A new study published by Zebra Technologies highlights the importance of data in enhancing the operations of utilities if accessed by field workers in real-time.
The study Future of Field Operation vision has revealed that:
- 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% points to reach 43%.
- The deployment of ruggedised tablets and rugged-built mobile devices in the field will see stronger growth than their consumer-grade counterparts.
- Key applications found on mobile devices are mapping and navigation, real-time access to databases, and email.
- 85% of study participants say real-time data access is vital to the successful execution of mission-critical workflows in the energy and utility industry.
- 73% of respondents working in energy and utilities consider their companies to be mobile-first organisations (firms with a strategy to transform their operations to become Digital Energy or Digital utility enterprises).
- 75% say mobile technology will lead to improved worker job satisfaction within the next year.
- Currently, only 26% of companies equip more than half of their field team with mobile technology.
Alex Cooper, Director of Government and Critical Field Service Strategy, Zebra Technologies, said: “Mobile technology is critical in maintaining the uninterrupted operations that customers expect from their water, electricity and fuel supply service providers.
“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 with their digital transformation initiatives, they will increasingly deploy mobile technologies to give workers access to real-time data in the field.”
The study comprised responds from more than 1,200 key decision-makers from these three industries located across the Americas, Europe and the Asia Pacific were surveyed.
Click here for more information about the study.