How to Evaluate Managed Mobility Services and Solutions

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Managing a fleet of mobile devices is no simple task. From managing hardware and software across every phase of their lifecycle to maintaining vendors, optimizing costs, and minimizing business risks, effective management covers a lot of ground. Many companies are exploring Managed Mobility Services (MMS) to offload these complexities so they can improve security, boost IT productivity, and cut costs. It’s a win-win for businesses looking to optimize mobile operations and focus on what really matters: driving growth and innovation.

With so many options available, it’s crucial that you evaluate MMS solutions. With over 14M mobile devices under management, Tangoe knows a thing or two about what the leading providers and their solutions should deliver.

90% of organizations agree that MMS delivers a positive ROI.

Step 1

Look for a Total MMS Solution that Eliminates More Mobile Complexities

By this, we mean a solution that wraps device lifecycle management, mobile security solutions, and financial management all in one software platform and service partnership. While many MMS providers cover one or two aspects of these areas, few deliver an exhaustive solution that can take on all that mobility management entails. Even fewer provide a 360-degree view of all devices, their compliance status, and their associated expenses – no matter where the devices are, which hardware you use, which data service provider you partner with, and which ownership model you prefer (corporate-liable, BYOD, or a mix of both).

Device lifecycle management: Services should cover every phase of a device’s life, from procurement and setup to kitting and shipping to inventory, order, invoice handling, repairs – all the way to end-of-life disposal with recycling and buyback programs.
Mobile Security Services: Double down on mobile security by integrating unified endpoint management (UEM) software and ongoing management services into your MMS solution, pushing security policies and updates to every device. UEM manages and secures all mobile devices – not just standard laptops, tablets, and smartphones but sensors, scanners, and everything in-between. At a minimum, solutions should have global coverage with compatibility with a broad ecosystem of devices including Apple, Android, and Windows.

Advanced capabilities will include strategic planning services, UEM software integration services, implementation resources, and ongoing day-to-day administration to augment overstretched IT teams trying to manage device security and compliance. Some may also provide mobile threat detection services.
Financial management: Comprehensive visibility is crucial for expense auditing, cost benchmarking, and financial analytics and reporting that help companies consistently budget, forecast, and optimize mobile costs. Mobile financial management platforms should offer holistic views of the total cost of your mobility program while also serving up granular reports summarizing mobile spending per department or line of business. There should also be advanced methodologies to accelerate savings, optimize costs, and holistically govern expenses—including ways to reduce rogue device purchases.

The most comprehensive solutions should also deliver insights into each device owner’s data usage habits, helping reduce data overage fees and giving procurement teams the information they need to negotiate the best contract deals with vendors.

Get the complete buyer’s guide to Managed Mobility Solutions

Ask these questions as you make your assessments:

Management Services: Does the provider offer a staff of device managers who can tackle administration across your growing fleet of devices 24/7 with services in multiple countries and languages? Which phases of the device lifecycle are covered? Do they offer end-of-life services with cashback on every device not matter what condition the device is in? How do their management processes dovetail with your IT operations? Do they offer mobile technical support or Help Desk services.
Mobile Security: What kind of mobile security and unified endpoint support does the provider offer? Is there compatibility with UEM software from industry leaders like Microsoft Intune®, IBM Security® MaaS360®, Workspace ONE®, Ivanti Neurons®, SOTI® and Jamf Pro®? Another thing to consider is real-time compliance monitoring, which is a critical yet often-overlooked feature of highly integrated UEM software.
Procurement Support: How does the provider go to bat to secure the best deals during contract negotiations? What does their track record look like? Tangoe for example, negotiates 400+ contracts annually on behalf of our clients.
Financial Controls: How do they control device orders and simplify financial management? For example, Tangoe offers a fully customizable mobile ecommerce platform that allows employees to order the devices they want while keeping purchases in alignment with corporate mobile policies and approval processes. Learn more about Tangoe Mobile Store.
Financial Management: How do they increase ROI and the effectiveness of your mobile spend? Tangoe, for example, optimizes clients’ mobility programs by analyzing spending, benchmarking costs against our own market price index based on $34B in tracked tech purchases, and evaluating contract terms and rates to decrease waste.
Compatibility: Do they enable a seamless connection with Apple, Samsung, Google, and Android management systems for faster provisioning, deployment, and enrollment? Do they work with any provider and any ownership model (BYOD and hybrid)?

Tangoe One Mobile Device Management

Step 2

Prioritize AI and Automation

AI-powered automation is like a magic button, speeding up daily tasks associated with device, security, and expense management so IT teams, security teams, and financial teams can focus on bigger priorities. The best MMS solutions have AI at their core, letting teams automate processes, improve accuracy, and make smarter, data-driven decisions at every turn.

Here’s how AI should be in action on any MMS platform:

Automation and monitoring tools to track assets, pull status updates, and maintain mobile inventory in real-time.
Automated workflows and built-in risk mitigation protocols to help strengthen security and simplify compliance.
Setup wizards to help employees quickly and easily get started on new devices or upgrade their existing hardware.
Automated invoice capture and processing to link invoices to their associated contracts and service usage data.
AI analytics for cost analysis to reveal spending trends, track budget performance, and provide cost savings recommendations – plus automation for authorized persons to instantly approve recommended actions.
Automated notifications of when spending exceeds established thresholds, alerting IT teams or designated departments/managers in real-time.
Automated approvals and investigations into anomalies, plus managing disputes and tracking credits across vendors.

CIOs need to move beyond simply looking at how well the mobile fleet is administered day-to-day.”

Step 3

Take a Broad Approach to IT Expense and Asset Management

Tangoe highly recommends an MMS solution that can act as part of a broader approach to IT expense and asset management. This provides everything you need to manage telecom, mobile, and cloud technologies (IaaS, hybrid cloud, and SaaS) at the most holistic level, so you can improve productivity and recognize bottom-line savings across the wider IT ecosystem.

One platform for all telecom, mobile, and cloud service orders of any size and complexity.
Visibility into what technologies you have, how they’re being used, and ways to lower costs with global telecom, mobile, and cloud contracts and all related service information in a single, centralized platform.
Process automation and accelerated administration end-to-end.
Modern reporting features that offer at-a-glance data visualizations and flexible ways to drill down into the data you need.
An aggregate view of all telecom, mobile, and cloud expenses to understand how costs correspond with each vendor and are charged back to each line of business.
AI-powered cost savings recommendations across telecom, mobile, and cloud technologies with the ability to instantly act on insights.
Automated invoice management and bill-pay services across all vendors – simplifying financials, reducing manual errors, and avoiding late fees – plus automated invoice capture, reconciliation, and anomaly tracking to recoup any credits owed.

See how a big box retailer improved device management, expense management, and security for 53k devices

Why Trust Tangoe for Managed Mobility Services?

1

Comprehensive solutions: lifecycle management, financial management, security software and ongoing compliance management in one platform from one provider

2

Help desk services: Take the load off your IT team and let Tangoe help your employees solve problems, make repairs, and stay productive on all devices

3

Global services: Mobile support across the globe with services in many languages

4

Unified endpoint security: From planning a security upgrade to software integrations, implementation and ongoing monitoring and compliance management, Tangoe does it all

5

Financial management: Budgeting, forecasting, procurement, order management, and contract negotiations are breeze with Tangoe on your side

6

IT expense management: Don’t stop at mobile management – Tangoe is the industry pioneer helping you manage assets and costs across mobile, telecom and cloud technologies