Wireless expense management (WEM) is the process of optimizing the finances of your mobile devices. It improves visibility, streamlines costs, automates reimbursement, and optimizes processes globally. WEM is available as a software solution or a fully-managed service, but which option is best for enterprises?
Wireless Expense Management Service Vs. Software: Which is Best?
You can implement WEM with the help of an experienced partner or by using wireless expense management software.
The latter would require your internal teams to configure it and continually manage it to be successful. You’d also need the internal knowledge to optimize processes without harming your overall mobility infrastructure.
For example, it’s easy for cost-minded decision-makers to cut costs wherever they see possible, but without understanding and visibility on a global scale, how do they know the true effect their decisions have on end-users?
Or, who wants to answer a call from the CEO when his spare device is disconnected from the governance team when a SIM for a regulatory compliance device was turned off for non-usage?
Today’s employees require a flexible mobility environment. And with software alone, it can be difficult to know the true impact your expense management tactics might have.
3 Disadvantages of Wireless Expense Management Software
1. It’s a Time Sink for Your Internal Teams
WEM software providers might offer technical support as a service or add-on. But your internal teams will be responsible for managing your day-to-day activities. Even with the help of a software platform, this can be a difficult task to master.
It's time-consuming and requires extensive knowledge of your enterprise mobility environment. And if you want to unlock continuous savings, it’s something that your internal teams will have to revisit repeatedly. This is because even automated processes require a human eye to check everything is running correctly. And if something goes wrong, they'll most likely need to seek external support anyway.
2. You’ll Miss Out on Expert Support
In the current market, every WEM vendor claims to offer a best-in-class service, including reporting, analytics, inventory management, and optimization processes. But wireless expense management software alone can only take you so far.
An expert WEM provider offers 24/7, dedicated support with global capabilities. This means that no matter where your mobility environment operates, it’ll be covered round the clock.
Additionally, the best WEM partner will have experience managing large, global fleets of devices. They will implement best practices and optimize processes, backed up with years of industry knowledge, and you’ll be confident they’ll always meet service level agreements (SLAs). This is something your internal teams don’t have time to achieve with just software.
3. You Can’t Unify Your Other Expense Management Processes
The greatest benefit of a WEM service provider is that they can manage your other expense management processes across your entire mobility lifecycle. This includes large-scale provisioning, telecom inventory management, Bring-your-own-device, reporting, and dispute management.
Then, they'll consolidate all of your data into one place. For example, at Cass, we use our exclusive ExpenseSmart™ platform and Direct2Carrier Payments™ solution to manage all your billing in-house – with 98% billing accuracy compared to competitors.
When you only use WEM software, you miss out on the opportunity to optimize your broader expense processes. You also lack visibility of the impact of your cost-saving changes on your complete environment.
The Benefits of Wireless Expense Management
A WEM service provider can manage:
- Smartphones
- Cell phones
- Tablets
- Rugged devices
- Related accessories
- Internet of Things (IoT) SIM cards
- Global SIMs for internal roaming
- M2M
- MiFi/Hotspots
- Rate plan optimization
- Plan utilization
- Data plans
- Applications
- Anything else associated with enterprise mobility
These capabilities are supported directly by expert personnel who have years of experience managing enterprise mobility. Your chosen WEM partner might also complement their support with software and analytics technology.
Additionally, many providers specialize in more than just WEM. They might also offer comprehensive managed mobility services (MMS) that fulfill a broader range of enterprise mobility services.
This support can be executed on a global scale. WEM consolidates all your expense processes into one place, regardless of location, language, or currency. So you maintain better billing accuracy and stop unruly costs from growing out of control.
Prepare Your Wireless Expenses for the Future
Getting support from a knowledgeable service provider can give you a competitive advantage over using a software solution, improve end-user experience, and relieve pressure from your busy internal teams.
However, whatever you choose, optimizing your wireless expense management processes helps you prepare your mobility environment for future change whilst staying in control of your costs.
