Code Halos - Tracking the Mobile Workforce, Equipment and Other Variables for Optimal Performance

I write and speak often on the need to have a thoughtful Code Halo strategy in addition to your mobile and digital strategies.  Code Halos is the term for the information that surrounds people, organizations, and devices.  Many companies consider Code Halo strategies only for marketing, sales and customer service, but a well thought out Code Halo strategy for work done in the field like maintenance, repairs, asset management, construction and engineering is also important.  Let me try to make the case here.

There are many different objects and variables that can impact the performance of a mobile workforce, especially in the services industry.  In my enterprise mobility workshops I call these things PIOs (performance impact objects), and PIVs (performance impact variables).

Examples of PIOs:
  • People
  • Parts/Supplies/Materials
  • Tools
  • Job locations
  • Equipment (and availability)
  • Transportation (and availability)
  • Vendor (and availability)
  • Subcontractor (and availability)
  • Jobsite access
  • Permits/Approvals
Examples of PIVs:
  • Schedules (dependencies)
  • Qualifications
  • Skills
  • Experience
  • Weather
  • Traffic
  • Condition of equipment repair/maintenance
  • Sickness/Health
  • Funding
Each of these items must come together at the right time and right place to optimize the performance of a field service technician.  I think of PIOs and PIVs in the context of building the first transcontinental railroad in 1869.  In order to be completed and functioning, all the PIOs/PIVs had to come together at the right physical place and time.  If pieces were missing, or misaligned the entire system was delayed or fails.

In an ideal world, we would have full situational awareness.  All of the data from each PIO and PIV would be instantly available to our management system so predictive analytics and artificial intelligence could align all the variables for optimized service delivery.  Full situational awareness does not happen by accident.  It requires a great deal of strategy, planning and execution.

All of the PIOs and PIVs need to be tracked and monitored.  Sensors (IoT), GPS vehicle tracking and smartphones all play an important role here.  The data that is needed to make right decisions, either by a human decision maker or an artificial intelligence system needs to be collected, and as data has a shelf-life, it needs to be timely.  Those on the Titanic knew they were in trouble, but only when it was too late to prevent the trouble.  They would have appreciated good information a few minutes earlier.

Let me provide a scenario for consideration.  A customer calls in and requires repairs to a specialized, expensive piece of equipment.  The repair requires specialized training and skills, certifications, special parts, special tools and experience.  Knowing just the schedules and locations of your field service technicians is not good enough.  You need to know information concerning each PIO and PIV.  In order to optimally provide service to your customer, you need to know and monitor all relevant information, and since most field services teams are mobile, that means mobile technology and wireless sensors must be integrated with as many PIOs and PIVs systems as possible in order to provide the necessary data and visibility to maximize productivity.

When PIOs and PIVs are all connected via a shared network that provides visibility to network members it is called a Network Centric Operation.  A full network centric operational environment may not be economically feasible for 25 service technicians, but for 2,5000 service technicians yes.

If you have an available field service technician without the right experience or qualifications, then that doesn't help.  If you have a qualified, experienced and available field services technician, but without the right tools, equipment, parts or their location is too distant to be of service, then that also doesn't help.

PIOs/PIVs are most often not in one location for easy management.  They are located in many different locations and accessed via many different systems.  Enterprise mobility, sensors, connectivity, integration, dashboards, dynamic scheduling, HCM (human capital management), GPS tracking and event/project management, predictive analytics and artificial intelligence are all required to bring all of these pieces, data and variables together to provide optimal productivity.  Ideally these would be brought together under a considered Code Halo strategy for collecting, analyzing and using data to optimize productivity.



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Kevin Benedict
Writer, Speaker, Editor
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation, EBA, Center for the Future of Work Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility
Join the Google+ Community Mobile Enterprise Strategies
Recommended Strategy Book Code Halos
Recommended iPad App Code Halos for iPads

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Speed, Agility, Enterprise Mobility and Better Thinking

Dromology - the science (or logic) of speed.  This is the definition developed by Urbanist and Professor Dr. Paul Virilio's.  He believed that, "a thing that acts with speed quickly comes to dominate that which is slower."  I highlighted this statement in his paper when I read, Speed and Politics recently.  I have observed this phenomena when analyzing businesses and their digital transformation efforts.

In today's business world speed and agility, or the lack thereof, can mean the difference between success and failure.  IT systems of yesteryear are today's anchors dragging down companies.  Business strategies and ways of thinking that brought successes in the past, today prolong their inevitable demise. It is not just the investments of the past that weigh down a business, but old thinking.

Agility is not just a programming and project management methodology, but a business requirement.  I recently attended a talk by Todd Lutwak, a Partner at the VC firm Andreessen Horowitz.  He said the cost of forming and running a startup company is down 100Xs that which it once cost.  Why?  It is due to things like open source technologies, cloud computing, SaaS business models, globalization and LinkedIn.  LinkedIn?  Indeed! He said LinkedIn enables startups to quickly, efficiently and cost effectively find the experts they need in ways never before possible.

All of the innovations and efficiencies Lutwak identified as helping startups, contribute to efficiencies, speed and agility.  No longer does a startup need to invest much of their investor funds into business systems just to start operating.  They can subscribe to SaaS solutions and be operating in 24 hours without significant upfront investments.  This speed enables the startup to focus on the innovative products and services, getting them to market, solving customer problems and making money.  Their focus can be on that which makes the business successful.

I believe the trend in enterprise mobility away from expensive on-premise MADP (mobile application development platforms) to MbaaS (mobile backend as a service) business models and solutions align with Lutwak's observations.  Companies don't want to make massive budget, time and resource commitments to platforms that may restrict their future agility and speed to market.

Many companies today believe the only way they can be successful in the future is to buy startups, or spin-off their own startups and build up from there.  They have concluded that the fossilized thinking, processes and systems of the traditional business are not conducive to future success.  That is sad, but often an all too accurate conclusion.

Let's just make sure that we build the next phase of our businesses with speed, agility, innovation and creative thinking at the core.



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Kevin Benedict
Writer, Speaker, Editor
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation, EBA, Center for the Future of Work Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility
Join the Google+ Community Mobile Enterprise Strategies
Recommended Strategy Book Code Halos
Recommended iPad App Code Halos for iPads

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Mobile Application Performance, Speed and an Optimized User Experience Survey

Who wants a mobile turn-by-turn navigation system that was delayed by 30 seconds?  "You should have turned," is not what I want the automated voice to say to me.  I want a real-time experience on mobile apps. The challenge is that not all back-office systems and IT environments were designed to support real-time interactions with mobile apps.

I am currently working on a research project to better understand how the requirement to support real-time interactions with mobile applications will impact IT organizations.  Would you be willing to take a short survey to contribute your observations to it?  If so, please follow the link.  All participants will receive a free copy of the final report.

Survey - http://survey.constantcontact.com/survey/a07e9hmymorhwv3wle0/start

Thanks in Advance!
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Kevin Benedict
Writer, Speaker, Editor
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation, EBA, Center for the Future of Work Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility
Join the Google+ Community Mobile Enterprise Strategies
Recommended Strategy Book Code Halos
Recommended iPad App Code Halos for iPads

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

IoT Expert Interview: Microsoft's Nick Landry

This week I am both learning, and speaking at the The Internet of Things Expo in New York City.  I will be teaching a session on the subject of IoT, Code Halos and Digital Transformation Strategies. Today, I had the privilege of interviewing Microsoft's mobile and IoT guru Nick Landry (Twitter @ActiveNick).  In this interview he shares Microsoft's solutions and strategies around the Internet of Things.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://youtu.be/smE9rjfLiWI



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Kevin Benedict
Writer, Speaker, Editor
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation, EBA, Center for the Future of Work Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility
Join the Google+ Community Mobile Enterprise Strategies
Recommended Strategy Book Code Halos
Recommended iPad App Code Halos for iPads

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Kevin Benedict Interviews SAP's Consumer Insight 365 Guru Jim Brooks

MNOs (mobile network operators) collect massive amounts of data on mobile phone usage, activities, web use and location.  SAP has 500 MNO clients around the world.  Combine the two and you have a service that can provide an incredible amount of business insight.  Jim Brooks shares the details of this new SAP service in this interview recorded with me at SAP's SAPPHIRE conference.  Enjoy!

Video Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kyoqHUEGUJ4&list=UUGizQCw2Zbs3eTLwp7icoqw&feature=share



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Kevin Benedict
Writer, Speaker, Editor
Senior Analyst, Digital Transformation, EBA, Center for the Future of Work Cognizant
View my profile on LinkedIn
Learn about mobile strategies at MobileEnterpriseStrategies.com
Follow me on Twitter @krbenedict
Join the Linkedin Group Strategic Enterprise Mobility
Join the Google+ Community Mobile Enterprise Strategies
Recommended Strategy Book Code Halos
Recommended iPad App Code Halos for iPads

***Full Disclosure: These are my personal opinions. No company is silly enough to claim them. I am a mobility and digital transformation analyst, consultant and writer. I work with and have worked with many of the companies mentioned in my articles.

Interviews with Kevin Benedict