Taking the Ripple Effect out of Mobile Device Management
A lot has been made of the “bring your own device” (BYOD) Revolution, employees bringing their own devices into the workplace and hooking up to corporate networks, leading to security threats and mad scrambles to block open gateway’s that malware and malicious software can use to infect a device and with lighting speed destroy an organization’s network. While that can happen, the truth is at the enterprise level, the BYOD Revolution is actually proceeding at a snail’s pace.
Most enterprise level companies still buy and control any hardware devices that touch their network. Why? The reason is cost. The cost of continually “fixing” the back end of a network being punched full of security holes by unsecured wireless devices is FAR more expensive than controlling the devices that touch it on the front end. But what are the Ripple Effects of the business’s choice to control those devices?
One major Ripple Effect of the ‘control strategy’ is that all those corporate-owned devices have to be accounted for. Companies tackling mobility device management (MDM) of hundreds to thousands of devices means they have to gain a full, working understanding of all of the MDM components. That includes learning and understanding every different option regarding mobile strategy, planning, procuring, provisioning, management, and support, as well as end-of-life practices for devices and contracts.
Beyond simply understanding, the nitty-gritty day-to-day management needs include service plans that have to be monitored, contracted rates that have to be matched against their monthly invoices, the devices have to be matched to the user, the devices need to be fixed, upgraded, wiped clean without inadvertently affecting personal user data, removed from service, added into service, recycled or refurbished, rekitted, etc, etc. And that’s just on the corporate side.
Employees are told of their wireless devices “Protect It, Own It, and Keep It Safe”. Can employees be trusted to care for expensive, fragile mobile devices that don’t really belong to them? Some yes, most no. Do you stock replacements or let an employee remain unproductive until a replacement is procured?
The Ripple Grows
It’s no secret that there are significant costs attached to managing your telecom devices and services in an inefficient way. One of the biggest Ripple Effects on an organization making its decisions to embark on an MDM policy initiative is underestimating the additional workload that policy can create for the IT department. IT managers could now be challenged with supporting multiple devices per user, multiple apps per device, multiple service providers and providing Tier 1 help desk support. Just the administrative functions of those tasks are daunting because managing telecom devices internally is time-consuming and highly specialized work.
So what are the choices for managing the “control” decision? Essentially there are three; 1) hire headcount to take the project on, 2) convert current employees wholly or partially into device managers as part of their current position, or 3) outsource. The effect of option one is increased headcount and all that goes with that. The effect of option two is decreased production in the current position. Both of these two options brings in the ripple of employees lack of experience in this type of endeavor and the inevitable month’s long learning curve, which can cost significant dollars and add frustration across the entire enterprise. That leaves option three, outsourcing.
Outsourcing is often the best option of the three. Why? The learning curve goes away, the headcount remains the same and the people you hired because they are good at a certain job, get to keep doing the job you hired them for. So let’s look deeper into the ripple effect of outsourcing and why it might make sense.
There are a lot of good companies out there. For example, RadiusPoint has an entire department staffed with the proper tools and experienced personnel to take over this function at the drop of a hat. When you partner with a company like RadiusPoint, you end up saving both time and money. In fact, in hard-money savings, typically we find overbilling by the vendor and can help return that money to your businesses bottom line. Customers using our ExpenseLogic software typically find they can reduce wireless spend by up to 25%.
The Ripple Reverses Course
The biggest soft benefit of our team of experts being in control of your wireless telecom functions is you’ll gain efficiency and free up your busy IT and finance department staff for other strategic duties and projects. The cost-savings of this should not be underestimated. Ask HR how much time, effort and money it cost to hire the person you now have? When all the ripples are taken into consideration, outsourcing mobile device management becomes increasingly appealing. It makes economic sense to partner with a company like RadiusPoint that has the tools, the experience, and the know-how to craft a wireless management strategy that works for you.
For more information on RadiusPoint’s MDM solutions, visit our website or contact us today!