Posted by John Bruce on Wed, Sep 08, 2010
Mobility Management - how are the global Carriers doing?
The leading Telecom Expense Management vendors have for some time been adding functionality to handle the massive growth in mobile technologies. At first it was mobile phones, now it's the complete spread of smart phones, PDAs and laptops. We're actually also looking at adding cloud based service management.
For most of us this has meant the development or acquisition of additional technologies and services. We always believed the most efficient way to do this was to build onto the platform we have, creating a unified way to manage all your telecomm assets. Others have bolted on pieces as they could buy them. Either way, the leading offerings now allow a user to handle their fixed and mobile needs from one vendor.
The most progressive global carriers have seen the rise in demand from their clients and are positioning themselves to deliver. Kitty Weldon from Current Analysis recently published a report that was well worth a read. After extensive research, she describes the relative strengths of the six carriers best positioned to offer managed mobility services. Vodafone, Verizon, AT&T, BT, Orange and Telefonica. And she rates Vodafone and Verizon ahead of the others.
Unfortunately, one significant common denominator that didn't make Kitty's report, is that the two leading carriers, Vodafone and Verizon, both independently chose to build their solutions on the platform of one TEM vendor -- Quickcomm.
Vodafone are making the full report available, just click on this link to get a copy.
Posted by John Bruce on Wed, Sep 01, 2010
Most entrepreneurs I know are occasional readers of Inc. Magazine. It delivers a great product, insightful commentary and is always well researched. Every year the magazine ranks America's fastest growing private companies in the Inc. 5000 and this year we're delighted that Quickcomm made the list. We were ranked number 45 out of the top 100 telecommunications companies in the US and in a city that has no shortage of exciting companies, we're also among the top 100 New York based businesses.
It's very gratifying to see the team's dedication and hard work in Telecom Expense Management. It is because of this hard work that we're one of the top Telecoms Companies in the US. Thank you, Inc. And a bigger 'thank you' to our customers.
Posted by Jennifer Burns on Wed, Aug 18, 2010
As you know, we have started getting involved with TEMIA's Ethic committee. "What's that all about", you ask. Well, TEMIA is hosting a webinar where we will roll-out our Ethics Code to TEMIA members and non-members. Quickcomm's John Bruce will be a member of the panel for the discussion.
The webinar will be on Wednesday, September 29 at 12 noon EST. Enterprises, prospective TEMIA members and industry analysts should register. I will post the registration link as soon as it is live but don't forget to save the date.
And if you are interested in this webinar, you may also be interested in attending Quickcomm's webinar entitled The Keys to Making Your Telecom Expense Management Project Successful. Join us August 26th at 2:00pm EDT for a webinar with Brian Rafferty, Sr. VP of Professional Services. During this presentation, Brian will provide you with the necessary information needed to ensure your telecom expense management implementation process is a success. Additionally, Brian will offer case study examples of past successes.
Click here to register!
Posted by Mark Evans on Tue, Jul 06, 2010
Workwise…..
It’s been nice. I have to say, Europe has adopted Telecom Expense Management from an entirely different standpoint in comparison to the US.
If you wind the clock back in the US about 10 years ago, there was a moderately available TEM solution there that was entirely based on managed service. You would commonly hear, “Send all of your bills to us and we will take the problem away from you”. There wasn’t any real science behind it and no real introduction of technology to underpin it. Nonetheless, there was a known service that could be outsourced in the same manner as payroll or AP.
Australian TEM, although later in the game, was always based on the availability of electronic billing data. This was a bi-product of those days in the mid-nineties where it seemed like every major carrier on the planet descended on Sydney and Melbourne and dug up the streets and installing fibre. This was until most of them realised that actually, there aren’t that many people there (in comparison to other areas)! Still, what it DID do was cause them to issue electronic billing data in order to create a differentiator. This enables smart technology platforms to process and analyze the data and do useful things with it. I am proud to say that the TEM industry down there was somewhat pioneered by us in this regard.
Europe, however, seems to have got the best of both worlds. While the adoption of TEM has come later than the US and Australia, the European market is now able to obtain both smart technology and quality managed services around it. In effect, they can still “outsource the problem” but now with meaningful and technology driven processes. Add in the unprecedented adoption of this by the bigger global System Integrators, BPO players and the carrier’s themselves and I would say Europe has the best of both worlds.
So personally, would I consider Australia, USA or England the best place to live? They all have their positive attributes – all marvellous in their own regard and I enjoyed every minute in all three. But family desires aside, I would choose England! There you go – I’ve said it.
photo by mdda
Posted by Mark Evans on Tue, Jun 29, 2010
Those of you have met me over the past 5 years probably think I am Australian. CEO of an Aussie company, Aussie ‘twang”, continual references to Telstra, Optus and Sydney’s stunning beaches…..
But in actuality, I am not. I grew up in England. My family are all English and if I am pushed to make a call on the matter, then I would have to say “I am as English as fish ‘n chips, cup-o-tea and Mary Poppins.”
I moved to Australia 23 years ago (when I still considered myself immortal) and made my life and career in Sydney. Surprisingly enough, in a complex web of happenstance, I now find myself back in Blighty! Back on my old stomping ground after spending six years in New York.
I have to say, after 23 years, it was initially odd. It’s a strange position to be in. In the first few weeks, I was fumbling with the coins and was a bit bewildered by the place. It was like walking back into your childhood home and finding it full of strange people. After my first month, I felt as if I had never left. In fact, the TV shows so many re-runs, that even switching on the TV is like being back in the eighties! It just costs more now.
Workwise...well I will write about that in my next post later this week.
Posted by Ian Murray on Fri, Jun 25, 2010
I attended the CCMI National Telecom Expense Management Summit in Washington DC this week where I was invited to deliver the keynote speech. The event was attended by IT, Finance and procurement professionals from organizations that have already partnered with a TEM provider and those looking to do so. Interestingly, several of the attendees appeared to be shopping for a replacement TEM provider having been left dissatisfied by their current choice. I am proud to note that none of Quickcomm’s current customers there in that capacity!
The keynote topic was satisfying your CFO’s requirements with your current or future Telecom Expense Management project and I’ll be covering this same topic in Quickcomm’s webinar on June 30th.
I met with some very interesting people: potential customers; TEM consultants looking for an application to underpin their current services and many friends from inside the TEM industry that I haven’t seen since the last trade event.
From the list of prospective customers their managed telecom spend ranges from $10m to over $150m and spans domestic and international carriers. Despite the wide range in scope - the headache always remains the same and there are always savings opportunities for all sized clients.
If you haven’t registered for the webinar yet then register now to reserve your space.
Posted by John Bruce on Thu, Jun 24, 2010
Excellent recent webinar by Jennifer Beck at Gartner, entitled “The CIO Mindset”. They surveyed their clients, pretty much a who’s who of corporations, to figure out what’s keeping CIOs awake at night. In general terms, no shocking revelations, they discovered the top three concerns are; Improving Business processes, Reducing Enterprise costs and Increasing the use of information/analytics.
As a vendor who can confidently demonstrate we improve business processes, reduce enterprise telecomm costs by over ten percent and provide analytics to help users drive their businesses more efficiently, the report was well received. It went on to call out the areas of most interest in improving the overall economics of IT and immediately after the hot topics of virtualization, cloud computing and Web2.0 was Networking, voice and data communications.
Good company news all round. USA and England both qualified for the final sixteen and the Socceroos almost pulled off an upset. Every office is happy.
You can find the Webinar on the Gartner website.
Posted by Piers Tyler on Wed, Jun 23, 2010
The Quickcomm Australia team has just spent the last week in Singapore exhibiting at the CommunicAsia show. We always enjoy a trip to the city of endless shopping, great food and wonderful taxi drivers. Seriously, can you tell me of another city in the world with such interesting and pleasant cabbies? No, I didn't think so.
The Marina skyline looks fantastic now that the new Sands Casino has been completed, ready to drain unsuspecting visitors of their hard earned cash. I had a wander around the complex on my last visit and it's a fantastic piece of architecture.
Anyway....The show was a little slower than expected, with attendee numbers down and a confusing mix of exhibitors. I think the organizers need to rethink their approach. Nevertheless, we made contact with some exciting prospects - so on balance the show was a success. Plus, we ate like kings for next to nothing. If you like your food spicy and authentic, head on down to Racecourse Road and hit the Banana Leaf Apolo (yes, only one ‘L'.) They serve the best Indian food outside India in my humble opinion. We also enjoyed some great Pepper Crab at the No Signboard restaurant at the Esplanade. Some of us enjoyed more than one.
Anyway, getting around to business. It's very apparent from the meetings that we have had over the past few days that carriers across the region are ready to embrace Mobile Device Management. The ever increasing demand for complex, powerful smart phones is putting pressure on carriers to assist their Enterprise customers with the management of these critical devices. Some of the developing markets have a very high majority of prepaid customers so it is vital to retain higher margin, less mobile corporate fleets. Quickcomm provides mobile operators with a comprehensive portalthat will help increase ARPU, improve retention - and differentiate a carrier's enterprise mobile offering in an increasingly commoditized and competitive marketplace.
As the old adage goes, buy them whilst they're hot...like those wonderful curries.
Posted by John Bruce on Mon, Jun 21, 2010
I am at the CCMI National Summit on Telecom Expense Management conference in Washington DC, where one of our staff, Ian Murray, has just given the keynote presentation. I don't normally blow our bugle in a blog, but this really was an excellent session. Judging by the comments from folks who came along afterwards, it was very well received.
Ian spoke about some particularly compelling benefits to be derived from deploying a Telecom Expense Management solution and how to track key performance metrics directly attributable to a successful implementation. Ian will presenting the material in one of our upcoming webinars "Killer KPIs: Key Performance Indicators for Telecom Expense Management ROI" and it promises to be one of our best yet.
Posted by Jennifer Burns on Fri, Jun 18, 2010
Its been a while since I posted a personal update and some of you have been asking for it...so here it goes.
As many of you know, we recently launched our new website. After many months of late nights, working weekends and a number of headaches along the way, I was overdue for a little R&R post launch...ok, maybe "a little" is an understatement.
The past few weekends, I have visited Point Pleasant Beach, NJ, Aruba, Long Beach Island and I am headed to Washington DC this weekend.
My husband and I spent Memorial Day Weekend in Pt. Pleasant, NJ with our close friends Rich, Peggy and Berkeley (their dog). The weekend was full of bloody marys, delicious seafood, lots of laughs and some seriously fun people watching. For those of you that don't know, I actually grew up near the Jersey Shore (Monmouth County) and spent my summers working at the beach clubs from the age of 13 through some of college. Post college, I moved to Hoboken and for the first time in my life, I became a benny.
Benny (n.) ben·ny [ bénnee ] - a derogatory term used by residents of the Jersey Shore to describe tourists from more northern cities, specifically New York City and its immediate suburbs. The term is predominantly used by year-round residents of the beachfront towns of Ocean County and Monmouth County.
As soon as the ground thaws from a harsh winter and accuweather promises a low of 65 degrees, myself and thousands of others brave horrendous traffic in an effort to enjoy the magical Jersey shore. Memorial Day weekend, there was a noticeable shift in the demographic and quantity of visitors. Pt. Pleasant has always been a hub of activity for families. It has a huge boardwalk, great restaurants and bars, and clean beaches. The weekend we were there, it was like every fan of the "Jersey Shore" TV show who couldn't rent a house in Seaside overflowed into Pt Pleasant. It was packed! I was in my typical cool weather shore attire of a pair of jeans, flip flops, a t shirt and sweater while the boardwalk and beached overflowed with girls in bikinis and high heels (yes, on the beaches).
It was really a great weekend. Everyone, tourists and locals alike, can't help but to be in a good mood at the shore. Highlights included...a Memorial Day barbecue, lunch on the bay with family, friends and Berkeley, a case of sunburn, fireworks we could hear (not see) and my first run at the beach for the summer with Peggy. Ok, it was a short run, I think Peggy left me at mile marker 1 while she ran another 9 miles. In my defense, she is training for the marathon and I hadn't ran since autumn.
Of course, in the midst of my dizziness and huffing my inhaler in an attempt to save my life, I was thinking of telecom expense management! That's why we have two webinars coming up. One entitled Key Performance Indicators for Telecom Expense Management ROI and one entitled Control Costs and Manage Change in a Wireless Enterprise which will be hosted out of our office in London featuring Mark Evans. More to come on that one.
I will write about our other trips in future posts. I have to get ready for our trip to Washington DC this weekend. The National Summit on Telecom Expense Management kicks off on Monday. I will definitely update you early next week. If you are headed there, let me know. I would love to see you!