Nine factors for effective data mobility

The various departments involved in EMS have many areas to consider. These include selecting and providing the right call plans and mobile devices for all employees, handling administration and support, ensuring security over the entire lifecycle, and remarketing or recycling used and redundant devices.

1. Flexibility over the entire lifecycle
Businesses such as CHG-MERIDIAN specialize in technology management and bundle all necessary measures into a single product. They provide a one-stop shop where decision-makers can find modular mobility solutions and a comprehensive service covering the entire asset lifecycle. As customer requirements can vary considerably, CHG-MERIDIAN offers flexible options to match. This means that all of the board of management’s devices can be replaced earlier than planned, for example, or the 80 devices in the company’s R&D departments can undergo certified data erasure at the end of the project.

2. Commercial leasing solution
A commercial, budget-oriented analysis and solution for smartphone leasing allows procurement, controlling, and IT departments to use the latest mobile devices, such as the iPhone 7, even on a tight budget.

3. Transparency of the existing infrastructure
Many managers do not have the full picture when it comes to the current usage of smartphones and tablets in their company. Existing contracts and the resulting costs, for example, are often unclear. Large corporate customers usually have a single provider for SIM and device, and that enables them to keep an eye on the monthly costs and the one-off purchase price of the device. But often this is where their insight into costs ends. It is not unusual to incur additional costs, for example for data usage, that were not foreseeable at the initial planning stage.

The technology and service management software TESMA® from CHG-MERIDIAN can increase transparency and help to control costs. It enables cost-center-specific cost allocation (cost reports with itemized call lists) over the entire lifecycle of the devices in real time and at the click of button. During the initial stages of planning a mobility solution, the focus is on using a logical process to clarify the existing contract structure and to display the current costs for all users.

This raises questions such as: Is this the most cost-efficient solution on the market, or are there better options? How can we reduce costs? According to experts, savings of between 20 and 30 percent can be achieved by using an intelligent EMS solution. Process and handling costs, in particular, offer great savings potential.

4. Flexible procurement management
When it comes to procurement management, the question of whether a company stipulates a specific device for its employees or gives them a choice, is an important one. There is an opportunity here for positive feedback from the workforce. With a service provider like CHG-MERIDIAN, employees can choose their favorite from a selection of four to six different devices. This gives them more responsibility, but also more freedom of choice.

However, this flexibility needs to be managed. CHG-MERIDIAN has developed ready-made standard processes for all the resulting dependencies – from the ordering process to the delivery and the asset management of the devices (who ordered what, and who is using it?) These are organized via a portal, which is also where employees can make their selection (‘choose your own device’).

We work with the customer’s IT department to determine how the basket is filled, which commercial restrictions apply, and what procedural dependencies are in place. The seamless integration with the customer’s systems means it is no longer a problem if 10,000 employees all want a different device.

5. Operation and support
Beyond handling the initial procurement process and supporting the customer with its implementation, a practical one-stop solution requires further modules. Once the user has received his or her device, it has to be usable over the full term of the lease. That is why our offering includes incident, support, and aftersales processes.

6. Structured end of life
When the devices have reached the end of their useful life of two to three years, CHG-MERIDIAN handles the return of the entire infrastructure. The erasure of sensitive data and the requisite documentation play an important role in this, and both are carried out to TÜV or DEKRA standards with a full audit trail.

7. Data erasure
CHG-MERIDIAN has Technology and Service Centers in Gross-Gerau in Germany and in Skien in Norway where the erasure process is carried out. In Scandinavia, the data erasure process is also NSM-compliant and certified to ISO 9001 and ISO 14001 standards. The experts at both sites specialize in erasing data, recycling devices, and refurbishing them for the secondary market. The process starts with the recording of the serial numbers of all of the customer’s devices, followed by the collection of the devices in sealed vehicles with GPS tracking.

8. Remarketing
CHG-MERIDIAN can sell the used devices on the secondary market once they have undergone certified data erasure. This can have a positive impact on the TCO of the mobility solution and is also more environmentally friendly.

9. Enterprise Mobility Solutions from a single source
Other mobility providers might offer individual EMS services, but only CHG-MERIDIAN offers a single point of contact and combines all services, from roll-out to roll-back, into proven and scalable process modules (portal, logistics, and deployment).