15 Dec Why Outsourcing Enterprise Mobility Management Makes Dollars and Sense
As enterprises and employees increasingly make more extensive use of wireless devices, company stakeholders face two choices: scale IT and other tech support resources to serve the growing needs of their mobile workforce, or outsource the functions to an organization specializing in mobile telecommunications expense management (TEM) and help desk.
The ROI on either path varies by organization, of course, but companies are trending toward the latter for a few reasons.
Hard Cost Savings
Mobile management companies are adept at uncovering savings through carrier negotiation, usage analysis and monthly optimization efforts. In fact, companies using outsourcers spend about 50 percent less than companies that manage their programs internally.
Soft Cost Savings
Shifting mobile TEM and help desk functions to a mobility management firm liberates human and capital resources that can be allocated elsewhere. You access expertise and specific skill sets without hiring.
Enhanced Visibility/Reporting
The right mobile TEM provider can generate and provide standard and ad-hoc custom reports in minutes, giving organizations more control over mobile expenses.
Increased Process Efficiency
Are you able to handle cost-allocation reporting? Are international plans added and removed when employees/users travel? Are mobile policies refreshed and distributed to employees electronically and automatically? Are employees satisfied with the way you handle their wireless requests, services, break/fix? The right mobile TEM provider takes care of these things.
Consider the experience of Suburban Propane. As a leading provider of fuel oil and refined fuels, natural gas and electricity, the organization utilizes some 3,500 wireless devices nationwide. The majority of them are used by drivers and technicians to communicate with the company’s customer service center, dispatchers and management.
“The people managing our wireless plan, devices and policies had other responsibilities, and it was getting untenable,” explains Brian Coyle, the company’s managing director technical services and IT field support. “Rather than hire additional personnel, we turned to TeraNova and it’s made a world of difference. In terms of hard dollars, we’ve saved a ton of money. And our people who were handling it for us internally are free to focus on other issues and initiatives.”
Mr. Coyle adds that the company’s business is seasonal with peaks occurring in the fall and winter, which complicates mobility management. “In the past it was difficult to handle mobility management throughout the year but especially during the heating season,” he says. “Requests for service really pick up at that time, which means more mobile device activity, break/fix issues and so forth. When that happens, TeraNova is a godsend.”
Our team at TeraNova frequently runs into companies like Suburban Propane. In most cases, their IT and other tech support personnel are too busy to efficiently manage mobility solutions, much less “train up” on the inherent complexities and optimization tradecraft. Quite simply, they conclude that mobility specialists are better equipped to get the most out of their wireless programs.
If you’re curious whether it makes dollars and sense to outsource mobility management and helpdesk, don’t hesitate to reach out to our experts at info@teranovaglobal.com or call us at 800-843-2820. We can run the ROI on any number of scenarios in a matter of hours.
