Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC) Vendor Evaluation Checklist

Fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) is used by many sourcing and vendor management professionals (SVMs) as a stepping stone on their company's path toward unified communications (UC). Enterprises with global operations may already have saved 15% or more by consolidating international long-distance voice services with a single provider. Multinational enterprises (MNCs) also often report savings of 20% to 30% from outsourcing their global MPLS wide-area network (WAN) and site-to-site ("on-net") voice over IP (VoIP) management. MNCs that have a telephony optimization program in place are now looking at ways to fund their firm's readiness for UC. The following checklist allows SVMs to evaluate FMC technology and vendors, and can help communicate a persuasive road map for mobility management. It can be included in a request for information (RFI) from vendors, abbreviated and customized for request for proposals (RFP), or used in direct contract negotiation discussions with a preferred supplier.