BY MIKE ANTICH Vehicle Connectivity to Revolutionize Fleet Management grow from 96.2 million to 105.4 million in 2020. In the future, it is not inconceivable to foresee formidable sotware providers entering the mobile worker space who today are not present. As they develop the domain expertise in the leet space, third-party sotware providers will build solutions and products for corporate customers and their mobile workers. As this new business model emerges, it will change the competitive landscape and attract new players into the leet space. With a potential proliferation of third-party apps developed for mobile workers by non-traditional sotware providers, today’s leet manage-ment systems have the potential to morph into sotware-as-a-service (SaaS) platforms. here will be many synergistic opportunities for leet service companies and vertical sotware providers to partner to complement each other in terms of products, skillsets, and strategies. One important component of the newly emerging connected leet vehicle ecosystem will be wearable technologies. For those unfamiliar with wearable technologies, it is a wide range of miniature electronic devices worn for extended periods by a user on either his or her body or clothing. hese devices will have numerous consumer applications, such as healthcare (continuous physiological monitoring, for example blood pressure or glucose levels), physical itness accessories (heart rate monitoring or calories burned), or augmented reality devices. In terms of a work environment, wearables give employees web-enabled access to the information they need to perform their tasks and continuously updates management on their progress without inter-rupting their worklow or interaction with a customer. Proponents are already talking about in-vehicle integration with wearable technologies worn by a driver. For instance, physical itness monitors in the future will help vehicles determine climate control settings and measure the driver’s stress and fatigue levels, or even monitor a driver’s alcohol or blood sugar levels. Wearables ofer many interesting and unorthodox leet-related opportunities. For instance, could an employee wellness monitoring program of mobile workers be a future service ofered by leet management companies? I n the next decade, several major megatrends, such as autonomous vehicles and mobility management, will begin to disrupt the leet industry. One thing is certain; the term leet management will soon become inadequate to fully deine the scope of our industry and it will be viewed as an anachronistic label. In addition, there is a third concurrent megatrend driven by embedded and atermarket vehicle technologies, which will be the catalyst of an expanded leet business model focused on managing a connected vehicle ecosystem. his leet ecosystem will encompass not only the vehicle, but also the occupants of the vehicle — the mobile workers — and, more importantly, the work and activities they performed. Focusing on the Mobile Worker Technology trends will ultimately steer the leet management industry to build solutions targeted to the mobile worker. For its irst 50 years, the leet industry has focused on asset management, but technology now allows us to expand our reach to the mobile worker and, ultimately, to managing the work application itself. he evolution of a connected commercial vehicle ecosystem will parallel the concurrent evolution of a consumer connected vehicle ecosystem. he trend will be to manage beyond the vehicle itself and transition into the domain of the mobile workforce. When vehicles are connected between themselves and the surrounding infrastructure, it will create a multifaceted conduit to provide new solutions to the vehicle occupants — both the driver and the passenger(s) — and the opportunity to digitize many of the oline analog work functions that exist in today’s mobile work environment. he work vehicle will evolve beyond a transportation and cargo-carrying tool into a mobile connec-tivity work platform. he trend will stimulate the development of new vertical sotware solutions designed to streamline worklows for mobile workers. In this new environment, the term leet management will only capture one facet of a broader mobile worker strategy. hese expanded capabilities will prompt some leet service companies to reposition and redeine their value propositions. In the coming years, the world of the mobile worker will dramati-cally change with the convergence of a multitude of technologies, such as mobility, augmented reality, cloud-based computing, the Internet of hings, Big Data, etc. Increasingly, corporations are looking for solu-tions that will increase ield workplace productivity and eiciency to drive a much stronger growth curve in their businesses. As a result, leet service companies have the opportunity to expand beyond the vehicle to also encompass the mobile worker and their work application. Historically, leet has had a vehicle-centric mindset, but this emerging megatrend ofers the potential to evolve to an employee-centric mobile strategy that manages the tools at a mobile worker’s disposal, including the vehicle. According to International Data Corporation (IDC), the mobile worker population in the U.S. is growing and is expected to Blurring the Deinition of What is a Fleet he leet world is fundamentally changing at the macro level where even the deinition of what is a leet is starting to blur. For instance, does Uber have a leet? As the Ubers and Lyts of the world transition to autonomous vehicles there will be new leet management opportunities to ensure the vehicles remain clean, tires are regularly inspected, and vehicles are safely marshaled during non-working hours. In an increasingly complex mobile work domain, there most likely will arise a corporate desire to outsource the management of this technology-enabled work anywhere-anytime job environment. Could this need be met by tomorrow’s leet service providers ofering a comprehensive ield management solution? Let me know what you think. ■ mike.antich@bobit.comk Q2 2018 I AUTOMOTIVE FLEET 3
Automotive Fleet May 2018: 3
