Optimizing Telecom Inventory Management Through Business Intelligence & Analytics

Transcription

1 Optimizing Telecom Inventory Management Through Business Intelligence & Analytics A Whitepaper

2 Inventory management is one of the critical challenges for communications service providers, but the focus on it is seldom consistent. At the core of telecom expenses management, which is vital for optimizing CAPEX and OPEX, is the proper management of inventories. Executive Summary Inventory management is a major challenge for communications service providers worldwide. It s seldom carried out consistently across various telco departments. Studies have shown that telecom operators of all sizes can benefit from proper management of inventories and associated expenses. Most telcos don t have a clear picture of their inventories and costs, not to mention the lack of control of the finance and IT departments on inventories. On top of this, frequent mergers and acquisitions in the telecom domain results in increased complexity of services, making inventory tracking very difficult. At the core of telecom expenses management, which is vital for optimizing CAPEX and OPEX, is the proper management of inventories. The current competitive marketplace requires telcos to check costs to sustain growth and profitability. Hence, it s mandatory for telecom operators to gain complete control over their inventories by obtaining transparency across all departments. In addition, telecom operators have other commitments, such as compliance to various industry regulations (e.g., Sarbanes Oxley), that makes effective management of inventory a key activity. Key Challenges The key challenges faced by telcos in inventory management include the following. Inefficient Methodology: While many telecom operators have realized the importance of gaining control over their inventory, traditional methodology was to rely only on the data coming from the carriers. However, in this process, research showed that over 80 percent of the invoices are erroneous, reducing the efficiency of inventory management. Need for Dedicated Tools: Traditional method of ad hoc reporting and reconciliation has become quite difficult due to the increasing complexity of services as well as constant mergers and acquisitions. Due to these changes, there is a pressing need for a dedicated inventory tracking tool to ensure accuracy in management and reconciliation. Manual-Intensive Tracking Process: Traditional management of inventory requires qualified staff for making inventory updates to accurately enter information for each type of circuit, line, or device as well as billing components. The staff must be able to distinguish between data circuit, voice circuit, etc. If a device or circuit is not categorized appropriately, it will lead to inaccuracies in reporting and visibility.

3 In order to maintain accuracy of inventory information, an inventory, once built, needs to be reconciled with the carrier orders or procurement systems. Inventory Analysis Solution Effective inventory management involves either the creation and cleansing of a new inventory or the maintenance of the existing one. In either case, a proper tracking system is essential. For this, telcos need to create a single source of truth, from where organization-wide inventory can be tracked and monitored accurately. Prodapt s Inventory Analysis Solution provides exactly that, reconciling inventory data and creating several dimensions/slices to provide holistic insights into organization-wide inventory information (with desired granularity). So as to ensure accuracy of the inventory information, various sources should be included. A sample list of input drivers taken into account as part of Prodapt s Inventory Analysis Solution includes: Carrier contracts Customer service records Carrier portals Physical inventory checks & inventory audits Electronic data interchange (EDI) data In order to maintain accuracy of inventory information, an inventory, once built, needs to be reconciled with the carrier orders or procurement systems. The solution divides inventories into following categories: Network inventory Equipment inventory Circuit inventory Telephone number inventory Product and customer inventory Besides providing an accurate view of reconciled inventory, the Inventory Analysis Solution helps telcos gain better visibility of network resource utilization to enable additional planning by decision makers. Key business benefits delivered by the solution are: Accurate inventory information allowing telco s IT to make network decisions quicker with confidence Optimized order intake and service ordering Full visibility and data analysis capability ensuring compliance with various industry standards Some sample inventory analysis reports generated are given below.

4 The solution enhances the buying confidence of telecom operators by increasing the trust in the inventory and ordering outputs. Conclusion Prodapt s Inventory Analysis Solution provides the required analytical capability to telcos, thereby streamlining the tedious activity of accurately unifying organization-wide inventories. Well-structured view of inventories can be used to generate drill-down reports based on various dimensions, such as network type, equipment type, product type, geography, etc. The solution helps telcos optimize the expenditure and the network by enabling the capability to reduce inventory through informed decision making. The solution also enhances the buying confidence of telecom operators by increasing the trust in the inventory and ordering outputs reducing the amount of time needed to review the requirements for additional infrastructure. The Inventory Analysis Solution thus provides telcos with the competitive advantage, bringing down operational cost, reducing planning time, and supporting a sustainable and profitable data-analysis-based business model.

5 About Prodapt Prodapt is a leading provider of software, engineering, and operations services with a singular focus on the information and communications technology (ICT) industry. Prodapt endeavors to maximize the value at competitive cost for global communications service providers (CSPs), independent software vendors (ISVs), and network equipment manufacturers (NEMs). Prodapt s services and solutions span across Operations/Business Support Systems (O/BSS), Machine-to-Machine/Internet of Things (M2M/IoT), Remote Infrastructure Management (RIM), Telecom Business Process Services, and Network Product Engineering. Prodapt is a niche telecom services company with expertise in service delivery and fulfillment, network service assurance, and integrated customer and revenue management. Full-fledged and constantly evolving O/BSS offerings from Prodapt will provide telcos with profitability and uncompromised customer experience, through service quality, customer touchpoint experience, and branding. Prodapt offers flexibility to telcos through targeted solutions and services (both cloud and on-premise) across BI & analytics, digitization, mobility, and B2B & B2C services. Prodapt has over the years partnered with global leaders in the communications industry including Fortune 500 companies. In-depth telecom expertise, competitive costing, and enterprise-level flexibility make Prodapt the partner of choice in the telecom domain. Headquartered in Chennai, India, Prodapt has operations in the US, Europe, and South Africa. The organization is part of a 120-year-old Indian business conglomerate, The Jhaver Group, employing over 15,500 people across 60+ global locations. The Jhaver Group has business in IT services, healthcare, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, textiles, apparel accessories, and the BPO industry. India Prince Infocity II, 4th Floor, No. 283/4, Rajiv Gandhi Salai (OMR), Kandanchavadi, Chennai , India Ph: Fax: Module1, Tower 1, 6th Floor, Chennai One IT Special Economic Zone, Pallavaram - Thoraipakkam 200 feet Road, Thoraipakkam, Chennai , India Ph: Fax: North America Europe South Africa Prodapt North America South Center, 7565 SW Mohawk, Building M, Tualatin, Oregon Prodapt Consulting BV 2288 ED, Rijswijk, The Netherlands Prodapt South Africa No. 3, Third Avenue, Rivonia 2128, Johannesburg, South Africa Ph: Fax: BM, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Ph: Ph: Ph: Fax: