by Brian Christini, Fiberlink

Prior to taking on a product management role, I had worked for several years in Supply Chain Management, and I had the chance to dig through usage numbers when Mobile Broadband in the enterprise was still in its infancy.  And truth is there’s no surprise to me (or most) that carriers are moving to usage-based pricing, or that 3% of AT&T users make up 40% of their network usage. In almost every different level of enterprise data I’ve seen, that’s happened across the board. In certain cases we actually took the extra step to see why there was such a surplus of data for these users, and, of those users, only  a very small percent were actually business travelers using the service as providers intended (while streaming some music and videos along the way). The “problem” high usage accounts were users who wanted  always-on connectivity at home, corporate test PCs hat were running all the time, the corporate back up in some cases, and always-on connections for IT/Infrastructure teams so they can constantly ping servers, etc. Funny, some people do actually think unlimited means unlimited!   

That said, today it’s a little different (just check out AT&Ts data calculator tool at http://www.att.com/standalone/data-calculator/index.html).Today, all you need to do is stream an hour’s worth of your favorite TV show and send a couple emails, and bam! 200MB is gone. Mobile content is a major factor that will cause the data usage for the 3% to become more common, which would seem to be the carriers’ biggest fear. It’s easy to make things more complicated, especially when you’re required to actually pay attention to what you’re doing!   And that’s exactly where carriers are taking us with usage-based pricing.

But is metered usage that bad?  Though times are always changing, as a rule of thumb, I’ve learned that not only is usage-based pricing good for the carrier, it’s also the way to go for the enterprise who is looking to maximize cost savings around wireless spend. Of course that means you have to monitor it and manage it a lot closer.

So, who today within the enterprise is managing this growing area of wireless usage and costs, and how are they doing it? Whoever it may be within your organization, they undoubtedly need more control. Users are using YouTube, Netflix, their favorite streaming music site, social media and much more when they are connected.

So what can I do?  There are a limited number of enterprise services that are available today to help you manage wireless usage across devices, carriers and Wi-Fi networks around the world.  As you compare solutions, I would suggest making sure the follow features and functions are available to ensure you have controls to easily manage and enforce mobile usage, and that they include tools to make end users aware of their limits so that they can better manage usage themselves.

Tips to control Mobile Usage:

  • Have the ability to track on network and roaming mobile broadband, as pricing can vary greatly
  • Have the ability to stop users from connecting after they reach pre-defined limits
  • Shut down Wi-Fi connections that are inactive for long periods of time
  • Have reporting capabilities to track this on or near real time, and then over time for trending and plan alignment
  • Make users aware that they are coming close to their limits; they don’t want to cost you more money, they usually just don’t know
  • Look into tethering; it can be a low cost option for occasional mobile users – but the same controls need to be available
  • If you have connection management software that allows for automatic connections, ensure management can add or remove transports as needed, as well as set preferences. For example, you could specify that Ethernet connections are always ahead of mobile data connections
  • And, of course, tell your users to use FREE Wi-Fi, even if it requires going into McDonalds and spending 30 seconds to fill out the web page

In summary, usage-based pricing is here to stay, and in many cases it’s already in place. It’s not something you need to be scared of if you have the right tools in place to help manage usage. And, if used correctly, you can probably save a little cash, too.

The AT&T data calculator is a pretty cool tool to help bring things to light, in terms of how much data is used for certain content and just how quickly it can go. 

As an example, if you choose the 200MB plan, based on the calculator you would get each day (per month):

  • 12 emails a day (no attachments)
  • 2 emails with photo attachments
  • 4 emails with attachments
  • 7 web page views
  • 2 social media posts with photos uploaded

Or about 60 minutes of streaming video (over a month) and 20 emails a day.

That’s not a lot.