Contact Us

Business Papers

Scheduling | Mobility | Rostering | Small-to-Medium Business

Scheduling

Gartner Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management 2012

This Report will give you:
  • Research, analysis and interpretation of the business
  • A visual representation of the 2012 marketplace
  • Technology-related insights necessary to make the right decisions

Key Metrics for Measuring Your Field Service Business

Companies with significant field service departments understand how important operational efficiency and service quality are to controlling costs. But how do you measure these? More importantly, how do you then use the data to drive more informed business decisions? This paper will present a unique and powerful method for identifying and monitoring field service metrics and reveal how to use data to expose the real story behind your operations.

The Modernization of Field Resource Management for Oil Field Services

This business paper addresses some of the shortcomings of, and lost opportunities resulting from, maintaining this antiquated approach to field resource management. We look at how the introduction of mobile field resource management technologies into upstream oilfield services operations reduces administrative workloads while improving visibility, quality and efficiency. We show how using the right tool for the job improves operational awareness, enhances field resource effectiveness and streamlines the entire process of taking in, assigning and closing out work.

Employee Productivity Improvement Strategies In Oil Refinery Environments

This white paper suggests how automated workforce management solutions can improve oil refinery workers’ efficiency and morale, reduce maintenance backlog and increase safety compliance. It proposes a phased approach to the deployment of optimized rostering, optimized scheduling and mobility solutions, that will complement existing enterprise asset management solutions, in order to achieve a higher wrench time and healthier bottom line.

    Completing the Workforce Management Eco-System Circle

    This paper explores the business benefits that contractors can gain by adopting field workforce scheduling & optimization technologies. It focuses not only on how they can deliver more value to their clients, but also on how they can reduce costs within their own organizations. The paper explores how clients and contractors can work together towards achieving compelling results for both sides.

    Home and Community Care Improving care delivery in Australia with Workforce Strategies

    This paper discusses the workforce challenges faced by community care providers and how these challenges can be addressed by implementing a workforce management strategy for now and into the future.

    Home Healthcare Workforce Strategies to Improve Care Delivery

    This paper discusses the workforce challenges faced by care providers and how these challenges can be addressed by implementing a workforce management strategy now and into the future.

    Service in 2012 The Continued Search for Revenue

    Service revenue has topped the agenda of Chief Service Officers polled by Aberdeen, placing it as their top goal. This goal has been confirms by a State of the Market poll of over 200 service leaders.

    Aberdeen Field Service 2011: Trends in Workforce Management

    The field agents' ability to provide better support in a timely manner goes a long way in setting customer perceptions of the service organization's aptitude. This can be achieved by investing in the right tools and processes.

    Advanced Scheduling Execution

    For the service organization, the distribution of the very best level of service obligates a significant degree of resource optimization. Discover how to achieve this level of service.

    The Aging Workforce in India: Planning for the Skills Gap in Service Organizations

    More and more of today's service organizations are under pressure to meet a constant and growing demand for better-quality service and an improved standard of service-level-agreements. Discover the challenges India faces with an aging workforce and the subsequent longer-term service strategies they are planning.

    5 Tips to Minimize the Impact of Rising Fuel Costs in Field Service

    Service managers are acutely aware of the need to control the service fleet’s fuel costs. This business paper offers numerous tips on how to reduce fuel consumption and get fuel at lower costs.

    Managing the Telco Field Force in the 21st Century

    Find out how companies like yours are effectively managing their field workforces with service optimization technology.

    The A to Z of Mobile Workforce Scheduling Optimization

    Organizations considering a mobile workforce scheduling solution need to consider cost versus benefits, change management concerns, personnel needed to implement the project and more. This business paper examines these through optimized scheduling solutions for service delivery improvements.

    The Service Optimization Challenge

    Increasing customer service levels while reducing operational costs is an inherent challenge of service optimization. Read on to find out about ClickSoftware's unique approach to facing this challenge head on.

    Contractor Management in Field Service

    When looking for the most efficient way to incorporate contractor labor into overall operations, service organizations have several challenges to confront. This business paper presents effective solutions to these challenges that lead to successful contractor management.

    Yield Control to Gain Control: Improving the Service Experience Through Collaboration

    This business paper examines how continuous communication between the customer and service organization leads to shared control, where the whole is more than the sum of the parts.

    The Impact of Location on Field Service

    View how Location data can be used to optimize the execution of service delivery while assisting firms in planning the allocation of their resources required for field service.

    Street-Level Routing: Where the Rubber Meets the Road Business Paper

    This business paper examines how street-level-routing creates much better routes and schedules than any other method therefore impacting operational efficiencies, customer satisfaction and productivity.

    Utilities and Mobile Computing Leveraging Real-Time Visibility to Drive Customer Engagement

    In today’s service-driven economy, service organizations are strategically equipping their frontline workers with mobile solutions to streamline performance – and perhaps more importantly – to drive customer interactions, according to a study from the VDC Research Group (VDC), a market research and consulting services firm. In VDC’s 2011 Field Mobile Solutions study, the over 1,000 respondents indicated that improvements in customer service, satisfaction and engagement was the second highest rated mobility investment driver behind workforce productivity improvements, up significantly from 2010 where customer engagement was barely a top five criteria.

    Field Service - Themes in Automation and Empowerment

    This whitepaper will touch upon some of the major trends tracked in field service over the previous three years of Aberdeen's service management research and will reveal how leading service organizations are responding to and incorporating these trends into their business operations.

    Measuring the Impact of Field Service Optimization

    Field service optimization provides companies with a strong competitive edge. In this business paper we present an objective study that measures how companies using optimization measure up to industry standards.

    Mobility

    5 Things That Field Workers Hate & How to Fix Them

    In the service industry, there is an even greater drive to create a happy customer experience—and a field worker’s unhappiness can easily turn into lost productivity and a damaging customer experience. With the popularity of mobile devices and apps, there are simple mobility solutions can change the way field workers and dispatchers approach the day and work together to build greater productivity and better service levels. This eBook will give you tools and tips and tools that will help ease up on tedious tasks and mundane reporting and gives simple, actionable suggestions on how to fix them for a better customer experience.

    The Role of Mobile Workforce Management Technology in Today’s Field Service Organization

    In Part II of the four-part “Smarter Services Technology Evaluation Series: The Road to Mobile Workforce Management Transformation,” The Service Council looks at “The Role of Mobile Workforce Management Technology in Today’s Field Service Organization.” It outlines the process service organizations should consider when implementing a Mobile Workforce Management Solution, including the identification of problems, the consideration of competing solutions, the creation of a solution roadmap, the selection of a technology partner, and finally getting senior management to buy-in.

    Setting The Stage For Best Practices Service Performance

    In Part I of the four-part “Smarter Services Technology Evaluation Series: The Road to Mobile Workforce Management Transformation,” The Service Council focuses on “Setting The Stage For Best Practices Service Performance”. This installment of the series presents key market dynamics and business justification for the initiation of a Mobile Workforce Management transformation, as well as the efficiencies gained by organizations that have embraced new Mobile Workforce Management Solutions.

    Mobile Workforce Optimization, a guide for CFOs in the communications industry

    The border between the traditional telecommunications market and the once separate arena of pay TV has never been more porous. With the arrival of IPTV, telecoms operators have become serious players in the home entertainment market and are now competing directly with satellite and cable TV providers. While there are opportunities for telecoms players to tap into a still growing market, there are major challenges in terms of delivering excellent service while also containing costs. Workforce optimization provides a means to square that circle, and for the CFO this can have a direct impact on reducing cost and increasing profitability.

    Mobility Innovations for the Next Generation Utility (Portuguese)

    Utilitários estão experimentando rápida mudança necessidades de mobilidade de campo, como eles corrida para manter-se com a mudança constante na indústria. Este artigo negócios novas tecnologias móveis que permitem utilitários para eliminar grande parte do custo e tempo de atraso associado com a papelada de trabalho.

    Service Organizations and SoMoCIoTM

    This paper from Aberdeen Group offers an analyst insight into how service organizations are combining three disruptive technologies – social, mobility and cloud IT infrastructure – to improve their employees’ performance and offer high-level customer service.

    HTML5 and Enterprise Mobility: The Revolution Continues!

    Over the last few years, the introduction of HTML5 has transformed the way mobile applications are developed and taken to market. Many enterprise mobility vendors adopted the HTML5 language at the outset of its introduction and, since then, the pace of adoption and growth remains breathtaking. In some areas however, questions remain regarding exactly what benefi ts HTML5 brings versus continuing down the traditional native development route.

    Enterprise Mobility Unleashing Productivity in the Mobile Workforce

    This IDG research paper is based on a survey of C-level Directors responsible for IT operations in France, Germany and the UK. The paper covers attitudes and approaches to the technology underpinning field service operations among European IT professionals. In particular, the survey was designed to investigate CIO attitudes to:
    • The importance of field service operations in business terms
    • The challenges of maintaining and enhancing employee productivity in a Bring Your Own Device field service environment
    • The level of confidence CIOs possess in the quality of their field service operations
    • The efficiency of current field service software platforms
    • Whether or not current levels of investment are appropriate
    Research findings reflect the unstoppable rise of mobility, which is causing profound shifts in business strategy, the way in which employees work and approaches to software development

    Moving into a Consumer IT Model

    Consumerization of IT in the CIO world has become a factor in the CIO world as the workforce has acquired personal devices such as Smartphones and Tablet PC's. This business paper examines the CIO's role in enhancing the adoption of these devices in a way that enables the organization to capitalize on this trend.

    Two Roads to Mobile Workforce Management: Choosing Between On-Premises & Cloud Delivery

    Companies turning to workforce management applications should consider both cloud-based and on-premises solutions. This business paper reviews 8 critical considerations when searching for the suitable model for your company.

    Deploying & Managing Mobile Apps for Field Service Workers – 5 Key Questions to Ask

    This business paper presents five key questions to ask , as you consider the growing variety of offerings that allow you to leverage mobile apps to maximize the efficiency and productivity of your field service workers.

    Aberdeen Field Service 2011: Mobility and the Extension of the Service Enterprise

    The expansion of mobility in both the consumer and enterprise arenas drives successful business leaders to consider the mobilization of a field service workforce for the enterprise.

    Enterprise Mobility- From "Outside-In" to "Inside-Out:

    The number of mobile workers accessing enterprise systems worldwide will top the 1 billion mark this year. The enterprise is going mobile and this mobility is highly beneficial for the company's workers and customers.

    Managing a Service Business in a Down Economy

    This executive overview provides you the information you need to turn your service business into a profit center and demonstrates how to: - Close the gap between field service teams and service centers - Drive operational improvement and tangible ROI - Improve service and drive business benefit

    Moving Field Service to the Next Level

    This business paper discusses how to meet increasing demand for improved customer service while streamlining costs and operational efficiency. This is the change Anglian Water and Konica Minolta underwent in recent years.

    Nine Common Mistakes to Avoid when Selecting and Deploying a Mobile Solution

    Selecting and deploying a mobile solution is complex and brings many challenges and considerations. This business paper discusses 9 Tips to avoid these mistakes.

    Gaining a Competitive Edge in Insurance through Mobile Workforce Management

    Automating mobile workforce management can allow insurers to increase efficiency and improve service levels. This business paper will discuss the steps of this process.

    Mobility Innovations for the Next Generation Utility

    Utilities are experiencing rapidly changing field mobility requirements as they race to keep up with constant change in the industry. This business paper reviews new mobile technologies that enable utilities to eliminate much of the cost and lag time associated with job paperwork.

    On The Road to Agile Mobile Business Applications

    The proliferation of consumer-level applications on mobile devices is impacting the business world. But what makes a real business application? Find out in this business paper.

    Why Mobile Clients are Just Stepping Stones to Better Solutions

    This paper explores mobile clients and what a 100% mobile solution looks like by glimpsing into the future of mobile clients.

    ClickSoftware Mobility Suite & Sybase Mobility Solutions

    The purpose of this paper is to identify the components of a typical mobile enterprise solution, and to define the role each of them provides the user by recommending best strategies, optimized combinations and mobile solution designs.

    Networked Field Services

    This business paper explores the convergence of several different technologies including: mobility, GPS, business intelligence and M2M (Machine to Machine) technologies with evolving field services management strategies.

    Aberdeen Mobility in Service Report- The Agenda for 2010

    The dynamic nature of service work and customer expectations requires service technicians to have the most up-to-date information regarding assets or customers they are servicing.

    Rostering

    Convergence: Aligning Competing Interests While Optimizing the Service Chain in the Transportation Sector

    The three steps to service chain optimization are Forecasting, Planning and Scheduling. Forecasting involves estimating future demand for your services. Planning translates your forecast into equipment and staff requirements. Scheduling is the tactical application of your planning efforts where you build shifts and give your business model a tangible size and shape.

    Staying Awake with Workforce Management

    This business paper focuses on the American rail industry and its workforce management and optimization software.

    Optimized Shift Planning - The Way of the Future

    This business paper explores ClickRoster, the shift planning and scheduling product that is transforming the way service organizations manage their shift planning and rostering processes.

    Achieving the Correct Staffing Levels with Continually Fluctuating Demands

    This business paper inspects the applications and processes available to achieve a balanced demand capacity curve, which will deliver consistent high quality service, satisfied customers and good margins.

    Successfully Managing Your Service Levels Through Capacity Reservation

    See how organizations that follow the capacity reservation approach will meet their service level policy while keeping high resource utilization and will be able to predict a preferably accurate schedule.

    Small-to-Medium Business

    8 Key Benefits of Cloud-based Mobile Workforce Management

    For businesses within the field service industry, the core business is centred around mobile workers, their connection to operations and, at the end of the day, customer service levels that guarantee repeat business, on-time payments or that much needed referral. Businesses in this sector are constantly striving for increased workforce productivity, higher first time fix rates with lower fuel and parts costs.

    How to Become an Operations Superstar

    Learn how ClickExpress, our out-of-the-box, cloud-based workforce management solution, can increase your operational efficiency as well as your productivity.

    7 Key Benefits of Mobile Workforce Management

    In this business paper, look into the current trends for scheduling and mobility before doing a deep-dive into the real world benefits of using a mobile workforce management solution.

    Service Management for SMBs: Employing a Strategic Approach

    Small and midsized service organizations continue in their transformation from cost centers to profit centers. This benchmark report seeks to uncover that which is unique to the small and midsize service organizations as they compete for market share.

    Delivering High Quality Service and Profitable, Sustained Growth

    Success in service is defined by delivering consistently, reliably and with high quality. Finding specifically designed low-cost solutions that can be implemented quickly is crucial to achieve a controlled, sustained growth.