Pricing will always be top of mind for expense management leaders researching potential TEM/MMS providers that can assist them with their telecom/technology/mobility expense management needs.
The cost of managed mobility services (MMS) will almost always pay for itself in terms of savings generated by your MMS provider over the term of a standard 3-year term contract. At Tellennium, we refer to this as a return-on-investment (ROI) guarantee.
Best-in-class TEM/MMS providers will generally hold themselves to this standard, so keep this in mind when evaluating MMS providers.
The cost of Managed Mobility Services (MMS) can vary depending on several factors:
- Number of devices being managed
- The types of services required
- The level of support needed
- The complexity of the IT environment.
Generally, MMS providers offer multiple pricing models tailored to the specific needs of each organization. Some of the common pricing models used by MMS providers are seen below.
4 Common Pricing Models for Managed Mobility Services
1. Mobility per-device pricing
This model charges a fixed monthly fee per device for management and support services. The price can range from a few dollars to much more than this, depending on the level of services required.
This is a very common model used within the TEM industry for managed mobility services. Corporate-liable devices will most commonly see per-device charges starting from a few dollars up to $8 or $9 dollars.
This per-device model is one of the simpler MMS pricing formats and is worth real consideration on this basis alone.
2. Mobility per-user pricing
This model charges a fixed monthly fee per user for management and support services. The price can also range from a few dollars to double-digits, depending on the level of services required.
Easily calculate their mobility costs and scale quickly and effectively as their organization grows.
Also, beware that additional fees may be included, such as a one-time setup fee. So long as you are clear on the per-user pricing and all potential associated fees from the start, you will be well-positioned in making your MMS provider comparisons.
3. Mobility tiered pricing
This model charges a fixed monthly fee based on the level of service required, such as basic, standard, or premium.
The tier will be set on a per-device or per-user basis and the price can range from a few dollars for more basic/lower mobility tiers to far more, perhaps $20 or greater for higher tiers offering greater support and additional features (e.g., application management, device management, security, analytical support).
Different MMS providers structure tier levels differently, so we recommend paying close attention to this if comparing multiple providers in your discovery process.
4. Mobility pay-as-you-go pricing
This model charges based on usage, such as data usage, voice minutes, or support requests. Prices can vary widely based on levels of usage and between MMS providers.
This is less common but can offer flexibility for organizations wanting to get creative with pricing. This may not always be the most cost-effective MMS pricing option for organizations that have usage patterns that are more predictable and stable. So be careful in considering this option that is better suited to enterprises with more volatile usage bases.
MMS providers will most often base pricing on the number of users or devices and specific services being used. For example, employees for company X would be charged a predetermined fee for each service in use that is associated with them (e.g., device management fee, analytical support fee, etc.).
As alluded to earlier, there may be additional fee language that makes its way into the fine print (e.g., minimum usage), so please be clear with MMS providers upfront, so everyone is clear on pricing parameters from the start.
Other Managed Mobility Services Provider Considerations
Aside from different MMS vendor approaches and MMS price model options, always remain mindful of the various factors influencing this pricing that we’ve covered including the number of users, the number of devices, usage, services selected, and customized customer requests/requirements.
Additionally, you will also want to keep front of mind other factors between MMS providers, such as:
- How large is the MMS provider you are evaluating, and what is their ownership model?
- How many technology platforms do they use beyond their primary platform/application?
- How high do they prioritize customer service?
- Do they offer satisfaction and ROI guarantees?
- How do they build and maintain their mobile inventory?
- Overall Cost: It’s always a key concern, but we caution that it should not be overweighted at the expense of other important considerations. An MMS provider that may cost a little more will more often than not be worth it if they can clearly demonstrate their ability to deliver against all your managed mobility services requirements.
- Mobility Platform/Application: They are not all the same. You will want detailed demonstrations of how their technology platform will successfully address and manage your organization’s mobility data configuration and reporting needs.
Some Final Thoughts on Managed Mobility Services Pricing
Like all things within the world of enterprise expense management and managed mobility services, things can get complicated. There are many moving parts and it’s easy to obfuscate for MMS providers or unscrupulous sales personnel inclined to do so.
When making your MMS pricing comparisons, be careful to consider all options carefully. Make sure your comparisons are apples-to-apples or oranges-to-oranges comparisons, based on the appropriate MMS pricing model.
This may seem like we are stating the obvious – and it is – but we’ve seen many instances over time whereby customers have engaged in unequal comparisons between MMS providers relative to pricing models, and other considerations as noted above.
Rushed decisions almost always result in undesired outcomes, so take your time with your MMS provider discovery process.
If you’d like to consider Tellennium in your TEM vendor comparisons, contact us to schedule a brief demo of our solution.
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