Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Chris Sullens, CEO of Marathon Data Systems (Part 2)

Chris Sullens: From a solution standpoint, we have a proprietary route optimization algorithm that we have developed. It does two main things. One, from a longer range planning perspective, it can put the schedules in any given constraint. For example, a certain technician needs to do a specific job because of whatever constraints. We feed all that from an operating system into our algorithm. The algorithm then computes the most optimal way to organize that work to minimize downtime and maximize productivity for those set of assets.

What we see is upwards of 40% improvement in capacity. That has a big impact on businesses. If you can grow your company without having to go through the process of buying another vehicle or training another employee, it is definitely positive. It makes it quicker and a lot more efficient. That’s one side of it.

The other side is integrating changes you get during the day. For example, a customer needs a re-service. The service didn’t go the way they wanted and they need it fixed right away or they have an emergency service that they need. We have what we call RouteOp Real-Time which essentially fits the algorithm that looks at the schedule that they have for the day and the constraints, and suggests to the dispatcher, in seconds, the most optimal times to squeeze that job in.

It improves the service experience because there’s not a lot of going back and forth. While they have the customer on the phone, they can give them a definitive answer. Since the optimizer suggested it, they should be able to deliver as promised.

Sramana Mitra: What does the competitive landscape look like? Are there other solutions provider and cloud-based fleet management like yours?

Chris Sullens: There are legacy players in the market who are more on-premise such as Roadnet, which serves the biggest companies. These are more like the Oracle and SAP style model where there’s bigger implementation and installation expenses. There are others that have developed cloud solutions and serve different segments of the market. For example, TOA Technologies that was recently acquired by Oracle. We definitely have a range of players.

The interesting thing about our solution is, having been around for 30 years on the field service side, we’re very comfortable with the small to medium-sized companies. With the explosion of this last mile and same day delivery and the fact that a lot of companies are investing in product suites to improve service as opposed to leaning on the biggest providers in the market, there’s a lot of dynamics in that market that are similar to the field service market. The small guys are waking up to the fact that there’s technology that’s available to them and we’re able to provide a powerful solution.

This segment is part 2 in the series : Thought Leaders in Cloud Computing: Chris Sullens, CEO of Marathon Data Systems
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