How Comprehensive Mobile Device Lifecycle Management Drives Higher ROI

The old saying that you get out of something what you put into it holds much truth in mobile device lifecycle management. A genuinely comprehensive enterprise mobility solution that starts with planning and includes excellent execution, support, and end-to-end visibility will bring you a much higher return on your investment. Not paying attention to the details in each step of the lifecycle is where the ROI on mobile programs is lost. 

Begin With a Good Plan 

Diving into an enterprise mobility solution without a well-thought-out blueprint is the first place where ROI can potentially go south in a hurry. Understanding goals and end-user needs must come first. Then you can design a solution with all the required pieces to meet those objectives.  

A well-organized plan not only helps ensure that your solution is effective, but you gain efficiencies that make the whole process faster and easily repeatable. You can then use the knowledge gained to roll out other solutions when you need to just as efficiently and successfully.  

Well-researched and careful planning also means you’re far more likely to get the full expected lifespan of your solution. We’ve seen organizations forced to move on earlier than planned because a solution didn’t bring the anticipated benefits or the manufacturer unexpectedly stopped selling or supporting the device selected. 

Put the Right Resources into the Rollout 

Part of your plan and deployment must be change management. Communicate early and often with end users, so they know what’s coming and understand the benefits. Combine that with any training they need to use the solution, so they immediately see those benefits. Not getting change management right can lead to poor adoption, which negates the value. 

Having all the needed resources for kitting, configuring, and deploying mobile devices is absolutely critical too. In-house IT teams often struggle to achieve the scale required for speedy and efficient deployment. It’s not just the logistics; the operating systems for Apple and Android enterprise devices require specialized knowledge. Getting employees with the right level of expertise isn’t always easy because they’re in high demand.  

Not having the right scale can lead to higher costs, slower deployments, or even stalled projects. Partnering with a Managed Mobile Services provider that has the resources ready to go is an easy way to avoid that headache. 

Be Ready for Day 2 

Ensuring end users have the technical help they need both during and after rollout also leads to better user experiences, higher adoption, and fewer chances of stalled projects. A distributed workforce benefits from a mobile help desk that’s there for them 24/7, no matter where they are.  

Mobile help desk technicians that can talk end users through problems also significantly reduce “no-fault-found” returns for repair. ROI can be significantly impacted if devices are frequently sent back when a simple phone call with a technician could have solved the problem and prevented unnecessary downtime. 

When returns are unavoidable, a well-managed spare pool program stocked with devices that are pre-configured and ready to be put into service also reduces downtime. If you’re dealing with multiple locations where devices are used, then they can be sent overnight from a central location.  

Keep an Eye on Everything 

Real-time mobile asset tracking delivers analytics that also help you maximize your ROI. For example, Stratix uses our itrac360 platform for comprehensive reporting and analysis from multiple sources of data for the millions of devices we manage. In a single pane of glass, we see asset locations, owners, status, repair history and more, for every device in an organization’s ecosystem. That kind of data helps you spot trends and keep your spare pool inventory at exactly the right levels. 

Always knowing where things are also prevents potentially costly security incidents when it’s time to decommission devices. Information on old equipment can be the source of expensive data breaches. Tracking ensures everything’s decommissioned securely and wiped of data. Responsible IT Asset Disposition (ITAD) also helps you recover any residual value in old devices if they can be resold. 

Control Costs with Managed Mobile Services  

When calculating ROI and the total cost of ownership (TCO) for enterprise mobility, a study done by VDC for Stratix found that as much as 43% of mobile TCO goes toward support costs, with at least another 8% going to soft costs—like downtime, device management expenses, and training. The study shows how it’s a mistake to focus mainly on hardware costs when calculating TCO. 

Support and soft costs can also be a challenge to foresee when relying only on internal teams. They tend to lack the agility to rapidly provision, repair, return and decommission these devices both effectively and in a predictable, cost-effective fashion. 

The same VDC study found that organizations that partner with a Managed Mobile Services provider are more than two times more likely to be satisfied with their TCO. MMS gives them the resources to manage enterprise mobility programs well and the ability to control support and soft costs through a single point of contact. 

End-to-end solutions offered by MMS providers like Device as a Service (DaaS) also offer cost-controlling opportunities by bundling hardware, software, and managed services into a per-device, per-month cost that moves spending from CAPEX to the OPEX side of the ledger. 

With so much of the success of organizations riding on enterprise mobility solutions these days, getting the right solution with a high ROI is critical. 

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