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As organizations expand in headcount and location, one of the first things they look for are ways to cut costs from the bottom line. Telecom expense management was a straightforward idea that easily took hold as the value proposition was simple: success could be assured if executives simply managed inventory and conducted audits in the right way and at the right time.
However, the explosion of mobile devices has flipped the old TEM paradigm on its ear, injecting new complexity into the management process. One of the biggest changes is in the type of device being managed by the enterprise: mobility no longer means traditional phones – or even mobile phones. Today’s mobile devices are applications-grade devices that can enable employees to be just as productive at home or on the road as they are at their desks.
Further complicating the mobile expense management challenge is the fact that organizations must now manage costs for devices it does not own. Employees already have smartphones. But now, tablets are on the increase and employees are expecting to be able to use their own devices for personal and work use. That means organizations are tasked with managing a unique mix of corporate and employee-liable environments.
This “consumerization” of the workplace has happened so fast that most IT departments are now playing catch up, trying to keep employees happy while securing data and managing expenses. In fact, between the recent Google-Motorola announcement, the pending AT&T/T-Mobile USA deal and the recently released iPhone 4S, these migrations are going to happen fast. The shift from BlackBerry to Android and iPhone for enterprise use has already accelerated: research shows that non-RIM smartphone share among enterprise users has grown 37% in the last 12 months.
The challenges of consumerization
Organizationstoday are facingthree key mobile challenges:
–Several devices, several plans: Usage has grown steadily, bringing rapid changes in devices, plans, rates – and a need to make these work together.
–The need to manage expenses: Costs have spiraled and there is a greater need to manage expenses and protect company datawithout hurting productivity or employee morale.
–TEM and MEM are different: Mobile expense management is not the same as TEM; the rules of TEM are simply not as successful in the mobile arena.
There have been rapid changes in the workplace – changes that have brought consumer devices to the forefront of the discussion. Many employees look to their mobile devices as their preferred (or only) method of communication, for both work and home. This shift in the way people work and live has dramatically affected an organization’s ability to track costs and maximize their return on investment for these devices.
With the wide variety of devices and mobile plans, it can be a nightmare to try and consolidate service and rates across the organization. Some have gone the route of forcing employees to use a certain device, while some have taken the other extreme and allowed any device to be used on work-related activities. Each of these approaches have their own problems – ranging from pretending that employees won’t find ways to use non-approved devices on work items, to disrupting workflow and productivity so much that it ultimately affects morale and leads good employees to leave.
IT departments need to spend time on the management part of this problem – promoting mobile security, ensuring data is protected and costs are controlled – rather than concentrate on fighting consumerization.
Recognizing the differences between TEM and MEM
The wireless space is truly different than the landline space. Sure, some of the problems, management philosophies and goals are similar – but the path to savings does diverge at some point in the TEM process – and organizations must recognize the differences in order to succeed.
In landline systems, the majority of savings come from managing inventory, correcting bills and signing up for long-term contracts with a carrier that saves you money over several years. In the mobile space, long-term contracts aren’t nearly as important as managing usage, plans and policies. It’s a completely different center of gravity; one that needs to be recognized and given regular attention, unlike the periodic event that modern TEM has become. In wireless situations, the key to success is an active and constant optimization of devices and services. More and more often, this process is being done in a real-time, automated fashion to ensure that the information is as current as possible.
Tips on managing usage, plans and policies
One of the keys of MEM is properly understanding and managing your mobile expenses. Organizations need to ensure that employees are on the right plans and are not being taken advantage of with overage charges, insurance, or unneeded minutes.
–Change your voice and data plans: Recent research has shown that the majority of employees come nowhere near using their full data plan allotment each month. In fact, recent research conducted by Xigo showed that organizations have been too generous with mobile voice and data, as 31% of monthly voice plans go unused and only 13% of wireless data cap plans are used.
–Take advantage of Wi-Fi: As we know, carriers are never going to stand in the way of over-spending on data plans, so it is up to the smart organization to take matters into its own hands. With a greater use of Wi-Fi, most employees could operate perfectly well within 50% of their current data cap. A 2 gigabyte plan that costs, say $40 per month, could become a 1 GB plan, costing $20 per month.
–Weed out abusers: In addition, in every office, there is an employee or two that is abusing the system and downloading movies over his phone while working on his desktop. While the single user wasn’t as much of a concern in the TEM world, in a mobile environment it’s a different game. Without the regular review of usage, these issues would never be found and costs would remain artificially high.
By combining these improvements the savings in unused minutes/bytes alone would be enough to make a major difference in the bottom line – and true mobile management would be accomplished for your organization without hurting productivity, employee choice or morale.
