INTELLIGENT BRANDS // Mobile Technology
Real-time data access is
critical for energy and utilities
field workers
Zebra 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, realtime
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
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 missioncritical
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.
Key takeaways
• Over the next five years, the number of
companies that will equip more than
half of their field technicians with mobile
devices will grow by 17 percentage points
to reach 43%
• Respondents indicate that the
deployment of ruggedized tablets and
rugged-built mobile devices in the field
will see stronger growth than their
consumer-grade counterparts over the
next five years
• Ranked in order of importance by users,
the key applications found on mobile
devices are mapping and navigation, realtime
access to databases and email •
www.intelligentcio.com INTELLIGENTCIO 69