CUSTOMER SUCCESS

DELIVERING DIGITAL BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION WITH MOBILE APPS

Moving beyond Salesforce1 to realise the true value of mobile

80% Time efficiency gained by field users

6 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 Diesel

2 The Search for a Solution

4 Starting Out With Salesforce1

6 When the App Stops, so Does the Business

7 A Product Built for App Success

9 Regaining Confidence in Enterprise Mobility

11 A Business Transformed

12 Continuing the Mobile Journey

Active countries8xIncrease in users

Despite its benefits, many businesses are still reluctant to invest in enterprise mobility, and feel related challenges make the realisation of success too good to be true. But the results seen by our customer Diesel speak for themselves, and are reinforced by the feedback received from the end users within the business. This case study will recap the journey Diesel experienced trying to achieve business transformation with mobility, and detail how MobileCaddy’s unique capabilities were the right choice to do so.”

“Justin Halfpenny, CEO, MobileCaddy

3Upgrades in 6 months

6Week project completion

DIESELREIMAGINING A GLOBAL BRAND IN THE DIGITAL AGE

Diesel is a luxury fashion brand which started out in 1978, and has since grown to a company of €1.5 billion turnover, with staff of 7,000, and international offices in major cities around the globe.

Dean joined Diesel in September 2013, tasked with reimagining the brand’s identity, by bringing it back up to speed with modern trends and intensifying consumer demands.

I was introduced to help relaunch the brand and improve the route to market. During that time a large-scale commercial restructuring of the organisation was occurring. Within that, we were seeking a way to become more qualitative and consistent in the measurement and execution of our key workflows. Having previous experience with Salesforce, I set out in April 2014 to find a simple solution to achieve this on the platform. This case study will outline the journey which followed, exploring the challenges we faced along the way, and detailing how we were able to positively transform our business by finding the right solution with MobileCaddy.”

Dean Cooper, Director, Northern Europe

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THE SEARCH FOR A SOLUTION

Looking to restore a cutting edge to how Diesel conducted its business, one of Dean’s prioritieswas centred around instilling focused processes within a highly distributed workforce of visual merchandisers and sales executives. Dean needed to find a way to make important daily tasks such as calendar scheduling, data entry, and reporting more methodical, which would consequently make them easier for staff to complete. Crucially, this would improve relationships with stores, free up more time to explore new business opportunities, and begin to raise the brand’s image in the eyes of its end customers.

TURNING TO TECHNOLOGY

Having explored a number of options which would help drive the workforce’s performance, a digital technology solution emerged as the logical option to streamline the way employees were able to complete their work for their own benefit, as well as the brand’s.

The idea of opening up a

discussion with Salesforce then,

just like a digital strategy should

be, was not technology-led, but

people-led.

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GETTING INTO THE MOBILE MINDSETDean was introduced to the idea of using a mobile application from Salesforce to replace paper-based processes and add a new dimension of accuracy to his employees’ work in the field. When evaluating the various technologies available, it became apparent that a mobile app would provide significant improvements in the areas Dean was looking to address. Therefore, investing in an app for the workforce represented the best way for Diesel to correct all of its inconsistencies, and provided an opportunity to improve the running of the organisation, giving employees more time to do their jobs effectively.

DESIRED OUTCOMES OF THE INITIAL APP FOR THE DIESEL EMPLOYEES

Personalised calendar scheduling

In-store report completion

Photo capture for validation

Automated creation of actions3

STARTING OUT WITH SALESFORCE1

The Salesforce1 mobile app was chosen as the vehicle to initiate this change within the business, due to a desire for simplicity and convenience for the workforce on a large scale. The first version of this was launched in October 2014, as Salesforce offered a quick and easy way to mobilise Diesel’s existing infrastructure. The app did initially provide some of the advantages mobility offers in the workplace, and the strategic idea behind its deployment was justified by the convenience of how an app could theoretically perform for the use cases Dean had outlined. However, challenges quickly emerged within certain workflows once the app had been deployed, while some of the features were not being delivered as required by the employees.

Enabled the testing of initial ideas

Revealed the need for additional features

Gathered valuable user feedback

4

No Offline Logic

The Salesforce1 app was intended to boost productivity, allow real-time completion of various duties in the field, and improve the accuracy of the employees’ work overall.

However, the app itself was, in many ways, contradictory to those desired outcomes, and began to demonstrate several limitations which were giving users a negative experience.

LIMITATIONS AND FRUSTRATIONS

Loss of Critical Data

Clunky, Ineffective Interface

Slow & Frustrating Experience

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It became apparent that the employees had become entirely dependent on the app, but were obstructed by an inability to use it when any Internet connection was lost, among other common failings. A lack of offline functionality was becoming an inherent problem, though, because the department stores which are visited on a daily basis by many of the employees using the app have extremely poor connectivity.

In this scenario, the app was rendered virtually useless, the employees were forced to revert back to working manually, and the efficiencies which had been gained were immediately being lost again.

WHEN THE APP STOPS, SO DOES THE BUSINESS

APP FAILURE IS NOT ACCEPTABLE

A realisation occurred that having the app, but not being able to use it, was the most damaging possible situation for the business to be put in, because it had become absolutely critical to the employees’ ability to do their jobs.

6

A PRODUCT BUILT FOR APP SUCCESS

BUILD

TEST

DEPLOY

MONITOR

ANALYSE

VERSION

Dean was forced to find a new solution capable of helping him overcome this unexpected challenge. This would need to let him create an app that would simply work within their critical processes, and keep working, in the ways his employees required it to.

“This is when we were introduced to Justin and the MobileCaddy team in February 2015. We were very nearly ready to give up on the Salesforce mobile app project, because the lack of full offline use had become completely counterproductive for our guys in the field,” explained Dean.

“When we started working with MobileCaddy to understand how we could build a new app, get it connected, and what those processes looked like, everybody was totally engaged with making it happen, and there was commitment from every side.”

In MobileCaddy, Dean found a product which could deliver on those requirements, while remaining affordable and reliable. MobileCaddy offered Diesel the tools to build an enterprise-grade app which would be simple to change or update, with careful management of its entire lifecycle, to remove the failures of Salesforce1.

An end-to-end solution designed to ensure businesses succeed with their investments in technology

DESIGN

MANAGE

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By going back to the drawing board with MobileCaddy it became clear where mistakes had been made previously. By adopting MobileCaddy’s unique, comprehensive approach to the mobile app project, as demonstrated below, the right measures and criteria were put in place to ensure the app would perform as necessary.

Through MobileCaddy, Diesel was given a fresh start, and by understanding the importance of these four key elements, Dean was able to produce an app capable of achieving exactly what the business needed.

Business ValueThe outset of any mobile app project requires a disciplined approach to define and record the desired business value. This will be used to inform the design, measure overall success, and provide the checks and balances during subsequent project stages.

App PerformanceApp performance demands anenterprise-grade specification as the foundation of success. A robust approach to platform uptime, data connectivity, and fault handling with productionmonitoring and alerts will provide the confidence to mobilise any businessprocess.

UX DesignEvery aspect of the app’s design must be suited to the mobile form factor, and to the process at hand. This meansunderstanding the user and logic flows, and ensuring the final design matches the user’s experience to the required business outcomes.

App AgilityAdapting to new challenges and opportunities is vital. Upgrading and maintaining a robust, offline-first mobile app must be quick and cost-effective, to maximise the available effort on new app requirements. Version deployment processes shouldbe carefully managed to streamline releases.

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REGAINING CONFIDENCE IN ENTERPRISE MOBILITY

When dealing with more complex use cases, intricate business processes, and critical workflows, businesses must be aware that solutions such as Salesforce1 can only stretch so far, and will always come with a high risk of failure if asked to do so.

When MobileCaddy’s emphasis on app success was added to Diesel’s equation, the problem was easily solved. The app thenbecame a way to enhance the existing output of the employees, offering a newway of working which could save time, reduce mistakes, lower costs, and increase revenue. By working with MobileCaddy across theentire lifecycle of their app, Dean was given absolute confidence in the solution’s ability to achieve his original goal of driving the transformation of the brand.

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“We also worked closely with MobileCaddy on reimagining the UI and the UX of the Salesforce1 app, which was very important in that next stage with our new app working offline,” Dean continued. “Once we had it connected, we made sure we improved how the users would work with it, so we got a lot of our people involved to help us perfect that. When we eventually landed on our customised UI, we knew we had something very powerful.”

The visual representation of each store’s performance gives the user instant information without having to navigate a clunky interface.

The ability to schedule their next store visit with a single tap, immediately after completing one, gives the users speed and consistency.

Offline-first design means the user continues to work, unaffected, even without connectivity. Sync status is constantly communicated to the user.

Simple, fast scrolling keeps the user focused on the task at hand, and keeps them informed of their schedule.

A built-in feedback system helps to inform improvements for future versions of the app.

The design means the user is only shown information relevant to their current task.

The overall interface was designed through a series of user workshops, meaning data input is as efficient as possible. The app doesn’t impede relationship management.

10

A BUSINESS TRANSFORMED

When the new app with MobileCaddy was deployed, the technology choices Dean had made in his search for mobile success began to pay dividends once it was applied to the critical processes his employees were working to.

Adoption among the workforce was far more positive than with the previous Salesforce1 app, because MobileCaddy had been able to solve all the challenges employees were facing as a direct result of Salesforce’s limitations.

“

Stephanie Lennox, Visual Merchandiser, Diesel

The MobileCaddy app was easier to use in comparison to the Salesforce1 app. With the old app there was a lot more information to input, and you just felt like you were constantly trying to navigate your way around. My job is all about having time, because I do a lot of travelling. So because the MobileCaddy app was so much quicker, I had a lot more time to complete important jobs that I really needed to get done. I instantly felt much happier using the MobileCaddy app, because the input of all the information was really simple, really easy, and I had no problems using it at all.”

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BENEFITS AND ADVANTAGESAmong the immediate commercial returns was an increase in product orders from leading department stores, and improved relationships between employees and store owners or customers, driven by the intuitive features that were being utilised within the app.

It became clear that the MobileCaddy app not only introduced a more effective operational status quo for the business, but also contributed to better management of client relationships, far greater organisation across the entire workforce, and also delivered cost reductions to solidify the return on investment.

The time spent in the field focusing on important tasks by the merchandising teams saw close to a 100% increase due to the efficiencies gained. This led to a significant rise in reporting and daily task completion.

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Because of its success, Diesel is now in the process of rolling out the app across the rest of Europe, going from just 44 users to 170 in total.

CONTINUING THE MOBILE JOURNEY

Transition into different languages and cultures

Personalisation of various features for each region

Translating the app from a tablet computer into the context of a smartphone

MobileCaddy’s unique versioning capabilities will allow strategic upgrades to be made quickly, and deployed seamlessly, maintaining the app’s value to its users without disruption.

“The versioning aspect is built into MobileCaddy from the ground up as part of its core DNA. Because Diesel’s app is completely versionable, it gives them the ability to react to the small superficial changes, as well as the larger business-oriented changes, to alleviate all the pain points they encountered with Salesforce1. Beyond that, they can now start to look at adding even more value across the wider business with the next version. It seems that versionable architecture is one of the things Diesel values the most about working with MobileCaddy, because it got them to the point where strategic business decisions were not bound by technology. That then allowed them to focus on building an app that was the best solution for the business and its employees, because the technology could, did, and will continue to respond very quickly to satisfy their needs.”

Justin Halfpenny, CEO, MobileCaddy

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MOBILE APPS OFFER THE OPPORTUNITY FOR SUCCESS

Many analysts and experts will be quick to tell you that enterprise mobility is a concept still in its infancy, but it appears to be growing up fast. When approached strategically, mobile apps can become far more than tools for convenient remote working; they can fundamentally transform the running of a business by offering significant operational, financial, and competitive advantages. As we begin to move towards that new frontier, technology solutions which can provide those advantages will need to be readily available. This is why MobileCaddy exists today. With MobileCaddy, businesses such as Diesel are able to create apps purpose-built to support their most important processes and workflows, regardless of size, industry, or location. By taking responsibility for the entire lifecycle of those apps, MobileCaddy is able to meet the demands of the enterprise, sustain the required levels of performance, adapt to the rapid pace of market change, and deliver true digital business transformation.

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The information provided in this eBook is strictly for the convenience of our customers and is for general informational purposes only. Publication by MobileCaddy does not constitute an endorsement. MobileCaddy does not warrant the accuracy or completeness of any information, text, graphics, links or other items contained within this eBook. MobileCaddy does not guarantee you will achieve any specific results if you follow any advice in the eBook. It may be advisable for you to consult with a professional such as a lawyer, accountant, architect, business advisor or professional engineer to get specific advice that applies to your specific situation.

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© 2016 MobileCaddy Ltd, All rights reserved.

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