Top 10: Field Service Management software

2019. Salesforce acquired field service software ClickSoftware


Salesforce announced it has bought field service software company ClickSoftware for a tidy $1.35 billion. This one could help beef up the company’s field service offering, which falls under the Service Cloud umbrella. The company hopes, ClickSoftware will not only accelerate the growth of Service Cloud, but drive further innovation with Field Service Lightning to better meet the needs of our customers. ClickSoftware is actually older than Salesforce having been founded in 1997. The company went public in 2000, and remained listed until it went private again in 2015 in a deal with private equity company Francisco Partners, which bought it for $438 million.


2019. Microsoft Teams added features for shift workers



Microsoft Teams released several new features aimed at shift workers (also known as first line workers).  For starters, Microsoft is making mobile Teams more flexible to meet the needs of a variety of shift worker jobs. Some might need to record and share audio messages, while others might need to share their location or access the camera. Whatever the requirements, Microsoft has started with a Firstline Worker configuration policy template, which IT can customize to meet the needs of various worker types. The mobile tool also includes a navigation bar, which allows workers to add the tools they use most often for easy access. The idea is to make it as simple as possible to access the tools they need, given that these workers tend to be on their feet or on the move a good part of the day.

2016. GE acquired cloud service management app ServiceMax for $915 million



GE Digital is buying ServiceMax, a cloud-based field service management company, for $915 million. GE is building the Predix Platform, on top of which it hopes companies will build applications that take advantage of sensor data coming off of Internet of Things-connected devices. GE has made a huge bet on the Industrial Internet of Things, using data on huge machines like MRI machines, wind turbines and airplane engines to give customers the data they need to proactively maintain these mega systems. ServiceMax CEO Dave Yarnold says this move gives his company resources he couldn’t imagine, and he still gets to run it as a separate entity within the larger organization.


2016. Salesforce Service Cloud added new field service product



Until now Salesforce left field service to third parties like ServiceMax. Calls have come into customer service and have been processed in Service Cloud. While there is a connection to the customer record to let sales see when the customer is having issues, there has been no direct way to connect this information to people out in the field; Salesforce wanted to close this gap. And yesterday they introduced a new field service product they have dubbed Field Service Lightning. Besides, Salesforce key competitors like Microsoft and Oracle have entered this market recently and Salesforce saw this was as a significant missing piece.


2010. ServiceMax unveiled field service software for iPad



When the iPad was just released, we supposed 5 ways to use it for business. Here's another one: iPad is ideally suited to provide technical support in the field. For example, companies that supply equipment, often need to send a specialist to the installation place to inspect the equipment and solve the problem. Working with a netbook in such cases - is uncomfortable, but with the iPad you can even work standing on top of boiler or diesel generator. And the world's best application for such field support services is ServiceMax. It's one of the favorite SaaS-apps of Mark Benioff, Salesforce CEO. ServiceMax is built and running on Force.com platform. It's main investor is Salesforce, and it is very likely that soon the service will become a part of Salesforce, because it perfectly fit their main CRM system .