DIgby 4’s Hosted Communications Technology Management

We offer a hosted cloud-based system designed to accommodate the needs of our larger clients.  The hosted service can be supported by your in-house staff or with our professional services to help manage your communications technology for fixed and mobile communications,

Here is some perspective on the main areas our services address, followed by a list of activities included in our hosted service:

EXPENSE MANAGEMENT

Without the proper systems and procedures in place, many organizations do not have a clear and complete picture of their communications technology expenses and therefore cannot easily manage them.  Finance departments pay the bills and may keep track of expense by vendor, but are rarely able to say what the expense is for and whether it is necessary.   The most prevalent expense management blunder is paying for unneeded services.  It is common that when a service is discontinued that the billing may continue.   Unless you are tracking the expense down to the level of each individual service component, you may be paying for items no longer needed.   Another expense management issue is paying more for services than is necessary.  The cost of many services increases once the initial contract has expired.  If a new contract is not put into place, the new higher cost will continue.  A third common issue is erroneous billing.  You may have carefully negotiated contract pricing, but if the billing does not match the contract price, this is often not caught.   Most communications service provider contracts state that if you do not report a billing error within six months, the bill is considered correct, so it is important to monitor accuracy of billing on an ongoing basis.

Failing to accurately budget for new services is another aspect of expense management.  For example, as many networks are undergoing transformation to newer technologies, there may be periods of time when you are paying for both the old and the new services, which will have an impact on your budget.

Hosted Expense Management Service includes the following:

• Download invoices from vendor portal monthly

• Validate all charges against inventory and contract rates

• Update inventory to ensure accurate records

• Track spend against budget

• Track spend by location, by vendor and by type of service

• Provide reports to support management and planning

• Provide cost allocation

• Automate bill approval

• Pay your bills

 CONTRACT MANAGEMENT

It is important to pay attention to all aspects of contract management described below.  Our services ensure that each of these is covered to arm you with all needed information when it is time to renegotiate.

• Having clarity on the start and end date of the contract and related documents.  It is not uncommon in large networks for it to take the better part of a contract term to set up and test the network.

• Keeping copies of all contract documents including Amendments, Exhibits and Schedules.

• Anticipating contract renewal with sufficient time to replace the services with another provider.  This can be from three months to up to a year or more for large networks.

• Keeping good records of the detail of all services purchased or eliminated under a contract, including those that have been added since the contract started.

• Managing whether the financial and service commitments of the contract have been met.

• Maintaining awareness of the market rates for the services you are buying under the contract, to ensure that you have that information as leverage when you are negotiating new rates.

• Understanding the provisions for early renegotiation and being aware of the point in the contract where early renegotiation may make sense.

• Ensuring that you are updated on all services and any other contracts arranged with the same service provider that may affect your contract rates. If your organization buys more from the same service provider, you may be in a better position to negotiate

•  Hosted Contract Management Service includes the following:

• Correlate all accounts and services with appropriate contract

• Maintain contracts copies online

• Manage contract expiration dates

• Provide automated reminders in advance of contract expiration

 INVENTORY MANAGEMENT

Most organizations are lacking in good record-keeping when it comes to communications technology services.   This typically comes to light only when there  is a service or billing problem.  For example, a circuit goes out of service, but the record of the circuit number and vendor account number under which the circuit is billed is not readily available.  Thus a delay in repairing an outage.  Or it is noticed that monthly costs are escalating and only then is it discovered that services which should have been disconnected months ago are still billing. 

If this critical part of communications technology management has been neglected over time (often years) the prospect of getting the records in order can be daunting and is often swept under the rug.

We can help by suggesting a starting point (you monthly service provider bills) and taking this all the way to identifying the business purpose of each service for which you are paying monthly (often lost in history.).  An initial clean up is a good start and frequently pays for itself by eliminating unneeded services or lowering the cost of services to be kept.

With the creation of an up to date inventory, we will suggest how we can help you to maintain accuracy in the records, along with the associated bills and contracts.

Hosted Inventory Management service includes:

• Place orders with your service providers

• Update inventory based upon order activity

• Identify billing items with no matching item in inventory

Our hosted portal can be made available to all interested people in your organization with a variety of customized views.  IT Finance, Procurement, Department Managers and in some cases the End Users all have a need for the information supporting Communications Technology Management.

Contract management an important part of the purchasing cycle. While our hosted systems enable you to store contract documents, track expiration dates and correlate account numbers to the contract, there are other aspects of contract management that our professional services can help you to address.

Contract Management activities include:

• Capturing the details needed for contract management, sometimes not found within the contract document itself.

• Identifying contract referenced events for which a reminder is needed.

• Associating new sub-agreements and amendments with the original contract, often called the Master Service Agreement.

• Associating billing account numbers with the correct contract as new services are ordered.

• Tracking related personnel changes during the term of the contract: contract manager, attorney, vendor representative.

• Documenting contract issues to remember when the contract is up for renewal (what worked- what did not)

• Allowing for sufficient time to plan in advance for contract renewal, renegotiation or issuing a Request for Proposal.

Contract Management is a foundation of expense management:

• Ensures that all services are associated with the correct contract to receive contract rates,

• Allows purchasers from the contract access to terms, conditions and rates.

• Provides access to those approving invoices to validate bill accuracy.

• Helps avoid costly penalties for failing to meet contract commitments.

• Arms you with contract terms to minimize early termination penalties.

• Avoids contract expiration that may result in higher rates.

• Pre-empts auto renewal that will take away your negotiating leverage.

• Gives you the upper hand in contract negotiations with an early start.

• Allows sufficient time to investigate lower cost alternatives.

Communications Technology Management Assessments

Communications Technology Services and Equipment continue to change and vary by organization. Our assessments evaluate how well you are managing the various aspects of this including expenses, contracts, inventory record-keeping and internal policies. An assessment can focus on a specific category such as your global network, mobile services or voice communications or it can include all of your organization’s communications technology services.

Bill Accuracy Confirmation and Resolution of Billing Errors (Bill Audit)

• Is your monthly billing in compliance with your contract rates?

• Are you still being charged for services you have discontinued? (happens frequently)

• Do you have the appropriate contacts at each service provider to call for service, billing and contract issues?

• Are you being charged for services you do not have?

• Are the taxes and surcharges (often 20+% of your bill) applied appropriately?

Communications Contract Negotiation Support

Before signing a communications service provider contract, we can review the following to be sure you are getting the best possible agreement:

• Terms and Conditions

• Services Covered

• Optimal renewal terms

• Favorable termination penalties

• Ability to audit bills

• Realistic Spend Commitments

Creation and Maintenance of Communications Service and Equipment Inventories

• We collect the data from a variety or sources including invoices to compile an up-to-date inventory of your communications technology equipment and services.

• We update your records as communications services are moved, changed, added or discontinued to maintain an accurate set of records.

• We provide number management to ensure that you are tracking both fixed and mobile telephone numbers and associated users, as well as maintaining the inventory of unused numbers.

Relationship Management with Communications Service Provider Representatives

• We keep up-to-date on your behalf on who to call for service, billing support, contract help and adding new services.

• We arrange regular meetings with your communications service providers to ensure optimal management of your account.