IFS Cloud releases updates

IFS, the global cloud enterprise software company, has released its first of two updates to IFS Cloud™ in 2022. 

Central to this release of IFS Cloud is enabling a fast-tracked adoption of digital capabilities to achieve higher levels of productivity, business agility, and operational excellence so that customers can consistently deliver amazing Moments of Service™. 

Christian Pedersen, IFS Chief Product Officer, said: “With IFS Cloud we set out to develop and bring to market a product that is aligned to how customers buy and use technology. Customers look at their business in terms of their people, their assets, and their customers, not in terms of software product categories. With IFS Cloud and with this April 2022 release, we are continuing to break down these artificial constructs and deliver capabilities that are aligned to how customers run their business end-to -end.” 

Pedersen added: “As an example, customers want intelligent insights faster and they want to accelerate automation, but they want to do this across their people, assets and customers’ processes so that they can garner more value faster. Customers can expect IFS to stay laser focused on its promise to deliver improvements in the way their entire business can consume them, and I am hugely proud that once again we are keeping our promise.”

The new features will help customers create business value in three areas:

• Accelerating intelligent insight and automation across the organisation
• Elevating the ability to shape and deliver service to their customers 
• Unlocking new levels of user experience and productivity for their people

The IFS Cloud April 2022 release delivers improved predictive capabilities and simpler, more intelligent analytics for faster time-to-insight. The heightened automation delivered in the release will require fewer human inputs, allowing employees to focus on high-value activities as well as reduce the risk of human errors. 

Specific analytics enhancements include: 

• Ready-to-go analytics for faster time to value: pre-built content with advanced analytics reports that can be tailored
• New analysis models for EAM, CRM, HCM, and Manufacturing and self-service analytics to improve visibility and provide a better user experience
• Extended asset performance prediction: Combined sensor data and historical maintenance records can be used to train ML models to support the decision-making process of operators

New service functionality in the release reinforces the connection between the field and the front and back offices.

New capabilities will enable companies to serve customers faster, more accurately and consistently against agreed service levels. Enhancements include:

• Introduction of a powerful service request capability, including support for quotation management – enabling an enhanced customer experience through more accurate service work scoping and pricing 
• Ability to set geo-positions for assets from mobile devices, record one-off locations for jobs, and update job locations. This reduces the time to locate service equipment and service locations for faster time-to-service
• Improvements to inventory and supply chain capability that enhance the accuracy of supply chain planning 

The release will drive people productivity and help companies develop and support their people throughout their work cycle. Enhancements focus on making experiences at work simpler, more consistent, and easier to deliver: 

• Calendar-based work lists that better supports field technicians at the point of service and increases their productivity
• Shift templates that better support a range of working time patterns, reduces administration, and offers more scheduling flexibility
• Collaboration, communication, and mapping tools in Dispatch Console make it easier for dispatchers to support and collaborate with technicians during in-flight work
• Simplification of employee development and training processes to align business and people objectives consistently, simply and support a more planned individual performance development

Additionally, IFS Cloud includes new capabilities like:

• Boomi Connector with pre-built mappings connects IFS Cloud and 3^rd party CRM vendors such as Salesforce for a unified, 360-degree view of customer data for sales and service organisations to maximise opportunities
• Just 9 months after IFS’s acquisition of Customerville, survey and feedback capabilities are extended in IFS Cloud with Product Widget. Survey triggers are activated when certain events occur, providing customers with the ability to gather contextual insight in a timely and appropriate way
• In Aviation Maintenance customers will see three important additions: 
  • The introduction of Remote Assistance mixed reality to prevent aircrafts from being out of service through real-time collaboration 

• Supervisor workflows for Forward Line Maintenance will keep supervisors and technicians up to date in real-time to react to changes that may occur during the operation of aircraft 
• Enhanced electronic signatures will enable technicians to sign off task and fault work completion, fault deferrals, and aircraft release using an electronic signature – on their mobile device or desktop, both online and offline