If GE is your rival today, push for talks with ServiceMax on how GE Digital will maintain data confidentiality.
Verify that your IoT provider has the resources to properly engage with GE Digital.
Rivals:ServiceMaxs back-end capabilities are built entirely on the Salesforce App Cloud platform, and GE is a big Salesforce customer. But Salesforce launched its own FSM solution, and an IoT marketing narrative, in March 2016.
The Predix IoT and analytics platform
Expect business as usual. GE Digital and Salesforce will want to preserve and advance these customer relationships.
Press ServiceMax for information about how it will support IoT platforms on your shortlist. GE Digital says that ServiceMax will work with other IoT platforms, and that GE will work with companies that are competitors in another area.
Accelerate IoT strategy development to determine if your IoT platform shortlist favors rivals of GE.
Perceived favoritism:Prospects who compete with GEs operating divisions may be reluctant to buy GE Digitals Predix or ServiceMax offerings.
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Operational technology (OT) security via its Wurldtech acquisition
Get commitments from GE Digital for data confidentiality.
Both vendors must avoid potential stumbling blocks in the following areas:
If your organization is an existing ServiceMax customer:
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Integration:Development of asset analytics and asset performance management will continue in GE Digital groups that are separate from field service (but customer-facing activities eventually will flow through the former ServiceMax teams, creating a single contact point).
GE Digital will initially position ServiceMaxs capabilities in managing installed equipment, work orders and contracts and in resource scheduling as part of its industrial internet portfolio. In theory, this is a good fit with GE Digital capabilities such as:
Asset data integration capability acquired from Bit Stew Systems
GE Digital is the business unit leading GEs initiatives for what it calls the industrial internet connected equipment that streams data to its Predix cloud-based platform for analytics and application development. Gartner ranks ServiceMax, which has over 400 customers, as a leader in FSM (seeMagic Quadrant for Field Service Management).
Asset performance management acquired from Meridium
Review the role of, and opportunities for, predictive maintenance and asset performance management as part of your FSM engagements with customers.
If your organization is considering a ServiceMax FSM solution:
On 14 November 2016, GE Digital announced it will buy ServiceMax for $915 million. ServiceMax, based in Pleasanton, California, is a leading vendor of cloud-based field service management (FSM) solutions. The deal is expected to close in January 2017.
This acquisition reflects exploding customer demand in equipment-intensive industries for offerings that combine traditional equipment sales with new connected services to enable guaranteed-uptime service-level agreements (SLAs). To meet the SLA demand, GEs field service providers are integrating capabilities such as asset performance management, the Internet of Things (IoT) and FSM to analyze connected equipment, predict failures and proactively make repairs. The deal also highlights the trend by FSM software vendors to integrate FSM and IoT.
Application leaders in charge of field service:
Three Tips on How to Select FSM Vendors
Magic Quadrant for Field Service Management
GE Digital will add cloud-based field service delivery to its analytics-driven IoT asset management platform for better uptime. FSM application leaders should assess the offering to meet customers higher service-level demands.
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