Mobile Field Service Significantly Impacting Business

This morning I took a look at a great report from Aberdeen (Aberdeen Group Field Service 2011: Mobility and the Extension of the Service Enterprise)

Here are a few interesting stats gleaned fromt he report with some of my thoughts:

• Average workforce utilization is only 57%
  This means your field service techs are idle or non-productive an average of 43% of the time.  Statistically most companies report the majority of idle time is spent driving back and forth between the office or waiting for their next service appointment. The conclusion is field service solutions provide an opportunity to decrease fuel cost as well as increase work force utilization.
• Companies that implemented mobile field service management solutions increased workforce utilization  to 76%
  That's a 19% jump in utilization. This is accomplished through better planning, better scheduling and ensuring the service tech has the information, tools and parts needed for every job. What would a 19% increase in utilization do to your bottom line?
• Companies that implemented mobile field service solutions gained a higher first time fixed rate - 82% versus 65%.
  This naturally leads to higher customer satisfaction rates. On the service side mobile field service solutions are enabling managers to assign the right technician, pre-load service vans with right parts, schedule service calls, etc.. An interesting note, in Aberdeen's report companies reported that 47% of the return visits are due to not having the right part on-hand.

I am seeing similar trends in my own business. One of my customers recently reported an 18% increase in their conversion rate from Estimate to Work Orders by using the "Call Back" feature in ZenTouch.

Field service management tools like ZenTouch provide access to information that enable service teams to improve work order assignment, lower operational costs, provide a better customer experience via reduction of repeat visits, provide real-time data for better communication between customers and the  service desk and more. This doesn't even account for the impact direct integration with backend systems like QuickBooks or Sage are having on the accounting side of the business.

Jody Sedrick

Follow me on Twitter: @jodysedrick and @zenewareinc

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BYOD - fast becoming the norm for enterprise mobility

BYOD a growing trend

Aruba Networks published a survey this week that shows 85% of hospitals allow physicians and staff to use their personal mobile devices for work activities. The adoption of BYOD, "bring your own device" is fast becoming the norm the adoption of mobility solutions into the enterprise.

This trend obviously causes challenges for network administrators who are tasked with building out network capabilities, securely providing access to key data and managing a range of mobile devices.  Gartner has long reported that the consumerization of IT is one of the biggest challenges for IT departments for the next 10 years. 35% of the Aruba Networks study respondents reported they plan on building out their current wireless and hard-wired infrastructures within the coming year to support the increased demand of "use your own device".

With the increased drive to mobilize more segments of business, is a BYOD policy right for you?

As companies evaluate and implement BYOD policies they are reaping benefits in the following areas"

• Provides the benefit of reducing capital expenditures
• Extends user choices beyond the standard corporate devices. 
• Increased mobility and productivity. 70% of employees with Smartphones check their corporate email outside of business hours. 43% connect to get ahead of the workload for the following day.
• When workers use their own devices IT support calls are diminished from 4.5 times per month to 2.5 and tend to focus solely on corporate access
• High job satisfaction

As you implement BYOD policies consider the following:

• Who is permitted to have a business supported mobile device? Generally this is determined by organizational role.
• What devices are supported? Previously BlackBerry held this space but now with BYOD you must consider iOS, Android, Windows Phone etc.
• Who pays for the device and on-going expenses
• Some enterprises may want to enforce acceptable use of a device. Enforceability concerns need to be considered.
• What apps are you going to support?
• Where are apps acquired?
• User responsibilities

Cloud based CRM, Work Management Systems, MAM (Mobile App Management), and MDM (Mobile Device Management) solutions are certainly facilitating the trend for adoption of BYOD. With the increased ability to securely distribute and manage corporate data at the point of interaction the adoption of mobile solutions is increasingly more appealing and critical.

Jody Sedrick

Follow me on Twitter: @jodysedrick and @zenewareinc
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