A challenge facing the telecom expense management channel is the increased sophistication of our clients. And mind you, a “challenge” is not a “problem”. Having a better educated, more informed marketplace has always been a goal at Valicom, as we feel the more we all know, the better we can serve each other and our end user customers.
I attended the CompTIA annual member meeting last week in Chicago, and – other than the obscene $54 parking rate at the hotel – found it to be a great time. CompTIA is the Computing Technology Industry Association, essentially a clubhouse for IT service providers, VARs, resellers, MSPs and OEM reps.
To conduct business today, we know you need tools and you need technology. This means telephones, mobile phones, pagers, expensive high-speed internet connections, laptops with wireless capabilties, the list goes on and on. And, over time, the list not only gets longer as new gadgets hit the market, but the number of people within your organization who needs these things goes up. All of that leads to complexity, and complexity can lead to errors.
Essentially, it is an all encompassing term that refers to the overall monitoring and handling of wireless, voice, and data assets for your company. This is a process you can do yourself, via a web-based platform like Clearview, or you can partner with a firm like Valicom to do these services for you. Whoever does it, in plain language, it means gathering all of your telecom bills and looking for overcharges through a telecom audit, searching for contract violations, finding ways to save money, and negotiating directly with vendors to get a better deal.
The faltering Blackberry maker RIM (Research in Motion) has thrown their hat in the tablet ring with the release of their new Playbook. As more firms and individuals move away from the recently ubiquitous “Crackberry” for business use, the addition of a tablet to their product stable is a move intended to keep RIM relevant in the market. But will it work?
Not that I have one, mind you, because personally I’m rather cheap. But if I did have an original iPad, I’d probably be pretty grumpy right now as the new ones came out at the same price point as the one you might have purchased at Best Buy the day before.
Data provides the basis for Telecom and IT professionals to “make better decisions faster”. When I managed data centers and telecom activities in the past, management usually looked at the IT and telecom function as a necessary evil and an overhead department that detracts from the bottom line profits. IT and telecom can always find something to spend money on. New computers, servers, wireless devices, infrastructure upgrades, etc. Some companies treat these functions as enabling their profits and allowing them to grow through technology.
The HFMA newsletter had a great article calling out the need for wireless expense management in its latest issue. This is a challenge we see as well, with our healthcare clients. Industry stats show that healthcare spending on telecommunications is expected to increase by 44 percent over the next three years, approaching a cost of $12.4 billion by 2013. As newer and faster smartphones and tablets hit the market, monthly fees and data plans increase, and vendors merge and maneuver, the complexity of managing wireless gets harder every year.
Many medium to large organizations utilize a variety of mobile management software and wireless inventory solutions whether purchased or created internally. Specifically on the Wireless side, we see many of those companies strive to provide the managers and directors with the ability to see wireless information of the employees under their leadership, using their expense management tools.
How Do You Know When Your Device Died?One of the key challenges of telecom has always been Telecom Inventory Management. When did you get this thing and when did you disconnect it. It’s pretty important to keep track of that or your John Doe iPhone may end up in a drawer.
As anyone in the telecommunications industry knows, the old VoiceCon, now Enterprise Connect, is a great opportunity to visit vendors, learn new trends and hear some of the top minds in the industry deliver keynote addresses.
AOTMP, a telecom expense management industry association, released a research report today showing that accurate inventory of telecom assets generate nearly 400% in audit and optimization savings. After twenty years in the telecom auditing business, we would agree with those numbers. The challenge of tracking assets for both fixed and wireless services is a growing problem.
Many companies today perform some type of telecom expense management and cost control in house. Often, they address their biggest pain points with a mix of custom spreadsheets and maybe even an Access database or two. While this is better than nothing, it certainly isn’t great.
The traditional approach for some enterprise level companies has been to outsource Telecom Expense Management (TEM) to TEM providers. While companies search TEM expertise in Mobile Management and Telecom expense control, how much research do companies actually do to ensure that their potential partner has values that are aligned?
This post outlines out telecom expense management software, combined with business coaching and training, can increase profits and maximize efficiency for telecom consultants – whether they are already doing telecom auditing, or just want to start. So read the article, then request a demo of Clearview to find out more.
What does Wireless Optimization mean for your company? Is this just one of many telecom cost reduction techniques, or just a part of telecommunication expenses? Is cellular optimization important?In short, its all of the above if you want to reduce your telecom costs and achieve control over the assets. However you respond to these questions, the fact remains that most companies need a process to guide the organization on what to purchase, how to purchase, what cost restrictions apply, who owns the telephone, the telephone number, and the expense.
With the new Android mobile phones on AT&T, starting in mid-February, they will be offering their Mobile Hotspot, beginning with the launch of the HTC Inspire 4G. Because they know the hotspot feature this will lead to an increase in data use per account, they also are doubling the cap on tethering from 2GB to 4GB, at no extra charge.
In telecommunications we know there are an endless stream of merger and acquisitions with vendors (a couple very recently). This can create a lot of potential headaches, but it’s also important to leverage these events as opportunities when looking for cost savings.
When considering adding a software tool to your existing telecom expense reduction activities, make sure to include web-based SaaS options in your evaluation. Only in the past couple of years have TEM software solutionsbeen offered in a hosted model over the Internet.
What strikes me is how much of this can apply directly to telecom cost control, which is our specialty. Not that it doesn’t make sense. I mean, that is what a CFO is for. They’re like your Dad telling you that you only get your allowance if you spend it on the apple instead of the candy bar. Or buying a book instead of a new video game. The finance people are the gatekeepers for the budget. And this is what they want from their IT and Telecom managers, help keeping the financial house in order. And here’s how they want you to do it…