Slash Corporate Overspending With Wireless Expense Management
In the past decade, corporate wireless programs has gone from relative obscurity, to a major area of concern for many Fortune 500 executives.
With usage and dependence on mobile devices increasing for most organizations, the costs are becoming overwhelming.
Better yet, many companies are actually overpaying every month on their wireless plans.
The sad truth is that most simply don't realize that they are overspending.
No, the big carriers are not out to steal from their corporate subscribers - far from it.
Their job is to make devices work properly within their signals and to keep customers in service; worry whether or not an organization is paying for unused minutes or data.
The problem is that with tighter budgets and an overbearing pressure to minimize costs, most organizations simply do not have the resources, training or technology to efficiently (and cost effectively) manage their wireless expenses and billings "in-house".
The good news: there are now outsourced solutions that specialize in reducing and managing mobile expenses.
Otherwise known as wireless expense management (WEM), this practice of expense management has proven to be highly beneficial to companies that currently subscribe to 200 or more cellular services on a monthly basis.
Wireless Expense Management consists of 5 key steps: 1.
Baseline creation - Based on previous wireless usage, this determines what your costs should be 2.
Audit to baseline - Comparing actual monthly spend to the baseline (see above) 3.
Revise baseline - Change baseline to reflect individual usage trends 4.
Optimize - Adjust rate plan subscriptions, usage, add-ons and other options to minimize cost 5.
Re-audit to baseline - Audit the optimized plan against the revised baseline This process should be repeated on a monthly basis to ensure that costs remain their absolute lowest.
Because of the high level of cost savings able to be achieved by wireless expense management, it is important to understand the different solutions available to the current market, and which will deliver the best return.
The two most popular solutions are: Outsourced Solution This solution is a combination of both process and technology and is the preferred method of many large organizations.
Ease of implementation, low starting costs, performance based fees, and relief of managerial duties are just some of the benefits of outsourced WEM.
Software-Based Solution This solution consists of software licensing and utilizing internal resources to minimize overspending.
This solution is best fitted for those companies who like to keep everything "in-house".
However, larger organizations experience a higher net gain when using the outsourced solution mentioned above.
Because of the specialized expertise and amount of paid training hours, most would rather outsource than take on the burden.
Regardless of which method you choose, your best solution will be the one that results with the highest amount of cost avoidance, and the lowest amount of management or ongoing stress.
*Something to keep in mind when choosing an outsourced solution: If you decide that outsourced wireless expense management is the best choice for your organization - take care to conduct proper due diligence about the company, by making sure they are carrier-independent.
This means they do not have any affiliations or monetary agreements with the big carriers.
More importantly, what that means for WEM customers is no savings are left behind.
Carrier-independent WEM firms generate higher (and ethical) returns for their clients because they are able to negotiate rate plans with increased leverage.
With usage and dependence on mobile devices increasing for most organizations, the costs are becoming overwhelming.
Better yet, many companies are actually overpaying every month on their wireless plans.
The sad truth is that most simply don't realize that they are overspending.
No, the big carriers are not out to steal from their corporate subscribers - far from it.
Their job is to make devices work properly within their signals and to keep customers in service; worry whether or not an organization is paying for unused minutes or data.
The problem is that with tighter budgets and an overbearing pressure to minimize costs, most organizations simply do not have the resources, training or technology to efficiently (and cost effectively) manage their wireless expenses and billings "in-house".
The good news: there are now outsourced solutions that specialize in reducing and managing mobile expenses.
Otherwise known as wireless expense management (WEM), this practice of expense management has proven to be highly beneficial to companies that currently subscribe to 200 or more cellular services on a monthly basis.
Wireless Expense Management consists of 5 key steps: 1.
Baseline creation - Based on previous wireless usage, this determines what your costs should be 2.
Audit to baseline - Comparing actual monthly spend to the baseline (see above) 3.
Revise baseline - Change baseline to reflect individual usage trends 4.
Optimize - Adjust rate plan subscriptions, usage, add-ons and other options to minimize cost 5.
Re-audit to baseline - Audit the optimized plan against the revised baseline This process should be repeated on a monthly basis to ensure that costs remain their absolute lowest.
Because of the high level of cost savings able to be achieved by wireless expense management, it is important to understand the different solutions available to the current market, and which will deliver the best return.
The two most popular solutions are: Outsourced Solution This solution is a combination of both process and technology and is the preferred method of many large organizations.
Ease of implementation, low starting costs, performance based fees, and relief of managerial duties are just some of the benefits of outsourced WEM.
Software-Based Solution This solution consists of software licensing and utilizing internal resources to minimize overspending.
This solution is best fitted for those companies who like to keep everything "in-house".
However, larger organizations experience a higher net gain when using the outsourced solution mentioned above.
Because of the specialized expertise and amount of paid training hours, most would rather outsource than take on the burden.
Regardless of which method you choose, your best solution will be the one that results with the highest amount of cost avoidance, and the lowest amount of management or ongoing stress.
*Something to keep in mind when choosing an outsourced solution: If you decide that outsourced wireless expense management is the best choice for your organization - take care to conduct proper due diligence about the company, by making sure they are carrier-independent.
This means they do not have any affiliations or monetary agreements with the big carriers.
More importantly, what that means for WEM customers is no savings are left behind.
Carrier-independent WEM firms generate higher (and ethical) returns for their clients because they are able to negotiate rate plans with increased leverage.
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