ARCHIVE FOR THE ‘software-and-apps’ CATEGORY

Field Service News has recently been undertaking a piece of research in partnership with Tesseract to assess the appetite for attempts to assess the appetite in the field service industry for moving software to the cloud and utilising a Software as a Service (SaaS) as a delivery mechanism for field service software.

With the survey closing at the end of the week we thought we would give you a sneak peak at the results so far and remind you one last time that you to can help us build the picture of the field service industry today.

The survey itself is a maximum of 12 questions long, should take no more than a few minutes to complete and all respondents will not only be given an exclusive copy of the report findings but also be entered into our prize draw to win one of three Fifty pound Amazon vouchers!

Click here to enter the survey now!

Some key findings of the survey so far include the fact that whilst there is an undoubted buzz around cloud solutions and the SaaS model the shift to cloud computing hasn’t really happened on a grand scale as yet with 77% of companies surveyed still using an on premise solution for their field service management software.

The old fear of security issues in the cloud still apparently looms large in the minds of those decision makers in the field service industry with almost half (48%) of companies that have not opted to move their field service management system to the cloud citing security as a key worry that is holding them back.

However, there are bigger obstacles holding back the shift to the cloud it would seem. Almost three quarters (74%) of the field service companies that participated within the research to date identified that a key reason for not choosing cloud models so far are that they foresee compatibility issues with their existing systems and software.

What would seem apparent is that whilst the shift to the cloud hasn’t taken hold as dramatically as some may have predicted quite yet, it does seem somewhat inevitable that their will be a continued and steady growth in companies moving across to a cloud based system within the next few years.

For a start we see that of those companies now utilising a cloud based solution almost two thirds (57%) have changed software systems within just three years. This would suggest that as companies refresh their field service system the majority are moving towards cloud based solutions.

This fact is further emphasised when we see that over half (54%) of those companies that are currently using an on-premise solution are actively considering moving to a cloud based solution already when they next upgrade their field service management system.

One of the biggest reasons for this shift is the easy remote access that the cloud offers. Over two thirds (68%) of those companies that are considering moving to a cloud based solution cited this as one of the key factors for doing so.

They may suffer some problems when making the move, depending on how quickly the technology continues to move forward. Currently just under two thirds (60%) of companies operating a SaaS system have experienced some problems with connectivity, which would be expected of a system that is reliant on internet strength across varying regions but of course this will become less and less of a problem as network coverage continues to expand both on the local and international level.

Yet our research predicts that those opting for a cloud based field service management system are almost guaranteed success as 100% of companies that have implemented a cloud based solution indicated that they would recommend moving from on premise to SaaS/cloud based field service management systems to others.

What are your thoughts? Do you agree? Take a few minutes to enter the survey before it closes and have a chance of winning one of three £50 Amazon vouchers!

Engineer productivity doubles with FLS VISITOUR scheduling and FLS Mobile solution

Sky Deutschland is the leading pay TV company in Germany and Austria with over 3.5 million subscribers.

Sky offers live sports, current films, award-winning TV series, kids programs, and documentaries as well as outstanding innovations and an awarded customer service. One way to access this high quality content is via satellite.

Sky provides a service for on-site installation through its own technical support team and also approved partners. In 2011, with objectives to improve service and efficiency, Sky Deutschland made the switch from regional to centralized scheduling and chose FLS VISITOUR and FLS MOBILE to optimise its appointment and route planning.

With FLS VISTOUR, the time required to book appointments has been cut by half. The intelligent planning algorithm reacts within seconds resulting in the optimal scheduling of technicians.

"We are very pleased with FLS. Due to the combination of FLS VISITOUR and FLS MOBILE new processes and organisational structure were implemented. As a result, our technicians are able to complete twice as many jobs per day than before. Customer satisfaction has increased, showing that 93 % of customers now rate the service with grade 1 and 2." Lydia Otto, Sky’s Director of Field Service

When the Spice Girls arrived on the scene some 18 years ago (has it really been that long?) they predicted that what we wanted, what we really, really wanted was a Zigazgaarrr (whatever the hell that is). To be frank, that prediction hasn't come to much fruition. However, Feed Henry CEO Cathal McGloin's assertion that multiple OS and a choice of devices is what we really, really want (in field service at least) carries a bit more weight and may 'spice' up field workers' mobile experience...

In the beginning

Traditionally, field service teams have been equipped with rugged mobile devices, running some flavour of Microsoft's compact operating systems (generally either Windows CE or Windows Mobile), to allow engineers to tick off work orders and update inventory. Defacto wireless devices have been rugged, heavy notebooks or tablets, with limited functions and based on proprietary or embedded technologies.

Greater expectations

As field service employees have enjoyed their own consumer smartphones and tablets, their expectations of workplace mobility have changed.  Industrial handhelds appear archaic next to the latest Android or iOS smart devices. This is driving a shift towards acceptance of consumer mobile devices as the new rugged industrial mobile handheld. Attendees at the Field Service Europe Conference held in Amsterdam last October, were polled on their investment plans for workforce management and mobility. In the resulting 2014 European Services & Trends report, 43 per cent of decision makers reported that they were allocating budget to providing tablets to their field service teams, while 33 per cent reported that they were investing in smartphones.

It’s a hard knocks life

Despite being more expensive, Windows ruggedised devices had the edge over smart devices from Nokia, BlackBerry, Samsung and Apple, because their operating systems could not support field service apps such as Cognito and SAP. In addition, Microsoft devices were well-supported by an array of peripherals such as handheld printers, scanners and bar code readers. However, Microsoft failed to gain traction with Windows Phone, its successor to Windows Mobile, opening the door to Android, iOS and Blackberry to step in to the market. In terms of app development for smart devices, cross-platform solutions and toolkits have made app development faster, more affordable and easier, while also enabling apps that run on multiple OS platforms. While the newer smartphones and tablets provide attractive user interfaces and much richer functionality, some level of ruggedness is necessary to avoid downtime caused by battery life and the harsh working environments that field service employees operate in. Some organisations have addressed this by using rugged covers for consumer devices. VDC Research analyst, David Krebs, has highlighted problems with the ruggedisation of smartphones and tablets using simple covers. He points to their lack of robustness when field service employees are working in damp and dusty environments; problems when employees try to operate swipe screens while wearing protective gloves; poor battery life and device failures caused by vibration, knocks and temperature extremes. Conversely, ABI research found that the total cost of ownership (TCO) of a smartphone-based mobile field service strategy was up to 85% less than alternative rugged device deployments. These savings come from the smartphones' lower hardware costs, as well as increases in efficiency, owing to their connectivity, usability and portability, not to mention the lower cost and greater flexibility of app development.

Best of both worlds

When asked, most field service employees want the appearance and ease of use of consumer devices, combined with the robustness, stability and battery life of a traditional field service device, running apps that help them to work more efficiently. What we have to remember is that not every field service employee is working in a damp, dusty tunnel. Different roles demand different devices. In the same report 66 per cent of respondents stated that their organisations now view field service as a profit centre rather than a cost centre. As a result, we are starting to see enterprise demand for apps that can work across different devices and multiple operating systems, so that field service employees can select the devices that make them most productive.

Enterprisation of consumer devices in field service

We have worked with logistics, rail infrastructure and construction companies, that are starting to adopt new robust devices from Panasonic, CAT, Samsung, powered by Android. Even Apple devices are starting to make an appearance. These Android and iOS devices have a much larger pool of app developers and ISVs to feed them, as well as the availability of more modern software toolkits to accelerate the app development, deployment and update cycles. Legacy Windows apps appear very limited when compared to the latest field service apps being written for these smart devices. Typically, these enterprises have field service departments employing hundreds or thousands of skilled people, performing a variety of roles. Working with an enterprise mobile application platform provider like FeedHenry, these organisations are able to rapidly develop, deploy and maintain a range of sophisticated apps, tailored to a range of job roles within their field service departments. These apps can be managed on premise, or cloud-side, regardless of the devices selected by their engineers, quantity surveyors, foremen, crane drivers, radio and radar specialists and electricians.

Ask field service employees what they really want

From speaking to our own customers, the critical considerations for a sound field service mobile strategy are: 

• Seek input from actual end users before specifying device type and app functionality. The trend is towards a multiple OS environment, so plan for this in terms of sustainability and portability.
• Select open standards so as to increase the available pool of developers, access to developer toolkits, code re-use,while avoiding vendor lock-in
• It’s not just about creating an app. Consider the whole app lifecycle and how this is managed. Apps, by their nature, require frequent updates and upgrades so choosing an infrastructure that supports this will quickly pay off.
• Evaluate your enterprise data capture and backend system integration requirements The ability to unleash data efficiently, securely and seamlessly to the device is critical.
• Consider the durability and environmental conditions that the devices will have to withstand. Protective cases help but do not always address the full spectrum of device durability issues such as exposure to extreme temperatures, dust and vibration. However, expect that innovations will give consumer devices a better fit for these harsh environments.

ABI Research has found that the primary benefits that drove lower TCO for ruggedised smartphones were improved worker productivity and lower device costs. Productivity benefits were achieved through the longer battery life of smartphones, integrated mobile voice and data connectivity and the ability to push application updates over the air. Smartphone device costs are as much as eight times less than rugged devices. Even considering the higher replacement rate for smartphones, ABI has found that lower lifetime hardware costs are a key driver for companies choosing smartphones over rugged handhelds for their mobile field force applications.

Back to the Future

According to a recent report into mobile workers’ device preferences, undertaken by Aruba networks, 45 per cent reported that they want to be able to connect and communicate with the business from their cars. A fifth of the survey sample stated that they want their employers’ to provide them with wearable technology within the next five years. When organisations use an end-to-end mobile application platform (MAP), field service employees can gain the freedom to select the right device for their job, without sacrificing any app functionality. This is because MAPs securely link enterprise back end systems with mobile apps that can support multiple OS and various device form factors, so employees can select the device that is most appropriate to their working environment. Meanwhile, enterprises gain the ability to plan their mobile app strategies to support current and future devices, without having to redevelop code for every new batch of devices.

It has long been known that field service organisations can utilise technology to reduce costs, boost efficiency and improve the productivity of their mobile workforce. But knowing exactly how to make the most of the technology and opportunities out there is not so black and white. Lucien Wynn, Managing Director of Oneserve discusses...

The last couple of years have brought mobile technology on in leaps and bounds, and as such there is now a plethora of options out there for utilising mobile technologies to improve workforce management. Organisations with a mobile workforce can, for example, use software installed on mobile devices to keep their technicians updated with all the information they need while in the field. Jobs can be updated, instant feedback on the progress of jobs can be provided and the technicians’ exact location can be tracked, all in real time. But implementing the right solution can be a challenge.

The importance of keeping up with the mobile revolution has not gone unnoticed; the 2013 Workforce Management Guide produced by the Aberdeen Group showed that 57% of organisations sampled viewed investing in mobile tools as a priority. Of course, investing in new gadgets alone is not enough, so what else should be considered when thinking about a new investment in technology?

Getting the mobile workforce to buy-in

The first step in making sure you achieve what you set out to when investing in new technology is to gain buy-in from those who will be using it. Without that, it will never be utilised properly and thus wasted. According to research from the Aberdeen Group, 67% of Best-in-Class field service organisations regarded gaining buy-in from their field service technicians as the most important aspect in ensuring the timely and effective deployment of a mobile solution. If your employees are involved in the decision-making process and know what they are getting when new technology is rolled out, they’ll be ready for it and much more likely to react positively to the change.

The impact on the organisation as a whole

The second step is to take a holistic approach to new investments in technology – consider the impact on your whole organisation, not just part of it. Even if new technology is only being deployed in a certain department, at some point it is likely to have an impact elsewhere. For example, consider a new piece of accounting software being used in the finance department – you’d be forgiven for assuming that it would never affect your field service technicians. But that may well not be true – imagine if it had an impact on the way expenses had to be submitted; everyone in the company who had to make expenses claims on a regular basis, including workers in the field, would be affected.

Short-term vs long-term

Another consideration should be the long-term impact of the new technology. Could it lead to an improvement in the way your business functions for many years to come? If so, don’t let worries about its impact in the short-term prevent you from adopting the technology. Most organisations, big and small, will experience some teething problems with new technology initially, but it often just takes a little time to bed in before it yields positive results. Of course, you will need to take into account both the potential long-term and short-term impacts on your business, but if the former outweigh the latter, then by all means you should do what you can to push the adoption of the new technology.

In summary, then, if you are to effectively utilise technology to increase the efficiency of your mobile workforce you’ll need to consider various factors. Of those mentioned above, perhaps the most important is gaining buy-in to the technology from your field workers. They’ve got to want to use the technology you supply them with, and are much more likely to do so if they know how it will help them in their daily jobs (they also, of course, need to know how to use it). Without that, you could be left with both an underutilised new technology and an underproductive workforce.

Of course, it’s also very important to consider how new technology will impact on your whole business, and not just those who it affects directly. If you’re making a big investment, it is inevitable that it will have an impact on the entire business so bear this in mind. At the same time, don’t let a big change put you off – if you think the move is right, go ahead with it.

Finally, remember to take a long-term view. Sometimes the cost of making a new investment in software or technology can seem high and lead you to question whether it is worth it. But consider what benefits the investment could bring over the next 1, 3 and 5 years and then take a fresh look – you may be surprised at the long term benefits it will bring.

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

Click Software continue to build their reputation as a stand-out provider of field service solutions to the telecommunications industry having won the contract to supply one of Italy’s largest mobile telecom operators WIND Telecomunicazioni Spa, with a new field service solution to enable greater mobile workforce management.

The solution will replace the Italian telecoms companies existing workforce management system and is being implemented by WIND to enable the company to build a more efficient mobile workforce by utilizing ClickSoftware’s assisted scheduling engine. The Italian telecoms company is hoping that by further improve the levels of service they are able to provide they will be able to firmly cement their position as leader within their sector.

Nicola Grassi, Chief Technology Officer at WIND commented:

“We have always been committed to fortifying the fundamentals that strengthen our core activities and that are able to increase the flexibility and efficiency of our operational services. Customer satisfaction is crucial to our business and we needed a solution that was reliable, easy to implement and develop, with a measureable amount of results,”

“We believe that we can meet such challenges working with ClickSoftware” he added.

With almost 1,000 field engineers, WIND’s dispatchers will now be able to capitalize on the benefits that a modern field service system such as the one ClickSoftware provide which incorporates powerful optimisation capabilities as well as delivering reliable, precise information directly to the smartphones of the field technicians out in the field. An added benefit of the solution is that the field management team at WIND now have the ability to gain visibility into all aspects of the business, especially in times of emergency.

 Commenting on the implementation Dr. Moshe Ben Bassat, Founder and CEO of ClickSoftware stated:

“WIND understands the strategic importance of customer experience, and ClickSoftware will help meet its service goals”

 “Our objective is to always help customers use their resources in the most efficient way while meeting its targets for customer satisfaction. With so many engineers in the field, ClickSoftware will make a considerable impact on both the reliability of information shared and time saved in completing jobs.” He concluded.

Find out more about ClickSoftware including features, news and video in the FIeld Service News directory here

Welcome to the second edition of our Field Service News podcast. This month we are joined by ServiceMax's Vice President of Global Customer Transformation, Dave Hart who has an incredible background in the field service industry having worked his way up from field service engineer through to European Vice President of Service before joining ServiceMax where he is able to give his clients the benefit of 30 years worth of experience.

Tapping into that experience we talk to Dave about some of the key challenges he faced throughout his career as well as taking the opportunity to get some excellent advice from a man who has 'been there and done it' when it comes to developing successful field service teams.

Download the full podcast now for free to hear Dave's advice on:

• How best to approach choosing a new service management solution
• Deciding whether optimised scheduling is the right move for your company
• Getting the buy-in from your mobile workforce after implementing a new system.
• What challenges need to be addressed when moving from cost centre to profit centre
• What technologies you should be looking to as the future of field service

To hear the full interview and see how Dave responds to these questions plus many more click the link below and complete the very brief registration to download the podcast for free!

Note: this is a joint promotion between Field Service News and Service Max Europe. By downloading this podcast you are consenting to the T&C's of our privacy policy available here. 

FeedHenry, who are a next-generation provider of cloud based mobile enterprise applications have recently announced a technology partnership with AirWatch which could prove to be significant for the field service industry.

AirWatch themselves are one of the leading Enterprise Mobility Management (EMM) providers with a solid track record within the industry, whilst the relatively young Feed Henry have already established a strong reputation after a number of successful projects involving the creation of mobile enterprise applications, including developing a large number of apps for different elements of the network rail group which saw the transportation giant improve field service efficiency dramatically.

Working together the two companies will provide a joint solution, which will enable the simple and rapid creation of mobile enterprise applications which will be able to be immediately deployed and managed within the AirWatch app catalogue.

AirWatch CEO John Marshall commented;

“IT organisations often need to develop, deploy and maintain mobile applications quickly and securely to accelerate business opportunities and promote employee productivity,”

“FeedHenry’s platform integration with AirWatch provides enterprises the ability to secure their mobile devices and to simplify app development with connectivity to backend systems through RESTful APIs in the cloud.”

By integrating with AirWatch, Feed Henry’s Mobile Application Platform enables companies to develop, integrate and secure mobile enterprise applications as well as content on mobile devices, whilst giving IT departments the ability to manage policies and provide access controls at the enterprise level.

Feed Henry CEO Cathal McGloin comments:

“The integration of our next generation Mobile Application Platform with AirWatch’s EMM solution now gives enterprises secure device management, along with the ability to develop, host and manage native, hybrid and HTML5 applications,”

“Most mobile enterprise deployments have been focused on the development of one off, tactical applications for specific groups of employees or customers. Increasingly however, organisations are looking towards more advanced mobilisation of a broader set of assets and back-end data sets. We believe that agile, cloud-based mobile application platforms, alongside MDM solutions, will play an important role in this enablement.”

The benefits that Feed Henry can offer to AirWatch users include simplifying and securing the connectivity of apps with any enterprise systems through Feed Henry’s ‘mobile backend as-a-service’ and accelerating development cycles and go to market by deploying apps to the device server-side code to the cloud – whether it is public, private or hybrid with just one push.

Developers can also now publish apps and make them AirWatch enabled seamlessly whilst being able to push app updates to all enrolled devices on the AirWatch MDM platform and enterprises are able to monitor and tack all newly created apps via the AirWatch console.

Find out more about mobile enterprise application and field service software providers including case studies, videos and other resources in our online directory here. 

Infographic showing the key benefits of a truly end-to-end field service software solution based on exclusive research conducted by mplsystems and existing client case studies.

We are currently conducting a research project in partnership with Tesseract, which aims to establish exactly what you think about SaaS field service solutions. Having now reached the half waypoint of this project there are some interesting results already becoming prominent…

SaaS field service solutions still in the minority

Of the total respondents so far the overwhelming majority (83%) are currently still using an on premise solution as opposed to a SaaS field service solutions. However, of those still using an on-premise solution 62% have stated they were considering moving to a SaaS platform when they next upgrade their field service management software.

The key driver in this shift towards the cloud is the added mobility cloud solutions offer, with 66% of companies citing most easy remote access as a factor in why they are considering SaaS. Other common reasons were the scalability of SaaS solutions and the more affordable pricing structure of SaaS, which 59% and 51% of companies cited respectively.

Mythbuster – security is not an issue for SaaS field service solutions

The biggest fear around moving to a SaaS field service solution was security which 52% cited as a reason they would not choose SaaS. This is largely to be expected due to the often-high profile doubts raised about cloud security.

However, it would seem it is not substantiated by the facts. Of those companies operating a SaaS field service solution none cited security as an issue they had faced.

The biggest issues surrounding cloud based systems were in fact connectivity and communication with existing legacy systems. Exactly half of companies with a cloud solution had suffered from one or both of these issues. However, only 36% of companies cited either of these as a reason why they wouldn’t choose SaaS.

Of those who have chosen SaaS all have identified easy remote access as the key reason why they opted for SaaS. Scalability was the second most popular reason for opting for a SaaS solution which was cited by 75% of companies. A more affordable pricing model and built-in disaster recovery being the joint third popular reasons that 57% of companies listed.

Additional benefits of SaaS provided by respondents included increased functionality and availability, cost, flexibility, ease of upgrades and infrastructure and all countries being moved to the same platform.

It is interesting that for both companies either already on a SaaS field service solution or considering a SaaS field service solution that less reliance on the IT department was the least common factor in choosing the cloud.

Only 28% of companies already using a SaaS field service solution identified this as a reason for choosing SaaS whilst only 10% of companies considering a SaaS field service solution cited it as a reason for consideration.

Who’s in the DMU

Whilst it is certainly true that SaaS will reduce the strain on the IT department, it is clearly not a factor that most field service managers take into consideration.

However, what is clear is that when the CIO/IT Director etc is involved within the decision making process there is more likelihood of the company opting for a SaaS field service solution.

In fact the CIO or equivalent was involved in the decision making process in 71% of companies who had opted for SaaS field service solution and was the most common figure within the decision making unit (DMU) of such companies.

However, for companies who were still operating on an on premise solution the CIO or equivalent was only involved in 46% of cases with the CFO/FD being more prominent and being involved in the DMU in 56% of cases.

As you would expect in both instances the Field Service Manager was a prominent figure in the DMU being the second most common member in companies with SaaS and most common within those companies still operating an on premise solution.

Bringing in the mobile workforce

However it appears that there are two groups that are largely being omitted from the DMU yet who strategically could have a massive impact on the success of the implementation of any new platform whether it be on-premise or a SaaS field service solution.

One of the biggest obstacles often highlighted to a successful implementation of the technology is getting the buy–in of the mobile workforce.

It is a topic we have discussed on field service news a number of times and one regular suggestion by industry experts is to get representatives of the field staff to be part of the DMU for the latest field service solution you intend to deploy. However, in both groups (SaaS or on premise) less than 15% of companies sought to include representatives of their field staff in the process.

Also with the trend to move service departments away from being cost centres and towards profit centres it would surely be sensible to include a senior figure from the sales division into the conversation also. However, again the inclusion of a sales director or equivalent was a rare occurrence with no more than 7% of companies bringing the sales director into the process.

How does this shape up to your own situation? Is your company operating a SaaS field service solution? Are you considering a move to the cloud  or do you think that you would always rather a platform that remains on premise instead of a SaaS field service solution?

If you haven’t taken part in the survey as yet then please do and help us build up a complete picture of the industry today.

As a thank you all respondents who complete the survey will be entered into a prize draw to win one of three £50 Amazon vouchers!

The survey is designed to only take about 2 to 3 minutes to complete and will be no more than 12 questions maximum. Enter the survey now by clicking here.