INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Mobile Technology
Real-time data access is critical for
energy and utilities field workers
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Alex Cooper, Director of Government
and Critical Field Service Strategy,
Zebra Technologies
Z
ebra Technologies, an innovator
at the edge of the enterprise with
solutions and partners that enable
businesses to gain a performance edge,
has announced study findings that indicate
energy and utilities companies across the
world will accelerate investments in mobile
technologies to empower their front-line
workers in the field.
According to 85% of respondents to the
Future of Field Operation vision study, real-
time data access is vital to the successful
execution of mission-critical workflows in the
energy and utilities industry.
“Mobile technology is critical in maintaining
the uninterrupted operations that customers
expect from their water, electricity and fuel
supply service providers,” said Alex Cooper,
Director of Government and Critical Field
Service Strategy, Zebra Technologies.
“To perform at their best, front-line
workers must be able to rely on mobile
communications to get their jobs done
effectively and safely. Our study shows
that as energy and utilities organisations
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progress along their Digital Transformation
initiatives, they will increasingly deploy
mobile technologies to give workers access
to real-time data in the field.”
The study showed that 73% of respondents
working in energy and utilities consider
their companies to be a mobile-first
organisation. This aligns with their strategy
to transform their operations to become
Digital Energy or Digital Utilities enterprises,
leveraging mobile devices to shift from
reactive to proactive, predictive and even
prescriptive service models.
Mobile device usage has helped the majority
of respondents drive increased productivity
in their field operations; 75% agree that
mobile technology will lead to improved
worker job satisfaction within the next
year. These positive results in both worker
performance and sentiment are now driving
a significant increase in the utilisation of
mobile devices and applications in mission-
critical field operations workflows.
Today, only 26% of companies equip
more than half of their field team with
mobile technology. Respondents say this is
projected to grow to 43% of energy and
utilities companies by 2025.
The study explored the deployment and
usage trends in the field. When equipping
field workers, ruggedised devices are the top
choice for energy and utilities companies.
Today, nearly 50% of companies have
adopted rugged tablets, and this will jump to
80% in the next year.
An even higher number of respondents
say their companies will use rugged
smartphones in the next five years, with
93% indicating their mobile strategy will
leverage these purpose-built handheld
devices for their workers in the field.
Among the most common features found
on mobile devices, 66% of respondents
rank mapping and navigation as ‘extremely
important’ in day-to-day operations. Access
to databases in real-time came in second
with 63% followed by email functionality
with 62% of respondents ranking this as a
top priority. n
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