The New Rules of Telecom Expense Management Effectively Managing Telecom Spend in Today s World

Transcription

1 Over the past decade, the way organizations communicate has radically changed. As data and wireless communications have grown, telecom expenses have become a significant expense equating to 3-4% of revenue for the enterprise. Most organizations waste millions of dollars annually by not managing their telecom spend in a standardized, centralized way. To address these challenges, organizations must follow the three new rules of telecom expense management to reduce telecom spend and improve efficiencies. Copyright 2010 Telesoft

2 Table of Contents Introduction... 3 Telecom Expense Management Drivers... 3 Three New Rules of TEM... 3 New Rule #1: Proactively Manage Telecom Spend... 4 New Rule #2: Manage Fixed and Mobile Telecom Together... 5 New Rule #3: Extend the Value of TEM with Intuitive Solutions for Multiple Users... 6 Conclusion... 6 Next Steps... 7 Free Telecom Cost Savings Analysis... 7 Page 2

3 Introduction Over the past decade, the way organizations communicate has changed radically. Network traffic for data and wireless has eclipsed fixed voice traffic. Information that was transmitted across networks through voice communications is now sent through s, text messages, images, and applications that contain large files of digital information. Communications continue to be critical to the success of organizations and employees rely increasingly on data to perform their jobs. In addition, a larger portion of these information workers no longer labor within the confines of the four walls of their employer s job sites. This has increased the need for wireless communications where employees have real-time access to information. Telecom Expense Management Drivers As data and wireless communications have grown, telecom expenses have become a significant expense that now equates on average to 3.6% of revenue for enterprises. Organizations face a tough economic environment, with constant pressure to reduce spend and improve efficiencies. This is a challenging proposition for telecom considering that multiple cross-functional groups within the enterprise have responsibility for managing some part of the telecom expense lifecycle. In a recent survey, enterprise managers indicated that lack of cross-functional coordination created a situation where nearly one third of telecom spending is not proactively managed. Three New Rules of TEM Three new rules of telecom expense management have emerged to help companies meet these challenges to reduce telecom spend and improve efficiencies. First, companies must proactively manage their telecom expenses. Second, organizations must manage fixed and mobile expenses together. Third, TEM technology must now conform to meet the needs of multiple users across the organization. These three approaches make for the new rules of telecom expense management, which must be understood to successfully manage costs in today s world. Page 3

4 New Rule #1: Proactively Manage Telecom Spend Historical Audits Alone Aren t Enough With the old approach, historical audits were the only way to identify billing errors and dispute overcharges - after telecom bills were paid. This was a lengthy unpredictable process. Claims and submissions with telecom service providers were often summarily rejected because the level of detail and documentation that was required for billing claims was incomplete. After additional information was submitted, service providers would take 90 days or longer to review larger claims. These claims often required escalations to different managers in the carrier billing account team. And, as telecom costs rose, large disputes - along with a reactive approach to billing errors - added unpredictability to the enterprise budget. You Need Visibility into the Entire Telecom Lifecycle to Proactively Manage Spend Today, organizations must proactively manage telecom expenses to reduce spend and improve efficiencies. Most organizations waste millions of dollars annually by not managing their telecom spend in a standardized, centralized way. While historical audits are a valuable checkpoint, a more proactive approach is required to manage the entire telecom lifecycle from sourcing and procurement, service order management, asset management, invoice management, expense validation, optimization, and reporting. Organizations need better visibility into that full lifecycle to proactively manage spend. Most organizations find it challenging and time-consuming to provide complete and accurate reporting on their telecom environment. Without a clear understanding of telecom spending, organizations cannot drive down costs that equate to millions of dollars in savings. The main challenges enterprises face when reporting on telecom expenses are ensuring accurate information is provided and being able to efficiently generate data. These struggles stem from the fact that telecom expense reporting typically lacks any type of automation and is extremely cumbersome and time-consuming. Telecom Expense Management (TEM) is the practice of automating telecommunication service expenses (voice, data, and wireless) across your enterprise. It is one of the fastest, most measurable ways to save money and streamline efficiencies. Companies are now using information from their TEM solutions for financial planning and reporting. They are developing budget forecasts and establishing internal financial control procedures. Managers want reporting to provide information on spending by cost center, business unit, service, office, and employee. Reporting must also deliver a single consolidated view of fixed, mobile, and international expenses. Page 4

5 New Rule #2: Manage Fixed and Mobile Telecom Together Wireless Services and Expenses are Skyrocketing Data and mobile expenses are displacing fixed voice services. Convergence of voice and data services together is driving the enterprise market with IP VPNs replacing legacy frame relay and ATM services. Converged voice IP PBXs are replacing legacy PBXs. Use of wireless services and expenses are growing at a rate of 30% or more per year for enterprises. Data applications are driving wired and wireless network traffic. This data traffic includes video conferencing, high-volume business applications, large files, and images used for business. Submissions for billing errors on voice services no longer dominate billing claims. The old focus on negotiating long distance rates no longer applies to companies that have adopted Voice Over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calling. The old strategy of controlling fixed voice services alone is obsolete. You Need Unified Management of Fixed and Mobile Expenses Organizations must manage fixed and mobile voice and data services together through a unified TEM platform. A unified TEM platform provides centralized inventory across fixed and wireless, common data sharing, unified reporting, single sign-on -- all things that make management and reporting easier. With this information, organizations have better leverage with carriers over expenses and can more accurately prepare communications budgets to meet rising expectations of employees for mobile services. In this new world, wireless has become a flashpoint with 75% of enterprises beginning to address this category. Today, 41% of enterprises cite lack of visibility into wireless device inventory and usage as their top challenge to managing wireless services. In fact, Gartner forecasts that 80% of enterprises will overspend on their wireless service costs by an average of 15%. For 34% of respondents, payment of wireless expenses via T&E reimbursement makes it hard to enforce policy and find violations. Change from voice to data and wireless-centric networks requires more focus on asset management. As managers add new data and wireless services, old services need to be disconnected. An accurate inventory of the assets is critical to ensure the accuracy of billing and identify cost savings opportunities. Inventory for wireless services is very dynamic with many changes as employees change jobs, hardware replacement cycles are shorter, and there is a need to track information to individual users to ensure they are on the right service plan. Page 5

6 New Rule #3: Extend the Value of TEM with Intuitive Solutions for Multiple Users Under the old approach, TEM solutions were not intuitive and did not integrate well with other enterprise applications. Reporting and TEM data was static. It was virtually impossible to perform queries or scenarios based on changed assumptions for adoption of new communications services, changes in service providers, or simply adjusting the dates in a report. Interaction with backend data required special requests from IT. Users of TEM applications had to become experts that specialized in TEM and these solutions. Much of the functionality was hard to use because it was difficult to learn. With different cross-functional groups managing different parts of the telecom expense lifecycle management, finance, IT, procurement, and facilities -- today s TEM solutions must have a user interface that meets the needs of all types and levels of users. As browser-based applications are becoming more robust, users expect an experience similar to desktop applications. This user-centered design improves productivity for people that use the solution. Navigation and features must be intuitive for different departments to collaborate and work. Functionality is easier to use, maximizing your return on investment and more users can be experts. Wizard-based reporting and data marts allow users to access data and robust reporting without special requests for IT to provide assistance. Users are able to be more productive with less ramp-up time and training. Conclusion Business people want to see the results. They also want to ensure that telecom spending is accurate and optimal. By following the new rules of TEM, enterprises get this and more to: Proactively manage telecom spend. One of the goals with a proactive approach that manages the full lifecycle for telecom expenses is to improve the bottom line through better visibility and accountability from top to bottom for consumption of services. Reporting is the key to this proactive approach. Enterprises also gain insights into why billing errors occur and how to improve internal processes to avoid billing errors. Manage fixed and mobile spend together. The rapid shift in technology from fixed voice services to data and wireless services requires asset management tools and reporting that provide insights into these new services. Extend the value of TEM with intuitive solutions for multiple users. Access goes beyond reporting with the third new rule that calls for applications that conform to users. This extends telecom data access to a broader class of users that are able to use TEM data for better decision-making. Managers can optimize spending on telecom services and reduce their costs by increasing operational efficiencies. Ultimately, organizations can manage spend on communications as an investment. Page 6

7 Next Steps Telesoft is the trusted partner in Telecom Expense Management (TEM) software and services. For more than 25 years, Telesoft has worked with customers to reduce fixed and mobile telecom spend to improve their bottom lines. Delivered as a hosted solution, licensed software or outsourced service, Telesoft TEM automates the telecom expense management lifecycle - from management of telecom invoices, usage and cost allocation, through provisioning and inventory - to lower telecom expenses and improve efficiencies. With Telesoft, organizations can easily address the new rules of telecom expense management and: Centralize telecom inventory and ordering so organizations can avoid overpayments, unintended service disconnects, and billing for services no longer in use and accelerate moves, adds, changes, and deletes (MACDs). Simplify telecom invoice processing and reporting so organizations save time and eliminate late payments by accelerating invoice approval processes, ultimately improving budgeting, forecasting, and accrual processes. Automate invoice validation and dispute management so resources are not wasted on manual validation, errors do not slip by unnoticed, and disputes are easily identified, managed, and tracked through the lifecycle to ensure credit/recovery. Track usage and chargeback expenses to drive down consumption by allocating telecom costs to the appropriate cost center and streamlining management of telecom vendors, products, and services. Free Telecom Cost Savings Analysis Let Telesoft help you uncover savings. In just 30 minutes, we will: Show you how much you can save with telecom expense management. Pinpoint opportunities to lower your current telecom expenses. Provide a detailed report showing the savings you can expect in four major areas of telecom expense management. Telesoft Corp E. Camelback Road Suite 300 Phoenix, AZ info@telesoft.com Page 7