Calculate your ROI using an MDM: A Guide for IT Leaders

As an IT leader, choosing the right technology tools is key to ensuring your organization runs smoothly and efficiently. But before you can get budget approval, you must show that your technology investments are more than just costs – they’re business enablers. For example, managing mobile devices manually may seem simple, but many organizations don’t realize the hidden fees. These “hidden costs” can take many forms, including provisioning inefficiencies, security risks, and lost productivity. If you’re working in a budget-constrained environment, you’ll need to be able to make a substantial ROI case to stakeholders. You’ll first need to understand the cost of your current device management processes to get there.

In this guide, we’ll walk you through creating a compelling case that convinces decision-makers to support the MDM solution you need.

The true cost of manual device management

When calculating device management costs, you need to break them down into direct and indirect costs. Direct costs are the obvious, measurable ones, and indirect costs are the less tangible but equally important ones. By understanding both, you can see how device management impacts your budget and where you can improve.

Direct Costs:

• Time spent on manual device configuration: The time your team spends on each device adds up fast.
  • Formula: Total Devices × Avg Setup Time per Device × IT Hourly Rate
  • Example: If an IT admin spends 1 hour configuring each of 100 devices, and their hourly rate is $50, the cost would be:
    ‍(100 × 1 × 50) = $5,000
• Support ticket volume and resolution time: The more tickets users submit the more time is spent troubleshooting and resolving.
  • Formula: Avg Tickets per Month × Avg Resolution Time (Hours) × IT Hourly Rate
  • Example: If 50 tickets take an average of 2 hours to resolve, at $50/hour:
    ‍(50 × 2 × 50) = $5,000 month - $60,000 year
• Device recollection costs: Time IT spends in recovering all lent devices to users
  • Formula: Avg. spend time × IT hourly rate
  • Example: IT spends around 50 hours to recover all the checkout devices during a year
    ‍(50 × 50) = $2,500/year
• Device replacement costs and cost per lost/stolen device: Replacing lost or stolen devices can be expensive.
  • Formula: Lost/Stolen Devices per Year × Avg Device Replacement Cost
  • Example: If 10 devices are lost/stolen yearly at $800 per device:
    ‍(10 × 800) = $8,000/year
• User downtime impact: Devices not working properly can delay work resulting in productivity losses.
  • Formula: Avg Downtime Hours per User × Affected Users × Avg Employee Hourly Rate
  • Example: If 10 users experience 3 hours of downtime at $35/hour:
    ‍(3 × 10 × 35) = $1,050/month- $12,600/year
• Time and resources spent on tracking device inventory: Managing and auditing device inventories takes time and effort.
  • Formula: Avg IT Hours Spent on Tracking × IT Hourly Rate
  • Example: If IT spends 10 hours monthly tracking devices at $50/hour:
    ‍(10 × 50) = $500/month - $6,000/year
• Current security incident response costs: Number of security incident by the avg penalty cost.
  • Formula: Avg Security Incidents × Avg potential fine
  • Example: If 5 security incidents occur, each costing $10,000 in potential fines:
    ‍(5 × 10,000) = $50,000

Indirect costs are the broader impacts that don’t show up on the balance sheet. These costs are tied to productivity and risk and are more challenging to quantify but just as important. Knowing these hidden costs can show you where a more efficient device management approach can pay off in the long run.

‍Indirect Costs:

• Productivity loss from device issues: Devices not working means employee work stops.
• Security breach risks: Poor device management means security vulnerabilities and your organization is more at risk.
• Employee onboarding/offboarding inefficiencies:  Delays in provisioning or decommissioning devices impact operational readiness.
• Shadow IT complications: Employees using unauthorized devices or apps pose security and compliance risks.

Quantifying MDM Benefits

‍Mobile Device Management (MDM) can make you more efficient by automating and simplifying key processes, reducing manual effort, and minimizing errors. These benefits mean faster deployment, better security, and less downtime, and all of that means long-term savings. Here are the benefits MDM can bring to your organization:

• Automated device enrollment and configuration (Time to Provision): Enroll and set up new devices remotely.
  • Formula: Total Devices × Reduction in Setup Time per Device × IT Hourly Rate
  • Example: If MDM reduces setup time per device by 20 minutes for 100 devices, at $50/hour:
    ‍(100 × 0.20 × 50) = $1,000
• Remote troubleshooting capabilities (Incident Resolution Time): Resolve common issues without physically touching the device, often cutting support call time in half.
  • Formula: Avg Tickets per Month × Reduction in Resolution Time (Hours) × IT Hourly Rate
  • Example: If MDM reduces resolution time by 30 mins per ticket for 50 tickets, at $50/hour:
    ‍(50 × 0.50 × 50) = $1,250/month- $15,000/year
• Device collection (Return Rate): Use a single dashboard to track and collect devices from departing/remote employees, less lost hardware.
  • Formula: Reduction in Collection Effort per Device (Hours) × IT Hourly Rate
  • Example: If MDM reduces device recollection effort by 25 hours annually at $50/hour:
    ‍(25 × 50) = $1,250/month
• Recovery probability for lost or stolen devices (Recovery Rate): Track and lock lost devices, increase the chances of recovery and secure data.
  • Formula: Recovered Devices per Year × Avg Device Replacement Cost
  • Example: If MDM improves recovery by 8 devices per year, at $800 per device:
    ‍(8 × 800) = $6,400/year
• User downtime recovery: By improving the time to troubleshoot devices it reduces user downtime
  • Formula: Avg Downtime Reduce per User × Affected Users × Avg Employee Hourly Rate
  • Example: If 10 users experience 30 mins of downtime at $35/hour:
    ‍(0.5 × 10 × 35) = $175/month - $2,100/year
• Streamlined device inventory tracking: With MDM, you can have a full spectrum of status, device usage, and location of every asset, reducing the time IT spends in inventory.
  • Formula: Avg IT Hours Spent on Tracking × IT Hourly Rate
  • Example: If IT spends 30 mins monthly tracking devices at $50/hour:
    ‍(0.50 × 50) = $25/month - $300/year
• Compliance violation prevention and automated security policy enforcement (Compliance Failures): Block unauthorized software and enforce encryption, reduce the risk of compliance failures.
  • Formula: Reduction in Compliance Violations per Year × Avg Penalty Cost
  • Example: If MDM prevents 5 compliance violations per year, each costing $10,000:
    ‍(5 × 10,000) = $50,000/year

ROI Calculation Framework

When planning for an MDM solution, you need to know all the costs and estimate the returns from efficiency gains and reduced risks. You can build a business case by weighing licensing, implementation, and training costs against provisioning, troubleshooting, and compliance. This clear view of investment vs benefit will give you an accurate ROI.This ROI calculation worksheet provides a step-by-step breakdown of investment costs and expected savings.

‍ROI Calculation Table

Making your business case

We understand how challenging it can be to convince stakeholders to approve new budgets—we’ve been there, too. Demonstrating a strong financial return, showcasing resource savings, and highlighting risk mitigation tactics can make a compelling case.

By organizing your findings into easy-to-read materials, you can demonstrate why MDM is a good investment that delivers real ROI and operational efficiency.

We organized the following  recommendations in a table for your convenience:

Conclusion

Failing to implement an MDM solution results in wasted IT resources, heightened security risks, and productivity losses. By leveraging MDM’s automation capabilities, IT leaders can enhance efficiency, secure mobile assets, and drive substantial cost savings. With a clear ROI framework, organizations can make a compelling case for MDM adoption, positioning it as a critical investment rather than a cost burden.

‍