Should You Be Outsourcing Management of Your Network Expenses?

Now that the economy is slumping, many companies are cutting back on technology expenditures. One way to do it is to outsource management of your network expenses.

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Heather Marko, Marketing Communications Specialist
Phone: (201) 460-5922
Fax: (201) 933-4379
E-mail: hmarko@teldatacontrol.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Should You Be Outsourcing Management of Your Network Expenses?

East Rutherford, NJ, August 6, 2001 -- Most companies spent the 1990s building up their networks, acquiring new hardware and expanding their capabilities. With the shift in the economy, theyre now challenged to manage the networks cost -- a goal many will meet through outsourcing.

Theres less risk in outsourcing network expense management than in outsourcing management of actual network or IT functions. Yet if done properly, expense management outsourcing can positively affect your bottom line.

Should you outsource network expense management?

When youre faced with the choice of outsourcing expense management or handling it in-house, ask yourself the following questions:

§   Do you have the staff resources to handle tasks such as invoice processing, expense validation, cost allocation, and management reporting?
§   Are you finding significant errors in your telecom billing? Does your staff have the time and expertise to identify and resolve these errors?
§   Do you need detailed management reporting?

Choosing a vendor and developing a win-win relationship

Not researching a potential outsourcing vendor could cost you thousands, even millions, of dollars. Fred Kluge, Director of Outsourcing at telecom cost-control firm Teldata Control, Inc., suggests the following process for evaluating and structuring a relationship with a potential provider:

1.   Work with management to establish the functions to be outsourced.
2.   Compare your current processes with the prospective firms services.
3.   Make sure that the vendor plans to assign sufficient staff to your project.
4.   Evaluate the vendors physical work environment and meet the project managers.
5.   Evaluate the quality and frequency of the providers management reports.
6.   Clarify each partys roles and responsibilities, including subcontractors.
7.   Share your business objectives and project goals, metrics, and time frames.
8.   Be prepared to modify the contract and payment if the scope of the project changes.
9.   Provide incentives for the provider to achieve superior results.
10.   Build a partnership, rather than a one-time commodity transaction.

The difference between a good and a bad outsourcing situation lies in the vendor-client relationship. By putting in a little extra work at the beginning, you can achieve a profitable partnership for both sides.

About Teldata Control

Teldata Control offers a full suite of cost-control solutions, including the Investment Recovery Program, the Call Accounting and IP Accounting Service Bureaus, the ONE+ (Outsource Network Expense +) program, Network Consulting services, and invoice management software. Its clients include FORTUNE 500 companies and large government agencies.

For more information on Teldata Controls cost control solutions for voice, data, and information services, please contact Joe Basili at (201) 933-2200 or info@teldatacontrol.com or visit www.teldatacontrol.com.