Service-oriented organisations are faced with an array of new challenges. Business pressures, including those from competitors, have led, in many cases, to shrinking margins and a growing emphasis on achieving all possible operating efficiencies. Mobile professional services automation offers part of the solution.
Service organisations must be able to accurately and quickly capture time and expenses, and subsequently bill their clients for work performed. In addition, basic functions such as payroll, accounts payable and receivable, other financials and other human resources need to be addressed cost-effectively.
However, recent research reveals that millions of hours are being wasted by the consultancy sector on unproductive tasks. Time management is a deep concern, according to research performed by Aberdeen Group, which suggests that professional services staff invest up to 18 hours a week on project administration. In 38% of cases, this time is invested by senior consultants. Also, in any given week, service professionals devote 11 hours to non-billable activities.
One of the disciplines that has arisen to address these trends is that of professional services automation (PSA), which is to service-oriented organisations what enterprise resource planning was to manufacturers. A growing trend within PSA is the deployment of mobile devices, such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) and new-generation cellphones, to bring vital data from consultants on-site into the PSA system as soon as possible.
Many of the problems Aberdeen has identified in professional services organisations are addressed through the convergence of PSA and mobile. When questioned, 37% finally agreed that too much time is spent on non-billable activities, and 64% agreed that consultants find key management data provision a chore. Only 42% of firms set billable targets for their consultants while 27% of project information is re-keyed.
Two of the biggest headaches on a daily basis for consultants are project reporting and managing the cash flow for a project.
PDAs and new-generation cellphones are ideal for remote professionals to capture their time.
Scott McKenzie, MD, New ERA Solutions
Although many respondents to a Hurwitz survey agreed that logging time data was a chore, few felt averse to entering it, and as many as half of all polled felt that an integrated PSA solution would be valuable for managing time and providing better access to the information needed to improve engagement profitability.
The same survey concluded that 64% of consultants saw providing time data as a chore while 50% need better, timely management information. Almost 40% stated that managing invoicing against projects is a nightmare and 34% say that managing cash flow is difficult as they do not get the right data. A quarter do not trust the time allocation data they get from consultants, and 23% of consultants do not like the systems and so enter limited data.
More than 65% of those polled by Hurwitz spend more than five hours a week on non-chargeable activities.
A total of 18 hours are spent on administration every week, which indicates manual procedures or poorly integrated systems. In an attempt to circumvent this, 62% of companies employ an administrative assistant and in other cases the consultant, IT or general management carry out the function, a poor use of their time. Almost 30% of project information is re-keyed, which takes at least five hours a week.
Most companies believe that billing efficiency is a problem, according to Hurwitz, and erratic and late delivery of invoicing is one of the biggest reasons for client dissatisfaction and poor cash flow. In response, service professionals want easy-to-use, Web-based time entry mechanisms and systems.
With the tools in place to facilitate administrative work quicker, a reduction of just two hours of weekly administration translates into considerably more billable time. This is where mobile PSA has a role to play.
A PSA application deployed - typically in mini-footprint mode - on a mobile device enables consultants to capture time and expenses as and when they occur, with reduced potential for human error because data does not have to be re-keyed and it is captured at the coalface, ensuring the most accurate and current information possible. Data is captured offline, to be synchronised on returning to the office, or even remotely using a modem.
PDAs and new-generation cellphones are ideal for remote professionals to capture their time. They can be used to update back-end systems, leading to a plethora of benefits, including real-time information and the ability to manage projects on-site. The billing process becomes more efficient and more accurate, resulting in non-negotiable invoices and no billing surprises for the customer.
Another major benefit is eliminating the need for consultants physically to report into the office for weekly or monthly meetings, which can be a costly exercise: consultants often spend each Monday morning in the office when they would normally be billing the client R1 500 for that time. This can add up to a loss of around R120 000 per year per consultant.
By using a mobile device in conjunction with a PSA system, a professional services organisation can make progress towards a virtual project office, reducing costs and improving time use due to less office space and lower rental and maximising billable time, while retaining full control.
These days successful project management goes beyond maintaining realistic expectation levels and completing projects within budget, scope, time and resource constraints.
New Era Solutions sponsors ITWeb`s project management industry portal, an information resource that will help you get the best out of your initiative.
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