July/Aug 2005

First-phase field force empowerment has now given way to a new era, in which service data capture and storage are integrated much more thoroughly with other business functions

A sea change is sweeping through the field service management sector. Perhaps because it was one of the first sectors to embrace mobile and wireless working, applications have often been built in stand-alone form, with the focus on operational benefits, but offering minimal integration into other enterprise software.

Such applications could deliver significant savings and an impressive return on investment without the complication of integration with other enterprise software. Optimised workloads and schedules and automatic data capture could reduce costs and improve customer service.

Now, however, integration has become the new mantra, and with this has come a belated recognition that field and after-sales service is more closely linked to other areas of the business than previously acknowledged. It's all part of the transformation of service management from cost centre to profit centre.

 

'There is lots of software out there that can run a service management department,' says Simon Hallam, GEAC's operational director*. 'Today, however, more businesses want software that can provide an overall view of their business. They want applications that store data on a common database which can be used by other areas of the business. They don't want a bolt-on service management system with limited integration capabilities.'

Hallam says customers want financial information about the service operation. 'The question is no longer 'How efficient are my service operations?' but 'How profitable is my business?''

Extended Systems' Chris Atwell agrees. 'Application integration is necessary if companies are to get a true picture of how their business is performing. The service industry is very competitive, so controlling the costs of a mobile deployment is essential. The more data you have on your operations, the better the decision you can take.'

'Some solutions may appear cheaper than others on initial inspection,' says Phil Rowden, Cognito's marketing manager. 'Deploying mobile data for what inevitably becomes a business-critical process can be a complex task with significant hidden costs of implementation and ongoing management.'

GEAC's Hallam predicts that service management software providers will have to wake up to the integration issue or risk losing business to ERP vendors such as SAP. 'SAP, for example, already has a service and asset management module. It was developed for plant maintenance, but there's no reason why if enough customers asked for a field service variation, SAP could not develop it. The point is that it is not bolted on; it is an integrated part of the whole ERP application.'

One-stop shops

Managed data specialists such as Cognito and Telepartner are responding to changing customer demands by integrating application software in their data services. 'As more companies adopt a mobile field service solution, we are finding that people want a one-stop shop,' says Phil Rowden of Cognito. 'Mobile data developers are integrating with application developers and network operators.' Rowden says the trend is partly a response to a resource gap that has opened up in the IT market.

Rowden also thinks the trend towards one-stop services reflects a 'drilling down' of mobile applications to include blue-collar workers.

While fast ROI is often given as the main reason for deploying a mobile field service application, ease of use has also emerged as a key criterion. A survey of 239 UK companies just completed by research company Influencer 50 for Cognito reveals that for 71 per cent of those which had recently implemented or were about to deploy a managed mobile solution, ease of use for their employees was the main criterion used to evaluate and/or choose a solution compared. A much lower percentage saw immediately-quantifiable ROI as the main criterion.

'Everyone talks about security of devices, but users also have to contend with the ongoing cost of managing them, repairing then and replacing them at the end of their lives,' says Rowden. 'Who manages any software upgrade? How do you do it - remotely or by recalling all the devices? Once you are committed to a mobile data solution, it will replace the paper system. You will need to support the person in the field and the device.'

Cognito's Activus is a fully-managed data service for field workforce management that includes its mobile applications FormsPlus, Mobile Manager, Message Manager and the G21 service for PDAs and the S21 service for laptops. Cognito takes responsibility for management of all the elements, eliminating the hidden costs of deploying and managing an in-house service.

Telepartner is integrating 360 Technologies' scheduling and resource optimisation software into ServiceNet, its Web-based mobile service management solution. 360's Dynamic Scheduling Engine (DSE) provides predictive deployment, demand forecasting, performance analysis and workforce optimisation.

'By integrating DSE with ServiceNet we are adding another layer of functionality,' said Grahame Erskine, Telepartner's marketing director. 'Having one's finger on the pulse by communicating in real time with engineers in the field has always been an important feature of ServiceNet. With the addition of dynamic scheduling and resource optimisation, customers will be able to make real performance gains, make the most of skills and available engineer resources, and have a better understanding of workloads as they unfold.'

Laurent Othacéhé, managing director of 360 Technologies, says because the application was designed from the outset for Web deployment, integration is a simple matter. 'We pride ourselves on offering a best-in-class scheduling solution that is easy to integrate and delivers real performance gains for our partners at the right price.'

ServiceNet was launched in 2004 as an externally managed, subscription-based, on-demand application, delivering software over the Internet. It is a pay-as-you- go subscription service offering low cost of entry and a fully managed service solution for an affordable monthly fee, which can also include the mobile airtime agreement. The only up-front capital costs incurred involve the purchase of the mobile device supplied to each engineer.

Cognito is also partnering companies like Infomill, whose Partsflow and Parts Arena applications gives engineers access to technical data on their mobiles. 'Field engineers want to be able to identify and enquire about, or order, new parts easily,' says Infomill's business development director Stephen Wilshaw. 'With Activus there is no need to write down long numbers or phone them in, which has associated scope for error.'

Extended Systems has transformed itself from being a supplier of out-of-the box middleware, offering connectivity to ERP systems such as Siebel and SAP, to offering full field service solutions via its OneBridge platform. 'Managing data and devices in real time is often ignored, but is critical for successful deployment of a mobile service management solution,' says Atwell.

'At the heart of our OneBridge platform is the ability to ensure the data is sent, arrives and is received safely back at the starting point.' Atwell says the more devices and mobile workers there are, the more vital a middleware system such as OneBridge becomes. 'Companies can relate to applications, but managing the data and devices is just as critical to controlling ongoing costs.'

Further evidence of the one-stop trend comes with the news in July that iAnywhere and Avantgo mobile applications owner Sybase has acquired Extended Systems. It sees the OneBridge platform as complementary to the applications side.

Where companies do have some in-house resource, out-of-the-box solutions seem to be the flavour of the day. They offer enough configurability to suit complex corporate needs, but with a lot of the deployment and integration work already done. MDSI, for example, has introduced an out-of-the-box version of its Advantex scheduling application which assigns and despatches work to the field, monitorsÊwork progress, responds to changing conditions and measures workforce performance.

The in-a-box version simplifies the installation, deployment and maintenance of the Advantex solution, and includes a scheduled upgrade plan and online support. MDSI says customers can install the packaged software elements of Advantex without its intervention, and that cost of ownership is reduced. Configuration tools are included, and there is a starter kit of professional services which includes Advantex training and assistance with installation, configuration and tuning.

The future

With service management rebranding itself as a sales tool rather than a cost centre, it has to be more closely integrated with other areas of the business. Stand-alone service applications no longer seem to fit the bill.

The good news is that integration needn't be as troublesome as you might think because the experts in mobile data and device management are adding application software to their portfolios. One-stop shopping may no longer be the poor man's route to mobile data applications, but the smart thing to do.

Case study: Mobile management improves DVD sales and returns

One of the operations which can be most time-critical is retail merchandising. DVD marketing is a case in point with, over 70 per cent of sales occurring the week after the launch, according to Chris Atwell of Extended Systems. 'It means ensuring that point-of-sale (POS) materials and the video/DVD titles are displayed properly to drive sales and there are adequate stocks in all the shops.'

Extended is partnering Zinc-Solutions in a contract for 20th Century Fox to manage the company's field sales teams, who visit 3,000 locations a week. Zync-Solutions' application allows service workers to upload retail sales activities to hosted databases using handheld devices and Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones. Extended Systems' OneBridge Mobile Platform provides real-time data synchronisation and management to the hosted solution.

When merchandisers visit a store, they have a list of every title that should be there, and their PDAs now tell them where and how that title should be displayed. They also have access to stock numbers and can run returns the same way. The data from the PDA is wirelessly synchronised through a Bluetooth-enabled mobile phone with the backend database.

Since the solution went live, 20th Century Fox reports a 10 per cent increase in sales of DVDs and videos, as well as improved compliance with POS and merchandising display. Product returns are now achieved in 24 hours (compared with six to seven weeks before), while stock replenishment has been reduced from three days to one day, improving on-shelf availability by 5 per cent.

Case study: Coordinated comms streamline courier despatch

Courier specialist Addison Lee's 1,000 drivers now use a single communications device. Previously they used a BT Pager to receive job notifications, plus a second mobile device to log on to the company network and pull down the job details.

The Cognito solution eliminates the pager. Jobs are pushed out to drivers in real time. There is an audit trail to track progress of each job. The managed service maintains network availability. And Cognito provides technical phone support for the drivers out on the road. AGPS tracking feature is currently being rolled out.

Addison Lee's Peter Ingram explains: 'If a customer books one of our drivers, we can tell them exactly where the nearest vehicle is and give them a time when the driver will arrive. If for any reason the vehicle is delayed - if it's in traffic, for instance - we can give the customer an updated arrival time based on the vehicle's progress.'

Under the Cognito system, real-time GPS and job status information is integrated into the back-office scheduling and despatch system supplied by ROCS. One of the features of the service is that once a vehicle is allocated, the contact details are supplied to the customer, who can then check the progress of a vehicle by texting Addison Lee's online booking system or contacting their driver directly.

Cognito rolled out the deployment in just four weeks.

Key deployment questions

Avoiding expensive surprises when a mobile application is deployed, means asking the right questions of suppliers, says Cognito.

• Does your organisation require real-time data to be sent to and from your field workforce?
• Does the mobile data system under consideration integrate with your organisation's back-end system?
• Is there the option to interface the solution to any of the primary mobile network providers, or is it restricted to just one?
• Are both the device and the data transmission secure?
• Do in-house staff have the knowledge, skills and time to manage such a service?
• Is the service scaleable, and flexible enough to adapt to changing user requirements?