MobilSense in the Energy Industry

Over the past fifteen years MobilSense has worked with a dozen plus companies in the Energy industry. Our experience ranges from energy suppliers to regulated utilities to energy service and infrastructure providers. While every company’s and industry’s needs can vary, the requirements that emanate from energy industry regulations can be particularly burdensome. Most prevalent among these are related to expense management, control processes and auditing oversight. This is where we shine – specifically in one of the largest and most dynamic IT expense categories – mobility.

We have developed a keen understanding of the needs and challenges of managing mobile devices in the energy regulated environment. Our history and experience have provided the understanding for many product enhancements in our solution, MobilSentry™, and has emboldened us to develop pervasive best practices for the energy industry. Where costs are constantly under the microscope both internally and externally, just being good isn’t good enough.

A Higher Standard

Seeing is believing – we bring an unprecedented quality of mobile expense management and control. It stems from a proven suite of Best-in-Class methods coupled with leading-edge technology surrounded by an unparalleled drive for precision and excellence in our service delivery. We start by establishing the theoretical best expense level that can be achieved for each company, not just against industry standards or averages, then measure ourselves against that goal. With one customer, a Fortune 500 Energy company, we have reached an average monthly service cost-per-mobile-device of under $20 consistently – proving that the unthinkable is achievable when deploying Best-In-Class solutions.

Cost Control is Crucial

Controlling costs is essential to performance-based management of mobile devices. Carrier cost models challenge cost control of mobile devices making technology-based optimization along with organizational involvement essential to reaching maximum savings. When it comes to optimization, too often, routine efforts or preoccupation with just doing the essentials, like monthly invoice payment and AP processing leaves gaps in control and cost reduction activities. Optimal results can only be achieved through software-controlled deep audits. New Data-centric pooling can unwittingly encourage abuse and waste of data consumption on un-monitored mobile devices. In the absence of clear mobile use policies and adequate monitoring and enforcement, energy companies far too often end up generously donating to the mobile carrier’s profits.

Support Energy Industry Specific Needs

Because of the external regulation of utility companies, we have been called upon to aid internal and external auditing efforts to provide key performance indicators and metrics on cost performance. Through these efforts, we’ve been able to expose additional gaps, and have successfully relieved internal auditors of the burden of complicated data gathering exercises by providing ready access to needed mobile usage and cost data accumulated from prior year invoices. We have supported management directives to transition work from centralized support teams to MobilSense resources substantially improving business process automation to reduce the company’s resources in managing all aspects of mobile telecom support. We have helped one energy company move the work of provisioning new or upgraded mobile devices via an intelligent online ordering portal down to the individual subscribers. The combination of these efforts has reduced the mobile device procurement staff required to support an inventory of tens of thousands devices to one Full Time Equivalent (FTE).

Precise Financial Processes Elevated

The focus of many of our Energy customers on zero tolerance for accounting errors initially challenged us to develop rapid and repeatable financial processes to meet this expectation. Today our finely tuned workflow process to reconcile, pay and allocate internal expenses are highly predictable, timely, and accurate. Our steadfast focus on details supports ‘scrubbing’ monthly carrier invoices, allocating costs, maintaining timely delivery of monthly deliverables, and an ability to flexibly support internal and external audits.

Conclusion

Many energy companies have recognized the need for outside expertise in managing mobile devices. Some vendors singularly focus on mobility, and some are part of a larger Telecom Expense Management (TEM) solutions. Unfortunately, having made the step of choosing a vendor does not guarantee Best-In-Class performance.

Whether you currently have a Telecom Cost Management vendor or not, it just takes a few minutes for MobilSense to explain our unique approach by quickly assessing, at no cost, what your theoretical best cost scenario might look like. At a minimum, you will have an outside, independent view of how well you are doing currently or whether there are improvements that can be made. Contact MobilSense today to start your no-cost review.

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