@hand Field Mobility Blog
Thursday, June 16, 2011
@hand is excited to announce a successful implementation of the company’s market-leading mobile field ticketing solution. The customer, a large manufacturer and service provider of drilling equipment, selected @hand to improve field efficiency and reduce time-to-invoice associated with field service activities.
This solution serves as an excellent example of the value of iterative design and delivery, a hallmark of the @hand implementation process. During requirements analysis, the customer and project team initially focused on the sales order management features that are essential to the field ticketing process. While collecting data to support the field ticketing design, the @hand team discovered that inventory accuracy was critical to the success of the field ticketing application and that inaccuracies were common in the current process. A comprehensive solution to address the business problem would need to include not only field ticketing functions, but also inventory management capabilities.
The project team quickly recalibrated designs and incorporated inventory tracking features into the overall solution. With a broader solution footprint, the @hand team then decided on a modular, phased deployment with a roll-out of the inventory features followed by a staggered roll-out of the core field ticketing application. This approach validated the system architecture quickly on a small user base and solved many of the inventory accuracy issues that were identified in the requirements phase.
Mobile business processes often have wide-reaching influences and consequences, and it is important for mobile solution providers to dedicate sufficient time and resources in the requirements and design phase. Project teams should interview multiple stakeholder groups, including field users, management, and office-based support staff. Through this data collection process, solution delivery teams should expect the unexpected and deploy an iterative process that can incorporate new requirements quickly and effectively. These techniques, especially in complex environments, provide the optimal path to alignment between technology, business process, and customer value.
This solution serves as an excellent example of the value of iterative design and delivery, a hallmark of the @hand implementation process. During requirements analysis, the customer and project team initially focused on the sales order management features that are essential to the field ticketing process. While collecting data to support the field ticketing design, the @hand team discovered that inventory accuracy was critical to the success of the field ticketing application and that inaccuracies were common in the current process. A comprehensive solution to address the business problem would need to include not only field ticketing functions, but also inventory management capabilities.
The project team quickly recalibrated designs and incorporated inventory tracking features into the overall solution. With a broader solution footprint, the @hand team then decided on a modular, phased deployment with a roll-out of the inventory features followed by a staggered roll-out of the core field ticketing application. This approach validated the system architecture quickly on a small user base and solved many of the inventory accuracy issues that were identified in the requirements phase.
Mobile business processes often have wide-reaching influences and consequences, and it is important for mobile solution providers to dedicate sufficient time and resources in the requirements and design phase. Project teams should interview multiple stakeholder groups, including field users, management, and office-based support staff. Through this data collection process, solution delivery teams should expect the unexpected and deploy an iterative process that can incorporate new requirements quickly and effectively. These techniques, especially in complex environments, provide the optimal path to alignment between technology, business process, and customer value.
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