something Darren Roos alluded to when I spoke to him recently as well.

Once such a precedent has been set by such a significant industry player as IFS, it is likely that we will see other companies follow suit - which will ultimately lead to further emphasis on the importance of field service within industry.

So from where I'm sitting, Marne's arrival at IFS is therefore potentially great news long-term for all in our industry - it certainly promises to be an exciting move and I for one wish her every success

 

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Tom Devroy, Product Evangelist for IFS Service Management products outlines the various options available to field service organisations looking to improve their service management delivery...

Want to know more? Tom DeVroy has written a white paper on this project which is available exclusively to fieldservicenews.com subscribers.

The good news is that if you are a field service practitioner then you may well qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner.

The even better news is we will send you a copy of this white paper when you apply as a welcome!

Click here to apply for your complimentary industry subscription to fieldservicenews.com and access the white paper now!

Note: Please do take the time to our T&Cs (available in plain English at fieldservicenews.com/subscribe) and note that this content is sponsored by IFS)

When Winston Churchill said, “He who fails to plan is planning to fail,” he wasn’t referring to field service businesses, but it still rings true. Field service organizations understand that efficient route planning is essential to being successful; smart routing is efficient and enables service technicians to become more productive by completing more jobs per day. However, they may be overlooking the added benefits of schedule optimization as an intrinsic part of the solution.

Any organization that needs to manage a mobile workforce—whether it’s for product delivery, service staff or service technicians—can benefit from planning software to simplify scheduling, manage workflows and improve the bottom line.

So what is it that businesses are trying to automate with scheduling and route planning? We ask this question frequently of field service organizations. There are a lot of products in the marketplace, and they all have a value proposition and price point, but each should also be expected to deliver a certain benefit for the cost.

The Essentials of Route Planning

Some businesses simply assign a certain number of jobs to a technician, usually based on geography, or customer visit frequency, and want software that will figure out a route for that technician to finish their assigned work.

This kind of routing software has been around for some time, and, in its simplest form, it’s something we all use frequently: it is navigation and turn-by-turn directions.

This kind of routing software has been around for some time, and, in its simplest form, it’s something we all use frequently: it is navigation and turn-by-turn directions.This basic form of simple route planning is built into almost every smart phone that has a global positioning system (GPS)-based navigation system.

More advanced navigation systems can interact with real-time traffic services to suggest the shortest journey from a time or mileage perspective. This is straightforward technology and quite inexpensive, as it’s usually included in your phone plan.

Service organizations don’t really have to invest much to receive the benefit of this type of simple route planning. However, this solution leaves a lot of decisions in the hands of the technician. This self-planning, self-scheduling method is very inefficient: who they choose to visit first and last can have a huge impact on productive time, drive time, overtime, fuel consumption, service level agreement (SLA) compliance, and customer satisfaction.

Ultimately, this solution will fail when jobs and SLAs are missed, or workloads become inefficient.

Optmizing Resources

Where field service organizations start to see a real payback is when they begin using scheduling software that includes travel calculations as part of the schedule.

The jobs assigned to the technician represent the demand, and the scheduling software manages the labor supply. The scheduling software determines the order and the resource, and considers workload balance, while the route planning software can create the best way to get from one location to the next.

This is a more intelligent, more encompassing planning method that produces a more reliable, scheduled plan. It also takes the subjectivity out of the hands of the technician and puts it back in the hands of management, but it only addresses productivity and cost saving at a cursory level.

Some planning software will take into consideration multiple variables to determine an optimized route.Some planning software will take into consideration multiple variables to determine an optimized route.

The trucking industry has used this kind of route planning software for some time. For instance, a trucker’s licensing and certifications could be considered for what type of equipment they can operate, how many hours they have driven on a given day, week, or month, and how much additional driving time they can be assigned. In this case, fuel consumption or total drive time can be factored into the optimum route as well. This can be fairly effective if the work that is planned throughout the day is static, or, in other words, is not subject to change.

Managing Complexity

In a service business, there can be a plethora of skill set considerations for each job. Perhaps a technician or subcontractor is not welcome at a particular customer site, or maybe the technician doesn’t have the right training on a given piece of equipment.

In simple terms, why send a journeyman to do the work of an apprentice? It is most advantageous for both the customer and the business to send the right resource for the job, based on all the available information at the time the job is assigned to the field, taking into consideration cost, location, capability, and customer expectations.

Many service businesses assign work based on a customer intimacy model; for instance, primary, secondary, tertiary technician (or subcontractor), but this model doesn’t always hold up. In other industries, particularly when the equipment is highly technical and often sold through distribution, the technician is the face of the company to the customer. Although this should be a consideration for who gets assigned to a job, it shouldn’t be the only one.

Dynamic Scheduling

The variability or dynamic nature of a service business manifests itself in other ways.

Besides calls sometimes taking longer than estimated, there are also unexpected traffic problems, emergency calls throughout the day, different prioritization of service work, other skills required to fix a given problem, customer commitments, unexpected fleet problems, and, finally, planned maintenance.

The variability or dynamic nature of a service business manifests itself in other ways.Whether guaranteed through a contract or mandated as an engineering change order, planned maintenance should be considered so that engineers are fully utilized. All of these variables should be balanced against optimum schedule efficiencies, like reduced total travel time, maximum productivity, minimized fuel expense, and least-cost resource assignment.

Having scheduling software that intelligently factors in the best way to assess these variables in a dynamic fashion is a differentiator to efficient service labor management.

Conclusion

The most important part of selecting a successful field service solution for your needs is to plan with your businesses goals in mind.

As you start to create a vision of where you want your service business to be, think about the long-term impact of all of the technology on your business from an operations standpoint. Lay out an implementation plan that will fold that technology into the organization as you are ready to absorb it. This paper just focused on planning and scheduling but other variables in the areas of technical support, contract administration, product management, service logistics and reverse logistics are equally important.

As it relates to moving your field people against customer demands, perhaps a simple route planning tool is where you want to start, but there may be a better way to significantly change and improve your service delivery by implementing solutions that allow you to get where you want to be. And that planning strategy is your best plan for success.

Want to know more? Tom DeVroy has written a white paper on this project which is available exclusively to fieldservicenews.com subscribers.

The good news is that if you are a field service practitioner then you may well qualify for a complimentary industry practitioner.

The even better news is we will send you a copy of this white paper when you apply as a welcome!

Click here to apply for your complimentary industry subscription to fieldservicenews.com and access the white paper now!

Note: Please do take the time to our T&Cs (available in plain English at fieldservicenews.com/subscribe) and note that this content is sponsored by IFS)

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Field service management software is transforming trade/ speciality contracting as more revenue comes from service contracts and maintenance...

IFS, the global enterprise applications company, has released a primary research study revealing that legacy software solutions used by speciality and trade contractors could prevent them from profitably delivering aftermarket services to their customers.

These contractors are finding aftermarket service an important source of revenue growth as project owners wish to outsource asset maintenance to the companies that constructed, fabricated or installed the asset on their behalf.

The survey of 200 HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), plumbing, electrical, building automation, low voltage electrical, signage, overhead door and other speciality contractors paints a picture of an industry in the grips of a digital transformation.

85 percent of study respondents said they have maintenance contracts with customer-specific terms, service level agreements (SLAs) and pricing, but only 14 percent said their software facilitated these contracts “very well.”

85 percent of study respondents said they have maintenance contracts with customer-specific terms, service level agreements (SLAs) and pricing, but only 14 percent said their software facilitated these contracts “very well.”Many respondent companies did not enable field technicians to improve the customer experience or drive new revenue. Only 38 percent said technicians could access information on the terms of the contract including customer-specific requirements. Only 15 percent of respondents have the technology to empower field technicians to upsell or sell new service contracts, only 25 percent could issue new estimates and 23 percent could get customer approval for an estimate.

89 percent of respondents said they use subcontractors, but just over 10 percent have adopted the current technology by giving their subcontractors a mobile app to interact with their field service management software.

Respondents reporting greater readiness for digital transformation—Digital Transformation Leaders—are nine times as likely to say their software prepares them well for the essential process of service contract administration. Only 30 percent of Digital Transformation Laggards were even offering customer-specific contracts, while Digital Transformation Leaders were more than nine times as likely to say their software prepared them very well to support these contractual obligations with specific requirements for each customer.

Our data shows that residential contractors seem to be ahead of commercial contractors when it comes to Digital Transformation.IFS Industry Director for Field Service Management Mark Brewer said, “These trade and speciality contractors are at an inflexion point with field service management software. Many of them have invested in some level of field service technology to support aftermarket service work. Often, this same software helps them manage construction crews during the initial project. But now they are at that point where they need to become more attentive to customer-specific SLAs. They need to upsell and drive more sales from each customer and improve the customer experience.”

IFS Senior Product Evangelist for Field Service Management Tom DeVroy added, “The adage is that the future is here—it is just not evenly distributed. This is true for trade contracting, where our data shows that residential contractors seem to be ahead of commercial contractors when it comes to Digital Transformation.

This is mostly the result of customer demands that have pushed them towards software that optimizes the field service schedule, enabling them to give an accurate estimated time of arrival and issue proactive customer alerting. They are further ahead on automated subcontractor management, automated parts ordering and fulfilment, and field-based, point-of-service payment processing. Contractors engaged strictly in commercial work need to catch up as their own customer expectations evolve.”

Download the entire study, Are Trade/Specialty Contractors Leveraging Field Service Software for Aftermarket Service? @ fs-ne.ws/MNNo30inF0F

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Tom DeVroy, Senior Product Evangelist for field service management in North America, at IFS explores the relative benefits of Software as-a-Service (SaaS) and perpetual licensing models for FSM, and argues that businesses need to choose the software that meets their business needs first, then select the delivery model that best suits their business model – not the other way around.

The global field service management (FSM) software market is set to grow by more than 11 percent annually until 2020, driven by advancements in data analytics and mobile technology. As more companies select FSM software, they will have choices to make about how they license the software and where the software resides—on hardware they own themselves or in data centres operated by their software vendor or a third party.

FSM software is a vital tool for companies that operate mobile workforces. It can do everything from optimising the service schedule to ensure that the right technician is at the right job at the right time, as well as encompass the service supply chain to ensure appropriate parts are available to complete service projects. Advanced capabilities may even include complex depot repair, reverse logistics and the delivery of prescriptive maintenance information to technicians to guide them through complex service processes.

In short, FSM software enables an enterprise to ensure the efficiency of field service business activities, improve the customer experience and oftentimes increase revenue while mitigating costs.

 

Today, enterprises are much more likely to look at subscription-based Software as-a-Service model (SaaS), with the solution hosted off-site in the cloud. According to Gartner, more than 80 percent of software vendors will change from traditional licenses to subscription-based by 2020. But even if subscription pricing makes a lot of sense to a software vendor, it may or may not make sense to the software buyer depending on their needs.

Perpetual licenses attractive long-term

Up until the internet and broadband connectivity became a central component to most businesses, software was sold by default on a perpetual license basis. Purchased through a one-time license fee, the solution can be run either on a company’s own hardware or private cloud. The cost of the license is paid up-front and allows businesses to own the software outright with the rights to use it indefinitely, even if ongoing maintenance and support contracts are discontinued.

A company can provision software sold through a perpetual license on their own servers and support it with their own IT personnel. Or they can place it in a private or public cloud run by a third party vendor, including their software vendor.

Running software in the cloud allows a company to outsource common IT administration tasks while ensuring the server capacity can scale effortlessly as increasing user count or transaction volume demand. Cloud provisioning can also be attractive for FSM software because it can make it easier to access in the field.

The attraction of the subscription model

Software sold via subscription-based SaaS is also provisioned in the cloud. But unlike a perpetual license, the software is paid for typically through a nominal start-up fee to cover implementation and a monthly fee, generally on a one to three-year contract, rather than an up-front lump sum for permanent ownership. This is beneficial as the expense may be assigned to a given department’s expense budget because SaaS tends to involve a smaller up-front investment, below the normal threshold for a capital budget spend.

The lower up-front investment of SaaS also makes it attractive for businesses looking to start with a smaller footprint in FSM software that they can grow over time.

 

Organisations can implement an FSM solution in a single division or office as a proof of concept, perhaps limiting the scope of the initial implementation. When starting with a small number of SaaS users, businesses should always plan for the implications and costs of a wider implementation so the solution can be easily scaled across a broader number of users when needed.

Address the Service Lifecycle

A field service software buyer should prioritize their specific requirements first before looking at deployment models and license methods. It is important to remember that regardless of whether the FSM solution is purchased through a perpetual license or by subscription, FSM software will always fall short if it does not address the entire service lifecycle.

Beyond scheduling, dispatch and field mobility, there are many areas of field service applications should include to drive substantive value. Automated call handling, routing and dispatches are important to optimize call center functionality and day-to-day tasks, while traceability systems and spare parts management can give complete control over supply chains - keeping businesses safe and compliant.

Reverse logistics is another key requirement for businesses dealing with complex repair environments, as is project management for instant communication with remote personnel out in the field. Strong support for serialization will ensure compliance in regulated industries and support recalls when necessary.

Flexibility First

Another important thing to consider is the timing of software updates. Even when field service management is purchased through a subscription-based license, your business should always maintain control over when you upgrade to new versions.

There are many SaaS-based FSM products where the supplier will dictate when an update will occur. This could happen in the middle of your busiest season when adjusting to a new version of software would be too time-consuming.

 

Businesses need a solution that works around them and their operations, not the other way around. SaaS deployments ought to deliver pricing convenience, reduce potential downtime by hosting software in an ITIL environment, and reduce the level of effort required to manage the solution.

Having the option to choose if owning the software outright on a perpetual license, or acquiring software through subscription, is a benefit to a potential buyer. Rather than the vendor dictating your IT infrastructure and license acquisition, it gives you the customer the flexibility to choose what is best for your organisation. If a software vendor is committed to giving you control over your software environment, they will offer you this flexibility.

Software first

Whether businesses choose a perpetual license or SaaS field service management software, the focus must always be on the FSM solution and that it matches all of the key business needs. Only then can you choose your delivery model. With a fully optimized FSM solution available on both models, businesses can make sure their field service can meet specific needs, now and in the future.

 

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