Leveraging Technology to Effectively Connect Field Service Operations

By Brant Carter, Trimble Field Service Management

The first step to making improvements in operational efficiency is making sure that you are able to provide the right information to the right resources.  When we look at what customers prioritize when implementing new systems we see that nearly 50% of them regard integration as being an important consideration.  This is not surprising given that the benefits of an integrated technology stack can have a big impact on how teams operate. 

ERP & CRM Integration

Many field service organizations have already implemented either an ERP or CRM system (or both) and are curious about what benefits a dedicated service management system might provide - and what type of integrations might be appropriate. One way to answer that question is to focus on what data is needed to support each business function and which role in the organization is performing it.

For example, an accounting team will be performing all of the financial transactions in the ERP system and an integration strategy will ensure that you are not duplicating data entry or creating a data silo.  The most common type of data to transfer here is invoice details; which most service management systems should be able to provide.