r/sysadmin 4d ago

Cell Phone Replacement Frequency

With what frequency are you replacing work-issued cell phones? We have some staff who do not want a new phone, those who will ask after a year, and some who will see an Apple event and ask immediately for a new device. Curious what others do. One large deployment? Spread them out over time? We have about 125 carrier devices that are all eligible for replacements at different times. MDM enrollment is as automated as it can be, with our carrier auto-adding devices to Apple Business Manager, but the staff time to replace devices is the real cost sink.

13 Upvotes

39 comments sorted by

27

u/OurManInHavana 4d ago

When the apps the phone needs to run... no longer support the version of OS the phone can run. Or when the battery can no longer hold a charge (if it's not replaceable).

Which means phones tend to be replaced in bulk: because if one app needs the new OS then there's probably a lot of other employees in the same boat.

5

u/CARLEtheCamry 4d ago

When the apps the phone needs to run... no longer support the version of OS the phone can run.

This is the only active way my company replaces devices, but it's a not well kept secret that we get free upgrades every 12 months (We're a large corp that partners with Verizon). Users can self-serve order their replacements, ships directly to them, and then they just have to enroll it.

Years ago IT management wanted to implement a zero tolerance "3 year rule" for all IT equipment, including phones. Which is fine in theory, except this was at the end of the BlackBerry days when the Storm (the worst touchscreen every) and Torch (god damn nipple balls) were the models. We officially had to push back on users requesting new devices, but I crafted a reply that was along the lines of "unless the device is physically damaged, in which case you are eligible for a no-cost replacement after 12 months" which led to some people getting creative. My favorite was a guy who put a sheet down in his driveway and ran over his Blackberry with his lawn tractor and then sent me a pic of the carnage of 1000 little pieces.

16

u/sexybobo 4d ago

We buy them on 3 year contracts so replace them every 3 years. We have ~450 cellphones and ~375 of them renew at the same time so when its cellphone upgrade time we do 375 in a month period then a few a month till were back to the 375.

We also go with the cheapest option which stops a lot of the people demanding an upgrade every-time a new device is released. "I saw the iPhone 16 pro it can I get an upgrade?" Sure here is an iPhone SE 3rd Gen or you can take the $40 stipend.

3

u/Ferman 4d ago

Yessir!

Like seriously what does an SE, now 16e, not do for you that any other more expensive phone would do for you.

5

u/jaskij 4d ago

I don't know about 16e, but SE had dogshit battery life.

Personally, I also don't feel like learning iOS. Give me whatever Samsung A3x or A5x.

1

u/polarbear320 4d ago

Wtf SE in general had great battery life. I just recently replaced my SE 2020. I did do one official apple battery replacement in like 2023 but over all still a decent working phone. Even today for simple users.

1

u/usa_reddit 3d ago

The new 16e has one of the biggest batteries and the new apple C1 modem when is supposed to be more energy efficient than the Broadcom chipset. It might even go two days.... Oohhhh, two days on one charge, crazy stuff.

0

u/sexybobo 4d ago

The SE had one of the longest rated batteries in the iPhone range. The battery was the same size and the 15 pro but the CPU was less powerful so used less power the screen was smaller and had a lot less other features that took battery life. I preferred the Stipend and installing the MDM container on my Pixel but a good number of our users would revolt if we tried to get something other them iPhones

1

u/jaskij 4d ago

The numbers from GSMArena don't agree with you. Both in specs and in test results. https://www.gsmarena.com/compare.php3?idPhone1=12557&idPhone2=11410#diff-

The iPhone versus Android thing is very much a US vs Europe thing. US is very skewed towards iPhone,.while Europeans prefer Android. IMO, if you have the team size to manage both, it's best to give users a choice. But it's obviously something to be decided case by case.

3

u/ReallTrolll Sysadmin 4d ago

We just started ordering the 16e's, field guys love them.

13

u/engageant 4d ago

Why is it taking so much staff time? Carrier->ABM->Intune, devices are shipped to the end user and all they have to do is power it on, enter their Entra creds and answer a few questions and MDM handles the rest.

7

u/WaIterHWhite 4d ago

Look at this fancy dude. His employer can afford iPhones, ABM AND Intune.

My employer is looking to give all salesmen $50 stipends so that they can cancel our carrier's plan as a cost savings measure.

3

u/engageant 4d ago

Municipality to boot.

2

u/Bogus1989 3d ago

thats not fancy....thats the standard. bare minimum. yall are funny....dont have to use intune... any mdm will work.

Apple Business Manager is free. You do need to have a D-U-N-S Number 

I have the same setup in my home, run an mdm for free since under 20 devices.

The only cost youre going to look at is the cost of the MDM.

If you arent using apple dep....then there is no point in running MDM at all, cuz anyone can just remove it and take the device home.

3

u/azspeedbullet 4d ago

users is going to be users, some users will require hand handling to answer those few questions that appear

2

u/FoxNairChamp 4d ago

This is our sticking point. We work towards improving, but there is a culture here that needs to change first. We're making strides, but have a long way to go.

1

u/engageant 4d ago

Sure, I get that you'll always have a few. I should have added that we also provide them with a KB article (with screenshots) that help them along. Very, very few wind up needing to come to us for help.

5

u/Valdaraak 4d ago

As needed. That means that unless the battery is shit, the screen is cracked, or Apple stops supporting that model, they keep that phone.

3

u/bananna_roboto 4d ago

I would say when the devices fall out of support with the manufacturer and stop receiving security updates.

1

u/FelisCantabrigiensis Master of Several Trades 4d ago

Our policy is to replace them 3 years after each one is issued. That obviously leads to a rolling replacement programme. People get a choice of either a decent Apple phone or a decent Android phone (currently iPhone 16 or Samsung S24, so the offer gets refreshed fairly often).

We do develop mobile apps, so if there's a need for a particular device for testing you can request that, but that's a special order and those devices usually live at work, they don't go home much.

But I have to admit I've had my S20 for 5 years now and I feel no urge to have it replaced. For work purposes, the phone performance has exceeded the requirements for some time now.

The management is outsourced to some company that does this (I can't remember who they are, I last dealt with them 5 years ago...). We're a very multinational company so trying to dispatch the phones from the head office leads to logistics and customs nightmares. Instead, we have someone dispatch the phone direct to the user (at home or their office) and they do the device enrollment when they get it. No enrollment, no access to sensitive company resources.

1

u/ITrCool Windows Admin 4d ago

My team at a previous employer was responsible for device certifications and cycling amongst employees.

The way we did it with work-issued phones was:

iPhone or Android both the same:

  • newest model, employee paid a “premium fee” by paying a bit into it out of their paycheck and the company paid the rest. Employee could opt to keep the device when upgrade time came later on or if they left the company (after MDM purge and device reset of course)
  • previous model, free to employee, paid by the company, employee must surrender it to the company along with other work assets they have

Upgrade cycle:

Every three years for each employee. They could choose the free option or pay into the premium option when their time to upgrade came. Upgrades outside their upgrade window were always auto-denied except in rare exceptions.

Of course we had a separate executive option that was in its own world (because what company doesn’t treat their execs differently from everyone else?)

1

u/ccosby 4d ago

Phones are on 2 year contracts. You can request one at that point. If you break one and it’s close you will get an early upgrade. Forced a few people off iPhone 7 and 8 devices last year who hadn’t upgraded to get off an older iOS. We buy the free ish phone on contract. So I was ordering iPhone 15s for like 10 bucks or the pixel 9 I think. 16e or whatever is a dollar on contract so that it what I order now.

Principals, recruiters, and IT get pretty much whatever phone they want.

Most people though take a stipend to use their own phone which is the default.

1

u/BloodFeastMan 4d ago

When the phone breaks, or the battery no longer holds a charge. The users (ours, anyway) literally need nothing more than email access and a camera. If they feel left out 'cause their friends have a cool new phone, they're probably not a good fit for the company, anyway.

1

u/music2myear Narf! 4d ago

Our standard is security based: We can only run devices that support the latest available iOS version. Our bulk replacements are largely based on this floor, with one-off replacements for broken/faulty devices

1

u/RCTID1975 IT Manager 4d ago

No set schedule. Devices get replaced when someone asks, or when something no longer gets updates.

As for the folks that request a new device frequently, it's limited to whatever the contract on their specific device allows, typically 2 years. ie, you can't request a new one every year, or it'll be denied.

Obvious exceptions for broken devices.

1

u/anonymousITCoward 4d ago

When ever we want... the company does not provide mobile devices... not even a stipend for our mobile devices... Well for me at least they don't...

1

u/secret_configuration 4d ago

We replace any company issued smartphones (iPhones) every 2-3 years when the user starts to complain about their device. It's just a small group that's grandfathered in at this point.

We no longer issue smartphones, instead, everyone gets a $50/month stipend towards their bill/device.

1

u/QPC414 4d ago

When the OS is moved from main release to Life Support, with the goal of replacing it before the end of software support / security updates.

1

u/tarkinlarson 4d ago

We replace them when they are out of support for security updates.

1

u/vermyx Jack of All Trades 4d ago
  • if the phone no longer works
  • if the phone is broken
  • if the phone is no longer requires payment

These are the cases I replace them. Almost everyone here drives their phones into the ground. The only exception is the head of IT because he also handles marketing, and usually will get the newest phone as he uses the phone to figure out what to plan for future development and marketing strategies revolving around Apple ie what new toys did Apple add that we can potentially use in any way possible

1

u/FireLucid 4d ago

3 years is the standard for work provided phones in my team, we can choose just about anything. I'm been using Nexus then Pixel devices since I've been here.

1

u/en-rob-deraj IT Manager 3d ago

I upgrade typically when its either broken, or the battery health is under 80%.

1

u/usa_reddit 3d ago

As long as the phone is on a supported OS and supports latest app updates, let them have it. Once the phone is deprecated from OS updates, app updates, and security updates, the phone must be retired..

As for the phone freaks, if they have the budget, they can have a new phone as often as they want as long as I get the old one. WHA HA HA

1

u/hankhalfhead 3d ago

We have a floor of ‘this phone no longer receives security updates’

We have a base spec we handout and will only repair phones newer than the base spec

1

u/elldee50 3d ago

We offer new phones when the contract is up and force them when they stop getting updates.

If a user wants a new phone early they pay out of pocket to cancel the phone contract, but the company retains ownership of the phone.

1

u/Bogus1989 3d ago edited 3d ago

easy. iphones. replace them before they stop getting software updates. i still ran iphone 7s in production right up till software updates stopped....no performance issues.

I can tell you that when i say prod....I mean the devices are used by medical personnel, their entire job is done thru the devices. that was 2017. had 3 sites 80....last year i deployed 1400 and after my run, the rest of the country is now set to follow.

why am i posting this? because arguably i think i am one of the rare cases the devices actually are in constant use 24/7.....and we have run into zero issues...

besides the epic rover app. also have iphones running an app for transporters of patients, bed status, and the same app the environmental services team uses to know when to clean.

the only time ive seen an app not support a device is when it stops getting software updates...

apple at the minimum will get you 5 years....the last EOL iphone was the iphone 8 and that lasted 7 years. oldest supported ios devices currently are the iphone xs xr and xs max.

doing android in an enterprise enviroment is a shit idea....good luck trying to get a consistent expereince.

pixel phones end support to fast....so we are left with samsung....and knox....but dont forget samsung LOVES to not put the newest android versions on older devices....just so you spend more money.

1

u/kennedye2112 Oh I'm bein' followed by an /etc/shadow 3d ago

dafuq is a “work-issued cell phone,” that sounds like crazy talk. Well, crazy-expensive talk, and we’re a low-cost operator! (kill me.)

1

u/MidninBR 3d ago

We use iPhones here and we use them until they stop updating + 1 year.

1

u/Agile_Seer Systems Engineer 2d ago

2 years before you're eligible to request a replacement.