When you begin looking at a new deal, one of the areas of concern is usually the revenue or line commitment.  You know that your business is changing all the time.  Are you going to leave money on the table and sign a deal with a lower commitment and lose out on savings or are you going to lock into a higher commitment and risk a shortfall that you will need to pay against?

Most people are petrified of committing to a high number and then paying the “penalty fees”.   Are they really penalties at all?  That is a discussion for another day.  Today though, we are going to look at a technique that can be used to maximize your savings while limiting your exposure.

Read more…

How do you know when it is time for a new contract, or to contemplate moving your services to someone else?  Don’t rely on a rough date.  Know your contract.

Many contracts have automatic renewals or specific procedures that must be followed to prevent auto renewal.  Some take it for granted that dates negotiated on their last RFP made it into the contract, this is often not so.  Always check your contracts and know the procedures, dates, and revenue commitments agreed upon.

Some jump the gun and turn the incumbent provider into an enemy before knowing the particulars of how to discontinue their agreement.  It is also important to consider the time and resources necessary to move to another provider.  Know your dates and plan in advance.  Staying one step ahead of your providers will help you to negotiate the best deals.

Anyone who reads this report from Aberdeen is no doubt trying to glean what works best.  The temptation is to look at what has worked for the Best-in-Class companies and just do that.  But as Bob pointed out in one of his previous posts, good advice is good advice.  As I examined the information closely, it actually occurred to me that the Best-in-Class respondents were probably not best at all – but that is a post for another day.  Let’s take a look at some of the strategies and examine the pros and cons: Read more…

Telecom Expense Management is so blase.  Telecom Lifecycle Management is fresh.  When you examine it closely, it is difficult to tell the difference between the two.  Which one is right for you?  The answer may not be as simple as you think.

Usually, TEMs are viewed as providing a very short term engagement, where they reduce costs quickly.  TLMs are expected to provide a holistic view which might begin at expense management but would also look at order fulfillment, asset management, managing SLAs, and on and on.  But is it unrealistic to expect long-term savings from short-term engagements?  No.  Any TEM/TLM should be able to provide recommendations for extended savings.  The biggest obstacle to maintaining and increasing savings is your organization.  Loss of efficiency usually takes place when there is no communications between people negotiating contracts and people ordering services, and when there are no quality management processes in place to monitor activity (MACD, Contract maturity, organizational changes).

TLM is something that you should be getting from any vendor, but it is only achievable with buy-in from your organization.  Monitoring processes from cradle-to-grave is the only way to achieve long-term savings.

If you haven’t had a chance to read it yet, Bob posted an article in the resources section on “beating up on the vendor’  found here.  As you might expect, a lot of Telecom Expense Management companies have weighed in on this subject.  I’ve heard several TEM vendors tell of their expertise in this area.  Bob makes some good points on how this can be counterproductive if you do not use this strategy wisely. Read more…