Benchmarking Study Mobile Technology Use in the Utility Industry

Transcription

1 2011 Benchmarking Study Mobile Technology Use in the Utility Industry Executive Summary Utility companies are striving to reach new levels of efficiency in the wake of growing competition, leaner budgets and rising customer expectations. To meet these challenges, forward-looking utilities are deploying mobile technologies that increase field productivity and significantly improve customer service. This paper summarizes results of a recent benchmarking survey to senior IT directors and managers from 50 leading US utilities on the use of mobile technologies (hardware, software and networking) for wireless deployments. Results include data on current technology adoption and future growth plans for and Survey results indicate that 7 of utilities have deployed mobile devices to service technicians, 62% to meter technicians and slightly over half (52%) to line crews. By the close of, based on their forecasts for growth, roughly 9 of field technicians and over 7 of both meter technicians and line crews will use a mobile device for their job. All respondents indicated using cellular carrier networks to send and receive data with 6 also using either Wi-Fi or satellite networks to complement their carrier service. Roughly 7 of utilities have deployed GIS / mapping and Mobile Workforce Management applications to their field crews. In the utility respondents expect to begin wide spread deployment of CRM and asset management applications. Survey & Research Methodology Given the evolutionary changes occurring within the utility industry, the primary goals of this study are to determine how technology enhances the productivity and operational efficiencies that utilities are striving to reach. Tabulation of the survey results which this report is based upon occurred in February of. The data represents forward-looking technology adoption and growth plans for and Research for this study was conducted via a structured, anonymous, online survey. A total of 50 utilities located across the US submitted completed surveys. As an aggregate total of population served, the responding utilities provide electrical power to approximately 37 million households, or roughly 1 of the US population. The survey respondents are senior level IT directors and operations managers responsible for the deployment of mobile / field technologies (e.g. hardware, software and networking services) for mobile workers.

2 Industry Trends Electric and power utilities are facing unique challenges that require significant change in order to sustain operational efficiency. Traceable from the hiring freezes and downsizing in the 1990s, industry deregulation focused utilities on cost-cutting measures in order to make operations leaner in the face of growing competition. In addition, with little turnover in the industry, and promotions often made from within, an influx of new workers has been very limited. The result of these industry changes has created significant strains upon the utility worker infrastructure. Many utilities have seen a slow but steady loss of industry knowledge due to an aging and retiring workforce. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, electric power industry workers are older than the national average (average utility employee is nearly 44 years old), and the median age will continue to increase over the next 25 years. For the utility industry as a whole, over 150,000 employees fall in the 55-to-64 age range, and another 26,000 employees are 65+. A study conducted by the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association (NRECA) showed that over 6 of line superintendents are age 50 or older. The study also raised concerns that there is no end in sight to the continued aging of the utility workforce and reduction in maintainable technical knowledge. Lastly, the American Public Power Association (APPA) reached similar conclusions regarding the decline of expert workers in their report, Work Force Planning for Public Power Utilities: Ensuring Resources to Meet Projected Needs. The continuing loss of such a large number of specialized utility professionals, whose training and expertise ensures both utility performance and safety, represents a growing quandary for the power industry. In juxtaposition, younger workers that are entering the utility industry frequently lack the knowledge of senior workers, but are technically savvier and expect to use technology to perform their job functions. As addressed in APPA s study, utilities that are not providing enabling technology tools will likely find it more difficult to recruit new workers and may see their operational efficiencies fall. In addition, the same technology tools if implemented, can act as a repository to ensure that knowledge from senior workers is not lost but instead stored and made available to the entire field force. The convergence of these challenges and opportunities has led many forward-thinking utilities to deploy mobile technologies as strategic and competitive differentiators. As this study will show, these organizations have quickly realized a return on their investment, enhanced worker productivity, and improved their level of customer support and service. Survey Results The 50 utilities that responded to the survey answered a series of questions surrounding their mobile deployments. Follow-up phone interviews occurred with some respondents to ensure accuracy of information. Survey results with explanations are separated into the following sections: 2

3 Mobile Deployment Overview o Mobile device use by worker type o Mobile device numbers current / growth plan o Types of mobile devices current / growth plan o Mobile data network use o Mobile access to applications current / growth plan o Mobile VPN Deployment Mobile Deployment Overview Mobile Device Use by Worker Type Survey responses indicate mobile devices such as laptops, tablets or handheld computers are deployed primarily to service technicians, meter technicians and line crews. These technician groups together are responsible for inspection, maintenance and repair of electromechanical and electronic meters and equipment that measure customer consumption of electricity or gas. They re responsible for turning meters on or off to establish or end service. They may rebuild, remove, repair, adjust, or change meters and regulators; trace and tag meters or house lines, or replace metering devices. They verify wiring and meter accuracy and investigate the causes of commercial or residential problems. These technicians use mobile devices for service automation and to obtain work orders and customer site information in the field. Following on-site inspection, service establishment or disconnect, collection, or repair, technicians can record activities and close work orders in real time. Reporting can also be handled from the job site, allowing field workers to spend more time in the field and less time in the office. Survey responses indicate: 7 have deployed mobile devices to their service technician teams 62% to meter technicians Slightly over half (52%) to line crews. Many new groups that previously did not have mobile devices are now using them for better work order management. These include: Digging / new construction teams (37%) who handle new power line development Street light servicing crews (12%) that ensure street lights are functioning properly Tree crews (1) who trim or remove tree branches that pose a risk of touching or damaging power lines. 3

4 Survey Question: Which groups within your organization use mobile devices for the job function? Service Technicians Meter Technicians Line Crews Digging / Construction Crews Others (please specify) Street Light Servicing Crews Tree Crews Over of respondents also indicated that other groups within their utility organization use mobile devices for daily work functions. Field workers included in the other category include: substation inspectors, circuit reliability coordinators, general engineers and supervisors. One utility respondent added that they are beginning to equip their general office staff with laptops. Doing so allowed office personnel to work remotely if necessary due to inclement weather or natural disaster. Mobile Device Numbers Current Nearly half of the respondents (45%) said that mobile devices are deployed to between 100 and 500 mobile workers. The remaining respondents fall to either side of the deployment spectrum with 25% deployed to less than 100 and 25% deployed to between 500 and 1,000 workers. The remaining 5% have seen widespread adoption with over 1,000 workers using mobile devices. These organizations are moving beyond deploying to just field staff and are finding the value in enabling all workers to have remote access to office / database resources. Survey Question: How many workers in your organization are using mobile devices for their job function? 45% 25% 5% Less than to to 1000 More than % 4

5 Mobile Device Numbers Growth Plan Future growth plans show that nearly all utilities will deploy mobile devices to new groups within their organizations over the course of. Nearly of organizations will add service technician teams that previously did not have mobile access and 15% of new line crews will receive mobile devices this year. By year end, nearly 9 of the responding utilities will have deployed mobile devices to their service technicians, over 7 to meter technicians and nearly 7 to line crews. Survey Question: In what new groups will receive mobile devices? 25% 15% 1 5% In addition, 22% of responding organizations indicated the expansion into other groups that historically did not receive laptops. These include general management and customer support staff so that they could login from home or remote locations. Some utilities responded that any worker who interacted with their workforce management solution should use a laptop as there is a high probability that their work requires some field activities. Types of Mobile Devices Current Most utilities (94%) indicate that their mobile workers use ruggedized laptops. Typical brands/types mentioned include Panasonic Toughbook, General Dynamics GoBook, and Dell Latitude D series. Organizations that used handheld computers (32%) primarily deployed the Intermec CN3 and Trimble handhelds. Responding utilities using tablets (3) typically chose Panasonic Toughbook H1 Field or Motion Computing ruggedized tablets. Several organizations indicated beginning tests of Lenovo netbooks as a low cost option to meet the needs for some workers. Lastly, for voice communication and limited application access, 3 of utility respondents deployed Blackberry handsets. Survey Question: What types of devices do your mobile workers use (check all that apply)? Laptop Handheld Computer Tablet Netbook Smartphone 5

6 Types of Mobile Devices Growth Plan Survey Question: In, what new device(s) will you introduce for your workers (check all that apply)? Laptop Handheld Computer Tablet Netbook Smartphone In, respondents plan to increase the number of devices deployed to field workers across the board. Over 8 said they will add more ruggedized laptops to their field worker groups, such as Panasonic Toughbooks. Roughly 35% plan to deploy tablet devices such as the Panasonic H1 Field and Motion Computing tablets. Growth in both handhelds and smartphones appears to diminish slightly for the rest of. And several organizations will continue testing netbooks throughout the remainder of the year. Mobile Data Network Use As field workers spend their workday traversing both urban and rural areas servicing households and businesses, they access information via carrier networks. All utilities involved in the survey have service agreements with at least one of the major public wireless providers: AT&T, Sprint or Verizon Wireless. In many cases, due to the large geographic area they cover, utilities have multiple carrier agreements to ensure optimum connectivity. Nearly half of the respondents (45%) tied in to available Wi-Fi networks as a way to boost data throughput speeds and enable faster download and upload of information. These Wi-Fi networks are a combination of publically-owned and accessible hotspots as well as privately owned points run by the individual utility. Respondents said this is a helpful option especially for handling larger GIS and mapping files which most field workers need access to throughout the day. A smaller percentage of utilities, roughly 15%, access data via satellite network connection. Although these utilities rely on carrier networks for the bulk of day-to-day data access, the remote locations where their crews sometimes work make satellite the only viable option. 6

7 Survey Question: What mobile data networks do your mobile workers currently us (check all that apply)? Carrier Network Wi-Fi Network Satellite Mobile Access to Applications Current Seventy percent of responding utilities indicated they have deployed GIS / mapping and Mobile Workforce Management (MWM) applications to their field workers. The most widely used GIS / mapping application was ESRI ArcGIS. A few utilities have also opted for internal in-house application development or other off-the-shelf mapping products. Survey results show many different MWM applications in use. Some of the more frequently mentioned products include: Oracle and SAPs MWM suites, IBM s Maximo, Ventyx, ViryaNet, and Syclo. About 3 of utilities employ in-house software developers that work closely with their field crews to understand their ongoing business requirements and write customized applications accordingly. Applications for better fleet/asset management or CRM are also in field service environments. With access to these new data resources, many workers now spend little time in the office and can conduct business primarily from the field Asset Management CRM Fleet Management GIS & Mapping Mobile Workforce Management 7

8 Mobile Access to Applications Growth All utilities plan to rollout new applications for their field workers. The largest growth in new application deployment is expected in asset management and CRM. Approximately 35% of the utilities indicated they will introduce these applications to field workers during. Nearly of utilities will introduce new fleet management tools and roughly an equivalent number will add on GIS & mapping capabilities making GIS access at 9 for organizations surveyed. MWM applications are expected to approach 8 penetration of surveyed utilities during. In addition to job-specific applications, most utilities have enabled mobile workers to have access to the Internet and . Survey results indicate that 85% of the utilities are providing their field crews with access to corporate accounts and 7 had general Internet access available. Mobile VPN Deployment Utility respondents deployed a mobile VPN in order to enhance the productivity of their mobile workers and to solve specific challenges that occurred in their deployments. Key reasons cited for choosing a mobile VPN: Network Roaming 45% said that enabling network roaming was a key factor for the success of their mobile deployment. Responding companies indicated a mobile VPN allows end users to seamlessly roam between multiple network types (carrier, Wi-Fi and in some cases satellite networks) without intervention. Application Persistence 27% indicated that intermittent network coverage throughout the workday caused application crashes and lost data. Utilities used the capabilities of a mobile VPN to persist applications through periods of lost connectivity to solve this problem. Security 15% said that their primary reason for deploying a mobile VPN was to ensure security over data traffic to and from the mobile devices. Mobile VPN s use AES encryption which meets the requirements for FERC/NERC compliance. Management Control 13% said that they needed a centralized management tool to manage, monitor and control their mobile deployment. Administrators used the mobile VPN s management console to have a system-wide view of all the devices connected to their network. Utilities deploying a mobile VPN also realized significant business / operational benefits. Nearly 10 of utilities saw a drop in IT support needed to solve mobile deployment related problems. Over 7 said that their field workers became more productive and could complete more work orders per day. Almost all utilities (92%) found the deployment of a mobile VPN to be either Very Important or Important for the success of their mobile deployment. Conclusion To remain competitive and see continued top line growth, utilities must identify innovative ways to increase the efficiency and productivity of one of their most valuable resources their field workers. 8

9 As the frontline for customer service, providing field workers with tools that enable them to accomplish tasks more effectively will ultimately ensure the viability of the company. As the survey results demonstrate, utilities that deploy mobile technologies realize significant value as measured by: more work orders completed per day, increase in ease of use of mobile devices, decreased IT support needs, better management of field-based workers / assets, and enhanced security to comply with industry requirements and standards. Over the remainder of and 2011, the utilities involved in this study indicate continuing to invest in devices and applications to support mobile initiatives. They will enable more workers to take a wherever, whenever approach to help them stay connected regardless of location. This will fuel continued enhancements in productivity, improvements in customer service and leadership within the utility industry. For More Information For more information about NetMotion Wireless, please visit for more information. NetMotion Wireless, Inc. All rights reserved. NetMotion and NetMotion Mobility are registered trademarks, and Mobility XE, Roamable IPSec, InterNetwork Roaming, Best-Bandwidth Routing and Analytics Module are trademarks of NetMotion Wireless, Inc. Microsoft, Microsoft Windows, Active Directory, ActiveSync, Internet Explorer, Windows Mobile, Windows Server, Windows XP, SQL Server, Windows XP Tablet PC Edition and Windows Vista are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. All other trademarks, trade names or company names referenced herein are used for identification purposes only and are the property of their respective owners. NetMotion technology is protected by one or more of the following US Patents: 6,198,920; 6,418,324; 6,546,425; 6,826,405; 6,981,047; 7,136,645; 7,293,107; and Canadian Patent 2,303,987. Other US and foreign patents pending. 9