How SOA can help Transformation

Undoubtedly, today’s business leaders face myriad challenges ranging from fierce market competition to increasing market unpredictability. In addition, the modern consumer is more informed and in control of what, where and how they purchase. Couple these challenges with effects of globalization, and you will appreciate that need for business transformation is more of a necessity than a privilege.

As recent business trends show, top companies are characterized by organizational and operational agility. Instead of being shaken by rapid technological changes and aftershocks associated with market changes, they are actually invigorated by these trends. In order to survive in these turbulent times, business leaders are opting to implement corporate transformation initiatives to develop leaner, more agile and productive operations. In line with this, service oriented architecture (SOA) has emerged as an essential IT transformation approach for implementing sustainable business agility.

By definition, service oriented architecture is a set of principles and techniques for developing and designing software in form of business functionalities. SOA allows users to compile together large parts of functionality to create ad hoc service software entirely from the template software. This is why it is preferred by CIOs that are looking to develop business agility. It breaks down business operations into functional components (referred to as services) that can be easily and economically merged and reused in applicable scenarios to meet evolving business needs. This enhances overall efficiency, and improves organizational interconnectivity.

SOA identifies shortcomings of traditional IT transformation approaches that were framed in monolithic and vertical silos all dependent on isolated business units. The current business environment requires that individual business units should be capable of supporting multiple types of users, multiple communication channels and multiple lines of business. In addition, it has to be flexible enough to adapt to changing market needs. In case one is running a global business enterprise, SOA-enabled business transformation can assist in achieving sustainable agility and productivity through a globally integrated IT platform. SOA realizes its IT and business benefits by adopting a design and analyzing methodology when developing services. In this sense a service consists of an independent business unit of functionality that is only available through a defined interface. Services can either be in the form of nano-enterprises or mega-enterprises.

Furthermore, with SOA an organization can adopt a holistic approach to solve a problem. This is because the business has more control over its functions. SOA frees the organization from constraints attributed to having a rigid single use application that is intricately meshed into a fragmented information technology infrastructure. Companies that have adopted service oriented architecture as their IT transformation approach, can easily repurpose, reorganize and rescale services on demand in order to develop new business processes that are adaptable to changes in the business environment. In addition, it enables companies to upgrade and enhance their existing systems without incurring huge costs associated with ‘rip and replace’ IT projects.

In summary, SOA can be termed as the cornerstone of modern IT transformation initiatives. If properly implemented great benefits and a sharp competitive advantage can be achieved. SOA assists in transforming existing disparate and unconnected processes and applications into reusable services; creating an avenue where services can be rapidly reassembled and developed to support market changes.

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Big Energy Data Management

Recent times have seen the advent of cloud based services and solutions where energy data is being stored in the cloud and being accessed from anywhere, anytime through remote mobile devices. This has been made possible by web-based systems that can usually bring real-time meter-data into clear view allowing for proactive business and facility management decisions. Some web based systems may even support multi utility metering points and come in handy for businesses operating multiple sites.

Whereas all this has been made possible by increased use of smart devices/ intelligent energy devices that capture data at more regular intervals; the challenge facing businesses is how to transform the large data/big volume of data into insights and action plans that would translate into increased performance in terms of increased energy efficiency or power reliability.

A solution to this dilemma facing businesses that do not know how to process big energy data, may lie in energy management software. Energy management software?s have the capability to analyse energy consumption for, electricity, gas, water, heat, renewables and oil. They enable users to track consumption for different sources so that consumers are able to identify areas of inefficiency and where they can reduce energy consumption, Energy software also helps in analytics and reporting. The analytics and reporting features that come with energy software are usually able to:

? Generate charts and graphs ? some software?s give you an option to select from different graphs

? Do graphical comparisons e.g. generate graphs of the seasonal average for the same season and day type

? Generate reports that are highly customisable

While choosing from the wide range of software available, it is important for businesses to consider software that has the capacity to support their data volume, software that can support the frequency with which their data is captured and support the data accuracy or reliability.

Energy software alone may not make the magic happen. Businesses may need to invest in trained human resources in order to realise the best value from their big energy data. Experts in energy management would then apply human expertise to leverage the data and analyse it with proficiency to make it meaningful to one?s business.

Disadvantages of Spreadsheets – Obstacles to Compliance in the Healthcare Industry

Most of the regulatory compliance issues we talked about concerning spreadsheets have been related to financial data. But there are other kinds of data that are stored in spreadsheets which may also cause regulatory problems in the future.

In the US, a legislation known as HIPAA or Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act is changing the way health care establishments and practitioners handle patient records. The HIPAA Privacy Rule is aimed at protecting the privacy of individually identifiable health information a.k.a. protected health information (PHI).

Examples of PHI include common identifiers like a patient’s name, address, Social Security Number, and so on, which can be used to identify the patient. HIPAA covers a wide range of health care organisations and service providers, including: health plan payers, health care clearing houses, hospitals, doctors, dentists, etc.

To protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of PHI, covered entities are required to implement technical policies such as access controls, authentication, and audit controls. These can easily be implemented on server-based systems.

Sad to say, many health care organisations who have started storing data electronically still rely on spreadsheet-based systems. Those policies are hard to implement in spreadsheet-based systems, where files are handled by end-users who are overloaded with their main line of work (i.e. health care) and have very little concern for data security.

In some of these systems, spreadsheet files containing PHI may have multiple versions in different workstations. Chances are, none of these files have any access control or user authentication mechanism whatsoever. Thus, changes can easily be made without proper documentation as to who carried out the changes.

And because the files are normally easily accessible, unauthorised disclosures – whether done intentionally or accidentally – will always be a lingering threat. Remember that HIPAA covered entities who are caught disclosing PHI can be fined from $50,000 up to $500,000 plus jail time.

But that’s not all. Through the HITECH Act of 2009, business associates of covered entities will now have to comply with HIPAA standards as well. Business associates are those companies who are performing functions and services for covered entities.

Examples of business associates are accounting firms, law firms, consultants, and so on. They automatically need to comply with the standards the moment they too deal with PHI.

More Spreadsheet Blogs

Spreadsheet Risks in Banks

Top 10 Disadvantages of Spreadsheets

Disadvantages of Spreadsheets – obstacles to compliance in the Healthcare Industry

How Internal Auditors can win the War against Spreadsheet Fraud

Spreadsheet Reporting – No Room in your company in an age of Business Intelligence

Still looking for a Way to Consolidate Excel Spreadsheets?

Disadvantages of Spreadsheets

Spreadsheet woes – ill equipped for an Agile Business Environment

Spreadsheet Fraud

Spreadsheet Woes – Limited features for easy adoption of a control framework

Spreadsheet woes – Burden in SOX Compliance and other Regulations

Spreadsheet Risk Issues

Server Application Solutions – Don’t let Spreadsheets hold your Business back

Why Spreadsheets can send the pillars of Solvency II crashing down

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Importance of Field Service Management Software for Mobile Working

Technology has been evolving at a fast pace. Changes are also happening simultaneously within different industries. Making a great difference in the business world right now is the trend of mobile working.

Thanks to platforms and tools, working while on the go is now easier and more streamlined. The field service industry also benefits from these technological advances.

Mobile technicians can now give excellent performance and do their job efficiently with no hands-on management needed.

Keep in mind that field service management is no joke. So, to achieve a smooth business and mobile worker management, you’ll need to invest in good mobile service management software.

But First, what is Mobile Working?

Mobile working is a method of working that is not tied to a single physical location.

It isn’t just about checking your emails on your phone or ringing your colleagues via Bluetooth while driving your car to the next appointment. It’s so much more intricate than that.

Effective mobile working means you’re mobilising your workers. Field technicians should have everything they need to complete their day to day work. You’re giving them their entire office in the form of a mobile device.

Mobile working, via a handheld device, allows field technicians to do the following:
● Access and input information about a work order
● Collaborate on projects
● Stay in touch with colleagues, clients and management
● Utilize effectively the different software features

Your field workers should have the support of a dynamic management tool that ensures they are sent to the job that utilises their skills effectively and efficiently.

That’s where a good field service management software shows its importance.

The Role of a Field Service Management Software

Your mobile workforce is scattered across various physical locations. You’ll need to connect with them and simultaneously manage your field service business.

Thanks to the increasing connectivity and improvement of technologies for this purpose, mobile workers can easily input and access any work order details via your chosen field service management software.

What Makes a Good Field Service Management Software?

There are 3 main points to consider when investing in a good mobile workforce management software:

1. It’s simple and familiar to use. Like we mentioned before, be sure to mobilise your field technicians – not the back-office system. Make sure your chosen app or software has a simple user interface so your workers can be on-the-go easily.

2. It works offline. Rural areas and highways can have poor connectivity. Sometimes agents will need to work in areas that have little to no network coverage or are deep down working in tunnels or around heavy machines and turbines. You don’t want your field technicians unable to complete work due to connectivity issues. Make sure to choose software that can function on their device while offline.

3. It’s flexible (and maintainable). Your field service management of choice should have real-time visibility. Flexible and improved visibility for a field worker means that they can do their best in any task. They can share or get critical information about orders and customers. This drastically improves job completion rates and customer satisfaction.

Importance of Field Service Management Software to Mobile Working

Utilize the technology that is available to you. Your mobile workforce should have the right tools so they can make sure to do their fieldwork efficiently without worrying about tedious administrative work. Any back-office task can be done quickly through a field service management software.

And that’s the most important role of a great mobile service management app — effective mobile worker efficiency.

Benefits of a Field Service Management Software to Mobile Working

● Additional revenue: By simplifying the administrative work, your field technician can even double the work order in their daily shift, meaning more profit for the business.

● Cost-cutting: The cloud-based nature of a field service management software means that your business can reduce the cost of on-site IT.
Your mobile workforce can operate from wherever they have an online connection, meaning less reliance on offices and building costs.

● Boosts overall efficiency: A mobile workforce management software allows you as a manager to monitor in real-time where they are and what they are doing. It means that problems can be identified and dealt with immediately.
Your field technician, in turn, becomes more efficient because the technology allows them a quicker response, instead of taking too long finishing administrative tasks.

Invest in a great field service management software. Check out FieldElite and see how they can help you with the following mobile working features:
• Accepts jobs in the field
• Automate appointment scheduling
• Manage scheduled jobs
• Get real-time visibility into all operations
• Have a clear and easy viewing of job locations
• Resolve field service calls faster
• Enable mobile workers to get the job done right
• Keep customers updated at every step
• Create quotations and accept payments
• Analyse efficient reports from field technicians