Tangoe Simplifies and De-risks Mobile Device Management

The use of mobile devices in the workplace has grown in both scope and importance. A decade ago, smart phones and tablets augmented the way we work. Today, for many jobs, the mobile device has become the primary, if not only device, making them business critical. For most businesses, managing mobile devices is significantly more complicated than traditional PCs and laptops as there are a wide range of apps, operating systems, device types, and other factors that are unique to mobile phones and tablets. Also, mobile endpoints tend to have a much faster replacement cycle than traditional computing devices as the device manufacturers are innovating at a blistering pace.

Tangoe, a leader in telecom and cloud expense management, recently introduced a turnkey mobile management service where it manages the entire lifecycle of dealing with mobile devices. This includes the storing, provisioning, deployment, and shipping of wireless phones, tablets, and even some vertically specific devices such as bar code readers and hand scanners. Tangoe also handles the reverse logistics, which encompasses the wiping, disposal, and recycling of decommissioned endpoints.

To gain a better understanding of the scope of the Tangoe service, I recently toured the company's logistic facility in Indianapolis. Logistics Manager, Jeremy Staples, walked me around the massive facility, and I learned how the company executes on every aspect of its logistics service. More detail on my visit can be found in this ZK Tour video.

Zeus Kerravala is the founder and principal analyst with ZK Research.

(Read his other Network Computing articles here.)