Whether you’re an integration partner, consultant, system admin, or a mobile worker, there’s something for you in the update.

The release is planned to be generally available in June.

Let’s look at an overview of what’s included in the latest release, divided into three main areas:

1. New mobile app development capabilities
   
   Explore the latest additions that make it easy to build exactly what you need and proactively enhance your apps, including new Resco Power Components for Power Platform, up to 6-time faster sync method, and other improvements.
   
2. UI enhancements
   
   Discover a polished and refined user interface that will enhance the experience for app makers and app users alike, including the new cell resizing feature, improved Questionnaire Designer, or form UI enhancements.
   
3. Mobile workflow improvements
   
   Embrace new features that focus on simplifying frontline processes, including optical character recognition (OCR) in Forms, support of QR codes in Power Apps, and Zebra integration on iPhones.

New mobile app development capabilities

Launch of Power Components

With the latest release, we are introducing a new product to our portfolio – Resco Power Components for the Power Platform.

Resco Power Components are designed to allow you make building business apps on the Power Platform faster and easier. They add a wide range of functionality to your apps immediately without needing to wait for and budget for custom code from developers.

Power Components are code components (PCF controls) that give app makers the ability to extend and customize applications built on Power Platform. They are downloaded once as a solution, installed in an app maker’s environment, and can be deployed across various projects.

Based on popular demand, we have selected the first batch of essential tools – an image gallery, Kanban board, multi-select dropdown list, advanced calendar picker and others. The first batch was released at Resco Next, our community conference, and will be generally available in June.

You can read the full announcement here.

New sync download method (preview/experimental feature)

Syncing large datasets impacts productivity if it takes too long. Therefore, we are working on a significantly faster way of accessing Dataverse data using the TDS endpoint. The new sync engine improves your sync speeds by up to 6 times while increasing reliability.

If you want to opt in and test the lightning-fast sync download, follow these steps:

1. Edit an app project in Woodford.
2. Go to Configuration > Offline Data Sync > Sync Advanced.
3. Enable the “Use TDS download method” option.

Alternatively, app users can enable this feature in the app’s setup. You can also disable TDS download for specific tables in Woodford if they show any issues.

Please note that this is an experimental feature, and it is recommended that you test it thoroughly before deployment in a production environment.

Field usage checker (preview feature)

Identifying where specific fields are used can be challenging in complex projects and can omit effective optimization of sync performance. The new field usage checker will help you identify where are the individual fields used much quicker.

The new functionality analyzes projects and shows you all elements where a field is being used, allowing admins to disable unused fields easily.

This simplifies project management by helping you optimize data fields without disrupting functionality, improving sync performance, and making data management more efficient.

Define score ranges for group results

Evaluating questionnaire responses can be much faster with clear categorization. You can now customize score ranges for each question group and assign distinct labels for different ranges.

This feature allows you to create more effective categorization and evaluation of responses, helping you draw better insights from the data.

UI enhancements

New cell resizing feature in View Designer

You are now able to take advantage of an important change to how cells resize within a row. Previously, you could sometimes experience overlaps of cells in rows, making the content unreadable due to misconfigured anchoring.

Now, newly added cells are set to be responsive by default, allowing you to avoid overlaps and makes scaling smoother.

This means as the row width increases, the cells will proportionally grow, maintaining gaps between cells and from the row edges. If an image needs to be fixed in size, you can turn off the responsiveness and set the anchoring to the left or right.

With these new options you’ll enjoy a smoother, more intuitive design process, ensuring that your layouts look great on all devices without overlaps or unreadable content.

You can learn more about these changes in our recent blog.

Form UI/UX improvements

These enhancements in forms improve experience for mobile workers by providing a more predictable and user-friendly interface, reducing confusion, and increasing efficiency.

Strict layout of cards: A new setting forces cards into their respective columns, avoiding unpredictable shifts, which enhances user experience by maintaining a consistent layout.

Required field markings: Required fields are now clearly marked with an asterisk in forms, reducing confusion and helping users quickly identify necessary inputs.

Confirmation toast: A toast notification confirms when a long questionnaire is saved, providing users with reassurance and reducing the risk of data loss.

Redesigned dropdowns: Improved dropdown navigation in iOS makes adding custom values and searching easier, making the interface more intuitive and user-friendly.

Questionnaire Designer improvements

The updated Questionnaire Designer features new icons and buttons for adding, deleting, and repositioning components. That makes the design process more intuitive and user-friendly for you.

Marking mandatory questions in questionnaires

Similarly to forms, mandatory questions in questionnaires are now clearly marked with an asterisk. Thanks to that, mobile users can identify required fields and ensure that critical information is not overlooked.

Mobile workflow improvements

Faster data entry with Optical Character Recognition (OCR) in forms

You can allow users now to populate text fields on forms using OCR, saving time and effort by capturing a photo or opening an image to fill out forms automatically. This will accelerate data entry for mobile workers, reducing manual input errors, and increasing productivity.

Geo-fencing functionality

Field service dispatchers often struggle without knowing exactly when technicians arrive or leave a location. With the new geo-fencing feature, you can get immediate updates when your front-line workers enter or leave predefined locations like offices or service sites.

This feature works reliably across a wide range of devices (iOS and Android) without draining the battery or compromising user privacy. Only the presence at pre-set locations is monitored, not the overall location.

You’ll enhance the efficiency of your field operations with real-time location updates, ensuring better coordination and faster response times.

Improved questionnaire integrity check

Working with incomplete templates or questionnaires can lead to inaccurate data collection from the field. The improved integrity check now detects incompleteness, preventing users from working with incomplete forms.

Ensuring the integrity of data collection enhances the reliability of your insights and decisions.

Resco Power solutions enhancements

These improvements enhance the usability and flexibility of Resco Forms+ solution on Power Platform, making the questionnaires easier to use in various scenarios.

Questionnaire Player – better support for images

Working with images and videos in Resco questionnaires within Microsoft Power Apps and Power Pages is now significantly smoother. You can easily incorporate components like tagged images and image galleries, enhancing the visual and interactive quality of your questionnaires.

This improvement makes it easier to collect and analyze visual data, enriching your data collection process.

Questionnaire Player – offline mode

In model-driven Power Apps, you can now use questionnaires offline. This means your team can continue working with questionnaires even without internet access, ensuring that data collection is uninterrupted.

QR codes in Power Apps

You can now scan QR codes to answer questions within Resco questionnaires in the Microsoft Power Apps app. This feature simplifies data entry and speeds up the process, making it more efficient for users in the field.

RFID scanning with Zebra devices

Resco mobile apps now support connecting to Zebra Technologies’ RFD4031 RFID scanner using Bluetooth. The functionality is available for iOS devices.

When a user scans RFID tags, the app can handle this event using JSBridge, providing a list of all nearby RFID tags for further processing.

Use case examples:

• Inventory management: Easily track and manage inventory in real-time by scanning multiple items at once. This is particularly useful in large warehouses or retail environments where speed and accuracy are crucial.
• Asset tracking: Quickly locate and identify assets in a facility, ensuring efficient use of resources and reducing the time spent searching for equipment.
• Field service: Technicians can scan RFID tags to verify equipment and parts during service, ensuring they have the correct items and reducing the likelihood of errors.

Stay informed with the Release Bulletin newsletter

Stay tuned for the official release at the end of May, and explore these powerful new features that will enable you to build mobile solutions faster and enhance the users’ experience.

For a comprehensive overview of all the new features, head to Resco’s Spring Update 2024 on the wiki. Dive in and explore the full spectrum of new possibilities.

Would you like to receive news about the Resco previews and releases directly into your inbox? Subscribe into the Release Bulletin newsletter and get notified about the new features first.

Príspevok Launch of Power Components, 6x faster sync, geo-fencing, and more: Discover Resco’s Spring Update 2024 zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Resco Power Components are designed for app creators to make building business apps on the Power Platform faster and easier.

They are made for consultants, developers, and solution architects—who craft model-driven and canvas apps for their clients in low-code / no-code. Code components allow app makers to add a wide range of functionality to their apps immediately without needing to wait for and budget for custom code from developers.

This makes project delivery more efficient, letting app makers digitize processes quickly and be more productive with ease.  

What are Power Components?

Power Components are code components (PCF controls) that give app makers the ability to extend and customize applications built on Power Platform. They are downloaded once as a solution, installed in an app maker’s environment, and can be deployed across various projects.

First batch based on popular demand

Based on popular demand, we have selected the first batch of essential tools – an image gallery, Kanban board, video player, signature area, multi-select dropdown list, and a calendar picker.

The Resco Power Components are customizable, meaning that app makers will be able to use them for more than one use case. Instead of having to code components in JS from scratch, app makers will be able to use our components and configure them as they need to without needing to code. Using the configuration section doesn’t require code knowledge.

Each code component can be used for different business use cases. For example, you can use the Kanban board for managing tasks or to build a sales funnel – depending on the data you map it on.

Working with a well-managed library of code components takes care of security concerns as well as maintenance issues. We plan to develop the components continuously, extending their features where needed and adding more components to the library.

Benefits of using Resco Power Components:

• Speed up project delivery to clients
• Save costs on developer hours and custom coding
• Guarantee security, quality, and future compatibility of code
• Build components compliant with Power Apps licensing

Príspevok New product alert: Build on Power Platform faster with Resco Power Components zobrazený najskôr Resco.

1. Automated document generation improves operational efficiency 

With findings from a Zapier study highlighting that a significant portion of workers spend hours daily on data-related tasks, the whitepaper underscores the critical need for document automation. By adopting automated document generation, organizations can save resources, minimize errors, and enhance productivity. 

2. Analysis of Microsoft and third-party tools 

The paper presents a guideline for using Microsoft’s native tools versus third-party solutions for document generation. While Microsoft tools offer the advantage of having one supplier, potentially reducing compatibility issues, they may lack the specialization and ease of use provided by third-party solutions specifically designed for document automation on Power Platform. 

3. Advantages of third-party add-ons 

Third-party add-ons bring customization, advanced features, scalability, rapid deployment, and dedicated support to the table. These solutions are built to address the evolving and complex needs of businesses, providing advanced functionalities that enhance Microsoft’s native options. 

4. Key considerations when choosing a solution  

The whitepaper emphasizes the importance of considering factors such as the procurement process, data storage and handling, additional data management costs, and potential performance issues when selecting a document generation solution. These considerations are vital for aligning with regulatory requirements, ensuring cost-effectiveness, and achieving desired operational efficiencies. 

5. Highlight on Resco Docs+ 

Among the third-party solutions, Resco Docs+ stands out for its integrated Document designer, offering a no-code, point-and-click environment for template creation. Its performance, ease of use, and mobile application compatibility make it an ideal choice for organizations seeking reliable and complex document generation capabilities. 

In conclusion, the whitepaper serves as a comprehensive guide for organizations navigating the complexities of document generation on the Power Platform. By evaluating the pros and cons of Microsoft and third-party tools and considering essential selection criteria, businesses can make informed decisions that will aid them in their document automation efforts. 

Príspevok Document generation in Microsoft Power Platform [5 key takeaways from the latest whitepaper]   zobrazený najskôr Resco.

In this workshop centered around a common business case, our Success team will guide you through the journey of a fictional company Z.A.P. Energy Cleaning.  

Z.A.P. Energy Cleaning uses Microsoft Dynamics 365 as its CRM. However, it has digitization requirements that go beyond a CRM solution and they’re looking for a way to grow on Power Platform. 

Through the Z.A.P. Energy Cleaning story, we will show you how you can use the same Resco tools you know and love for CRM on Power Platform to cover a wide range of business challenges. 

Our Success team will demonstrate: 

• Setting up Resco Inspections+ for non-CRM use cases 
• Building a solution for performing health & safety procedures and vehicle inspections, using templates and adjusting them to fit the use case 
• Measuring the impact of the collected data with Fabric and Power BI   

Z.A.P. Energy Cleaning is a fictional industrial cleaning leader with 80% of their workforce serving outside the office in roles such as drivers and inspectors. The company wants to consolidate multiple point solutions and pen-and-paper processes for health & safety and vehicle inspections into one business application with a strong long-term perspective. 

After completing the training, attendees will have a solid grasp of how to rapidly deploy an end-to-end mobile solution using Resco and Power Platform that helps make their non-CRM teams more productive in the field. 

Day 1: Setting up the mobile app  

Get to know the business case of Z.A.P. Energy Cleaning, a fictional industrial cleaning leader with a need to digitize non-CRM processes and teams. 

• Intro to Resco on Power Platform and the business challenge 
• Showcase of the final solution with screenshots and solution architecture 
• Setting up Resco Inspections+ for Power Platform 
• Setup of Resco mobile app  

Presenters: Nicholas Boxall, Knowledge Specialist, and Lukas Lesko, Support and Education Manager 

Duration: 1 hour (including Q&A) 

Day 2: Inspections solution low-code customization 

Dive deep into the process of customizing Resco Inspections+ through the lens of the Z.A.P. Energy Cleaning business case, see the mobile app in action, and discover how the solution achieves the business requirements. 

• Creating Health and Safety Assessment and Vehicle Inspections 
• Using advanced features: data mapping, OCR, tagged images 
• Showcase of scheduling and timesheets 
• Customizing the solution, including setting up rules 
• Backend work with Inspections data 

Presenters: Marek Ferenc, IT Support Specialist, and Lukas Lesko, Support and Education Manager 

Duration: 1 hour (including Q&A) 

Day 3: Fabric integration and data visualization in Power BI 

Join us for the final part of the Power Platform Masterclass, where we bring the data story full circle. In this session, we’ll delve into the data collected by Z.A.P. Energy Cleaning, through questionnaires discussed in our previous session. We’ll demonstrate the end-to-end process of data handling – from offloading and optimizing storage in Fabric to generating insights in Power BI.  

We will discuss the potential future impact of Fabric, including the cost of data storage and the possibility of reducing the data footprint. Then, we will look at the data processing in Notebooks and finally build a simple report. We will cover: 

• Best practices for working with big data 
• Using Fabric to prepare the data for analysis 
• Building a report with Power BI 

Presenters: Marek Rodak, Knowledge Specialist, and Matej Vanik, Developer 

Duration: 1 hour (including Q&A) 

Príspevok Build end-to-end mobile business solutions faster with Power Platform and Resco [short summary from a masterclass webinar] zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Thanks to our partnership with Microsoft, we’ve made this process straightforward. By integrating Resco’s data collection with Microsoft’s visualization tools, we’ve created a streamlined solution for businesses to harness their data effectively. 

This guide breaks down the steps for using Power BI to not just view but truly understand your questionnaire responses. It’s time to move beyond the basics of data collection and tap into the full potential of your information with the power of Power BI. 

Use case: Working with questionnaires in Power BI 

Using sample data from elevator inspections, we create visual reports to identify patterns.  

For instance, filtering inspections by account reveals variations in problematic accounts. Those variations include:

• Asset-specific insights, like identifying recurring issues with specific elevator brand component.
• Analyzing specific time frames, such as comparing season to season.
• Asking why we did fewer inspections this season compared to others
• Visualizing meaningful data to offer valuable insights. 

Technical integration

Importing data into Power BI Desktop: Data extraction 

Let’s start with the actual report.  Begin by importing data from your backend using the “Get Data” option. This connection serves as the foundation for your Power BI report, allowing you to pull in data from sources like Dataverse or Salesforce. 

Entity selection 

You don’t have to import the whole organization. Select only the relevant entities that you intend to visualize in your report. Once you have selected all the entities that you need, click Transform data. This imports the entities and starts Power Query Editor right away. 

Data transformation and cleaning 

Data refinement 

Use the Power Query Editor to clean up your data. This involves removing unnecessary columns and shaping the data to match your reporting needs. In this use case, unnecessary columns can be questionnaires we don’t want to visualize or questionnaires with serialized answers columns that are empty. Cleaning your data ensures that only essential information is included in your report.  

Parsing JSON 

After you are finished with data cleaning, create a new query (table) that contains only the questionnaires you want to visualize. Remove all but the serialized answers column (containing questionnaire responses in JSON) and transform (parse) it. This step is crucial for isolating the key columns that hold the answers you want to visualize. 

Managing relationship model 

Defining relationships 

The Model View is used to set relationships between various tables in the report. That includes a newly created table, like the one where we’ve transformed questionnaire data.  Establish relationships between the different tables in your dataset. These relationships create a unified data structure, allowing you to connect and analyze data across various entities. 

Building the report (final step) 

Creating visualizations 

In this phase, your data is ready to be visualized. Pick visualizations that convey your data insights the best. You can choose from many visualization types. Here is one of the most basic: A card displaying the number of questionnaires collected. You can modify each visualization by editing properties, adding filters, etc.  

Key takeaways

• Resco’s Inspections+ and Forms+ are essential for precise data collection, answering the challenge to derive meaningful insights from massed data 
• Our collaboration with Microsoft enhances this process by integrating Resco’s data collection with Microsoft’s visualization tools, providing a streamlined solution for businesses. 
• This guide briefly explores displaying and interpreting questionnaire responses with Power BI, unlocking your data’s full potential. 
• In our use case, working with questionnaires in Power BI unveils patterns and valuable insights for decision-making based on actual figures. 

Conclusion

Efficiently transforming questionnaire responses into a robust Power BI report empowers data-driven decisions and becomes a catalyst for knowledge acquisition, strategically equipping field workers for inspections and enhancing overall efficiency. This is how data visualization transforms the mobile workforce. 

Explore more with a Power BI deep dive on the Wiki. 

Príspevok A step-by-step guide to visualizing questionnaire responses with Power BI zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Many companies still rely on paper documents. They know all too well that paper is not effective, and the process is frustrating. However, digitization is daunting.  

Managers fear digitization will be time-consuming and expensive, requiring frequent maintenance. They also fear slow adoption rates that prolong the process.  

The good news is that digital transformation is becoming less demanding with the advent of low-code platforms. 

Digital transformation changes (work) lives  

In recent years, companies are increasingly choosing to build on Microsoft Power Platform. This platform cuts costs and development time with low-code tools. We at Resco make building on Power Platform even easier with our Power Solutions that enhance the core Power Platform experience. With tools like this, the decision to digitize becomes much less distressing. 

To show you how technology for business applications can change lives, let us introduce you to Kate, an admin manager. Observe her day-to-day work before and after the elevator service company she works for went through multiple steps of digital transformation. 

Love watching more than reading? Watch Ludovit Bobula, Product Manager at Resco tell Kate’s story. 

It’s hard to keep track of paper documents 

Kate’s job is to keep all the inspection questionnaires in the company up to date and available for technicians in the field.  

Whenever there is an update, she needs to make sure all the inspectors are using the latest version.  

Despite Kate’s efforts, many technicians do not use the updated questionnaires; when they do, many still use the old questionnaire paper sheets. After completing a job, they must file job records with Kate, yet they often do not. This is obviously frustrating for Kate.  

Seeing Kate struggle, the company decides that digitizing the entire process will be a good idea. 

For business technology people like us at Resco, this is an exciting day. Now our technology can help someone make their work better. 

Managing changes to the questionnaires 

Kate’s company found an implementation partner. They recommended digitizing the questionnaires using Power Platform.  

In Kate’s field, the legislation often changes. This makes it necessary to make changes to many of the questionnaires at once. The implementation partner needed to ensure that Kate can access and change the documents on her own, without needing to reach out to an administrator or consultant with every single request. 

This is why they chose Resco Forms+. This solution allows business users to design their questionnaires in a drag and drop interface. Whenever Kate wants to make a change, she opens the Questionnaire Designer, changes the questions, publishes her changes and all the technicians have access to the updated document instantly on their mobile devices. 

The implementation took a couple of months. The adoption was quick – thanks to Resco Forms+, the digital questionnaires are easy to work with for the field technicians and they can use them on any mobile device.

Resco Forms+ has helped Kate to keep all the company’s elevator inspection forms updated and organized in one place. If she needs something more advanced, she can ask the partner to set it up. 

Generating inspection summaries, contracts, and invoices 

Now that Kate has the most tedious work process sorted out, she can look at other types of paperwork that pass through her hands – namely service reports, contracts, and invoices. 

She needs to go through collected data, complete what is missing and manually create all these documents. To do it, she copies information from various sources and pastes them into a Word template. She then emails the document to a client or stores it in a folder.  

That is the old system, and many people still use it. But digitization with a good implementation partner can offer a much more comfortable and efficient system.  

Kate’s implementation partner recommended using Resco Docs+. This solution automates document generation and delivery in Power Platform. 

Kate can design her invoices, contracts, and reports, and set up Power Automate to fill them with data from Dataverse. She can then set up the PDFs to be generated, saved and/or sent to any place she chooses. 

For example, she can design a finished work order report, and then have it automatically generated every month and sent to her and her department leader. Resco Docs+ on Power Platform saves Kate time and effort spent on repetitive, tedious tasks. 

Providing guidance for technicians where and when they need it 

The final problem Kate deals with is sharing knowledge between inspectors. As in many organizations they use Words, PDFs, and Share Point.  

Kate, as the administrator, is responsible for keeping these documents updated, yet she is not out in the field. If something changes, she might not know about it. 

The implementation partner suggested using Resco Steps+ on Power Platform. With this solution, Kate can build a knowledge library with step-by-step instruction guides. She can enhance the text with images and videos and make the guides available on frontline worker mobile devices. Thanks to the digital guides, Kate has been able to lower error rate and speed up onboarding.

Everything in one ecosystem 

Resco Power Solutions are ideal for a company like Kate’s – one that has both office and frontline workers and needs the documents, inspection forms, invoices, and training materials to be available in a reliable and accessible system. 

Kate can now incorporate any changes and legal requirements without having to wait. Although she is not a developer, she can use no-code tools to set everything up. And if she has advanced requests, she can always reach out to her implementation partner.  

These are just the first steps in digital transformation. Imagine how many more ways there are to cut the tedious tasks and concentrate on ideas with real impact. Taking these first steps in digitizing workflows allows a company like Kate’s to harness the power of AI. By feeding it with relevant data, Kate and her co-workers will get insights they can use to make strategic decisions.  

Everyone’s workday is a bit better, thanks to well-performing technology.  

This is the kind of thing that makes us happy at Resco.  

Read more about the Resco Power Solutions  

Príspevok How low code platforms make digital transformation easier zobrazený najskôr Resco.

What makes Resco Mobile App Development Toolkit so versatile? Read on as he explains the key elements that make the Resco mobile app a highly effective solution for both medium-sized companies and large corporations with thousands of mobile users.  

What makes Resco Mobile App Development Toolkit so flexible? 

Stanislav suggests that Resco’s no-code customization options, seamless integration capabilities, and robust synchronization features make the product exceptionally adaptable to a wide range of customers in various fields. 

He underscores that Resco’s customization features empower people to tailor the app to their company’s unique needs even without deep technical expertise, making configuration fast and flexible.

Smooth integration enables bigger organizations to incorporate the app into their existing tech ecosystems effortlessly. Moreover, the sturdy synchronization ensures that data is always up to date, supporting productivity in various sectors and fields. 

Powering the Microsoft ecosystem and more 

A Resco app can comfortably connect to Microsoft Business Applications. Given the native integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365, most customers utilize Resco alongside Dynamics. It can be also used with the Power Platform and Dataverse. 

Who uses it in real life? Everyone from manufacturing to sales 

Stanislav draws attention to the fact that the Dynamic Questionnaires in the Resco app empower users to gather diverse data types across various field scenarios. One such scenario is within the manufacturing sector, where clients require inventory tracking and quality control. The app can also be used by customers from the utility industry who need to oversee and coordinate their infrastructure.  

“Salespeople who need to access and update customer data in the field can also benefit from Resco technology to optimize their work and gain efficiency,” describes Stanislav.

Furthermore, the Resco app’s versatility extends to healthcare companies and different governmental institutions. Enhance your field operations using digital forms, workflows, and reports.

Do you want to work with Resco technology? Connect for Partnership Opportunities!

Stanislav Beres

Stanislav Beres, a seasoned Business Development Manager for the Benelux region, has more than five years of experience with successfully understanding the business cases of companies of all sizes and industries. His consultative sales approach has resulted in a track record of many satisfied clients and valued partners. 

Príspevok How can one solution fit all industries and company sizes?  zobrazený najskôr Resco.

This blog delves into four key tips drawn from his seasoned experience shared during the recent resco.NEXT 2023 conference. The story of Tom and Fearless Leader solutions can help other ISV partners envision a roadmap to crafting successful business solutions.

The story of Fearless Leader

A decade ago, Tom embarked on a journey to transform sales solutions in the food and beverage industries. As the owner and managing director of Avento at the time, Tom initiated the development of what would later become Fearless Leader.

Born from this vision, Fearless Leader now helps to fulfill the needs of frontline workers such as sales representatives, inspectors, and medical professionals. It integrates mobile capabilities within the framework of Microsoft and Resco technologies, benefiting not only frontline workers but also their managers and back-office users.

Over the years, the solution has acquired a user community of over 1,500 individuals across 45 customers in Belgium and beyond. In the preceding year, Avento was acquired by Cegeka, and the company’s scope widened to pharma and medical industries.

Cegeka has also achieved the 2023/2024 Microsoft Business Applications Inner Circle award, placing it among the top 1% of Microsoft’s worldwide partners.

With these achievements under his belt, Tom Moortgat’s experience serves as a guide on crafting successful micro-vertical solutions combining Resco and Microsoft business tools. Let’s delve into his insights shared at resco.NEXT 2023 conference.

Love watching more than reading? Watch the full Tom Moortgat’s session from resco.NEXT 2023 to learn about his experience. 

1. Begin with the user in mind

When constructing business applications, Tom emphasizes the pivotal role of user-friendliness and simplicity, “What’s “important about solutions that you build for customers is how easy it is to use them. It’s a top argument. It must be very easy to use.”

It’s no coincidence that the key phase of development began even before the idea of Fearless Leader was born. “We started talking to the market while building the solution,” Tom remarked. Armed with a tablet, he initiated conversations with sales managers at industry fairs and conferences to gain knowledge about their needs.

From that point, the focus on user-friendliness became a cornerstone in the journey of constructing efficient and impactful business applications.

Fearless Leader has an interface made for easy navigation, ensuring that all users, regardless of their technical expertise, can integrate the solution into their daily tasks. “It has to be helpful for the person who uses it every day, every morning to the evening and not just for management with their reporting,” Tom asserted.

2. Don’t forget about offline, even in 2024

In an era dominated by 5G discussions, Tom remains an advocate for offline functionality despite seemingly abundant 4G and 5G connection, “We are in the year 2023 [at the time of conference] and offline is still the topic. Who would have thought of that?”

He illustrates the practical necessity of offline functionality in certain industries, such as food and beverage with supermarkets providing only limited connectivity.

“If you go into a supermarket, there are now solar panels on the roof, but there is no 4G or 5G connection yet. Maybe that will change a bit in the future, but often there is no connectivity as soon as you walk into a supermarket,” he explains.

For sales representatives operating in such environments, it would mean a challenging user experience and an inability to fulfill their work.

During his presentation, Tom emphasized the necessity of the right combination of tools and platforms to achieve seamless offline functionality. It’s a field where Resco and Microsoft complement each other. “We can have Dynamics 365 and SharePoint connected, and Resco takes it all offline. That’s very good and future proofed,” Tom noted.

And it’s the futureproofing of the solution that makes another important topic in Tom’s presentation.

3. Opt for flexible development

Tom draws attention to the challenges faced by traditional, custom-developed apps, particularly when dealing with supporting every new iOS update or device.

“We have replaced many apps that were built previously. Why? Because at a certain point, those apps didn’t work on the new iOS anymore,” he noted.

This observation underscores the obsolescence and escalating costs associated with custom-developed applications. That’s where systems and tools like Microsoft Power Platform and Resco Mobile App Development Toolkit provide solutions for ISV partners.

Mobile App Development Toolkit makes customization easy, eliminating the need for complex coding or ongoing maintenance. This ensures that the ISV partner can adapt and improve their solutions without the hassle of constant maintenance.

As Tom positioned it, “What we did was we made one solution compatible for all those industries – food, beverage, pharma, medical – which makes it very interesting for us for maintenance and support because it’s one whole system. It’s configurable for a food person as well as a pharma person.”

New device support is especially important for ensuring seamless experience for frontline workers. “For instance, many sales reps use their smartphone with their calendar in their car to check the visits that they have to do that day. It’s connected to Waze and then as soon as they go into the supermarket, they have a tablet, and they continue their work with it as the app runs the same on any device.”

Tom underlines the economic advantage for clients, stating, “For them, it’s important that they take the licenses, a few days of work training, but they don’t have to buy new hardware.” This cost-efficient approach positions no-code / low-code development tools as a powerful ally for ISV partners, enabling them to provide future-proof solutions without imposing significant financial burdens on their clients.

4. Leverage advanced functionality

The incorporation of Azure Maps, Google Maps, and Resco technology stands out as a key functionality in Fearless Leader, allowing sales representatives to optimize their routes and maximize their efficiency.

In a live demonstration, Tom showcased how this technology translates into tangible time savings and increased visit capacity. “The sales reps must plan their day and they must do that very effectively. It’s the only result that counts,” he emphasized during the presentation.

Additionally, Tom highlights the flexibility to add languages upon request, ensuring adaptability to the specific linguistic needs of different markets.

Fearless Leader goes beyond language barriers with its comprehensive multilingual support. Tom notes, “We use all languages by default, English, French, Dutch, German, and we also now have Italian in it.” This inclusivity allows the solution to cater to a diverse frontline workforce.

“And there’s reporting, of course, behind it. You want to know as a manager ‘where are my guys? How many visits did they do? Is our assortment delivered?’ So the reporting is there as well,” explained Tom, listing several new features used by Fearless Leader during the presentation.

In conclusion

Tom’s journey with Fearless Leader provides multiple important insights for ISVs: Keep it simple, don’t forget offline, go for flexible development, and spice it up with the latest features.

Think of these tips as your roadmap to cook up successful solutions for the unsung heroes – the frontline workers. If you are hungry for more insights, watch selected sessions from the resco.NEXT 2023 conference for free, and get ready for the 2024’s event edition coming to Vienna.

Príspevok 4 tips to master industry-specific software solutions as an ISV: Insights from Tom Moortgat zobrazený najskôr Resco.

Focus on your goals, not on paperwork 

Regardless of your company’s progress in digital transformation, it’s likely that you still manually create numerous documents using the same template repeatedly. 

When it comes to manually generating service reports, surveys, acceptance protocols, contracts, orders, invoices, or compliance documents, people use various tools to get the job done. They copy and paste data from multiple sources into a text document and perform calculations on the side in spreadsheets. They save a copy of the document to a designated file and look for an e-mail to send the document to. This routine can get tedious, especially if they need to create the same types of documents repeatedly. 

Thankfully, there are ways to simplify this process. 

With Resco Docs+, our Power Platform enhancement, you can automate the generation and delivery of all your documents, no matter how complex they are. This means you can focus on meeting your goals instead of drowning in piles of paperwork.

How does Resco Docs+ work?

Resco Docs+ is a solution natively integrated in Power Apps that allows you to design your template and choose what data to add. It uses a Power Automate connector to automate the creation, sending, and saving of your documents.

Resco Docs+ is fully integrated in Power Platform. This opens the door for you to use all the tools the low-code platform offers, including the latest innovations.

Design your document

First, you need to choose what document you want to create and how it will look.

Resco Docs+ makes it easy to turn your idea into reality with an intuitive drag-and-drop designer.

You can design your document using a header block, a footer block, and grid blocks. Grids ensure that your data won’t overflow and your layout won’t break down. It will stay exactly as you intended. We call this pixel-perfect design.

Choose what data to use

Choose from a list of fields and variables and simply drag them to the document.

Add data from Microsoft Dataverse/Dynamics365 or those collected in the field. Use data from related and unrelated tables.

Take advantage of the rules engine to show or hide parts of the document.

The no-code system makes it easy for all business users to make changes. More complex requests from partners and skilled users can be satisfied with advanced tools.

Automate document generation, sending, and saving

When you are done with the design stage, use Docs+ to generate your document.

For this, you can use a Power Automate workflow. The Resco Report Connector fetches the document template, fills it in with up-to-date data, and generates a document in your preferred format automatically.

Power Automate also lets you set up what will happen with the document. You can either save it on your SharePoint or send it via email.

Need to schedule documents in advance? You can choose when the document will be created. For example, a monthly report can be automatically generated and sent to the stakeholders once a month. A service report can be stored on SharePoint and sent to a customer when the field technician finishes collecting data and hits a dedicated button. And an invoice can be automatically generated when an order lands.

How to try Resco Docs+?

Resco Docs+ works in a Power Platform environment. To use it, you need an appropriate Power App and Power Automate license, along with Resco Docs+ license.

Learn more on Resco Docs+ landing page and read detailed guidance on Resco Docs+ wiki.

Start a free trial and download the two solution packages from our website. Add these packages to your Power App project, and you are ready to go.

Príspevok Improve your business processes with Resco Docs+ on Power Platform zobrazený najskôr Resco.

We sat down to explore the future of business applications and discussed his perception of the role of AI technology and the needs of future generations of frontline workers. Read Ben’s take on the areas where business applications could do more for the people using them. 

The role of AI in tech

Ben Vollmer shared his perspective on artificial intelligence, emphasizing that AI will become critically important when it empowers people to make better decisions instead of replacing them.

“The best examples that are available right now are anomaly detection, next logical purchase suggestions, and optical character recognition. With Large Language Models being rapidly developed, the ability to distill information into knowledge will be a critical thing that will be used to help enhance experiences for frontline workers.”

Ben emphasized the need to expand AI beyond the office and use it to meet the unique demands of deskless workers.

“So far, AI is benefiting only desktop workers. A huge technological focus shift from desktop workers to frontline workers needs to happen. We are caught up in servicing desktop workers because it is easy. They have internet all the time! In the next couple of years, the whole industry will improve in looking at mobile workers as well. “

The next thing Ben Vollmer sees taking off is interactive AI – the ability of apps to talk to and use other apps. We have too many applications on our phones that act in a silo and don’t and won’t exchange data with other applications. “Our users don’t just use one app on their phone. We have to make sure we have an amazing end-to-end process and exchange to benefit the people who use the software.”

Using AI is too challenging for people without a technical background. “In a desktop scenario, some of Microsoft’s Copilot innovations are very impressive. You can go in and start describing what you want, and it starts building it for you. But it still needs you to be able to articulate your needs quite precisely.

Only when non-technical people feel comfortable using automation scripts will it happen for the rest of the world. There is a ton of work to do here,” he added. “It has helped with knowledge work but has yet to help with non-knowledge work.”

Micro-verticals and super apps

When looking at the market, Ben Vollmer sees two dominant trends emerging. “The biggest trend I see going across the market is micro-vertical. People no longer want to buy something that is ‘for manufacturing.’ That is too broad of a topic. They say: ‘I want just discrete industrial manufacturing,’ or ‘I want sales for my business.’ So, then you get start seeing business apps specifically for micro verticals to meet specific needs while fitting inside a company’s overall IT landscape.”

“I have seen a lot of people deploying just things that help drive their business and solve specific problems. They don’t want to wait for three years for the development cycle.”

Another trend Ben Vollmer described is the rise of the super app. “It is something that matches everybody’s needs. You can use it to do everything you want to. For instance – take iMessage on the iPhone. They have one of the world’s largest banks with the Apple Card. You can send money over iMessage. You can interact in rich ways, which means you never leave iMessage. Your iPhone has become a super app. 

Other examples are Microsoft Teams, Zoom, WhatsApp, the social platform X, and WeChat. In China, WeChat is used for everything, including financial transactions. The development of business apps usually copies the development of consumer apps. So, you must look at consumer apps as the path to look down.”

So many apps think their user interface is the one seen by the customers. But as we have seen with Teams, Zoom, and WeChat, we need to work to make sure we can engage with our end users in a way that makes sense for them. 

Designing for new generations of workers

When asked what should guide solution architects when designing solutions, Ben replied that they should focus on exercising their sense of empathy.

“Where I live, we have a food chain called Waffle House. They make all their office workers go out and spend at least one day a month in the restaurant. The biggest thing for solution architects, for companies, is to have empathy for the end user. It is easy to say: I go to the office daily. This is what work feels like for me. They should always go out and sit with people. To understand how they work and how they operate.”

Where does Ben Vollmer look for trends? Not in the rearview mirror. “You have to look at people and what they need.” 

Ben Vollmer has over 25 years of experience in product management. After spending 14 years at Microsoft heralding Field Service, he joined IFS to enable customers to maximize the three moments of service: customers, people, and assets. He has joined Resco as a Strategic Advisor to the Board and the CEO and continues working as an independent consultant for technology companies.

Príspevok What does the future of the business apps market look like, according to Microsoft’s Field Service legend Ben Vollmer? zobrazený najskôr Resco.