I was reading over Gartner’s latest Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management report, which was released in October, and it got me thinking. At the beginning of the report, there are five objectives listed that Gartner says a field service application should have the “scope to achieve.” Reading through those objectives made me wonder — are companies that have solutions deployed fully leveraging these capabilities? In fact, I know from conversations I’ve had that many aren’t. And, what about companies that may not yet have a field service software solution in place — are they fully aware of what they need to be looking for?
So, for those of you who may not have seen Gartner’s report, here the five objectives it lists that a field service application should be able to achieve:
- Capability to receive requests from a field service technician via the Internet, telephone, or manual entry
- Assign service technicians with their long, midrange, and weekly work orders
- Completely mobile with the ability to perform end-to-end service tasks in real time or cached on a wireless device
- Integrated GPS and and geographic information systems (GIS) capabilities
- Functionality that can support a range of varying field service models
Don’t Settle For Your Field Service Status Quo
Many of the solutions available today can do so much more than what you’re currently using them for — and by looking for ways to expand your use, you can find increased efficiencies, cut costs, and even increase revenue. And for those of you looking at 2014 as an opportunity to deploy a solution, this list can serve as a good checklist as you’re evaluating your options.
To obtain a copy of the Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management report or look through some of Gartner’s other research, visit www.gartner.com.
This article first appeared in Field Technologies magazine and was written by Sarah Nicastro, the magazine’s editor-in-chief. You can read the full version here.
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