In a DPS system, the vast majority of functions depend on the connection between the products and the system. For this reason, it is fundamental to measure and monitor of how long and well products are connected.
A reliable connection, ideally 100% of the time, ensures that the information drawn from the data is reliable and corresponds closely to the actual situation. In this context, your decisions are appropriate.
Conversely, if there are long disconnection times, you no longer have the certainty of knowing what happened while the product was disconnected. In this context, you live in the unknown and cannot make decisions.
How to measure connection reliability
Connection reliability is measured through the Connection Index insight.
The insight is based on the Connection Status metric.
Help Center: Connection Status
To whom connection reliability is important
Almost every persona in a DPS system (Personas and Business Entities) is interested in knowing about connection reliability.
Service Manager
The service manager (Service Manager) needs to know whether the foundation on which his service strategy relies is robust. If it is not, they need to plan actions to restore it.
They are interested almost exclusively in aggregate information, both by time frame (last 30 days, lifetime) and by business entity: product, location and customer.
Needs:
- understand if connection is reliable at product, location and customer level
- identify all situations where the connection is not reliable and evaluate their statistical incidence
- finding out whether temporal trends exist
- measure average connection issues resolution time
- discover correlations between connection issues and other dimensions like product age, model, family, geographical area, CAT, etc.
Technician
The technician, whether internal to the customer (Internal Maintenance Technician) or belonging to organizations or partners (Service Technician), is responsible for troubleshooting connection issues. They therefore want to be notified as soon as a connection fails so they can restore it.
They are interested in detailed diagnostic information, to understand the reasons for the disconnection and be able to prevent it from happening again.
Needs:
- be alerted when a relevant connection issue happens.(e.g. a single disconnection that is recovered in a short time is not worth an alert)
- be advised on what do to in order to solve the issue
- understand the reasons behind an unreliable connection
Product R&D Manager
The product R&D manager (Product R&D Manager) is responsible for the design of the connection module. Consequently, they are interested in whether there are any issues with the connection at a general level and whether these are related to a design problem or can be considered acceptable.
They are interested in aggregate information, typically by product family and model.
Needs:
- understand whether there are connection issues due to design defects in a product model
- evaluate the statistical incidence of connection issues and determine whether this is acceptable or not
- discover correlations between connection issues and other dimensions like product age, model, family, etc.
- understand the root causes of connection issues
Operation Manager
The operation manager (Operation Manager) is typically responsible for ensuring that products are connected in one or more locations.
They are interested in aggregate information, both by time frame (last 30 days, lifetime) and by business entity: product and location.
Needs:
- understand if connection is reliable at product and location level