Don’t Be Crazy
For most companies, when it comes to Telecom Expense Management (TEM) it’s not only sane, but also cost-effective to find a better way to manage these costly and vital assets. In this darkening economic climate it’s time to become sane and assume better control of these expensive assets so vital to the efficient operation of your enterprise.
Philosophy 101
For many, the first order of business is determining a corporate philosophy by which to proceed. Ask yourself these questions:
* Who has ownership of the telecom assets?
* How often are your telecom assets being audited?
* What percentage of your invoices is incurring late charges?
* Do you have and accurate up to date inventory of all these assets?
* Is there a centralized repository for the telecom contracts, invoicing, and telecom data information/
* What procedures does your company have in place to identify errors, overcharges, and ensure recovery of these unnecessary expenses?
And most critically, who in your organization has the time or the expertise to go through every invoice from every telecom vendor line-by-line, asset by asset?
Outsourcing vs. In-sourcing
What’s a company to do regarding Telecom Expense Management? Most companies bring an existing corporate philosophy that favors internal management opposed to outsourcing. Yet, these same companies often have neither the time nor the expertise available to manage these important assets well. Others have had a difficult time assessing which business unit in their company has ownership of the Telecom services which is so critical to their efficient management. 085 nummer aanvragen Either way, almost all companies recognize something needs to be done about these hard to control and expensive assets.
Outsourcing
There are many facets to determining which approach will work best for your company. There is usually no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. Some companies throw up their hands in frustration and relinquish all TEM responsibility to a third part vendor and outsource. This embodies a move in the right direction from manual internal procedures; however, outsourcing doesn’t necessarily comprise the best solution for most companies.
Primary drawbacks to a full outsourcing approach:
* You may be paying one high price for a mix of high along with low-value functions
* You are introducing an additional vendor relationship between you and the carrier that will also require management
There are some valuable contributions outsourcing will provide:
* Processing refunds
* Automated bill validation and error identification
* The outsourcing of invoice processing
* Cutting a carrier check once the invoice has been validated
* Perhaps reallocation of internal resources to core responsibilities
The blending of high and marginal contributions normally requires a significant cost associated with the service provided. The approach of the outsourc-er may vary; however, one thing is certain, each vendor requires oversight.
Worst Case for Outsourcing
Human assets once committed to carrier management will often be consumed with managing the outsourcing manager. That coupled with the negative of losing touch with both vendors and telecom services, will likely not result in the best telecom expense and asset management for your firm.
In-sourcing
Counter to outsourcing is the purchase of TEM software to be operated in-house, by telecom-experienced personnel. At first ‘In-sourcing’ may appear to be a cost-effective solution. While eliminating the need to manage the outsource manager, in-sourcing falls short by not utilizing a consultants vendor expertise and knowledge of multiple client agreements, rates and tariffs currently available in the marketplace. Some additional efficiency lost by in-sourcing:
* Telecom expertise and disciplines not available internally
* The lack of additional eyes and hands on managing of telecom data by non biased third parties
* Adding highly motivated (performance conscious) experts committed to achieving savings and efficiency results
Get Smart! With Smart-Sourcing
Smart-Sourcing is often the strategy that’s most likely to succeed and achieve the best Telecom Expense management results. Blending the best of both sourcing strategies is both sane and effective. That’s right; it’s just plain SMART.
In Smart-Sourcing industry recognized Best Practices are combined with:
* Utilizing cutting edge software technologies
* Further training of your in-house telecom team
* Professional telecom expertise co-management.
By choosing a non-biased TEM provider that compliments your strongest internal assets with the disciplines better performed by the third-party, your company can achieve control, efficiencies, and cost savings that otherwise are simply out of reach. For example: Outsourcing an entire management discipline such as Help Desk or e-Procurement may make sense where other areas such as Usage Management are best handled in-house.
ROI
Enterprises integrating wireless automation, Smart-sourcing, together with industry recognized Best Practices, find an immediate ROI while the savings generated typically run between 3-5 times the costs of software alone. Companies engaged in effective smart Sourcing of telecom management will undoubtedly find expense and man-hour efficiencies far beyond what they are currently experiencing.
Want to know more? Contact a Wireless Expense Management solution provider today.
Gary is the Business Development Manager for Integrity Communications. With a wealth of telecom marketing experience, Gary provides useful insights for those seeking help with various telecom cost reduction strategies as they work to improve their telecom teams efficiencies concerning their business’ telecom environment.