RifcoMobile

Mobile Strategy

The price of a unit of long-distance communication is in a continuous decline. With cell coverage now nearly ubiquitous and now that so many plans have long distance, traditional landline long-distance is steadily declining. That very decline, in terms of cost per unit, holds true for telephone lines, your ‘Net connection, and data circuits. However, the total cost of a mobile phone and usage is consistently on the rise.

Strategic Mobile Road Map

For a business to synch its business and communications goals, a plan which includes a strategy and outlined actions is a necessity. To transform your mobile platform over from a cost center to a business enabler requires the implementation of a comprehensive road map. The strategy and road map describe how mobile services can add to the grand scheme of information and communications technology used by the business. This strategy can also match the business’ goals with a particular technology. In addition to being a part of the overall strategy, the roadmap needs a base in the organization’s requirements, devices in use, contract limitations, process, and system hardware and software.

Getting it Implemented

The preferred way to outline and enable a mobile strategy and roadmap is to understand the user and make a profile. The profile should not be considered the same thing as the person’s job title. Instead, it should be representative of the role and responsibility which the person fulfills. The user profile ideally describes both current and future situations. A user’s profile should have the role and responsibility of the individual and the department, overall mobile needs, description of the type of device, device use by role & responsibility, an indicator of phone voice and data use, and info on any current contracts held with the service provider including service agreements. Once both of the profiles have been opened, it’s time to run a gap analysis - results of this analysis can indicate steps to take in the future. As an example, by changing the data plan for an employee with unlimited data transfers who only uses 15% of this capacity could equal savings. Once applying these types of changes across an entire organization, the results become significant.

Manage Mobility

Outsource, insource, or some of each? Now that you’ve implemented your plan, it needs to be maintained. Process control and policy which has been activated now needs to be monitored and updated regularly. Some organizations simply don’t have the employees to tackle this task. Typically, mobile telephony is time-intensive and strains other highly-utilized staff, particularly IT. If this is the situation, the business can outsource these functions to another party instead. This contractor works as a liaison between you and the multiple cell phone service providers. However, some larger businesses are wise to use their own mobile services expense-management tool. This can be done with internal resources and tied in specifically to the policy and procedure described in the road map. This is the preferred method for an enterprise with over five thousand mobile devices.

Mobility Today

With plenty of options around mobile services, it’s difficult to determine just the right mobility strategy for your company. Smaller, medium and larger organizations must all keep a sharp eye out for the expense and work hours needed to develop and maintain mobility. Next it’s time to formulate the strategy and road map which will lead to successful long-term management. Failure to do so may let mobile service cost to continually grow without significantly assisting with your company’s long-term business objectives.

Nick Pegley is a marketing expert with All Covered: Technology Services Partner for Small Business, providing information technology consulting and IT services in 20 major U.S. metro areas. Outsource your procurement, installation and technical headaches.

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