Data is the new oil, or gold, or even water, depending on who’s making the comparison. Just like oil and gold, data needs to be mined from the deepest, darkest corners to ensure nothing is left unknown, while like water, it needs to be processed and cleaned before becoming truly useful. One thing that everyone can agree on, data is now the lifeblood of any organization.
But reaching true data nirvana and maximizing value means getting critical insights from all available resources. And one crucial area that has been overlooked for decades is asset and service data.
Understanding the Value of Asset Data
Asset and service data is more valuable and readily available than ever before. This unique data set lets organizations understand the location, current condition, usage, performance, and service history of their customers’ assets, as well as the service contracts, warranties, and entitlements attached to the asset.
These insights can help service organizations reduce operational costs and drive new revenue through upsell and cross-sell opportunities. Businesses can shift to proactive maintenance and outcome-based models and make product design improvements and customer experience enhancements.
However, asset data remains under-monetized in most companies. Aggregating and analyzing this type of data remains a huge source of opportunity, but most companies struggle with getting access to accurate information they can fully trust.
The problem is, many companies are still relying on disparate systems and siloed data, making it a challenge for business leaders to rely on the information they’re being presented with – and asked to make critical decisions based on. According to the Asset and Service Data Gravity Report carried out by Vanson Bourne & ServiceMax, only fifty percent of respondents said that they or other service leaders in their organization completely trust the asset service data that they have access to.
What about the remaining fifty percent – why is their trust in the data flowing through their systems so low? Many companies struggle with trusting their data because they don’t have a way to ensure consistent data capture processes are followed throughout the entire service organization. This lack of data governance results in missing data, inconsistent data formats, and outdated information. It also results in significant lost revenue opportunities.
Combatting Dirty Data
Gaps and inconsistencies in data mean wasted opportunities to make services more efficient and cost-effective. When data is not up to date, companies lack insight into so many aspects that could lead to additional income: whether a customer is up for renewal, if the asset is being used in harsh conditions that justify additional service, if an asset is nearing the end of life, or if a customer is entitled to a certain service.
These are all ideal opportunities for the business to make service more profitable, but too often these possibilities to upsell and cross-sell are being missed. By doing the initial work of getting asset and service data into shape, opportunities like these can be properly monetized as the information is automatically served up and acted on.
Getting to a point where organizations have trustworthy, revenue-generating asset and service data isn’t necessarily going to be quick and easy. Collecting, aggregating and analyzing asset and service data in a way that ultimately leads to additional profit requires internal skills, collaboration between departments, and the use of tools that can automate the process.
To improve the quality of their data, service organizations need to standardize their processes and provide prescriptive steps for teams to follow that ensure the right data in the right format is captured consistently on every asset.
There’s an even bigger obstacle facing manufacturers that distribute through dealers, as these companies don’t have visibility into asset data to begin with. To understand how their equipment is being used, they need to leverage IoT and coordinate a common service language with dealers that allows for standardized data capture.
The rewards for organizations that invest in their data and take a standardized approach could see them outdoing their competitors. By leveraging service data across the organization, companies globally are already taking advantage of new levels of growth and service profitability.
Monetizing Asset Data to Boost Service Profitability
The Vanson Bourne & ServiceMax report revealed that for every $1 that companies invest in automating the collection and analysis of asset service data, companies expect a return of $4.44 – more than four times the initial investment cost. Furthermore, IT and field service leaders estimate a fourteen percent revenue boost in just 12 months from this more automatic approach to service data; while respondents believe their operational costs will decrease by twelve percent over the same period.
The value of data in business is undisputed. But the value that asset and service data deliver to both the top and bottom-line performance is just starting to be harnessed.
To learn more about the importance of asset data, read 3 reasons why asset-centric digital transformation is good for service organizations.
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