A report from Aberdeen Group shows it costs nearly 10 times more to manage wireless services and devices vs. wireline. As more of your company’s users go mobile and upgrade from cell phones to smartphones, you’ll have an expense management challenge on your hands.

“The Real Cost of Enterprise Wireless Mobility” points to the problem: few wireless expenses are proactively managed. One reason is that many enterprises have employees expensing their wireless contracts rather than centralizing purchasing and contract negotiation. According to Aberdeen, few companies have visibility into what they’re shelling out for wireless services. And in many organizations, there’s no policy for managing change when former employees leave the company and in some cases keep the device and phone number.

The report offers IT executives some tips for managing wireless costs that may help your organization:

* Switch from employee liable to corporate liable contracts. The survey results show 44% of respondents have wireless contracts in their employee’s names. Migrating to a corporate plan gives you better visibility into costs as well as purchasing power.

* Get help from experts. If you don’t have the resources to manage mobility costs, consider hiring staff or bring in suppliers with experience in managing wireless inventory, controlling costs and negotiating contracts.

* Think big by budgeting 10 times more for operational support. As usage of smartphones grow, plan to devote sufficient personnel or outside help to keeping those devices running. Plan to spend 10 times more than wireline telecom support costs.

* Deploy technology. Software or business process outsourcing can aid you in tackling asset management and inventory tracking.

Amy Schurr is the former managing features editor of Network World.