Vancouver-based field support software maker Opsivity is making its debut and unveiling a leadership team that includes several local tech veterans.
Andy Lowery, co-founder and former CEO of Vancouver-based wearable computer maker RealWear, is president of Opsivity. He is joined by former Samsung and Intel (Nasdaq: INTC) executive David Fosberg, who is chief customer officer; former RealWear executive Patrick Neise, who is chief technology officer; and Madhu Agustine, co-founder of SnapSupport, who is vice president of product development.
Opsivity is a wholly owned subsidiary of Harvest Technology Group, a publicly traded Australian company. Earlier this year, Harvest acquired SnapSupport, which is the basis for Opsivity’s product.
Harvest invested in the new team, user interface upgrades, integrations and other product enhancements to create Opsivity, said Fosberg.
Opsivity has a growing team of 14 with roughly a quarter located in the Portland metro area.
The company’s software is used by field technicians to help with maintenance, troubleshooting and problem solving. The software works on a variety of devices such as smartphones, tablets and laptops as well as wearable devices like RealWear’s head-mounted computer system.
Opsivity is working closely with RealWear and is part of that company’s application ecosystem. Lowery left RealWear, which has raised $100 million from investors, last year.
When technicians are in the field they can use Opsivity to access operational procedures, checklists, articles and other resources. They also can easily collaborate remotely with other experts through chat and video. The software also allows for augmented reality to annotate photos and video.
“There are more than 600 million field workers globally across the heavy and light industry sectors,” said Lowery in a written statement. “When downtime occurs, it can cost industries trillions of dollars. Opsivity enables field technicians’ access to problem-solving expertise across their organization to resolve technical issues quickly. This reduces costly equipment downtime and improves operational productivity.”
Opsivity’s software has been running with customers for several years under its previous name SnapSupport. The current release is now under the Opsivity name and that will be the brand moving forward.
The company is focused on building software and isn’t in the hardware market.
“The software and the apps is the accelerant that will pull the hardware through at the end of the day,” said Fosberg. “(Customers) need something helpful and easy to use and that is where we are focusing.”
Opsivity uses artificial intelligence to serve up possible solutions to meet a technician’s needs. As people use the software and upload photos, videos, chats and other elements the AI can learn and bring those possible solutions forward.
By gathering this kind of operational knowledge the company also hopes to help customers with workforce needs. The field service industry is facing a retirement wave that will see institutional knowledge leave as well as a skilled workforce shortage brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We are seeing expertise drain happening for target customers,” said Fosberg. “When our customers look to backfill and to grow and hire they are seeing people less technically skilled. (Opsivity can) super charge the on-the-job training.”
