Does HR do your taxes?

Of course the answer is no, because they obviously don’t have the expertise. So why does IT manage your telecom area? Not an accurate comparison, you say? Surprise! IT and telecom are not the same things. Case in point, your IT guys don’t manage your PBX as they do your servers. Rather, they have a PBX vendor do it.

The point is you have IT managing something they don’t really have the expertise for. Sure IT understands the data-oriented side of telecom (data circuits, internet, etc.). But the voice side is far more detailed with numerous line types and features on varying rate structures across local, LD and especially cellular. In addition, many IT managers lack the administrative expertise required to manage all services at the detailed level necessary for controlling costs. There can be dozens, even hundreds of billing elements on a voice telecom bill. Ensuring contract compliance for all those elements is not simple.

So what? Well, the problem is this lack of expertise leads to overspending. Failing to put in place processes and systems for proper record keeping, invoice review and approval, ongoing capacity analysis, etc. is essential. Unused lines, double billing, excess capacity and unnecessary features are common examples of why failing to do so is very expensive. TEM Industry consultants estimate the average company wastes 1% of revenue on such inefficiencies.

My advice? Confirm whether IT has things under control or not. Bring in a TEM expert to do an assessment of your IT departments administrative processes – there should be no charge. You’ll either find out there is room for improvement, or confirm that things are under controlled and costs are minimized. Either way, you need to know.