BUSINESS PROFILE Cost managing BYOD
Comms resellers will be challenged more and more to have a strategy on mobile security and mobile access to enterprise systems. This will require substantial investments in knowledge and training but is sure to bring an excellent upsell opportunity, according to Bram Cool, General Manager at Telecom Expense Management specialist Ezwim.
Bram Cool T
he consumerisation of IT and telecoms is a significant opportunity for
resellers but the flip side is that it can also be a lethal cocktail of unanticipated change in business models, believes Cool. In its broadest sense consumerisation sees the transition of decision making, costs and ownership from the corporation to the employee, presenting a challenge to resellers. “Most resellers are not equipped to deal with these consumers,” said Cool. “However, businesses still have a need for close involvement with their employee-owned devices in order to support their employee by providing easy but secure access to enterprise systems from the mobile device.”
Because consumerisation is not spur of the moment, resellers should develop a thorough strategy to address changes in buying
and usage behaviors. “Enterprise and consumer grade services are converging towards becoming one and the same,” added Cool. “Consider expenditure reports available online for consumers of retail banking services. These kinds of reports were previously only available to finance managers from large financial reporting systems. Also, consider why self-service portals within the enterprise are increasingly taking on the look and feel of a consumer web shop. Consumerisation is here to stay so monetising the challenges is a question of survival.”
The BYOD opportunity is effectively the third wave in telecoms adaption, reckons Cool. When optimising an end user’s telecom infrastructure three sequential steps can be identified, he points out. Cost leadership: This means optimising the external supplier costs/rates,
making sure that the telecom products are used well by the business, and making sure that abuse is penalised. Operational excellence: This focuses on cutting out the middle man by automating MACD (move, add, change, delete) processes. And employee intimacy: The need for increased services in order to win the war for talent. “If a telecom reseller develops specific offerings to support the corporate customer in these three areas then significant business can be developed,” observed Cool.
Minimising the risk While the maximum risk for an end user is limited to the cost of the specific hardware and/or service contracts they might have, the cost control, mounting direct costs and resulting organisational costs for the employer can be high. These costs come from: Supporting their employees on the hardware that is employee-owned; controlling the activities of the employee-owned assets that are used for business purposes; and usage costs through uncontrolled reimbursements. “Practical examples show that, for instance, data roaming on an
iPhone can be up to 10 times more expensive than data roaming on a Blackberry,” commented Cool. “BYOD can rapidly result in mounting costs if not regulated and monitored well.”
BYOD by definition means that employees have a personal liable device. They pay for everything and make an expense claim for business usage. Telecom Expense Management is an essential cloud service that controls, administers and finances BYOD programmes. For example, the Ezwim Workflow engine (ESM) balances the interests of the employee, the company and the supplier. Meanwhile, Ezwim’s Cost Management (EEM) controls costs and helps to implement corporate policies on which spend is private and which is business. Next to this, Ezwim’s Business Intelligence provides subscription advice even on the most complex combinations of company and personal subscriptions.
Ezwim also advises on the most desirable security policy in relation to Telecom Expense Management and has interfaces to the
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main MDM vendors on its roadmap. “If the employees of your clients are really going to purchase their subscriptions and hardware at the local phone shop you may lose an important chunk of your income,” commented Cool. “The opportunity here is to deliver customised and agile subscription advice to clients. Given the rapid and unpredictable changes in a true BYOD environment this will add tremendous value.”
Ezwim is on the hunt for partners in the UK to enable such BYOD programmes. “Specifically, we are looking for partners who maintain a trusted advisor role with their customers,” explained Cool. “BYOD is not an all or nothing offering and is certainly not one size fits all. Therefore, businesses will need help to find the best BYOD model within selected parts of their organisations. The regular support models for mobility will no longer be valid and mobile resellers will have to adapt to that. More complex support workflows, with more actors will need to be built. This will create an excellent opportunity for additional revenue and client lock-in.”
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