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Worldwide Utilities Mobile Field Force Management Software, 2014 Vendor Assessment: Latest from IDC
In order to optimize both effectiveness and efficiency of service in any business, which involves right from its field staff to back-office users to top executives, many companies are moving to incorporate a mobile workforce management optimization software. Utility specific software connects field workers with office in real-time for more informed decision-making and efficient field operations.
IDC (News - Alert) Energy Insights, the research wing of International Data Corporation (IDC), a global provider of market intelligence, advisory services, and events for the information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology markets, recently released an IDC MarketScape study, “Worldwide Utilities Mobile Field Force Management Software, 2014 Vendor Assessment”. This study provides utility companies (electricity, gas, water, etc.) with insights into the current capabilities and future strategies of mobile field force management (MFFM) software vendors, guiding them in planning a new MFFM implementation.
"Mobile technologies enable innovation in the area of field worker operations, positively impacting efficiency, safety, worker empowerment, and ultimately supporting the company's business goals of operational excellence as well as the reduction of opex and environmental impact," Roberta Bigliani, associate vice president and head of Europe, Middle East, and Africa, IDC Energy Insights, said in a statement.
IDC Energy is noted to provide a quantitative and qualitative assessment of the characteristics that determine a vendor's current and future success in the MFFM market.
Key findings of the study are as follows:
- Vendors are systematically enriching their product features and functionalities. Many of them have broad capabilities and a future vision that meets and anticipates the needs of utilities.
- Different types of mobile devices and different operating systems (iOS, Android (News - Alert), Windows Mobile, etc.) are agnostically supported by the majority of vendors, but not yet consistently supported by all of them.
- Mobile applications generally support text entry of various data types, dropdown lists, dependent dropdowns (reference data), complex data validation, etc.
- The majority of vendors have deployed integrations with common GIS, EAM, CRM, and ERP systems. GPS solutions and vehicle tracking systems are also integrated. However, each MFFM solution differs in the variety of vendors' applications into which it integrates, as well as the level of available off-the-shelf adaptors.
- Even if utilities still seem to prefer an on-premises installation, the cloud option, specifically multitenancy, is more pervasively offered by vendors, with some of them only offering cloud as a possible delivery model.
Bigliani feels that utilities planning to invest in a mobile field force management application should consider this study to get a first independent assessment of software providers. Bigliani believes that company-specific business needs, or local market context needs, should also be taken into account.
The ten vendors evaluated in this analysis were CGI, Clevest, ClickSoftware, IFS, isMobile, Oracle, SAP, TOA Technologies (News - Alert), Ventyx, and ViryaNet.
Edited by Adam Brandt
