2012 — The Year Of Service Delivery Automation

By John Carroll, The Service Council

The preliminary results of The Service Council's 2011 service delivery automation survey reveal that as service organizations begin to expand their portfolio of offerings, they recognize the need for expanding their reliance on service delivery automation tools. For example, just a few years ago, many service organizations and their customers were content with a basic offering of hardware, software, and call center support. However, based on the survey, today, a two-thirds majority of respondents indicate that in order to meet their customers' needs, they must offer a more robust portfolio that also includes parts/logistics support, training services, and professional services (in addition to the old standbys like preventive maintenance and depot repair). Almost two thirds now report remote monitoring/remote diagnostics as a "must" among their offerings, providing customers with more satisfying performance. While not all of these enhanced offerings are directly related to field service, they all certainly will continue to have a large impact on the way in which field service will be performed and measured.