Devices per employee per month
Device as a Service is one agreement for the device and everything around it: configuring, delivering, managing, replacing on failure and, at the end, collecting and wiping. You pay per employee per month rather than per purchase. This page says what should be in it and when it is genuinely cheaper than buying.
Four things that belong in the monthly amount
If one is missing it is not a service but a lease with a nicer name.
- The device, delivered configuredWith your settings, software and security on it, enrolled into management before it is unboxed. Unbox and sign in, no setup day per employee.
- Management and updatesThe device stays updated and monitored for the whole term. That is the part which, when buying, quietly lands with your own people and was never planned for.
- Replacement on failureA failed device is replaced from stock rather than ordered. The timeframe belongs in the agreement, because without one "replacement included" is an intention.
- Collection, wiping and disposalAt the end the device goes back, is wiped to a recognised method and you get the certificate. Without that step you keep the risk and the residual value evaporates.
When it pays off and when it does not
The monthly amount is nearly always higher than the depreciation. Where the difference comes from is the question that counts.
Where it pays off
With a fleet that grows and shrinks, with temporary staff, and where there is no administrator of your own. What you buy there is not a device but the work around it, and when buying that work is not free but invisible.
Where it is debatable
With a stable fleet and in-house management. There the gain is only in spreading the cost, and that is a financing question rather than an IT one.
Where it does not pay off
With equipment that lasts six or seven years and is barely touched. A service on a three-year term charges you for a replacement rhythm you do not need.
Three points in the small print
They decide the difference between the figure in the quote and the figure on the invoice.
- What happens with damageDrops and liquid fall outside ordinary cover with almost every provider. Ask what a cracked screen costs before you sign and not after.
- What happens when somebody leavesWith a shrinking fleet you keep paying for devices nobody uses, unless there is an agreement on reducing numbers. That is the most important condition in the whole contract.
- Who owns the device at the endIn one form you buy it out, in the other it goes back. That difference decides your residual value and your accounting, and it is rarely on the first page.
What goes with this
Devices as a service touches what you buy and who manages it.
Questions we get about this
The ones that come up most, answered briefly.
What is the difference from leasing?
Leasing is a financing arrangement: you pay for the device in instalments. With Device as a Service the management comes with it, including configuring, updates, replacement on failure and collection and wiping at the end. If that is not in it, it is a lease under another name.
What happens if we shrink?
That is the most important condition in the whole contract and the reason to ask before you sign. Without an agreement on reducing numbers you keep paying for devices nobody uses.
Who owns the device?
That differs per form and it decides your residual value. In one the device goes back at the end, in the other you buy it out. That is rarely on the first page of a quote and it is where the money sits.
Work out what it costs per month
Say how many people are involved and what they do all day. You get an outline per employee per month, with the purchase route beside it so you see the difference.
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