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Manufacturers need single-platform mobility software

Aug. 27, 2018

One size doesn’t fit all anymore.

Companies value a simplified and streamlined mobile-technology-management software experience. And for many, that means managing endpoints from one platform. By leveraging a single software product,

MOBI's Chris Koeneman

these organizations have uncovered new ways to drive global innovation—not to mention improve productivity, profitability and efficiency.

While traditional software systems and decades-old solutions may still feel safe and reliable for some companies, they can be increasingly ineffective, especially where enterprise mobility is concerned. Here are four reasons why:

Traditional means tedious

In manufacturing, early external-technology partners rushed to deliver solutions by acquiring smaller competitors’ software systems. While this rapidly expanded the number of capabilities these companies could offer manufacturers, it is also responsible for the bulk of today’s disjointed databases and systems.

These pieced-together solutions are not only extremely slow and expensive to get off the ground, but they can be difficult to update once they are in place. These fragmented systems don’t exactly provide a seamless user experience. In fact, they often create gaps in data security and employee-policy compliance that are impossible to detect due to the overwhelming complexity.

Unified, globally visible mobility-management platforms, on the other hand, integrate manufacturer-security software with all existing employee support, IT services, internal workflows, and external-vendor processes currently being leveraged. By doing so, these centralized systems enhance the value of enterprise-mobile data and eliminate inaccurate and outdated insights.

With streamlined network paths through which data can flow, manufacturing executives are empowered to make faster, more disruptive decisions, without the need for data imports, exports or duplicate-entry tasks. Program managers and employees are also freed from having to remember multiple login credentials when technology-management tasks are centralized into a single software product.

A wireline focus won’t work

Believe it or not, most of enterprise mobility’s largest outsourced management solutions have been around for a long time. So long, in fact, that they predate the mobile technology industry itself.

Unfortunately, most of these traditional technology partners are incapable of managing mobility’s dynamism—they often fail to live up to manufacturer expectations, and can create a worst-case scenario where a program’s potential is sabotaged in the process.

That’s because wireline-centric providers aren’t used to dealing with dozens of different global carriers with unique rules and offerings. And, landline features seldom deviate. In enterprise mobility, changes can be initiated 24/7/365 by a wide variety of decision makers—not just the carrier.

Additionally, pooled plans—the staple of most wireline programs—simply aren’t available from wireless carriers outside the United States, making it tough for any traditional-minded partner to optimize global voice and data-usage spend.

One size doesn’t fit all anymore

Telecom Expense Management (TEM) software serves thousands of customers with identical needs, meaning it is almost always designed with a one-size-fits-all approach in mind. Mobile technology, on the other hand, can create completely unique challenges from one day to the next. So, effective mobility solutions need the configurability and flexibility only single-platform software can provide.

Equipped with a centralized technology-management resource, raised-in-wireless systems enable a manufacturing firm to create, pilot, and execute mobility-program initiatives in a way that satisfies enterprise-specific needs and goals. They also give industry leaders a way to immediately incorporate customer feedback and industry best practices into business operations.

Manufacturers leveraging a unified mobile-technology solution also don’t have to worry about future charges resulting from added-on capabilities, features or integrations that can catch companies off-guard when they work with legacy systems. Instead, these companies can rely on software-driven expense management that can save more than 22% of annual asset-management costs and up to 40% of monthly carrier bills for each actively managed line of service.

Can’t handle complexity

Decades-old mobility management partners also lack experience dealing with global carriers, applications, and Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) software.

In addition to longstanding wireless-carrier relationships and years of mobile-technology expertise, single-platform software solutions make it possible to pull real-time usage data from any managed carrier, country or internal system—without this ability, it’s impossible to have enterprise-wide program visibility.

Eventually, a lack of integration potential and program visibility can catch up to a manufacturer. Without a responsive or reliable way to access mobility-program data, it’s not hard to imagine decisions being made that are either too slow to implement effectively or are too hastily executed and incur unnecessary risks as a result.

A single-platform mobility-management solution empowers any manufacturing enterprise to unlock the true potential of its technology. After all, these innovations have already helped the industry’s earliest adopters improve sales productivity, customer satisfaction, and inventory/fulfillment accuracy.

Chris Koeneman is senior vice president of strategic solutions at MOBI.

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