Microsoft buys field-service management software maker FieldOne

Microsoft today announced that it has acquired FieldOne, a company with software for managing the activity of field workers. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed.

The deal comes four months after the two companies announced a “multi-year agreement” that would allow companies to access Microsoft Dynamics and FieldOne’s tools in one package.

Buying FieldOne instantly turns Microsoft into a go-to provider for yet another type of business software and helps the tech giant diversify itself a little bit further. But perhaps more importantly, over time Microsoft can set a new standard for what field service software can be, by connecting it with sophisticated tools like the Cortana personal digital assistant that’s part of the recently announced Cortana Analytics Suite.

“Field service businesses are aggressively trying to move away from a reactive break-fix model to predictive service based model,” Bob Stutz, corporate vice president of Microsoft Dynamics CRM, wrote in a blog post on today’s news. “With this acquisition, Microsoft can help companies tap the potential of predictive service by bringing together the powerful combination of FieldOne, Azure IoT and Cortana Analytics. That means that organizations can use insights that effectively provide servicing proactively while streamlining the provisioning of service to significantly reduce costs.”

Other recent enterprise-focused Microsoft acquisitions include Aorato, Datazen, and Revolution Analytics.

FieldOne started in 2001 and is based in Mahwah, N.J. Customers include Climatec, Mitsubishi-Hitachi Power Systems, and Carl Zeiss. The company’s software can run in companies’ on-premises data centers or as a cloud service. Mobile apps are available for field service workers.

Other vendors in the field service management business include Jobber, mHelpDesk, ServicePower, and Wintac.