Enterprise Flat-Rate Pricing: Taking the Guesswork out of Enterprise Mobility Pricing

Until now, determining an enterprise's mobile usage needs placed unusual demands on corporate IT and finance staff. Who would require mobile access? Where would they need it? How much would they use? Predicting these monthly costs required psychic powers, incredible budget flexibility or both.

Mobile users need convenient broadband access to do their jobs. And they'll do what it takes to get it—even if that means buying day passes or monthly subscriptions at full retail prices and then charging those costs back to the company in their expense reports. In fact, up to 70 percent of employee broadband usage is charged back on expense reports, contributing to the enterprise "black budget."¹

"Many companies don't know what their true connectivity costs are, as employees switch from dial-up to Wi-Fi and bury those costs in expense reports—leaving IT out of the loop. Enterprise flat-rate pricing allows IT to regain control of access costs."

- John Kasser, Vice President of Internet and Security Services, Sayers

Understandably, companies want to get a handle on their true remote and mobile connectivity costs without resorting to reading tea leaves. To help them, iPass has introduced enterprise flat-rate pricing. Now, customers can pay one low monthly fee and give their user base unlimited access to iPass connectivity services worldwide. Enterprise flat-rate pricing helps customers manage costs by reducing the variability and risk inherent in usage-based pricing. At the same time, companies can more aggressively roll out wireless and broadband access to their traveling workers since their costs are predictable.

Predictable costs, monthly user flexibility
Enterprise flat-rate pricing plans offer business professionals an integrated, activity-based service that includes unlimited iPass dial-up, hotel broadband and Wi-Fi hotspot connectivity and full iPassConnect universal client capability.

The fixed rate that a customer receives is based on their total number of active users per month. Because a company's group of mobile users is dynamic, comprising different users each month, there are no requirements to register specific user IDs to the enterprise flat-rate plan. Only those users who actively use the iPass service in a given month apply toward the chargeable user count. As a result, no administrative energy is wasted in continuously trying to assign various users to the "right price plan" from a menu of different pricing options. And there's no financial waste in paying for registered but inactive users.

Effectively, the enterprise signs up for a total base package user volume, and the specific user IDs that fulfill that base package volume each month can vary freely. As long as an enterprise doesn't exceed their base package user volume, they have absolute simplicity and predictability in pricing.

Enterprise flat-rate pricing at work

• Business managers gain visibility and control over their true connectivity costs.
• IT administrators are able to confidently budget for remote and mobile access.
• Enterprises are free to drive their mobility strategies comprising broadband connectivity.
• Finance personnel enjoy the simplified billing of one line item.

¹ [Erik Paulak. Podcast Series: Mobile and Wireless Black Budget. Gartner. May 5, 2006]