We’ve been discussing for some time that the next big competitive advantage will come from mobility solutions -- smartphones, mobile business apps, M2M services and the like.
For the record, we define Mobility as something more profound than the traditional discussion around communications, hardware and software. Mobility as we see it is ‘business in motion’, physically untethered but still fully connected to the applications and information that assure successful operational performance no matter where your business takes you.
The value for businesses will not be often touted feature sets, but instead, how those tools are put to use -- especially for businesses that rely on remote workers, equipment and data to drive the bulk of their profits. As we see it, the future will belong to companies that compete on their ability to perform anywhere, anytime the market demands, regardless of how remote that might seem at the moment.
All good theory – now enter the quantitative proof.
A recently published Aberdeen report, Field Service 2011: Mobility and the Extension of the Service Enterprise, documents a very significant financial advantage for companies with Best-in-Class field service performance versus Laggard companies. For example, Best-in-Class field service organizations, with as few as 100 technicians, could save up to $8,000,000 per year by implementing mobility solutions that included key performance indicators.
Aberdeen’s methodology of comparing three categories of companies; ‘Best-in-Class’, ‘Average’ and ‘Laggards’, yields identified key performance indicators that contribute to being in one category or another. The top ranking indicators provide a roadmap of recommendations and solutions for companies seeking to utilize mobility solutions in their field service operations. Just some of the key performance indicators we thought worthwhile to point out included:
- Eliminate paper forms – the amount of time technicians spent on paper forms was more than 40 minutes, taking away from the actual number of visits they could make in a day.
- Ability to work in an offline mode – nearly 30% of technician tasks are conducted in areas with little or no coverage –it is vital that they be able to access apps even when not in areas of coverage.
- Provide real-time systems integration – Best-in-Class companies assured the field and back-end applications were in tight alignment.
- Accommodate varied platforms – with the increased availability of new device types and operating environments, it is essential to develop a flexible mobile strategy.
- Generate on-demand performance metrics – also essential was the ability for service leaders to track service performance metrics in real time via dashboards and other performance tools.
The report also provides justification for investment that is pretty sound.
- Consider the following findings:
- Organizations defined as Best-in-Class exhibited the following:
- 82% average first time fix performance and a 15% average decrease in service cost over the previous 12 months;
- SLA compliance of 93% (compared to 66% for Laggards);
- 76% average level of workforce utilization and a 16% increase in workforce productivity over the previous year.
- Firms enjoying Best-in-Class performance are:
- More than two times as likely as Laggards to have a mobile application for field service in place;
- Nearly two times as likely as all others to integrate field data with enterprise systems in real time;
- 15% more likely than all others to have a standardized mobile strategy across the enterprise;
- 49% more likely than Laggards to leverage a cross-functional team of executives and users to define, manage and support mobile requirements.
In short, there are some very tangible, highly achievable solutions that can add up to big savings and far greater performance for companies that implement mobility in their field operations. In future posts, we will drill down into some of these mobility solutions and address best practices for implementing them.
To download the Aberdeen Report, Field Service 2011: Mobility and the Extension of the Service Enterprise, Click here
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