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 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 Ian Murray on Fri, Mar 05, 2010
A recent study published by TechCrunch estimates that there will be approximately 1 billion smartphone users by 2013 and that the mobile apps market will grow from just under $2bn currently to over $15bn in the same year. This is paid apps and is clearly a huge growth area particularly with the convergence of the mobile phone and the PC (think 3G netbook or iPad).
Why is this a concern for corporate users? Over the past 10+ years business have had strict policies on the applications installed and use of corporate assets such as PC's to limit the corporation's exposure to pirated software, inappropriate use of company assets not to mention upholding the corporate image when meeting with clients. This explosion of smartphone applications exposes businesses to exactly the same risks but at the same time represents a huge opportunity for the business organization. First the risks:
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Just as with PC's, third party applications installed on company assets pose the risk to introduce Malware (viruses, phising, etc.)
- The business smartphone contains the same contact list as the corporate address book so virus proliferation carriers the same risk as a PC
- Cost of helpdesk support to end users to undo the damage caused by downloading inappropriate apps
- If the smartphone is paid for on a corporate liable account then the user downloading paid applications and having them billed to the same account exposes the corporation to untold charges on the phone bill
- Corporate image to clients observing employees making inappropriate use of company assets
And the potential benefits:
- It is possible to write your own applications for the business user and distribute them wirelessly empowering your employees by giving them access to a smartphone version of your key business applications allowing user to, for example, input orders directly into their phones with no need to return to an office location
- Use this as an excuse to implement policy management for smartphone use
- Enforce policy management on the device by implementing controls that govern what can be installed on the device and how the device must be configured
- Create a list of approved applications and prohibit others from being installed
Some of Quickcomm's partners have developed business solutions around these areas already. If this is of interest then check out the webinars below for more information:
-Mobile Device Management Webinar featuring Verizon's Cliff Cibelli
-AOTMP Wireless Mobilty Management Webinar featuring AOTMP's Scott Lawrence
photo by williamhartz
Posted by Jennifer Burns on Wed, Feb 24, 2010
I have received some really good feedback from the tips I have been sharing with you so I will try to continue sharing ones that I come across and hear my colleagues sharing with clients.
AOTMP Tip #246
The contract you sign does more than establish the relationship you have with that Telecom Service Provider; the terms and conditions may conflict with requirements within other Telecom Service Provider contracts. Before beginning negotiations, consult your contract catalog, a repository for key, quantifiable information about each of your telecom contracts, to determine the role the new contract will play in your overall contractual landscape.
First, examine the services available under your current contracts to ensure you are not wasting time negotiating a contract for services already available under another contract. Track the end dates for all current contracts to ensure that the proposed contract's term corresponds with your contract management needs. Identify all current revenue commitments to ensure that the proposed revenue commitment aligns with your overall telecom budget. Review all exclusivity clauses in your current contracts as well to ensure the new contract will not leave you in breach of such language with your current Telecom Service Providers.
Your service provider contracts are complex and sometimes the negotiation process can be intimidating. But proper contract negotiation and management has great payoffs - it can reduce your telecom spend by 10-30%.
I can't stress how much easier the negotiation process is if you have some sort of repository for all of your contracts that gives you visibility into the bigger picture. Your catalog should house everything from T&Cs, the services covered under each contract, revenue commitments, key dates, SLAs, rates, termination penalties, exclusivity clauses, etc.
Armed with all of this information, you will be in a much better position to avoid overlaps in contracts, understand what parameters you should work within, and what successful or unsuccessful in the past for you.
REMINDER: Unfortunately, your work is not done once that new contract has been signed. Don't forget to keep an eye on your new invoices to confirm that they reflect your newly negotiated rates and terms.
Until next time!
Posted by Piers Tyler on Tue, Feb 02, 2010
Jenn, our esteemed Marketing Director, has asked me to write something for our blog regarding the market here in SE Asia.
One of my biggest challenges in this region is the considerable number of organisations expensing business-related mobile phone charges, rather than using a corporate-liable service. In my experience, this is particularly common in Hong Kong and Singapore.
Whilst this gives an individual freedom to choose the service, plan and handset they want, it causes headaches for a business. Personally contracted rates and equipment costs are typically higher than those negotiated collectively by an organization. Intra-fleet discounts are difficult for carriers to apply across multiple accounts, and there is clearly a cost for carriers to issue bills and collect debts from numerous users. Even if individually contracted users have access to a corporate plan how can administrators be sure that the correct rates have been applied for each user? Security and manageability of data and applications is a minefield. Reporting and validation is difficult without consolidated billing, and of course, processing the expenses is laborious and costly. On the plus side - you can be sure that your business is only paying for people still employed by the business.
On the flip side, corporate liability appears to solve all of the problems above, but puts the onus for administration and validation back on to an organization. That's when you need a TEM solution to ensure you optimise your costs.
I have heard of a number of large organisations that are mandating a switch back to corporate liability, but this has typically been instigated when moving to a new supplier.
I'd be interested to hear people's views on this...please share your insights.
Anyway, I hope you found this interesting. I'll be back again soon.
photo by Henryleonghw
Posted by Jennifer Burns on Mon, Jan 18, 2010
Devices out of control? Wireless Mobility Management for the Enterprise Webinar
February 2nd at 2:00pm EDT
The explosion of smart phones around the globe has greatly increased your mobile workforce. With more wireless users and applications deployed, the enterprises' reliance on wireless services and the dynamics of its management practices has been dramatically impacted. More users to monitor, more devices to track, more contracts to negotiate, more applications to manage, more help desk requests to fulfill, more sensitive data exposure - the list goes on.
Quickcomm is hosting a webinar featuring Scott Lawrence, Director of Research from AOTMP. Mr. Lawrence will provide the latest research and information needed to effectively manage and control your mobile workforce. Learn the common obstacles that must be overcome and make the best of your resources all while accomplishing your top priority - reducing expenses. This webinar will address the following questions:
- What are the newest trends within the mobile management space?
- Why are these trends important to my enterprise?
- What's at stake?
- What are the top challenges I face while trying to gain control of my mobile workforce?
- How can I proactively address and overcome these challenges?
- What are some best practices and tips that will help me along the way?
- How do I know if I need software or business process outsourcing?
- What are the pros and cons of in-house versus an outsourced approach?
Additionally, the webinar will provide information to help better understand the Corporate vs. Employee Liable debate and cover the pros and cons of each approach:
- What are the benefits and challenges of each approach?
- What are the IRS implications?
- How to determine the best fit for your organization?
Click here to register
About Scott Lawrence
Scott Lawrence leads all research activities for AOTMP which includes research publications, benchmarks, case studies, market landscapes and event briefs within AOTMP's core areas of research. With over 15 years of experience developing and collecting research within the telecommunications and IT industries, Scott is also responsible for ensuring internal and external stakeholders understand the impact of the results and how the information and data-points can help drive business performance.
Posted by Jennifer Burns on Mon, Jan 11, 2010
We recently organized and recorded a webinar featuring Cliff Cibelli of Verizon and Mark Evans of Quickcomm. The webinar was designed to leave attendees with a knowledge of the building blocks required to successfully create your company's managed mobility program...and hopefully alleviate some of the stress that the recent mobile explosion is causing many of you out there.
Feel free to fill out the form and watch the playback at your leisure. Click here to access.
Posted by Ian Murray on Wed, Jan 06, 2010
With all the rumors and speculation that Apple is close to announcing the launch of its tablet mobile device, the iSlate, it again highlights the convergence of the mobile phone with the personal computer and the additional complexity the management of these devices means to Corporations.
With the proliferation of smartphones (mine’s an iPhone) in the workforce it is imperative to ensure, not only that there is corporate policy around their use, but that this can be enforced. The mobilization of data on smartphones and now the iSlate means that organizations needs to pay attention to: 
- A complete and detailed asset inventory for all the devices in the field
- A strong password policy
- Encryption of sensitive data on the device
And let’s not forget the importance of reviewing the charges associated with the service plans for these devices to drive cost containment.
photo by Jeff Croft
Posted by Jennifer Burns on Wed, Dec 23, 2009
With 2010 creeping around the corner, I guess it is time to start thinking about those dreadful New Years Resolutions. Typically, I never follow through--however this year, I resolve to be different. Unfortunately, this resolution comes with a confession.
Ask anyone who knows me how they would describe me, and I guarantee they would say that I am responsible and dependable. However, I have a terrible habit that I even hid from my husband when we first dated. Now that we are married, the jigs up and it drives him crazy. I am notorious for getting parking tickets. I commute everyday via train and honestly, I forget to move my car on the appropriate alternate side parking day. “How many,” you ask? Enough that when I arrive at my car and I don’t see a ticket, I think there is something missing…like maybe someone stole the registration sticker off of my car.
In order to combat this bad habit, I will be committing to a New Years Resolution! I will be taking drastic measures here, but I think I am on the right track.
I resolve to take a different spin on wireless expense management and get myself a smartphone that will help me manage my ticket expenses!
Currently, there are thousands of applications for smartphones and already 1 Billion applications have been downloaded. There are applications that help users find recipes, manage your finances, track vital signs and even prevent you from drunk dialing. I figure if there is an app that will simulate the appearance of steam and condensation on my new phone, then I am positive there has got to be an application to help alleviate my tickets and their expenses. I need an app that essentially has some of the same features that we offer clients—reporting, tracking, and management capabilities. Setting alerts for myself simply aren’t enough. Been there. Done that. 
To be honest with you, my perfect app should probably send an electric shock to my hand when I pick it up in the morning reminding me to move my car. After two weeks of shocks, I am sure this good old fashioned form of classical conditioning will have cured of my habit - Cold turkey.
Until my app is developed, I will simply have to try to make a conscience effort to not get any tickets and infuriate my husband a little less:).
Happy Holidays everyone and good luck with your new years resolutions!
Feel free to leave me a comment. What’s your perfect app?
photo by _Teb