Combating The Rising Cost Of Telecommunications In Today's Economy

Service providers and government entities are implementing changes that effectively raise the price of many telecommunications services. Given the current state of the economy, IT infrastructure and operations (I&O) executives should implement a three-pronged cost-control strategy. First, negotiate effective contract terms and conditions that decrease enterprise risk, like limiting enterprise liability during a natural disaster or other force majeure. Second, avoid operations and capital expense by leasing equipment or using managed or hosted telecommunications services and increasing use of videoconferencing. Enterprises should also use telecom expense and inventory management (TEIM) solutions, and consider those that are based on software-as-a-service (SaaS) models. Finally, the greatest source of savings comes from breaking down the walls between procurement, network operations, and accounts payable (A/P). To achieve optimal efficiencies, you must orchestrate their collaboration on an integrated, ongoing basis — complete with a shared, central repository of common information.