Have you seen the new 2012 magic quadrant on field services from Gartner?  It is quite strange.  SAP is listed in the bottom left even after the Syclo acquisition?  I thought Syclo was all about mobile enterprise asset management which is very closely aligned with field services (think preventative maintenance and repairs).

ClickSoftware, however, is listed far above everyone else in the top right quadrant.  The strange part is that SAP resells ClickSoftware's solutions as the SAP Workforce Scheduling and Optimization solution and it utilizes the SAP Mobility Platform.  What a small world we all live in.  It seems the Gartner analysis is less about the technology, and more about how it is positioned in the market.  I say that because you can get the same solution from both companies yet they are far apart on the MQ.

My analysis is that field services is much more than just a mobile app platform.  It includes dynamic scheduling, rostering, forecasting, time sheets, planning, etc.   Mobility is simply extending and enhancing the power of those solutions.  Without those connected back-office solutions, mobility loses much of its value.  That is how I interpret the MQ.  What about you?

More pondering... This must present a real dilemma for SAP sales folks selling into field services opportunities.  Should they sell their prospects the SAP Workforce Scheduling and Optimization solution by ClickSoftware, which is on their price list and listed in the very top right Gartner MQ for Field Services and sits on top of the SAP Mobility Platform, or should they sell their prospects just SAP Mobility Platform which is listed in the bottom left.  Yikes!  That is going to require some strategy.

In a timely but coincidental note, I will be joining Stewart Hill from ClickSoftware at 11 AM EST on November 13th to present a webinar titled, "Using Mobile Technology to Drive Business Visibility and Real-time Decision Making."  What a fun subject!!!  I invite you to join the discussion by registering here.
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