Field Service Modernization: New Solutions for New Pressure Points

Transcription

1 Field Service Modernization: New Solutions for New Pressure Points Exclusive License to Distribute: Stratix and Zebra Technologies By David Krebs, Executive Vice President, with Spencer Gisser, Research Associate

2 Introduction By connecting devices, people, and business networks, the next generation of field mobility solutions are changing the way business and customer-critical assets are being managed, facilitating the shift from a reactive service model to a proactive, predictive, and preventative service model. Now that service revenues are growing at twice the rate of traditional product revenues for many manufacturing organizations, an increasing focus and strategic emphasis is being placed on field service operations. Leveraging new technologies such as IoT, unprecedented insight into business processes will lead to new products and services, innovative business models, and greater business growth. Building on the workforce productivity and customer service benefits realized by initial field service automation deployments, organizations with extended field service networks are beginning to realize even greater benefits from the connected service lifecycle. Field service organizations have already experienced substantial adoption of mobile technology. In fact, according to VDC Research, over 70% of organizations offering field services have deployed mobile solutions at some level. Organizations have benefitted from these investments through a more productive workforce, improved first time fix rates and an increase in customer satisfaction. However, many field service organizations are finding that their initial technology investments now offer diminishing benefits. With continued compression of product margins, there is mounting pressure to drive increasing levels of revenues and profit from service-centric revenue streams. For a growing number of organizations this means shifting from traditional reactive or as-needed field service operations to more dynamic proactive or outcome-based models. Leveraging remote monitoring capabilities and advanced analytics organizations are not only lowering critical cost of support metrics but also ensuring that downtime of critical assets is further reduced. While today less than one in five organizations have employed such an approach, as solutions mature the shift is expected to accelerate. Exhibit 1: Field Service Operations Today 17.1% As Needed (e.g. fixing broken equipment) 49.6% Periodically (e.g. servicing equipment every three months) 33.3% Outcome-Based (e.g. minimizing equipment downtime for one year) Shift in Field Service Solution Focus to Customer Engagement Field service organizations have changed how they invest in technology. While they previously focused on investments that would improve operations, they have begun to focus on customer-centric technology. Customer-centric solutions are more than just tools for customer retention they are tools to cut costs and generate revenue beginning with the customer. 2

3 Companies have evolved broad capabilities that center on empowering customer involvement with the work order. Field service organizations have developed customer engagement capabilities for every part of the work order lifecycle. In the early stages, customers use an app or online tool to track technicians location as they make their way to the customer. If customers want to perform maintenance on their own, online tools or a remote technician can guide them through the diagnosis and repair or replacement process. At the conclusion of a visit, customers can use customer engagement tools to review the work order, sign off on completed jobs, and arrange for further field service activity if necessary. Exhibit 2: Field Capabilities Supported Scheduling and dispatching capabilities 60% Service agents have real time access to customer information Ability for dispatch to view service technicians in the field Real time data integration between mobile device and backend 57% 54% 60% Customer verification of service work 48% Spare parts inventory management 47% Customer self-help portal accessible via mobile 44% Real time vehicle efficiency diagnostics 38% Ability to analyze driver behavior via mobile device 37% Mobile GIS/Surveying 36% Exception alerts (i.e. speeding) 34% Real time video stream to knowledge base 29% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Customer engagement solutions are already experiencing broad adoption. At the uppermost end of the spectrum, a full 60% of field service technicians have real time access to customer information, and 48% of field service organizations allow customer verification of service work. Customer verification of service work, although often straightforward to implement, is quite important to field service organizations given its high placement among currently adopted technology. Further, 44% of field service organizations allow customers self-help via a customer portal, and an additional 37% of organizations plan on supporting this capability in the future. Even though some capabilities such as real time video streaming are less broadly adopted, the fact that 29% of field service organizations currently use this capability illustrates the breadth of technology adoption in this sector. 3

4 Exhibit 3: Leading Market Pressures Driving Investments in Field Service Solutions Need for faster response to exceptional or unexpected events Better field service worker communication and collaboration 35% 37% Customer demand for improved service Increased customer service and loyalty Need to have real time view into issue resolution Improved worker safety and compliance Increasing volume of service requests Increased competition in products and services 31% 28% 27% 26% 24% 23% Need to have real time view into spare parts inventory Need to operate with reduced service workforce Expanding into new markets or service offerings 16% 18% 18% Accelerated cash cycles 12% Loss of field service knowledge 8% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% Customer engagement is becoming a central tenet of field service organizations. There is a sea change in evaluating success, from a traditional emphasis on tracking operational metrics such as job completion rate to tracking customer satisfaction. The emphasis on improving customer service is driving 31% of our respondents to invest in field service solutions. Customer satisfaction is a meaningful metric because it is a major differentiator in the eyes of customers. Although it is less tangible than traditional metrics, the effects of customer satisfaction are nonetheless felt in customer retention. Field service organizations see increasing customer retention as a way to secure and bolster their revenue stream, driving interest in features that increase customer satisfaction. Because field service organizations see increased customer engagement as a key differentiator, increased customer retention is now seen as a central measure to secure revenue. Managed Solutions Provide Unique Value Proposition to Address Growing Complexity of Field Service Operations Managed mobility providers are uniquely positioned to assist with many field service modernization initiatives including the adoption of next generation mobile applications and IoT solutions. Mobility and IoT share many of the same challenges: both areas are notorious for their lack of standardization, diverse vendor ecosystem, and multiple technology platforms; these areas have struggled to optimize connectivity and minimize security risks; and there are also the common business challenges of minimizing costs and future-proofing technology selection. Organizations struggle with decisions spanning which device types that best fit their use cases, defining the device connectivity and data format, implementing security, governance, and policy across each layer, and ultimately staging, kitting, deploying and managing these business critical operations technologies. 4

5 According to VDC s research, organizations with field service operations are clearly committed to their mobility and digital transformation initiatives with nine in ten organizations stating that mobility solutions were more critical this year than the previous. However, a large share of organizations are frustrated with the pace of development and over 55% of respondents to a recent VDC survey either somewhat or completely agreed that their organization struggled to effectively engage with customers using mobile solutions. With the vast majority of organizations with field service operations still relying on internal resources to support these initiatives, this may represent one of the key factors causing that frustration in the pace of change. When pressed, decision makers point out that Project complexity is the second highest rated mobile adoption barrier behind Data and file security. Exhibit 4: What Are the Primary Drivers Behind Your Organization s Decision to Invest in Third Party Enterprise Mobility Professional Services? Reduce mobility deployment time/costs 39% Reduce complexity 37% Outsource non-core IT functions 35% Minimize systems downtime 35% Lack of internal mobility security expertise Global support capabilities of third party service providers Address the increasing impact that digital technologies are having on our business Provider scale Inability for internal IT to keep up with the pace of change in the mobility market 33% 32% 32% 29% 28% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% It is exactly for these reasons that organizations turn to third party solution providers including managed mobility service providers. Reduction of mobility deployment and increasing the pace of mobile innovation and reducing solution complexity were identified as the top two adoption drivers for third party mobile professional services. In fact, almost nine in ten orgnizations that have taken this approach claim that their mobile solution providers have enabled them to compete more effectively. ddmanaged mobility providers are able to fulfill every step of this process with both mobility and IoT devices. In fact, field service organizations have already begun to see managed mobility as an increasing source of support. For example, 88% of field service organizations have found enterprise mobility solution providers to have helped in competing effectively. 5

6 Exhibit 5: To What Extent Do You Agree With The Following Statement: The Services We Receive From Our Enterprise Mobility Solution Provider Enable Us To Compete More Effectively. 9% 3% 15% Strongly Agree Agree Disagree Strongly Disagree 73% As organizations with field service operati ons come to grips with these market realities, they are increasingly looking for qualified IT solution and service partners to bridge their capabilities gaps. Managed mobility services are increasingly attractive for the opportunity to reduce downtime while cutting maintenance and management costs with over eight in ten organizations open to considering managed mobile services. Forward-looking organizations are turning this into a competitive advantage by leveraging advances in mobile technologies to drive operational efficiencies and achieve more intimate and engaging customer interactions. Exhibit 6: Would Your Company Be Open to Considering a Managed Mobility Service That is Technology and Solution Agnostic? 17% YES NO 83% Device-centric services, such as maintenance and break/fix, are core to the enterprise mobility professional services opportunity; however, as mobile deployments expand, we continue to see organizations gravitate toward solutionoriented value propositions. We see a marked shift toward more strategic mobile enablement around collaboration and customer engagement. As demand for more sophisticated mobile solutions grows, professional services vendors will begin to see traction for vertically oriented mobility consulting services. 6

7 Based on VDC s research, key considerations among organizations evaluating and selecting next generation mobility service providers include: Rapid deployment services the ability to fast-track projects while helping customers understand the ROI potential of their investments. Mobile application lifecycle services capabilities. The ability to both develop and manage mobile applications will be increasingly desired going forward. Retail sector and sub-sector expertise to cater to the variable requirements that are unique to your business. Provide service and support capabilities for all connected end-points, not just mobile devices. Instrumenting legacy systems is becoming a key priority, as organizations are beginning to capitalize on the idea of connected devices and their associated business benefits. Advanced monitoring and analytics capabilities the ability to leverage cloud service and deliver real-time remote monitoring capabilities will be a key area for competitive differentiation moving forward. Global service footprint a critical element to being able to cater to multi-national requirements. Solution Sourcing: Identifying the Ideal Field Service Mobile Device The recent advances we have witnessed to mobile technologies have been staggering. Many of these were innovations first made available on consumer devices. As a result, the desire to leverage these modern new consumer devices in the enterprise across a variety of use cases is very real. Moreover, trends like BYOD have radically challenged how mobile devices enter the enterprise and how they are supported. However, in scenarios where the mobile device is central to supporting business critical enterprise workflow such as among field service workers in utilities, telecommunications, industrial manufacturing and retail sectors where environmental factors may have a significant impact and security is paramount the need for an enterprise hardened device is crucial. Included among the most frequent use cases for these mobile devices range from use in direct sunlight, exposure to extreme temperatures and use of device with wet or gloved hands. These seemingly innocuous conditions can mean the difference between an optimally performing field service solution and device or solution failure. In fact, according to VDC s research, each mobile device failure among field service technicians leads to over 80 minutes in lost productivity. 50% 43.5% Exhibit 7: Environments or Scenarios Most Common to Field Workers 40% 38.5% 30% 20% 28.9% 26.1% 23.8% 21.1% 10% 0% Use of mobile device in direct sunlight Use of mobile device with gloved hands Use of mobile device in wet conditions Mobile device exposure to extreme temperatures Mobile device exposure to extreme vibration None of the above 7

8 When evaluating and selecting the best fit mobile device for field service operations, consider the following: Protective cases help but do not address the full spectrum of issues. While protective cases do decrease failure caused by dropping devices, the device remains vulnerable to other issues such as exposure to extreme temperatures, dust and vibration. In addition, the display is still vulnerable and exposed when dropped directly onto the corner of a hard surface. Make sure to understand the full spectrum of environmental conditions and their impact on mobile device performance before making a final selection decision. Battery performance and management is a concern. Greater than full shift battery performance is a critical requirement for enterprise use cases. According to VDC s research, more than seven in ten smartphone users frequently or occasionally experience batteries not lasting an entire shift. For devices that do not provide access to the battery, this often translates into the need to purchase additional backup devices. Lifecycle management and sustainable application development are key enterprise needs. While en-terprises want to take advantage of the rapid pace of mobile and wireless innovation and do not want to get locked into a mobile platform, the rapid upgrade cycle of consumer technology cannot be realistically supported for more sophisticated enterprise mobility solutions. A regular cadence to upgrades and the assurance of longer support scenarios is a critical enterprise requirement and key limitation among consumer devices. The need for enterprise grade data capture. For many field mobile applications and workflows, the abil-ity to capture data efficiently and seamlessly is important. This often translates into the need for an en-terprise grade image capture/bar code reader solution. While third party accessories that support industrial data capture and that can be coupled with consumer devices exist, enterprises prefer an integrated solution. Avoiding the accessory cost and management complexities is considered a key benefit. Providing field service workers with mobile devices is also an important aspect of properly equipping the modern field service technician. Any device used in the field must withstand heavy usage over its lifetime, and only enterprise hardened devices are consistently up to the task. Devices must be operable in any environment a field service organization might service, including in places where they might get wet, exposed to hot or freezing environments, and potentially explosive environments. Devices must be appropriate for the kind of information capture at hand, whether that includes capturing customer signatures, scanning barcodes, or manually entering information. Devices must have sufficient battery lives or regular access to charging stations. Devices must also be able to consistently receive and transmit whatever types of data the field service organization determines are best. Additionally, field service organizations must ensure that devices can be supported and repaired with a comprehensive support plan. There are many difficulties inherent in equipping a mobile workforce, but choosing the right device and support plan are key to surmounting these challenges. 8

9 About the Authors David Krebs David Krebs has more than 10 years of experience covering the markets for enterprise and government mobility solutions, wireless data communication technologies, and automatic data-capture research and consulting. David focuses on identifying the key drivers and enablers in the adoption of mobile and wireless solutions among mobile workers in the extended enterprise. David s consulting and strategic advisory experience is far reaching and includes technology and market opportunity assessments, technology penetration and adoption enablers, partner profiling and development, new product development, and M&A due diligence support. David has extensive primary market research management and execution experience to support market sizing and forecasting, total cost of ownership (TCO), comparative product performance evaluation, competitive benchmarking, and end-user requirements analysis. David is a graduate of Boston University (BSBA). Spencer Gisser Spencer Gisser is a market research and consulting professional within VDC s Enterprise Mobility and Connected Devices practice, supporting both syndicated research and custom engagements. Prior to joining VDC, Spencer conducted in-depth market analysis at cybersecurity company Covata. Spencer also founded and moderates /r/security, a 32,000-person online forum enabling the cybersecurity industry. Spencer holds a B.A. in Government from Harvard University. About vdc research Founded in 1971, VDC Research provides in-depth insights to technology vendors, end users, and investors across the globe. As a market research and consulting firm, VDC s coverage of AutoID, enterprise mobility, industrial automation, and IoT and embedded technologies is among the most advanced in the industry, helping our clients make critical decisions with confidence. Offering syndicated reports and custom consultation, our methodologies consistently provide accurate forecasts and unmatched thought leadership for deeply technical markets. Located in Natick, Massachusetts, VDC prides itself on its close personal relationships with clients, delivering an attention to detail and a unique perspective that are second to none VDC Research Group, Inc. info@vdcresearch.com 9