Watch the full conversation. Runtime is about 30 minutes.
Mobile dependency across the enterprise is at an all-time high, yet telecom budgets are still treated as fixed. In this episode of Podcast-WISE: Perspectives, host Thin L. Green of CyberSec and I sits down with our very own Tommi Ellis, Director of Channel Development at IntraTEM, to unpack where wireless spend actually leaks and what it takes to bring it under control. Tommi spent 30 years in telecom, including two decades inside a national carrier, before moving to technology expense management.
The problem is rarely one big mistake
Wireless environments change every month. People join and leave, roles shift, devices get upgraded, plans drift out of alignment. What surfaces on the invoice is not a single error. It is dozens of small leaks that compound quietly.
“What we typically see is not one giant mistake, but a lot of small leaks. The inactive line here, an oversized data plan there.”
Tommi Ellis, IntraTEM
The larger issue is visibility. Leaders know the total bill. They do not know how many devices are active, which features are being paid for, or whether the users attached to those lines are still with the company. Line-level review changes that. Every line gets compared against actual consumption and against the plans available today.
CIO and CFO are solving the same problem
The CIO wants mobility that is secure, modern, and capable. The CFO wants predictability, accountability, and cost control. Those are not opposing goals. Data is the bridge. Once you can show which services are used, which devices are idle, which plans are mismatched, and where policy exceptions drive spend, the conversation stops being about cutting cost and starts being about optimizing without weakening the business.
BYOD rarely saves money
Bring your own device looks cheaper on paper. The costs move rather than disappear. They resurface in support volume, compliance work, reimbursement administration, data separation, and inconsistent user experience. For organizations with regulated data, field employees, high turnover, or complex onboarding, the cost of not controlling the device outweighs the savings of not buying it.
A typical BYOD stipend runs $50 to $85 per month. Corporate-liable lines are frequently managed for less, and they come with standardization, enforceable policy, lifecycle control, and a secured endpoint.
“A mobile device is not just a phone anymore. It’s an endpoint into email, files, customer data, internal applications.”
Tommi Ellis, IntraTEM
Where scale breaks first
Growing from 300 devices to 3,000 breaks inventory accuracy before anything else. Once the company loses track of who has what, which lines are active, and which costs belong to which department, everything downstream gets harder: billing validation, support, security, and procurement. At 300 devices a spreadsheet is workable. At 3,000 it is a liability.
The most common finding when IntraTEM reviews a new account is zero-usage devices. A meaningful share of lines have gone untouched for 90 days or more. The second is distribution: roughly 80 percent of employees consume about 20 percent of the data, while the remaining 20 percent consume the rest.
Optimize before you switch carriers
Switching carriers is a full overhaul. New equipment, new agreements, months of disruption. Before considering it, know what you have: active lines, unused devices, users over and under plan, unnecessary features, incorrect charges, policies that are not being followed. Savings are usually available inside the current carrier relationship. When a negotiation does happen, it should happen from a position of knowledge.
“It should always be about cost avoidance and visibility, not just cost savings.”
Tommi Ellis, IntraTEM
Four takeaways
Visibility first
Most leaders know the total bill and little else. Line-level data is what turns wireless into a managed function.
BYOD math
Stipends of $50 to $85 per line plus support and compliance overhead often exceed corporate-liable cost.
MDM is security
An unmanaged phone is an unmanaged endpoint. Without enforcement, a lost device cannot be wiped.
Continuous, not reactive
Waiting for a bill spike means the money is already gone. Optimization has to run every month.
Tommi Ellis
Director of Channel Development, IntraTEM
Tommi has worked in mobility for 30 years, including two decades inside a national carrier and ten years leading mobility management teams. She helps IT and Finance leaders turn wireless spend into a measurable, governed business function.