US : Stratecast, industry analysts and market experts, together with InnoPath, the leader in Mobile Device Management (MDM), have developed a comprehensive tool for assessing the financial impact of mobile device management on network operations.
Based on expansive and in-depth research, experience and analysis Stratecast concludes that using MDM within mobile operators' customer care organizations could have a major impact on global operational and support costs in the range of $3 billion in 2009 to over $23 billion by 2013.
"The advanced services customers demand from their cell phones are creating an unprecedented burden on the mobile operator," says Nancee Ruzicka of Stratecast's OSS/BSS Global Competitive Strategies group. "Increasingly complex requirements for device configurations, software updates and convoluted trouble-shooting procedures are driving up support costs. These are costs which cannot be contained without streamlining traditional methods of customer support for mobile devices."
Using MDM, customer care representatives both on the phone and in the store can view a customer's handset configuration and quickly understand what is missing, incorrect, or out-of-date. Following identification of the problem, a solution can be immediately applied Over the Air (OTA) without any intervention from the customer. This streamlines the customer support process, creating efficiencies that reduce the number and length of support contacts and in turn results in tremendous cost savings. Stratecast and InnoPath predict that these cost savings, when applied to an average North American operator (with 70 million subscribers), would result in a total savings of $2 billion dollars over five years.
Proving the ROI for MDM-delivered customer care is critical as the device management market evolves from "point products" to end-to-end solutions that address the true extent of operator requirements. Customer care is strategic to wireless operators and as these expenses grow operators will look to vendors with proven operational expertise, technical leadership, and financial stability to help contain escalating costs. InnoPath's unique solution permits the operator to adapt the basic MDM client on the subscriber's handset to their specific customer care requirements, without restriction based on network technology (GSM, CDMA, WiMAX).
The jointly developed ROI model includes more than twenty-five independent variables and leverages both Stratecast's empirical data and InnoPath's practical experience. The results clearly prove the impact of mobile device management on customer care operations in mobile operators. Copies of the business case analysis, as well as registration for the joint InnoPath/Stratecast webcast on the model to be held on 7 Oct are available at http://innopath.com/care.
