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by Mary Brandel, Contributing Editor Posted on Tuesday, May 30, 2006 2:05:00 PM   When it comes to glitz, field service management can't hold a candle to its shinier customer-facing cousins, sales force automation and customer relationship management. "The sales guys walk around with Rolex watches, while the service guys wear vinyl watchbands because they're bumping into things as they work," says Michael Maoz, an analyst at Gartner, Inc. However, this background player is moving to the forefront of many manufacturers' strategic initiatives, especially as they wake up to the service organization's potential as a reputation booster, a cost-cutter, and a profit center. Indeed, after-sales services such as installation support, maintenance, and spare parts can generate more revenue than the sale of the product itself. To realize this potential, companies need to enable service technicians to retrieve and transmit data to logistics, inventory, CRM, ERP, time-and-billing, and other back-end systems while they're in the field. According to a recent survey by the Aberdeen Group in Boston, 88% of companies identified as exhibiting best practices in field service management view the connection between the field and back office as a top strategic priority. [Click to continue] |