Better management of the mobile fleet? Good news for IT and HR

“Digitization is fully underway in our sector too,” says Kristof Van Den Elsen, Head of HR at SGS Belux. “We are evolving more and more toward real-time follow-up, inspection with drones, certificates that are immediately available digitally, and so forth.”

SGS is active worldwide in inspection, monitoring, analysis and certification, ranging from electrical installations and machines thru’ to food, medicines and all kinds of consumer products. SGS has 1,900 employees in Belgium.

In that context the importance of mobile data is quickly increasing. “Previously a mobile phone was used primarily to contact someone,” Van Den Elsen points out. “Today it’s an essential instrument on which business-critical apps run.” The same goes for tablets, toughpads and laptops. “And SGS is above all a data company, so it must be possible to use apps and data on mobile devices not only easily, but securely.”

HR is involved too

Because data use was greatly increasing along with the number of mobile devices, SGS needed a solution to manage everything more efficiently. “At the same time, new issues were arising,” said Van Den Elsen. “What do you do with data roaming? And what about personal use of a device?” That meant that not only IT, but also the HR department, was involved.

Kristof Van Den Elsen, Head of HR, SGS Belux

SGS enlisted Proximus NXT partner A&M to map out the situation. “Very diverse types of users are involved,” says Herwig Deckers, account manager at A&M, “including quite a few major consumers of data, both national and international.” On the basis of that analysis, A&M proposed various types of data packages depending on the different user types. At SGS Belgium the fleet has a total of approximately a thousand SIM cards.

Mobile Managed Services

An additional challenge is that a very dynamic environment is involved. “We recruit approximately three hundred new employees annually,” said Van Den Elsen. “That means continuous activity in terms of on- and offboarding: activating new numbers, transferring numbers and starting to use devices, but also wiping devices, terminating subscriptions, and so forth.”

A&M and Proximus NXT provide the technical support needed at SGS via Mobile Managed Services (MMS). That includes operational management of the fleet (delivery and follow-up care of devices), in addition to management of the SIM cards (activation, management of the options, and so forth) and financial management of everything.

Follow-up in real time

“Conventionally this falls under the tasks of the IT department of a company,” says Herwig Deckers. “But the complexity of management increases along with the mobile fleet and the data consumption.” It’s a concern that A&M is happy to take on so that the IT and HR departments involved can concentrate on their core tasks.

Herwig Deckers, A&M account manager

“Real-time follow-up of data consumption, among other things, is important to us,” said Van Den Elsen. “When the data package provided is almost gone, the employee gets a warning. The HR department is also informed of this. That way we prevent unexpected overrun of the data bundle – and the costs that go along with it.” It’s an approach that allows SGS to very specifically provide the right data package for every employee.

Stable partner

“Throughout the process we have always collaborated with the right specialists from Proximus NXT and A&M,” said Van Den Elsen. A&M acts as the point of contact in this but can, of course, always call on the experts of Proximus NXT behind the scenes. “In addition, a stable team is involved,” Den Elsen pointed out. “They are employees that SGS has come to know well, who know how we work and who correctly assess the importance of MMS for our operation.”

At the same time, this is a solution that continues to evolve over time. For example, in a next step SGS wants to make choose your own device possible. Via a portal, employees will be able to choose a device that A&M then delivers at home, equipped with the right SGS apps and fully ready to use. “It’s a two-way collaboration,” Deckers added. “We don’t just listen to what SGS needs. We also propose possible improvements ourselves.”

Good for the image

“In this way MMS also contributes to our employer branding,” Van Den Elsen concluded. While SGS adjusts its HR policy on mobile devices, A&M is responsible for its practical rollout. “Anyone who starts working at SGS will soon have new mobile devices available right away. That will obviously accelerate the onboarding of new colleagues.” It makes MMS more than ever a desirable solution, for both IT and HR.