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The advent of Cloud computing has had a profound effect on field service management.

Indeed, there is no denying that the emergence of Cloud computing has been a core driver in the ability for smaller and medium-sized field service companies to be able to compete with their larger competitors - and such competition has raised the bar for service delivery in all corners.

Anecdotally, how often have you heard someone comment (or indeed thought to yourself) ‘how is it that say my local florist is able to give me a detailed overview of where the flowers I have sent to my wife are at any given point within their delivery and are able to give me a 30 minute window for when they will arrive, yet the multi-national organisation that provides one of the key widgets that is essential to my businesses productivity can only tell me that an engineer will be with me at some point between 8 and 5?’

Of course, the truth is that the delivery of flowers is far less demanding of expertise than that expected of a highly qualified engineer capable of fixing said widget – which of course means that the scheduling requirements are also equally less complicated for the local florist.

In addition to this, the local florist will, largely by definition, only be serving a local area – whereas the B2B provider of the widget will almost certainly serve a national market, if not an international one.

So it is unfair perhaps to compare one to the other, accusations of seeking the similarities between apples and oranges are in this instance somewhat understandable. Yet, ultimately in today’s connected world, we must remember that we are no longer competing solely with those companies within our direct vertical sphere.

"Today, we are competing very simply against the best service experience our customers have ever had, whether that be within their consumer or their corporate lives..."

Today, we are competing very simply against the best service experience our customers have ever had, whether that be within their consumer or their corporate lives.

However, what this anecdotal example does highlight with true clarity is how smaller service organisations, be they florists, electricians, HVAC engineers or any of the other array of small entrepreneurial companies that help keep our day to day lives running, have been able to harness the power of modern FSM solutions.

This development is mostly the result of the introduction of SaaS-based subscription-style licensing which makes access to such systems possible. It seems like a long, long time ago that Tesseract, an Asolvi product became the first company in the world to offer their full FSM solution in the Cloud and on a SaaS model. Indeed, today almost all FSM providers now offer their solution in such a manner.

This means that smaller companies can have access to tools like scheduling, stock and parts management and mobile work management applications for their field-based staff to access via a mobile device. Yet, they also have the advantage of being more agile, more streamlined and less weighed down by legacy systems and processes that their larger peers undoubtedly face.

"In a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) scenario keeping on top of MDM can sometimes feel like painting the Golden Gate Bridge – by the time you finish at one end it’s time to head back the other way and start all over!"

Many, many aspects of introducing an FSM solution can become more challenging the larger an organisation is.

Optimised scheduling engines need to be ‘taught’ the rules under which they are to operate – the larger the workforce and the more diverse the skill-sets within that workforce, the more ‘lessons’ that need to be fed into the scheduling system for it to operate as intended.

Also, let’s consider the devices that are being utilised by the field workers – mobile device management (MDM) is a challenge that few IT departments will relish.

In a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) scenario keeping on top of MDM can sometimes feel like painting the Golden Gate Bridge – by the time you finish at one end it’s time to head back the other way and start all over!

Even in an environment where devices are provided by the organisation, there may be a mix of options within one company, with different devices being provided that meet specific roles within the organisation – such as rugged devices for field-based technicians.

This can result in a mix of iOS, Android and Windows operating systems (possibly even more) which all need to be factored into the MDM equation.

Again, this is a challenge that becomes magnified by the scale of the workforce in question.

Of course, another challenge magnified by the scale of the workforce is the simple fact that the introduction of any new business technology, including an FSM solution, is inherently a change management project – and as any change management consultant will inform you – good change management is about people. It is a simple equation to understand that more people mean more effort and complexity when undertaking such a task.

In terms of FSM solutions, the shift to the Cloud has absolutely changed the competitive dynamics within various industries in favour of those smaller companies who are savvy enough to embrace cloud-based FSM and unencumbered by challenges such as the above which larger companies may face.

This has given smaller organisations to flourish and thrive in the modern business eco-system, but this increased competition has resulted in huge organisations like Thyssenkrupp or ABB further driving innovation as we have showcased in these pages previously.

Our sector is going through a huge evolution with non-competing companies pushing each other to achieve more through service delivery and the cloud has played a major role in that allowing us to do so.

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Kevin McNally, Sales Director for Asolvi gives us a sneak preview of a forthcoming white paper that outlines how to build a case for investment in Field Service Management systems by outlining how Return On Investment is such a fundamental part of the equation...

Is building a case for investment in FSM a key topic for you?! There is a full white paper on this topic available to fieldservicenews.com subscribers. Click the button below to get fully up to speed!

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Whilst, of course, each and every business has its own unique strengths and weaknesses, there are now certainly enough case studies available on this topic for us to be able to predict fairly confidently, that the implementation of a field service solution if done correctly, will likely  deliver considerable Return on Investment (ROI) within a relatively short time-frame.

In fact, perhaps the biggest challenge is exactly how to calculate the ROI that you are achieving as the benefits come in many different guises and various different aspects of the business!

For example, when implementing a Field Service Management (FSM) solution you can expect to see ROI come from various areas of business expense, including:

• Increasing the utilisation of your existing resources, both in the office and the field allowing you to achieve more without adding additional resources by taking advantage of tools that deliver improved scheduling and workforce planning.
• Warranty control, how often is your service just given away for free because it is uncertain to your engineer if the customer is under warranty – it happens more than you would imagine even in the biggest of businesses, especially if you don’t have a warranty management embedded in your FSM system.
• Reducing the costs of unnecessary second visits. By having greater visibility into the service call as well as parts availability field service companies can ensure the right engineers are being sent with the right tools to do the job first time around. Given that the truck roll is generally the biggest cost line on a field service P&L improving First-Time-Fix will likely deliver significant ROI all by itself.
• Greater transparency and detail within your parts management etc, It is not just with improving first time fix that parts management within an FSM can deliver ROI. Field Service operations are unique in that stock is by necessity in constant transit. Companies can have millions of pounds tied unnecessarily up in van or garage stock which can disappear into a reporting black-hole unless a fit-for-purpose solution is in place.
• Significant costs that might have seemed a necessary evil such as paper and ink can be eliminated through digitising admin in the field with mobile technology.

The Impact of the Cloud

Perhaps the most important development of recent years in terms of gaining ROI from an FSM solution is the shift to Cloud becoming the most prevalent means of deployment for such systems.

Indeed, the benefits of Cloud computing are numerous but in terms of the ROI equation, there are perhaps three big aspects to consider.

Firstly, and perhaps most importantly, the widespread adoption of Cloud has led to most FSM solutions now being offered on Software as a Service model, where the FSM solution provider charges a monthly fee on a per-user basis. One of the big impacts of this trend has been that smaller and medium-sized companies that previously would have found such systems cost prohibitive on a CAPEX basis, could now access the tools that enabled there larger competitors to deliver more efficient service.

However, as the cost of a FSM solution is spread out on a monthly basis, it also becomes far easier for the ROI of that investment to become visible on a P&L sheet that isn’t carrying the heavy initial burden of the outlay of a CAPEX investment.

"When a solution is deployed by Cloud there is far less drain on internal resources for the service provider as the FSM vendor now bears a much heavier share of the workload in terms of actual IT support etc..."

Secondly, when a solution is deployed by Cloud there is far less drain on internal resources for the service provider as the FSM vendor now bears a much heavier share of the workload in terms of actual IT support etc.

Additionally, unlike an on premise solution which could be vulnerable to unseen issues such as flood, fire or even malicious attack, a Cloud-based solution will allow a service organisation to continue operating even should the unthinkable happen – meaning no lost revenue that may be generated from field service related streams.

Finally, Cloud based FSM solutions are in general, significantly quicker to implement compared to more traditional on premise equivalents, meaning that the field service operation can feel the benefits sooner, and thus start seeing that ROI quicker as well.

It is important to remember however, that ROI is just one of many aspects that can be used to build a case for investment in a FSM solution and we shall be exploring this and others in a forthcoming white paper with fieldservicenews.com

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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.

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.

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.

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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GMS Espresso has woken up and smelled the coffee. In order to bolster its efficiency and lay strong foundations for the future, it is teaming up with Tesseract.

GMS Espresso has been supplying, installing and maintaining coffee machines and equipment for nearly fifteen years, but have been relying on a server-based piece of software that just isn’t moving with the times.

“The problem is, our current software isn’t adaptable or future-proof,” says Seamus Doyle, Operations Manager of GMS Espresso. “This is partly because it’s server-based. If we want to change something or introduce a new kind of report, we have to give notice and wait for them to come and install it. That’s one of the reasons we sought out Tesseract, because they offer SaaS.”

SaaS - Software as a Service - means GMS Espresso will pay a monthly subscription to use the service management components of Tesseract’s Service Centre 5.1 (SC5.1), which are centrally hosted by Tesseract. The benefit of this is that GMS Espresso will receive new features, improvements and updates regularly and instantly. It also means, if there’s an issue, fault or inefficiency anywhere in the system, Tesseract will fix it immediately in-house.

The coffee enthusiasts were also encouraged by SC5.1’s user-friendliness, which is a huge cut above their current system. Doyle explains that they would often have to go round the houses to get even basic things done, whereas the new software  is a lot more efficient and easy to use. It was actually one of GMS Espresso’s own customers who recommended Tesseract, because of their own experiences with the software — testament to  the company's influence in the service management industry.

“We’ve had a really good experience with Tesseract,” Doyle adds. “They’re always on hand to answer our questions and make sure we’re understanding everything. They’re also providing regular training to help our people get to grips with the new system, and are always willing to work around our schedule.”

Click here to find out more about Tesseract software solutions

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Commercial catering and refrigeration equipment service provider Serviceline has transformed its field service operations with the Maxoptra dynamic scheduling and planning system from Magenta Technologies.

Serviceline has completed stage one of the project to streamline its operations by providing better visibility of its mobile resources and availability of service engineers’ time.  By automating 90% of field service tasks, the company now has time to focus on enhancing customer service.

Serviceline has 120 engineers collectively possessing more than 400 different skill sets. Planning, matching and allocating work to the best qualified service engineer is very challenging, especially when new jobs come in during the day, which continually changes priorities.

“We had this vision of what we wanted the business to achieve. For us, customer service is key. It’s all about communication, the relationship you build and maintain with your customers. We always had a belief that if we could automate the planning and scheduling process to quickly provide the information our people needed to make the best decisions, then they would have more time to talk to customers,” said Steve Elliott, Managing Director of Serviceline.

“Maxoptra is the embodiment of that concept. It is the first and only dynamic scheduling and planning system that we have found which does that, where there is the programming functionality to take away 90 percent of what our staff had to do manually.”

Elliot continued: “It used to take six months for a new planner or dispatcher to learn fully how to use the two booking systems we used to manage the complexity. Now we have complete visibility of where our engineers are and the status of each job. This allows us to consider options and make the best routing and planning decisions quickly.”

The software is fully integrated with the existing SaaS telematics platform, to provide a map-based real-time display of vehicle location, job status and work schedule. Serviceline can now have optimised schedules from Maxoptra sent directly to in-cab terminals, allowing the field engineers to navigate to their jobs and report their progress in real time. The system also highlights variances from plan.

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Field Nation, the US company which has developed an on-line marketplace matching independent service contractors with  project management demands, has secured a $30 million investment led by Susquehanna Growth Equity.

Field Nation has been self-funding since its launch in 2008. It has reported rapid growth of 65% a year and during the past year it has connected more than 1,000 organisations with its network of over 65,000 registered contractors.

The company's on-line marketplace connects independent service contractors and companies needing to get on-site work done. It allows service companies and distributed enterprises to directly procure, manage, pay, report and optimise labour requirements. . The broader platform extends the marketplace through Field Nation Complete, a SaaS solution that delivers a complete work management solution when organisations require the combined experience of their internal and external workforce. It also allows contractors to market their skill sets, find new projects, engage with each other, complete work and get paid quickly.

“We have experienced tremendous growth and success as a small company, and now we’re prepared to start the next chapter of the Field Nation story,” said founder and CEO Mynul Khan. “With the financial support and experience from Susquehanna Growth Equity, we will rapidly accelerate our efforts to introduce Field Nation to organizations of all sizes so they can tap the full breadth of our marketplace and get more work done.” This growth-capital investment validates the business model, strategy and disruptive technology of the Field Nation platform, says the company.

The company plans to increase product development and promotion of its SaaS-based total workforce management solution Field Nation Complete and expand its service offerings into new vertical markets.

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What should businesses consider when deciding whether an On-Premise or a Cloud solution is the best fit for their business?  In this two-part series, Sharon Clancy gets some advice from the experts.  First up, we explore the attractions of the Cloud... 

There's been a lot of publicity recently about cloud platforms: for enterprises it's been about whether you migrate legacy business functions to it; for SMEs and SMBs it's about using the Cloud to become more competitive. There's also been a lot of talk about browser-based field service management apps - software-as-a-service, or SaaS.

Is it all just noise, or something your company needs to get to grips with?

Let's start with defining what we are talking about: Cloud and SaaS can be used as  interchangeable terms, but there is a difference. A Cloud solution is when some or all of your IT requirements are hosted by a platform provider who takes care of all the necessary infrastructure, including security, server stability and maintenance, data storage and so on. SaaS is another layer on a Cloud platform.  A permutation that has been adopted by some field service organisations is to have on-premise legacy IT and ERP systems integrated with a Cloud-based service management SaaS solution. SMEs and SMBs, on the other hand, might use a Cloud  platform for all their business functions, including accounting, HR and service management software.

Be agile

One business trend is that companies of all sizes need to be more agile in responding to their customers' changing needs, and agility is one thing the Cloud delivers in spades.

On-premise can mean less agility, points out Neil Lewis, Consulting Director, EMEA Sales, ServiceMax."Deployments of new services and processes are slower. When an old business process needs to change or a new one introduced, it takes much longer to do it internally, from getting the project on the internal IT roadmap to actually developing the app. There are typically many layers of the on-premise architecture that need to be changed in order to implement the processes. This in turn has an adverse effect on the companies' abilities to introduce new products and services quickly."

In many sectors, the business model is changing from being based around product life-cycles to a servitization model and predictive rather than reactive service, he continues. "That transforms field service into a agile, responsive customer-focused operation which can have a real impact on the bottom-line."

The Cloud means smaller companies can now access affordable solutions without the overhead of enterprise class software, points out Paul Adams, Marketing and Development Director, Solarvista.

Outsourcing IT

Enterprises are now looking at moving their entire structure to the cloud because it eliminates the need to manage a large IT infrastructure in-house," says Mason.

"On-premise solutions demand investment in infrastructure upkeep including databases, applications, coding and system upgrades. In the Cloud, all these issues go away," points out Lewis.

SaaS: a perfect fit for service management

A browser-based field service solution is essential, regardless of whether you opt for an on-premise or a cloud-based platform, advises Simon Spriggs, account manager at Exel Computer Systems. "This will future-proof your investment should you decide to move business activities to the cloud in future. It will also help eliminate many integration problems."

Don't be lured into thinking that a Cloud solution is the answer to everything, warns Spriggs.  "Key questions to ask include: what is the budget, what is the available IT resource and what is the reliability and bandwidth of the Internet connection."

Reliable broadband: not an optional extra

Security

Most companies will conduct financial due diligence before choosing a Cloud partner. However, all the field service experts we spoke with emphasised that it is equally essential to thoroughly check the IT capabilities of the company hosting those cloud services. "You are outsourcing the running of your business systems to the Cloud, not abdicating responsibility for them, so make sure your provider is fully compliant with the latest security standards " urges Steve Mason. "A public cloud platform will give you baseline protection - indeed, the level of security is much higher than most individual companies could afford because the companies invest a huge amount and employ security experts to keep up to speed with the latest threats."

There is a natural nervousness about hosting FS apps externally, the need to keep confidential data in the cloud and also about the complexities of integrating those cloud-based apps with internal ERP systems, admits Lewis. "However these concerns are not relevant any more with the evidence of many large organisations globally who have strategically moved to the cloud in the last 5 to 10 years. These range from governmental organisations to large global banks.

The Cloud is, in effect, a hosted server platform, points out Colin Brown. "Cloud data centres handle all the expensive, complex fire walls and demilitarized zones that keep information safe. If you are concerned about resilience, our advice is to invest in back-up servers.

It's important to think about what happens if servers goes down, agrees Neil Lewis. "Smaller vendors may be able to host your app but check if there is seamless back-up to ensure workflows continue as normal? Indeed, is there any back-up at all?"

Asking what IT roadmap your provider has will whittle out some of the less capable vendors, advises Lewis. "Smaller platform hosts may not have the resources to invest in platform development, so ask what their roadmap is - for example, to develop the platform to integrate with multiple ERP environments to handle new technology."

Finally, businesses shouldn't undervalue the support offered by SaaS providers, says Colin Brown.  "Access to the software is controlled by the supplier, so all the software upgrades are installed and installed correctly and often, as is the case for Tesseract customers, free-of-charge of charge. Furthermore, as the data as it is hosted remotely, employees are no longer able to “play” with it, which reduces system errors

Look out for Part 2, where we'll  exploring the benefits of on-premise solutions and how they  integrate with field service management solutions.

How do our experts match up with your own opinions? Don't forget to enter our survey on Cloud computing in Field Service now and have a chance of winning one of three £50 Amazon vouchers! 

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ServicePower and Qton Solutions have formed a strategic partnership to provide optimised workforce management solution for the metering industry which will expedite services and reduce costs.

ServicePower Technologies Plc market leader in field service management technology, today announced that it has signed a strategic partnership with Qton Solutions, the field service management software specialist in the UK metering industry.

Qton’s platform, hosted and managed in the cloud, provides drag-and-drop scheduling of jobs, mobile dispatch with real-time status updates, and fully customisable industry compliant workflows which facilitate on-site data capture.  By including ServicePower’s ServiceScheduling incorporating the latest optimisation algorithms, Qton’s work order management and mobile dispatch technology now includes intelligent, intra-day, schedule optimisation. Work orders will be created in Qton, optimised, and continuously re-optimised in ServiceScheduling, and dispatched to the metering field technicians.

Marne Martin, CEO, ServicePower, stated “This is yet another partnership for ServicePower which broadens its reach into new verticals. ServiceScheduling will provide the advanced optimisation technology which Qton’s utility customers require to ensure the lowest cost maintenance schedules and highest levels of customer service, through offering real time, accurate appointments to the industry. The partnership gives customers a choice and also offers the product as a service which broadens our larger cloud-based offering. By working with Qton, ServicePower is able to grow its utilities customer base in the UK. This partnership further demonstrates our commitment to ServicePower’s partner ecosystem. We will achieve growth through integrating our technology with innovative partners whom extend our functional, geographical and execution reach, in addition to generating our own organic sales.”

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