Costs are on the rise, due to the increasing mobility of employees using more advanced mobile devices and services. But the real issue is managing all this.
Let's start by recalling the basic concept. It's predicated on easy access to corporate data as well as the ability to update databases with information and transaction data.
Smart phones are the key driver, but consumers also use these devices and they account for more than 50% of the mobile traffic. Moreover, the percentage is rising and 3G networks are beginning to choke. For example, between 2007 and the end of 2009 AT&T saw an unprecedented 5000% increase in mobile data growth, driven by iPhone and other integrated data device subscriptions
Operators have responded by introducing various data plans, but users who exceed their monthly allowance, e.g. 200 Mbytes, will be hit with a heavy surcharge and this situation can easily arise when enterprise users roam internationally and employ other networks.
Video downloads and file sharing are the main culprits, which means that business professionals should not reach, much less exceed their allowance on "enterprise" smart phones. But it could happen if they employ the same device "as a consumer".
Notebook PCs would normally be used for heavy-duty applications and HSPA (High-speed Packet Access) would be the preferred connection over which to do it. Smart phone traffic would be relatively light and asynchronous, so latency is not an issue. Therefore congestion on 3G networks is unlikely to impact end user experience.
But Costs Are Escalating
Enterprises continue to face increased telecommunications spend as mobile data and personal usage costs are on the rise, due to the increasing mobility of employees in combination with the use of more advanced mobile devices and services. However, while the financial size of the invoices is important, the real issue is the number of invoices and the lack of management information.
In order to control their telecoms spend, companies need to have a high-level view across the entire organization as well as detailed information at the location, department and individual user level. Because of the extensive nature of wireless usage, this requirement represents a formidable challenge.
Addressing it internally would consume precious IT resources. However, challenges are also opportunities for companies that can provide efficient, cost-effective, outsourced solutions. That said, there are numerous other issues surrounding wireless cost management.
Specifically: Organizations face challenges in attaining a holistic view of their wireless environment including services, inventory, contracts, billing, and usage. Include the need to understand complex carrier offerings and industry best practices, and the various tasks become even more formidable.
Add the issue of how an organization can construct sustainable systems and processes that yield optimal results within an enterprise/carrier environment that is always evolving, and you get a set of challenges that seem overwhelming.
Managing Expenditure
The first step of any plan to gain control of telecom expenses is to get insight into the usage and costs across the entire organization. While this may sound obvious, many businesses are simply unaware of how many devices and services are being billed to their accounts. Research conducted by Ezwim, a vendor of telecom expense management (TEM) services and solutions, indicates that over 50% of enterprises don't know what they spend on telecommunications, yet more than 40% know that the spend will be higher in the future.
As indicated earlier, developing a comprehensive in-house solution is a complex, time-consuming, task. Moreover, there are numerous issues that have to be overcome and of which IT will normally not be aware, e.g., the local centers that aggregate receipts must meet local data privacy rules, and some countries preclude mailing invoices outside the country.
However, this complex task also represents a huge opportunity for companies that have developed the requisite TEM services and solutions. Tangoe, for example, has developed a suite of communications and device management services. A key feature is the ability to centralize global telecom invoice processing.
With the system, when there is a local privacy rule, the invoices are delivered to an in-country global processing center before being electronically transferred to a central facility. Multi-nationals can therefore manage all their telephony invoices from a centralized repository, no matter what the carrier, country of origin, or language.
Tangoe currently operates 84 centers around the world and mobile rate plan optimization service runs regular tests in order to determine the plan that best fits the company’s usage at that time and location. The solution collects data on every call to create individualized calling profiles; assesses calling profiles against the various preferred carrier rate plans; and provides optimization recommendations.
Transaction Management
Spendvision has a similar TEM offer. All telecoms expenses can be managed and monitored, including SMS, voicemail, line rental and call costs for local, international, roaming and mobile calls. But there is a big difference. TEM is one module, albeit an important one, in a transaction management solution that can handle all the other financial transactions, i.e. credit and bank card, cash, on-line travel bookings, requisition new handsets, cancel phone accounts and regular invoices.
Spendvision centralizes the various transactions, and approvals from the relevant managers come via automated workflows. The platform processes these transactions and delivers the requisite reports. For example, CFOs receive a high-level insight into corporate spend across the various business units, currencies, languages and territories. Reports can also be generated at all other levels: business units, departments and individuals.
One neat feature: Employees can use their smart phone to photograph receipts, which can then be uploaded directly into the Spendvision platform and linked to the relevant transaction, from where they can be coded and sent for approval.
The solution is built on a single, modular platform that can track and manage all corporate transactions: from integrated travel and expense management to telecoms services, electronic bills and payment. The various modules can be used on their own, e.g., expense management, or together as an integrated solution.
The statement module is particularly interesting since it consolidates invoice activity from multiple sources into one, seamless, single-currency statement. It allows the enterprise to settle one consolidated invoice and in turn enables the account issuer to redistribute those funds to their partners servicing the one account across the globe. And there is a reconciled, auditable set of books for statutory reporting.
Conclusions for the Series
The business case for the Mobile Enterprise is compelling and very soon it will be overwhelming. It comes at a time when enterprises have unprecedented need to: increase productivity and operational efficiency; reduce OPEX and CAPEX; improve customer relationships; and boost margins.
This need coincides with an ICT sweet spot. Wireless data services are high-speed, affordable and ubiquitous. Now we have powerful handheld computers (smart phones). And there are new mobile applications that integrate with mainstream business processes. But there are issues.
Security heads the list and it comes from the entry of smart phones into enterprise environments. This topic was covered in the second article. Security is a complex, multi-facetted topic. Smart phones have open operating systems, so they are vulnerable. Business professionals are also consumers, so the devices may be used to access insecure sites as well as social networks. But robust solutions that enable end-to-end encryption can be implemented, and in future security will be embedded. The need to manage telecom expenditure is obviously important and it is also a multi-faceted issue. Management needs a high-level view across the entire organization as well as the ability to drill down to location, department and individual levels. But while paying a consolidated phone bill that's based on the best available plan at that time and location is a convenient service that saves money, it is just one of the many financial transactions that an enterprise handles every day. Therefore TEM can be seen as an important sub-set of a comprehensive transaction management solution.
Bob Emmerson is a freelance writer who lives in The Netherlands. Email: [email protected]. Web: www.electric-words.org. The author would like to acknowledge the contribution of Henning Dransfeld, Executive Marketing Consultant at T-Systems.
