MBG Article
Business Intelligence: The Right Diet for Telecom Expense Management
Business Intelligence (BI) today promises faster, more automated control over telecom expenses. The change is happening and it’s happening now. The advancement in business monitoring capabilities within next generation telecom expense management solutions lends for some exciting developments and possibilities.
The "eating healthy and regular exercise" regiment remains in the forefront of headline news. In the wake of a harried obesity crisis, fast-food empires are taking efforts to revamp their menus by eliminating trans-fat and offering healthier choices beyond the double-cheeseburger and chocolate shake. Schools are replacing sugary treats and salty snacks in the vending machine with granola bars and all-natural juice drinks. People are becoming increasingly aware that what they do today, will affect their lives tomorrow. A similar realization has gained momentum within the telecom landscape. But just like maintaining a balanced diet and exercising regularly, it takes work to get an organization’s telecom expenses under control: it requires getting it right and keeping it right with enhanced business intelligence
Plan: No Diets Necessary
Many individuals are reconizing that fad diets and weight-loss pills are glamorized shortcuts that promise unrealistic results. This is similar to past practices in the telecom expense management industry, where companies would conduct historical audits to identify overcharges. While successful in the short-term, the issue of improving the overall management of telecom expenses is not solved with one time audits, leading to similar mistakes (and overcharges) year after year.
Instead of waiting until the problem is unmanageable, begin by establishing clear objectives about getting your telecom expenses in control: start with a plan. Maybe you want to eliminate the use of cumbersome spreadsheets and organize all expenses into one robust reporting tool. Or maybe the capability to track your organization’s total monthly telecom spend across all vendors is a better place to start. Whatever the desired results may be, establishing the objective in the beginning will avoid the pitfalls of a “crash” initiative.
Budget: Cake for Breakfast, Lunch and Dinner is not Okay
Planning for slip-ups and unexpected gorge-fests means you are being proactive in trying to maintain a healthy lifestyle. Similarly, this measure is applied to the budgeting aspect of business intelligence. Business intelligence reporting capabilities track previous spend and usage. The data captured from these reports provides quick, accurate analysis of the state of your organization’s telecom environment. Anticipating when your organization will be adding several services at once, or recognizing that certain months produce higher telecom costs, is valuable information. Funneling that information into a dashboard with drill-down capabilities provides accurate executive information and sophisticated analysis capabilities. Gauges and graphs support quick, visual analysis.
Forecast: Map it Out
Noticing trends and anticipating higher consumption, makes it easier to “map-out” the next steps. Predicting that you will eventually succumb to that occasional chocolate éclair will allow you to compensate for that expenditure and readjust your plan and budget. Companies looking to apply similar concepts to their telecom expenses are realizing the advantage of this type of analysis.
Consolidate: Less is Better
The premise behind staying healthy relies on getting rid of the bad, to make way for the good. Beneficial reductions are needed and the realization that desserts at the end of dinner is no longer a part of your four-course meal can be difficult to accept – but – referencing the initial plan can aid in achieving your goal. The consolidation within business intelligence takes diligent action. Locating lines that need disconnecting, identifying where electronic data can be used instead of paper, and over and above everything else, becoming more proactive towards the telecom environment is a key differentiator within BI.
In order for an organization to achieve their desired results, certain long lasting changes need to occur. Those changes and plans differ from company-to-company but the goal remains the same: gain control and visibility to achieve reductions in telecom expenses by taking action based on the increased knowledge that is gained. Business Intelligence is about being smarter and more aggressive towards proactively managing telecom expenses. It requires sticking with the plan and actively spot-checking to make sure your business intelligence initiatives are still relevant. And just like maintaining a healthy lifestyle, performing regular exercise will lead to a leaner and healthier you – your organizations results, relating to business intelligence, will also be rewarding; enabling the management of your telecom expenses to become leaner, more efficient and competitive.
