Smartphones and tablets have gone from slowly advancing into the enterprise to becoming prominent parts of the workday over the past few years. In response, businesses are facing mounting pressure to create intuitive user experiences across device channels to ensure individuals leveraging mobile devices aren’t left out in the cold.

Mobile devices can change the way people work and drive business gains, but only if they are supported and managed effectively. This becomes complex when businesses try to deal with the myriad communications services that modern enterprise employees require.

Understanding the complexity of the enterprise mobility landscape

Supporting the bring-your-own-device movement isn’t just a matter of putting the right technology in place, it also hinges on empowering business users to create value for the organization. A recent Crowd Research Partners study found that businesses are moving to support BYOD largely because they want to enhance employee experiences, not just reduce costs on end-user devices. The survey found that:

• Approximately 63 percent of businesses are ramping up BYOD efforts to improve employee mobility.
• Another 56 percent of respondents to the study said they are putting resources into BYOD to foster worker satisfaction.
• In a close third place among top goals, 55 percent of those polled said they expect BYOD investments to help engender more productive work environments.

These employee experience factors were at the top of the priority list for organizations embracing enterprise mobility plans. Conversely, just 47 percent of participants in the survey identified cost reduction as a top priority.

A focus on using BYOD to foster new work experiences and better employee engagement can be valuable, but these efforts must be accompanied by cost-control measures to maximize the potential return on investment of mobility strategies.

Cost escalation a major issue with BYOD

​In theory, letting users leverage personal devices at work should bring costs down – you’re spending less on hardware, right? In reality, the need to roll out mobile-optimized apps, support robust network services and deliver communications services across both traditional and mobile channels becomes essential once BYOD strategies are enacted. An IDC survey found that BYOD efforts have already proven so expensive and challenging to manage that 74 percent of companies are instead investing in choose-your-own-device programs.  Bryan Bassett, research analyst for the Mobile Enterprise: Device Solutions at IDC, explained that businesses are revising mobility strategies in light of challenges created by BYOD.

“Cost savings and security risk mitigation are the biggest drivers of mobile device deployment strategies,” said Basset. “But with 48 percent of enterprises not seeing improvement in their BYO​D cost savings and 30 percent citing security problems with mobile app deployments, IT management must inspect strategies for improvements.”

Controlling costs while empowering mobile users

Optimizing apps, services, background infrastructure and device strategies plays a critical role in keeping costs under control. Businesses embracing mobile device strategies must ensure the background management work doesn’t lead to value erosion, something that is particularly likely if organizations lack oversight into how services are used on a day-to-day basis.

Telecom expense management systems empower companies to gain a clear view into exactly what their telecom budgets are being allocated toward, ensuring fiscal resources are wasted on apps and services that aren’t valuable to end users. Expense management solutions provide vital visibility as businesses work to align end-user experiences across traditional and mobile device channels. In response, organizations can optimize experiences across channels without taking on fiscal waste.