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 John Bruce on Mon, Aug 16, 2010
Taking a leaf out of Gartner’s book, TEMIA’s code of Ethics for the Telecom Expense management industry is a clear declaration of intent by the serious TEM vendors to establish the ground rules for an industry that’s determined to be above disparagement.
I really do applaud the intent, but one of my particular concerns with the initiative is that it must have teeth to succeed. An approach that I do want us to promote, is the ethics@temia.org mailbox. If any vendor or TEM customer feels that a member’s behavior is in conflict with the code, then please mail in details to the address. It’s being monitored up by the ethics committee who are keen to hear about it.
Posted by John Bruce on Tue, Aug 03, 2010
I’ve been spending time recently getting more involved with TEMIA, the Telecom Expense Management Industry Association. As a founding Telecom Expense Management vendor, Quickcomm has been a member of TEMIA since its inception. The group is run as a non-profit, largely funded by the TEM vendors and acts as an industry spokesperson and ombudsman to drive standards and quality of service. Arguably a little self serving, but certainly well intentioned.
After comments I made at a recent annual TEMIA dinner, I was invited to sit on a relatively new committee, governing ethics for the vendors. I was delighted to accept. As a young industry still finding its way, we have a great opportunity to set the bar high in how we behave and the representations we make to customers. Early days, but I’m obviously very serious about standards of professionalism here at Quickcomm and committed to do all I can to help the industry do the same.
photo by rebekah615
Posted by Jennifer Burns on Tue, Aug 03, 2010
With many companies on their third Telecom Expense Management vendor, it is hard to deny that the lack of customer experience and satisfaction is a major problem in this industry. We're hosting a webinar entitled How Will You Ensure Your TEM Implementation is a Success? The Keys to Making Your Telecom and Wireless Expense Management Project Successful.
No two telecom expense management projects are alike. Every project is different—different requirements, resources, data, policies, processes, etc. While this is all very true, there are a number of areas that you can focus on to ensure the implementation process is a smooth one. By narrowing down a few key initiatives to focus on such as mutually agreed SLAs and setting qualitative and quantitative goals with your supplier, you can help guide the implementation process providing an optimal experience.
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.
As a TEM expert and well-known industry speaker on TEM topics, Brian will help educate participant’s on:
- Creating a communication plan with your Supplier
- Setting realistic schedules and expectations
- Negotiating mutually agreed upon SLAs
- Defining Qualitative and Quantitative Goals
- Questions to ask during the purchasing/RFP process
- The Top 10 Steps for a Successful Implementation
- Establishing guidelines
Register Here! or go to http://quickcommevents.webex.com.
Posted by Jennifer Burns on Fri, Jul 30, 2010
Another quick tip I came across for you guys that will help cut out some of the chaos in your telecom expense management practices.
Many organizations struggle to keep their telecom environment in control....(well Duh!, right?). It gets even more difficult and complex when that environment includes many locations and limited control over what the people in those locations request from your Telecom Service Providers.
One way of civilizing such an environment is to establish an authorized personnel policy. Creating a list of authorized personnel helps to ensure that only trained people are able to place service orders, request repairs and even sign telecom contracts. An authorized personnel policy entails determining who is authorized for each task and either (1) giving those lists of authorized personnel to each Telecom Service Provider or (2) providing authorized personnel with a password which is then given to the Telecom Service Providers for policy enforcement.
You know we love telecom expense management best practice processes! Well, creating such policies also provides an easier method of creating and implementing telecom processes, as it creates a smaller group of people to whom processes are rolled-out and enforced. This may seem daunting, but the effort you make to create an authorized personnel policy pays you back several-fold in terms of process efficiency, resource management and cost control.
Thanks for another great tip AOTMP.
Posted by Jennifer Burns on Tue, Jul 20, 2010
The Telecom Tip Junkie is back in full force! I hope that you found my recent post on RFP tips helpful and informative.
I came across another great tip from AOTMP. This one seems particularly relevant right now as us consumers are constantly lured into buying the latest technology (iPhone 4.whatever's next, Droid X, etc.). Lets be honest, it is starting to get difficult to stay in "the know" with the latest developments or even drawbacks. For instance, what kind of data plan is necessary when purchasing the Droid or will I need rabbit ears from my old TV in order for my new iPhone to work. Personally, I don't have a clue.
What I do know is this dynamic environment combined with hundred if not thousands of users, poses a number of challenges for those of you charged with evaluating the options and managing the infrastructure. While blindfolding and gagging your company's early adopters whenever a new mobile device is released has some appeal, its probably against your HR policy. As an alternative, here is a little tip that may help a little.
Tip #265: Environment Management - Periodic Technology Reviews
New technologies may enhance current business operations or may not be practical at all; however, you shoul establish a periodic review of what is available. it is possible that you might not need to replace what is in use now, but you may find bundled packaging or pricing of services is a current offering from you Telecom Service Provider. There are several methods by which you could conduct these reviews. One way would be to require a meeting with your Telecom Service Provider representative every six months. Alternate methods might be to consult the technological savvy people within your organization, conduct research on the internet, or check the Service/Price Guides of the providers to evaluate promotional offerings. New technology may increase efficiency, but to make a sound decision about new technology offerings, you need to also consider functionailty, implementation costs and recurring costs in your assessment.
Until next time.
Posted by Jennifer Burns on Fri, Jul 16, 2010
I promised to blog about CCMIs National Summit on Telecom Expense Management and some of the sessions. While Ian’s keynote presentation was by far my favorite, of course, I really enjoyed a session presented by Steve Martin the IT Financial Officer of Liberty Mutual Insurance. He presented a Case Study that discussed the RFP portion of his company’s Telecom Expense Management provider selection process.
Steve’s presentation resonated with me personally. In my earlier days at Quickcomm, I was the person responsible for responding to any RFX that came our way. Responding to an RFX takes a significant amount of time, thought and….patience. To say that this portion of my job was both grueling and frustrating is a complete understatement. I am still wondering what I did in a previous life that warranted this task to fall on to my plate. I have received RFXs that were over 200 pages (which didn’t include our response), ones that required 9 copies printed while asking how we will help them “go green”, ones required on blue paper, one that inquired into Quickcomm’s preferred snack choice is and I won’t even get into some of the off-the-wall questions we have had to respond to. Don’t ask.
Sorry, I digress. Of course, I understand that the RFP process is a necessary evil for some organizations. And while it is a huge undertaking on the supplier’s part, it is even more so for an enterprise. Scoping, writing, reading, evaluating and down-selecting is far more difficult than simply responding. When I saw Steve’s case study, I absolutely had to attend as I was really curious as to hear from an enterprise what the thought process was behind this huge undertaking. I left the session wanting to sing Steve’s praises from a mountain top. He really had some valuable knowledge and tips to share that helped both enterprises and suppliers. Here are some:
- Don’t ask questions just because you can. Only ask what is necessary. His RFP was originally 413 questions which after second review was whittled down to 255 questions.
- Discuss RFP scoring BEFORE the RFP is launched.
- Create a supplier background RFI process. Ask repetitive bidders a standard set of questions and keep the responses on file and leverage for future RFX.
- Focus on your company’s specific needs.
- Create a company overview document for Telecom Expense Management. Provide as much current state information and historical data as possible. Include current workflows and processes. (I can’t stress how much this helps suppliers properly scope, respond and price your project.)
- Define team roles and responsibilities. Ensure that everyone on the RFP Team understands roles and responsibilities before the RFP launches.
- Summarize all of the supplier responses along with the following comparison
- Did they provide the same answer, if “Yes”, eliminate it as a differentiator
- Level of confidence in the response
- Follow up questions you may have
- Supplier edge
- Interact with the suppliers during the process. View a demo, discuss the RFP, clarify responses and discuss your potential issues and concerns in detail.
And my absolute favorite was:
- Approach the RFP as if the supplier knows best. I know it seems self serving that I would say this is my favorite but hear me out. I will be the first person to say that you know your business best…here comes the “but”. While you may know your business best, some suppliers are experts in telecom expense management. TEM suppliers have been implementing these projects and processes for clients of all shapes and sizes. And we have been doing it for a long time and have had to overcome some unique challenges.
Steve noted during the session that the way they were currently doing things wasn’t necessarily the best way. I loved it when he said, “We weren’t doing the right thing in the first place, and we needed someone to tell us that. I want a partner to tell me what I need, not what I want.”
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