Telecom Audit - A TEMpting Proposition

The term SaaS seems to come up in nearly every professional conversation I have these days. Everyone is talking about the benefits of SaaS, to capabilities of SaaS, the added value of SaaS. However, there are still folks out there who have no idea what SaaS is.

According to Wikipedia, Software-as-a-Service (or SaaS) is “a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand. SaaS software vendors may host the application on their own web servers or download the application to the consumer device, disabling it after use or after the on-demand contract expires.” Got that?

Why would you want to go the SaaS route? There are a number of common reasons:

1) Cost
2) Ease of Use
3) Capabilities

Cost is important primarily to those clients who cannot afford, or choose not, to fully outsource their services. In the case of telecom expense management, this may mean that that client purchases access to TEM software, and does their own internal auditing. You may not catch all of the opportunities for savings, but you are able to do more of the work in-house allowing for a smaller expense. This is a great way for mid-sized companies to find new ways to save.

Ease of use comes through the training you are offered as a SaaS client. Vendors will typically offer assistance in getting you setup and train you on how to operate effectively. Most SaaS applications are created with the intention of being intuitive and user-friendly, so just about anyone can operate the software.

As for capabilities, you are looking for ways to improve your current processes, which is why you look into SaaS in the first place. Typically a SaaS application will have a specific function to help your business run more smoothly. It will offer a new, or improved, capability over what you have.

If you’re looking for a specific SaaS solution, there are plenty of resources out there:
SaaSList, SaaS Showplace, or SaaSDir are all good options.

If you’re looking for a telecom expense management SaaS solution, contact Valicom for more information.

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When selecting a telecom expense management solution, you need to first consider your needs. As a client, your needs trump everything else.

Are you looking to completely outsource all TEM activity? This would mean that invoice processing and payment, contract negotiations, auditing, asset management, network optimization, and all other aspects of TEM would be handle by an external vendor. There would be nothing, really, for you to do.

Or do you want to keep TEM in-house and utilize a software tool to handle your own cost savings measures? This may be a good option if you have staff and resources available to monitor your telecom expenses and dedicate time to auditing and implementing.

Once you know what your company needs, it is time to evaluate your options. (A few) things to consider are savings guarantees, geographical location, staff size, experience level, and type of service. What we’re focusing on today is the type of service, primarily the two main options.

BPO or Business Process Outsourcing
A BPO TEM vendor is one that handles services so you don’t have to. Often they will specialize in just wireless or managing one piece of the telecom lifecycle. However, there are still TEM vendors who are experienced enough to manage the entire telecom lifecycle for wireless, wireline, and data.

Lifecycle management means that your BPO provider does everything from beginning to end. RFP, contract negotiation, telecom audit, invoice payment and processing, network optimization, reporting, order fulfillment, and asset management are common among TEM lifecycle management companies.

SaaS or Software as a Service
Want to manage your own TEM? An emerging trend, being lead by TEM provider Valicom, is to offer a TEM SaaS. Many SaaS clients have extensive capabilities including expense allocation, reporting, data input, auditing, asset management. Things to remember when pursuing include checking into licensing fees, understand the time commitment needed to operate the system, and find out how much training is required/offered.

Valicom, a leader in telecom audit and telecom expense management (TEM), is pleased to announce the launch of its successful TEM software, Clearview, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Clearview software has helped align Valicom as a market leader in telecom audit, and now clients will be able to purchase the software as a standalone product. The first Clearview-as-a-Service (CaaS) client will begin their engagement in August 2009.

The "CaaS" application allows users to take advantage of Valicom's proprietary telecom audit software to manage the entire organization's telecom invoices in one, central repository. Clients that would benefit from Clearview as a SaaS model are those who are looking for ways to reduce telecom expenses, but do not want full lifecycle TEM management. Because clients will be managing telecom audit and implementation in-house, "CaaS" is available at a very low cost, making it an ideal option for small- to mid-sized companies looking to reduce telecom expenses.

Jeff Poirior, COO, says, "I am very pleased that we are in a position to lead the market in the delivery of SaaS options. As company leaders continue their search for cost reduction, increased capability, and visibility of their telecom expenses, this type of service will become a requirement for more organizations."

Clients using "CaaS" will perform functions such as bill audit, contract negotiation, and telecom device moves / adds / changes. Clients will retain the same access to Clearview for inventory management, reporting, trending, and invoice management.