The following partner insight was authored by Bill Padula, Executive Vice President of Strategic Consulting at Evora IT Solutions, and Sam Wolfe, Global SAP Delivery Lead at Evora IT Solutions.
For utilities adopting mobile workforce tools like SAP Service and Asset Manager (SSAM), the benefits often seem obvious at first: better work execution, real-time updates, improved productivity. But real operational value rarely comes from deploying an app alone. It comes from designing mobile processes that are deeply connected to the systems and business functions surrounding them: payroll, billing, GIS, materials, safety, and finance.
Evora excels by helping utilities think through the full impact of mobile actions across the enterprise. What might seem like a small design decision can carry far-reaching implications. Evora brings those downstream effects into focus early in the process, ensuring that mobile workflows support, rather than disrupt, the broader SAP landscape.
Understanding the Bigger Picture
Take time entry. In theory, it’s a simple requirement. Field technicians need to log how long they spend on each job. But depending on how that time is captured—whether manually, through status transitions, or using geolocation triggers—the resulting data can affect everything from payroll accuracy to cost accounting and performance metrics.
Evora helps utilities navigate these nuances. Utilities need time data that reflects what actually happened on the ground, that holds up under company policies, and that feeds cleanly into downstream systems. In some cases, this means setting up SSAM to track time automatically based on task status. In others, it’s about making it simple for technicians to log their time as they go, without jumping between different tools. In either case, the outcome is a cleaner, more reliable foundation for downstream processes.
Materials add another layer of complexity. Unexpected field conditions often require adjustments, but what happens in the field is only part of the story. Evora helps utilities design workflows that account for the entire lifecycle, from when a reservation is created to when materials are issued, consumed, or returned to inventory.
Each step has financial consequences. The way materials are handled affects when costs are recorded, how accurately they’re allocated, and whether inventory remains reliable. By working through these details up front, including how to tie materials to work orders and issue them from storerooms or truck stock, Evora ensures that field processes remain aligned with backend expectations. That includes giving technicians practical ways to record usage in the moment while preserving accuracy for finance and supply chain.
Evora helps clients set up mobile workflows that support flexible, real-time material tracking. That includes tying parts to work orders, issuing them from truck stock or storerooms, and recording consumption in the moment. The aim is not just to support operational needs but to ensure that finance, supply chain, and compliance teams all get the data they depend on.
The same principle applies to GIS integration. When a meter gets installed in the field, it’s often placed in a different location than initially planned. A technician might have to move it due to physical obstacles or customer preference. Capturing that actual location through coordinates and on-site notes and passing it to Esri and SAP ensures that records remain accurate and synchronized. In some cases, this is done automatically. In others, the mobile app triggers a task for the GIS team to reconcile the change. Either way, the process is intentional, not incidental.
Balancing Priorities in the Field
Designing mobile processes that work in practice means dealing with competing priorities. Field technicians want simplicity. Supervisors may insist on control. Finance needs compliance, and operations wants to capitalize on work wherever possible. These goals often pull in different directions.
Evora brings structure to those conversations. During blueprinting, the team helps utilities weigh tradeoffs and build flexibility into the solution. One common scenario involves the creation of new work orders in the field. If a technician runs into a problem that falls outside the scope of their current task, what should happen next? Should they create a new work order? Should they flag it for follow-up? Should they bury the time and materials in an existing order to avoid delays?
Some organizations try to enforce strict controls, requiring all new work orders to be approved in SAP before work can begin. But in practice, that often breaks down. It’s not always feasible to get supervisor approval in the moment, especially for after-hours or remote jobs. Evora works with clients to define practical options. That might involve allowing technicians to generate provisional orders that route for review later. Or it might mean predefining cost collection structures that support retroactive categorization.
These decisions also have financial consequences. If a technician encounters a task that qualifies for capitalization but lacks the ability to create a new CapEx work order, the labor may be misclassified. Over time, these small inconsistencies can distort financial reports. By involving finance early and making those workflows visible in mobile tools, utilities can reduce friction while staying compliant.
Contextual awareness is another area where design matters. Technicians may need to know about site-specific hazards, customer sensitivities, or access restrictions before they arrive—the type of information that lives in previous work orders, customer records, or audit reports. Evora helps utilities decide how to capture, store, and surface that data through alerts, scheduling logic, or embedded notes. The result is better safety for field staff and better service for customers.
From Insight to Implementation
Even the most elegant design won’t succeed without adoption. That’s why Evora treats organizational change management (OCM) as a critical part of its work. Mobile tools introduce new expectations: more accurate data capture, tighter inventory control, increased visibility. But none of that sticks unless field workers are aligned, leadership is engaged, and policies are clear.
Evora has seen what happens when that alignment is missing. A utility may roll out a mobile system designed to track materials more closely, expecting it to improve accuracy and visibility. But if field crews aren’t consistently scanning or logging what they use, the system won’t deliver. Without clear direction from supply chain or operations leadership, even well-designed processes can fall apart in daily practice. In contrast, when leadership sets the tone, policies are reinforced, and users understand the value of the changes, the system can deliver its full potential.
The key is designing mobile processes that reflect real-world needs while supporting enterprise goals. Evora doesn’t treat mobility as an afterthought or a bolt-on feature. Instead, it views it as a living extension of the utility’s core business systems. Each interaction feeds back into a larger network of decisions and dependencies.
For utilities facing rising complexity and performance expectations, that kind of integrated thinking is essential.
Bill Padula is Executive Vice President of Strategic Consulting at Evora IT Solutions. Sam Wolfe is Global SAP Delivery Lead at Evora IT Solutions.