Trade shows get a lot of criticism for being old fashioned – even an anachronism - now that the internet is the primary research tool.  But for SME 2006 this thesis is at best incomplete, at its worse, complete nonsense.  Yes, the internet has changed the way we research subjects and technologies, but when it comes to spending tens of thousands of pounds on technology that could be used for years, we still want to speak to real people and discuss the real issues.

Over the two days we got responses from our interviews that were surprisingly candid and detailed – not only did the visitors tell us about their visit, they also told us the projects they were working on and, in almost every case, expressed a desire to purchase technology from the show.  This gives some interesting insight into the work being carried out by service companies and the thought processes that are driving them to improve.

So, what were the key issues at the event?  The first observation was that the needs of the visitors were as broad as they were important.  The closest we can get to a common purpose was a shared desire to get some new ideas.  Many of the people we interviewed were at SME simply to find out something new, or to offer a fix for a problem that they didn’t know had been addressed. 

Take this response as fairly reflective of the mood, offered by Daniel Freytag, EU service director for Millipore - a services provider for the biopharmaceutical market.  ‘I’m looking at the new tools that are available to my business.  There is no other event I know of which allows me to do this in such a concentrated fashion.’

A similar view was put across by Phil Darlington, service delivery manager at ServiceTec.  ‘I’m interested in finding ways to improve overall service delivery, specifically looking at scheduling and mapping software.  I’m also here to browse the seminar programme to get ideas.’
Darlington was not the only one looking at scheduling and mapping – mobility and GPS were key areas that the majority of people wanted to explore.  But the overall message was that it is impossible to offer an absolute summary of needs and interests because every organisation we spoke to had very personalised issues they were looking to deal with.

Now we will look in more detail at the specifics that people were researching to help illustrate the diversity of this market and the SME visitors.  David Waddington, special projects manager at GIAS Service, attended SME ‘specifically to scope scheduling software,’ and added that the show hosted ‘the people we want to speak to’.

Also on a fact finding mission was Andrew Savage, national maintenance manager of Crown Castle UK.  ‘I have 120 engineers and my main difficultly is controlling on-line data.  How can I get the data without a day of admin in the office?  I would buy at the show if I found a suitable solution.’

Even if not directly looking to buy equipment, there was no shortage of visitors using SME to keep abreast of technological developments, including Epson’s business support manager, Lee Bennett:  ‘I manage our outsource partners and I want to know what the latest kit being driven to the TPMs is likely to be.  Last year, this show was all about PDAs, this year there is a much better mix of technology.’

One of the most interesting conversations at the show for those concerned in the likely growth areas for service management software was with Brad Simpson, medical engineering manager for Royal West Sussex NHS Trust.  ‘Looking at the current cost drivers in the health services, one of the obvious choices is to close down costly facilities.  This means that equipment will increasingly be moved around.  Now, we can fix in the back of a van, but we need to be able to organise it and that is why I am here – to look at the options.’  Just to confirm what the keen eyed among you would have already spotted from this statement, Simpson concluded by stating:  ‘Field service will happen in the health service, and the scale will be massive.’ 

The unanimous opinion of the visitors was that they were savvy and cautious of being oversold to, yet willing to talk to organisations that could help them.  In other words, buyers have taken control of the market and are setting the tone for trade shows.  From the quality of the presentations, through to the behaviour of the vendors, SME has embraced and addressed the needs of serious buyers and is giving them what they always wanted.  The days of live bands and ice rinks on the stands are behind us now - gimmicks that have no place in the modern world of service solution buying.  Mind you, pretty girls still seem quite popular.

Once the dust had settled and the stands were all packed up, it was time to quiz the key exhibitors about their experiences.  The vendors spoke to many thousands of buyers between them, so by combining their experiences with what we have already learnt directly from the visitors, we are able to formulate an accurate picture of SME 2006 and therefore get tremendous insight into the current state of the service management market.
The main issue that is worth raising concerns the painfully slow transition of service from being a cost centre into becoming a profit centre.  This is an issue that has been debated for many years now, with the supporters of making service accountable in terms of profit arguing that it is the only way for service to truly improve and move forward.

Rob Parkinson, director of Armstrong Consultants, spoke to people at SME who believe that service is now a growing part of their business.  ‘There is a realisation that service can offer a profit stream, yet to do so, it needs an IT system to manage it effectively.  Similarly, the systems managing engineers must be part of an end-to-end system rather than a disparate back office function.’
Reflecting this mood were the points most discussed with Armstrong staff; graphical diaries with drag and drop scheduling, the accepted use of PDAs for all engineers, and integration between hand-held terminals and sat nav.

To help progress the profit centre ideas there still remains much work to be done to realise basic efficiencies, with Armstrong highlighting the number of visitors still using manual systems.  Simon Morris, senior director, global marketing at ClickSoftware, noticed that low or even negative margins on products were forcing many visitors to focus on keeping service costs down.  If this practice is to continue and definitive links between service quality and bottom line company performance are not established, then the notion of the profit centre will remain a pipe dream, and quality of service will continue to suffer.  

‘Most managers spoke of there being a willingness to invest in their service operation as long as they could prove the returns clearly and quickly.  Managers also spoke of a growing recognition at the executive level that the corporate strategy needed to be reflected in the service strategy and service policies,’ said Morris, indicating that at least service issues were higher up the corporate agenda now and inferring that it is the responsibility of service leaders to forward the case for improvements.

Ian Searle, sales and marketing director for VT Software Solutions, concurs that service management has gained good visibility, particularly at boardroom level.  ‘The overwhelming majority of visitors to our stand were looking for a provider of end-to-end solutions.  One area of concern that we identified was that not all of our visitors had thought through the integration and back office aspects of the project and were potentially missing huge efficiency and cost savings.  A phased approach is sensible but we would recommend an approach which delivers very real and quick returns to give the programme real momentum.’

Buy-in from staff, so important if a technology implementation is to succeed, was highlighted by Andy Yeoman as a big issue for SME visitors.  ‘How do you take out some of the costs (associated with field service) without alienating the field workers?  Most solutions are employee adversarial, so we must all work hard to provide benefits that work both ways.  By all means, track your staff and offer them GPS route planning, but don’t come down hard if they take a route that is nine miles longer than you had planned.’

Yeoman says that this attitude stems from the historical issue of borrowing manufacturing practices to run field service.  ‘At a basic level, manufacturing is all about telling a machine what to do.  The model breaks down when people are involved, because they won’t work effectively if pushed to breaking point.’  It is the conflict between quality and quantity that must be addressed if the service sector is going to gain credibility. 
But there are signs that lessons are being learnt and that businesses are trying to make progress.  ‘Buyers expect more from the vendors today.  Previously, they came to a trade show, bought some software and went away to install it.  Now, buyers expect the vendors to share much of the risk during and after the implementation.’

Is this rough justice for vendors who got away with selling software and not caring about the consequences?  Absolutely.  More importantly, this trend of shared responsibility proves that service management is maturing, and that trade shows, vendors, magazines and buyers must, and do, eventually grow together.  As long as we all continue to communicate with each other and find time to meet, we will eventually pull in one direction and to fulfil this need SME has shown itself to be more important than ever.

Kevin Draper, manager, product support for Mitchell Power Systems, explained that his organisation was currently implementing a service management project offering asset control, incident management etc, for around 30 engineers.  ‘The issue we are investigating at SME is integrating this solution with vehicle tracking.  This is a large project with budget allocated.  The plan is to eventually centralise our various field service departments which currently work autonomously.  It is easy to fall behind with technology, this show tells me exactly what is on offer.’

TS (Technology Services) is looking to outsource or replace its existing service management system.  ‘We need scheduling and GPS as priorities, and the overall concern is getting more from our engineers and realising an ROI.  We’re looking at a six-month project with a budget of around £40k.  (SME) is the best place to find the solution to what we are looking for,’ said Scott Tudor, TS’ senior project manager.

Slightly less defined, but potentially becoming a far-reaching project, was the investigation carried out by Steve Brookes, strategic services director for Trend Control Systems.  ‘We have 80 engineers and are currently in the process of reintegrating a large organisation into the fold.  I’m especially interested in learning how to bring office working practices into the field.’

Christopher Lawlor, general manager of Anada UK, was at SME to look at the latest remote comms technology.  ‘There is no budget set, but (the project) covers 50 field guys with potentially tens of thousands to spend.  We’re not looking for all-singing, all-dancing systems, we just want things that help us.’

‘We are thinking of putting in a service management systems as currently we have a manual set-up.  At the show, we have already made contact with a supplier and have a quote to follow up,’ commented Dominic Green, business support manager for Brita Water Filters.
David Webb, programme manager, for weighing specialist Avery Weigh Tronix divulged details of an 18 month-month project covering 400 engineers.  ‘We have been a Cognito customer for 15 years, but we are now looking at service optimisation, including scheduling, mobile and GPS.’  

The organisers of SME were aware of this negative perception, and so worked hard to ensure that real educational opportunities were on offer.  But the acid test was the response of the visitors. 

‘My background is finance, and so I’m especially interested in the financial implications of using service management software.  The 11.15 seminar about the use of automated scheduling by Vodafone was very useful in this respect,’ said Dominic Green, business support manager at Brita Water Filters.

‘The show has improved on last year, the seminars have been especially useful for budget planning purposes,’ offered David Webb, programme manager at weighing specialist Avery Weigh Tronix.

Olivia Brown, director of research and product development, for IQPC was at SME specifically to research the mobility market.  She described the presentations as ‘brilliant’ and added that there was ‘tons of good information at the show’.

Another positive view came from Mark Roach, chairman of Vmove solutions.  ‘I have just attended a seminar on workforce mobility, it was very useful.  I have 100 people in the field and am searching for productivity solutions.’

Wayne Hepworth, BPMS Leader (Europe) for Tyco, Fire and Security offered the best quote explaining the importance of a quality seminar programme to underpin a show such as SME.  ‘Service productivity solutions are of interest to me, as well as learning about how to get executive buy-in to a programme of change.  The seminars at SME are especially useful – tools are tools, it’s how you apply them that is important.’

Many events promise to offer visitors the chance to talk to their peers, yet then proceed to funnel attendees through the show floor without any opportunity to breath, let alone meet peers.  SME is different.  ‘My business is a hosting platform for mobile data.  I have been here for 15 minutes and already I have met someone looking for an end-to-end RFID solution, so I’ve already got someone to call when I get back to the office,’ said Michael Griffiths, M2M channel manager for PointShift.