Microsoft is bringing the power of the internet of things to customer service through its Connected Field Service solution and Microsoft Dynamics CRM platform. With more power in the hand of the workforce than ever before, what might the future hold?

In an increasingly connected world, companies are looking to deliver increasingly personalized, proactive and predictive experiences. Engaging customers and empowering employees is at the heart of the digital transformation that organizations across the world are undergoing to differentiate themselves from the competition.

Earlier this year, Microsoft launched its latest wave of Dynamics CRM, which included the new Connected Field Service solution. Now available in preview, according to Param Kahlon, GM of Program Management, Microsoft Dynamics CRM, the Connected Field Service solution ‘provides out-of-the-box internet of things (IoT) to field service capabilities, so IoT enabled devices are continuously monitored and anomalies are detected, generating alerts that trigger automated actions or service tickets and workflow according to service level agreements.’

With the solution, the availability and proximity of service technicians with the right skills and tools are matched against the service requirement and routed to customer locations to take preventive action.

“This represents a truly revolutionary shift from more of a reactive break-fix posture, to a model that is built on predictive service,” Kahlon explains. “These proactive companies will be focused on outcome driven service, as opposed to work order billing business models.”

With the potential to radically alter the service paradigm, connected field service as a concept is something more companies are sitting up and taking notice of. But Microsoft’s recent launch is simply the first step. The future of connected field service is full of possibilities.

Microsoft identifies five key exciting areas that could feature in the future of connected field service.

The first is wearables. Unlike many industries, in field service having technology integrated into clothing is potentially advantageous. Smart glasses could show wearers information about specific customers while on site. Health monitors could warn employees about overexertion. Safety monitors about potentially dangerous environments could help protect employees.

Another area is unmanned vehicles, such as self-driving cars or drones. With a self-driving car, a technician has more time to focus on their next appointment or brush up on details about a machine they are going to service. Drones could be used to help with tasks such as infrastructure monitoring, aerial mapping and thermal imaging to detect equipment overheating.

A number of field service solutions that harness the power of virtual reality have started to emerge. Automotive manufacturer Ford, for example, is delivering virtual assembly training for field service technicians using virtual reality headsets.

A fourth area is augmented reality, which centers around enhancing a users’ interaction with the real world. HoloLens, Microsoft’s augmented reality headset, is now being used in the field service space, and Microsoft has worked with Trimble to create new applications for the architecture and construction industries.

A final and perhaps most controversial area is robotics. The automation possible from the use of robotics could have implications for field service sector. Robot technicians could replace human technicians doing routine maintenance jobs, but robotics could also be used for training purposes and automating back-office processes.

These key areas could have a radical effect on companies’ field service key performance indicators, with first time fix rates, billable hours, overtime hours and employee productivity poised to change how companies and organizations approach field service management, and crucially move towards business growth.

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Digital technologies are enabling a new level of connectivity and mobility for drivers and automotive manufacturers alike. We speak to Microsoft’s Sanjay Ravi and Rohit Bhargava to find out more.

Today’s consumers rely on technology in almost every aspect of their lives, expecting connectedness and mobility at previously unprecedented levels. This shift is being driven by a digital transformation that is having a huge impact on our home and working lives. Now the principles of this digital transformation are beginning to have an impact in a new area – the car.

“The automotive industry is going through a significant digital business transformation,” says Sanjay Ravi, worldwide managing director for discrete manufacturing: high tech, automotive, aerospace and industrial at Microsoft. “The traditional products that were sold by automotive manufacturers are changing thanks to the advent of connected vehicles, autonomous vehicles, advanced driving assistance systems and electric vehicles. The car is becoming a device that is part of the digital life of the consumer. and manufacturers can leverage the connectivity in the vehicle to keep an ongoing relationship with the car owner. Both of these represent a significant change.”

Consumers expectations are altering, and a seamless experience while at home, in the car or at work is in greater demand than ever before.

“From a consumer perspective, the notion of the mobility experience is becoming pretty rich and will span across home, car, work and across multiple devices,” explains Ravi. “When it comes to this experience in the car, the business model needs to deliver an entertaining experience when in the car, in a safe way of course, and the ability to be productive in the car.”

The increasing connectivity of the modern car can enable integration with other ‘smart’ ecosystems, such as vehicle to infrastructure, vehicle to X, smart home, or even vehicle to vehicle communication.

“This is where the industry is evolving, and automotive companies can take advantage of the opportunities that are there,” says Ravi. “They should expand their focus from just manufacturing and selling a car to going after the broader smart mobility services opportunities.”

Ravi says that the creation of new paradigms around how technology is used are necessary in order to accelerate these new digital services and business models. With more competition in this connected world, traditional vehicle manufacturers must respond.

“The beauty of intelligent car applications is that they can be aware even when the person isn’t in the car,” says Rohit Bhargava, Microsoft’s chief technology officer for worldwide discrete manufacturing, enterprise and partner group. “They can inform a user that traffic is heavy and alert the user as to when they should start their journey. This is an example of the user’s digital life fusing with the intent of mobility provided by the vehicle.”

Once inside a connected car, users can choose to be productive by easily conferencing into meetings, or stay informed about their most important e-mails using voice interaction.

“When we surface important e-mails, there’s a lot of intelligence behind that,” Bhargava explains. “Who sent that email? Are they within your immediate team or hierarchy? Or an important customer? Microsoft provides platform capabilities in the cloud such as Office graph which ranks the importance of documents and who they are from, among other criteria. These capabilities can be brought to the car in innovative ways to enable productivity scenarios while respecting the driver’s constraints to keep their eyes on the road and hands on the wheel.”

But productivity need not be limited to conferencing and emails. Reminders can be set within the home or office environment via an intelligent personal assistant, such as Cortana, to help drivers complete their everyday tasks by seamlessly transferring the context to the vehicle. This completion of the tasks during the course of the journey.

Furthermore, when a journey is completed, the connected car can share the vehicle status with users, such as how much fuel is left and where the car is parked via a seamless link between the car, the cloud, and any of the user’s devices.

Manufacturers can also capitalize on the connected car concept. Thanks to data telemetry from the car to the cloud, data analytics can monitor the ‘health’ of a vehicle. Every element of the car can be accessed via sensor technology, which then send data to the cloud, where advanced analysis using techniques like machine learning delivering vital insights about the vehicle fleet to car makers.

“If a condition is detected early, it becomes possible for a dealer to proactively contact the owner so that they can fix the fault before it gets worse,” Bhargava explains. “Data and advanced analytics allows for proactive intervention ahead of potential failure.”

With the aid of fine grained data collection and advanced analytics, automotive original equipment manufacturers can also understand what features are being used, by what demographic, in what region, for their fleet thanks to advanced sensor technology. This information can help inform sales and marketing campaigns, and benefit manufacturing and the supply chain.

Microsoft has a number of long-established partnerships in the automotive space. At this year’s //build developer conference, BMW announced it was leveraging the Azure cloud platform to provide an end-to-end customer experience that puts the consumer at the center. Similarly, at the 2016 Consumer Electronics Show, Harman and Microsoft announced a collaboration to help streamline functionality between Harman Connected Car Systems and Microsoft Productivity Services.

“Microsoft is providing the global cloud platform, the connectivity and the data analytics together with machine learning that delivers most of the capabilities that are required here,” says Bhargava. “As car makers transform into digital enterprises, they need a common platform that can offer services that extend their reach to vehicles and customers globally. Microsoft offers a global footprint and secure connectivity, together with one of the most comprehensive and global cloud and analytics platforms that can support the digitalization needs of the largest enterprises.”

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This year’s Hannover Messe event will see companies from around the world demonstrate how the manufacturing industry is adapting to the demands of customers. We take a look at the areas in which Microsoft’s business solution portfolio is making a critical difference

Hannover Messe has long been an eagerly anticipated annual occurrence on the global manufacturing calendar, and the 2016 event is no exception.

Attracting hundreds of thousands of visitors each year, Hannover Messe features dedicated areas focusing on research and development, industrial automation, IT, industrial supply, production technologies and services to energy and mobility technologies.

2016’s event seems to have a certain star quality to it. US President Barack Obama will speak at the opening ceremony on 24 April, and is set to tour the fair with German Chancellor Angela Merkel on 25 April. Microsoft’s technology and manufacturing stars will also be there, showcasing the customers and partners that are leading the digital transformation of manufacturing.

Hannover Messe is about evolution, and the occasional revolution – it is after all the showcase event for Industry 4.0, or the 4th Industrial Revolution. There will no doubt be smarter robots, and further evolution of industrial automation at Hannover Messe 2016.

The real revolution on show in 2016 will be around customer-obsessed manufacturers who are connecting the dots between well-informed and fickle digital consumers, and digital design and manufacturing capabilities. Today’s manufacturers are taking an ‘outside-in’ approach to digital business and using new systems of intelligence – powered by the internet of things (IoT), advanced analytics and the cloud – to connect marketing, sales, and service operations, with intelligent manufacturing and supply chain operations.

Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s CEO, described a new era of systems of intelligence and the digital transformation of manufacturing at Microsoft’s business solutions conference just over a year ago. Since then, a growing number of companies in the manufacturing industry have been reimagining their businesses, using data from the products they have made and shipped to their customers. Combined with customer relationship management (CRM) data such as customer complaints, new feature requests, service calls, and sentiments expressed by employees, partners and customers, these manufacturers are getting real insights into product usage and customer opinion. Not only does this provide a holistic view of the customer experience, but also enables manufacturers to innovate with new products and services that their customers will value.

Remote monitoring of smart products is enabling new business opportunities in the context of predictive maintenance and proactive field service. IoT is also a path to connected product innovation – not just by connecting devices, but connecting research and development, engineering, manufacturing and supply chain operations with marketing, sales and service. Hannover Messe 2016 provides an opportunity to discuss manufacturing challenges and their corresponding solutions with Microsoft leaders, and its customers and partners. It offers the opportunity to dig deep into IoT and
machine learning technologies with Azure IoT Suite and Cortana Analytics Suite, or see the potential of augmented reality with Microsoft HoloLens. It’s also an opportunity to see end-to-end business solutions bringing these technologies together in a new generation of systems of intelligence, by Dynamics AX and CRM, and by Microsoft partners.

Unlocking the efficiencies of better-connected field agents

With the need to differentiate the customer experience, manufacturers are increasingly focusing on field service as a competitive weapon, and as their path to higher margins. Field Service Management (FSM) solutions are now vital to the success of any field service operation due to increased product configuration and service complexity, and the need to balance service levels with the cost to serve different customers and channels.

Intelligently routing field service agents that are already out in the field – making sure they have the right skills, parts and tools to do the job – can be the difference between field service being a cost center or a profit center.

Organizations considering their field service management requirements have three possible options. They could simply maintain the status quo, but risk missing opportunities. A custom solution is another possibility, and for very large enterprises, this might be viable. The effort will however be time-consuming and expensive, regardless of outcome. A third option – and one an increasing number of companies are choosing – is a cloud solution such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM’s Field Service, which offers support for a wide range of mobile devices. This solution offers connectivity to the new smart products that manufacturers are deploying with their customers, while real-time analytics helps anticipate failures, and end-to-end integration connects marketing, sales and service with integrated business intelligence and workflow.

Microsoft Dynamics CRM can leverage Azure IoT Suite for remote monitoring and predictive maintenance to proactively generate service tickets. Dynamics CRM field service solution can cut costs while boosting productivity and customer satisfaction. Furthermore, as a cloud solution, Dynamics CRM can also be rapidly provisioned and configured to impact multiple areas of operations.

Microsoft Dynamics AX

The latest version of Microsoft Dynamics AX is available in 137 markets and 40 languages across the globe. The company’s next-generation cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP) solution is designed to bring the power, speed and intelligence of cloud computing to people and organizations, enabling them to achieve more. “Customers from around the world are using the cloud in incredible ways to accelerate and transform their business,” said Scott Guthrie, executive vice president, Microsoft Cloud and Enterprise. “Today’s release is an exciting milestone extending Microsoft’s business cloud offerings. It’s now possible for organizations to run their entire business in the cloud with Microsoft – from productivity with Office 365, to business analytics with Power BI and Cortana Analytics Suite, customer engagement with Dynamics CRM and business operations with Dynamics AX.” The new release brings ERP, business intelligence, infrastructure and database services to customers in a single offering. The latest version also offers enhanced Lifecycle Services, which helps businesses combine the best practices of their mission-critical apps with the flexibility and simplicity of upgrade via the cloud.

What experts are saying
Lifecycle Services represent a shift in how companies manage the life cycle of an ERP system in a way that’s never really been done before. The ability to test in the cloud and use the cloud’s natural elasticity and functionality to take the test, flip a switch and make it the actual production environment, that truly is magic. – Josh Greenbaum, principal analyst, Enterprise Application Consulting

What customers are saying
A number of customers globally are already using Dynamics AX to run business processes in the cloud, including Hagler Systems, Haldex, Icon, Renault Sport Formula One Team, Priva, Smiles, Travel Alberta and Umbra Group.

We do everything through Dynamics AX now; we manage virtually all of our operations. Having what I need to run my business available anywhere in the world is invaluable. – Thomas Mayer, chief operating officer, Renault Sport Formula One Team

We are bringing massive amounts of data into our business to help control building climates and horticulture environments. That is a huge business transformation, and the cloud was the only way forward for us to make that real. To manage our company with 10 offices around the world, we need systems that are fast. That is what Dynamics AX in the cloud is giving us, and we couldn’t be more excited to be one of the first customers on board to take advantage of this new solution. – Paul Ossewold, vice president, Digital Operations, Priva

ERP is core to our business operations and critical to building and delivering products to our customers. We chose Dynamics AX because of its robustness. The UI is amazing and available anywhere. It makes us device-independent. We can get work done everywhere with increased speed. – Ben Hagler, co-founder, Hagler Systems

This release is further proof that Microsoft is leading the charge with innovations not just in ERP but in the cloud. Dynamics AX will be a game changer for enterprise customers. – Peter ter Maaten, CEO, HSO

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