Tag Archives: Alex Warner

In the world of machine-to-machine software, service is still king

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Let’s think about the aesthetics of a vast network of connected assets and equipment, proactively communicating with your workforce. How overwhelming do you find a network of 1,323 trucks sending GPS, routing, dispatch, compliance, safety, billing and work order data over complex cellular and satellite networks, seamlessly and in real, or near real-time? How about monitoring the consumption rate, current levels and projected days-of-inventory for 872 fixed and mobile bulk tank sites, across different grades of petroleum and chemicals, in a six state area? Or the tracking of 723 trailers, of which 422 are refrigeration units needing to be monitored for quality, cold-chain assurance, chiller diagnostic information and logistic coordination?

Machine-to-machine SaaS (software as a service) providers should be able to seamlessly bring this information to you in a comprehensive and user-friendly solution. Forget manual data retrieval and the accompanying inaccuracies.

But what happens when one of those connected assets doesn’t ‘report in’? Can you ask your connected fork-lift to, “Call me back on a land line. You’re cutting in and out on me and you still need to give me your location and engine hours.”? Or “Can you hear me now, mobile generator 3? I was trying to run a diagnostic report and then schedule maintenance but you hung up on me.” Do you or your IT team really know how to speak back to this new workforce of connected assets and machines? Do you have the time and resources to become an expert?

With the myriad of software service providers out there, how do you evaluate which one is right for your business?

At its core, if something does go wrong, you shouldn’t be calling your software provider, they should be calling you. If they value your business, if they understand the costs of your operations, if they have made an effort to understand how this technology will ultimately transform the way you do things, and if they have designed their technology to deal with these important demands, then they will know that system and network downtime, bad devices, and ineffective, poorly developed software is not acceptable.

Until next time,

Alex

Joining the Connected Enterprise: Reliable partners are critical to success

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Many in the machine-to-machine (M2M) technology space like to evangelize a coming connected future. A ‘real-time enterprise’; your whole business ‘connected’. Indeed, current technology has reached a point where it has become cost-effective to connect operational assets, equipment and products to the Internet, achieving new levels of efficiencies and service not thought possible before.

Before you jump on the first bandwagon you see, ask yourself a question that M2M fanatics may not be asking you: Is it really as easy as it’s made out to be? Have your competitors really implemented these technologies with no hiccups? Guess what, the old rule holds: nothing in life is as easy as it seems BUT good partners make it easier.

As you start to engage potential partners, keep the following two things in mind:

#1) Not all hardware is created equal. Nothing has changed: the right tool and the right device for the right job. It is important that you, the customer, understand that just because we can force the proverbial square peg into the round hole, doesn’t mean we should. In the world of ‘connected assets’, the wrong or poorly-designed device, without enough ‘smarts’, can lead to costly dispatches, costly replacements or upgrades and costly downtime, in addition to losing precious profits and operational savings. Frustration! You need to work with partners that understand and are able to assess whether hardware will do the job correctly, and who are not limited by the types of devices available on the market (i.e. in-house proprietary quotas) that may increase downtime and create substantial technical problems.

#2) You need a good software partner. Ask yourself, does my software provider help me manage this network of mobile assets and fixed equipment? If you are going to rely on this data to transform the way you do business, you need to be able to rely on it working properly. Your software service provider supplies the all-important glue to make this ecosystem work. They should not only be aware of the performance of their own applications, but also the condition of the networks powering the devices, and the quality and security of the devices that are capturing and delivering the data.

It’s possible to achieve the benefits of a scaled network of assets and equipment, while proactively communicating and working with your labor force to deliver the goods, services and operational harmony of your company on a wide scale; however, identifying reliable partners, both for hardware and software service, are critical to the success of these new technologies.

 

Until next time,

Alex