As IoT becomes increasingly pervasive, a new and alternative services sector is evolving, called servitization – also known as outcome-based services, writes Joe Kenny, the senior director for Global Customer Transformation at field service management specialist, ServiceMax.
By integrating services with products, you can create bundles that are of greater value than products alone. As manufacturers move from being purely product providers to becoming service providers as well, it adds value to their products and generates additional revenue. In other words, service-based outcomes take you out of competing on price alone.
According to Ashton Business School, servitization delivers a 5-10% jump in annual services revenue, profits two to three times greater than those on product sales alone, cost reductions for customers as high as 30%, as well as the opportunity to increase service revenues even further by supporting existing third party or competitive products. This creates an ongoing relationship with the customer that effectively locks out competitors.
Machines are already able to self-diagnose themselves, and report back when they need servicing or require action to be taken to avoid breaking down. This is a game changer for any company with a service department, as well as the wider field service management industry. But shifting business models requires thought and planning. So let’s look at some of the key considerations on the business transformation journey to servitization.
First, validate your business model. Chances are you’ll be making potentially more money but in different ways which will require a rethink. Machines, products and consumers are now all able to communicate with each other in real time, which opens up a myriad of possibilities for monetising revenue in different ways.
Think through the customer experience, and look to add value or provide value in the ecosystem either upstream, downstream or both. By building a better customer experience that’s of value or creating more viability of an asset’s use, you’ll not only be able to unlock new value for your customer, but also potentially profit from it. Be careful not to create vulnerabilities or unnecessary technical baggage to a customer transaction or service. Opt for simple logical value. In my view, simple, reliable and consistent wins over cool every time so don’t over complicate things.
Second, look at security around how the data is collected, protected using encryption, stored and communicated. A good reference is The IoT Security Foundation, which is vendor neutral, non-profit and full of expert resources for knowledge sharing, best practice and advice.
Third, take a look at who owns the data captured and the consolidated trends. We now have laws that cover control data captured, data protection, ownership and the protection of personal information. Talk to your legal department and review these aspects, and include them in your end user agreements – clearly state what data is collected and how relates to protection and usage rules.
Fourth, ensure you understand the technology you are using. Have you designed for quality of reporting, and for failure, scalability, reliability? How will you know the sensors are reporting back with valid measurements? It’s really important to test, test and test again – everything from sensor locations, fixings, power supply, communication methods and circuit redundancy.
Fifth, check Industry 4.0 for ideas. In other words, check for standards and emerging templates or blueprints. You can be creative but it’s worth doing your research to get plenty of advice. Always build trial or proof of concept on small scale then methodically learn what business outcomes you can drive or improve – but keep a holistic focus on improving value. And consider how are you going to install, maintain, upgrade, retrofit, or decommission your solution, and once deployed, make sure you recalibrate your expectations on a continual basis.
There are a few obstacles to overcome, but the reality is we have been monitoring sensors in machines for years. As an industry, we already know what good, reliable data looks like and most companies are familiar with the thresholds of proper testing and validation.
The convergence of IoT and servitization is transforming business models in the service arena, opening new possibilities for proactive maintenance, prescriptive management and recall management. Your only decision is how to transform your business to take advantage of them.
May 19, 2016
Posted by: George Malim
In the first of a new series of articles on emerging IoT trends by Beecham Research – Phill Pexton, senior analyst, and Saverio Romeo, principal analyst, with the firm examine blockchain (more…)
May 17, 2016
Posted by: George Malim
According to reports published by ARUP the global Smart Cities Market is expected to grow to $1,134.84 billion by 2019. While this looks promising for all involved, writes David Rolfe, the Big Data Platform product manager at Openet, the challenges in supporting a connected city are a lot more complex than simply implementing the latest technology. (more…)
May 9, 2016
Posted by: George Malim
The security and privacy implications for the automotive industry are growing as cars increasingly become computers on wheels, writes Art Dahnert a consultant at Cigital. (more…)
May 3, 2016
Posted by: George Malim
One of the major challenges to economic advancement is low productivity, writes Stephen Chadwick, the managing director for EuroNorth at Dassault Systèmes . Growth can come from either more employment or higher productivity but while employment in the UK growing productivity is not as high as it could be. Since growth defines our wealth both as a nation and as individuals it is in our interests to see it rise. (more…)
April 29, 2016
Posted by: George Malim
Cast your mind back to the winter of 2014. The UK was at a complete standstill because of unexpected snow. Thousands of cars were left on the side of roads as the public was forced to trudge home in the freezing cold, the thought of being back in their home with the central heating on full blast the only thought encouraging them to keep on walking, writes Martin Woolley, the Bluetooth SIG technical programme manager. Alas! Nearly half way home they realised that they forgot to set the timer for the heating. If only they could set the timer remotely. (more…)
Posted by: George Malim
As the UK starts to get smart with the roll-out of smart meters and a plethora of local council initiatives, Rob Miller, a senior security researcher at MWR InfoSecurity, looks at other smart cities around the world to see what lessons can be learned before we become too smart and get burned. (more…)
April 26, 2016
Posted by: George Malim
The British public and UK businesses expect government information to be readily available online in easy to understand formats at no, or at least very low cost, writes Stephen Chadwick, the managing director for EuroNorth at Dassault Systèmes. (more…)
April 22, 2016
Posted by: George Malim
In days of old, the most efficient way to get online was stare at your computer screen. With the advent of mobile, the next generation of apps was designed to suit a much smaller form factor and to handle potential issues that came with mobile such as slow connectivity or interruptions, writes Frank Palermo, the executive vice president of global digital solutions at Virtusa. (more…)
April 18, 2016
Posted by: George Malim
The Internet of Things is arguably the most nebulous concept in modern computing – or in modern society, writes Dr. Hongwen Zhang, the CEO and co-founder of Wedge Networks. (more…)
April 16, 2016
Posted by: George Malim