Just when you thought you had saved all the money you could, the march is on to save even more. As businesses begin to look at their respective versions of a post-COVID "new normal" there will be even more pressure to find areas where you can save money, while ensuring that your IT department is capable of supporting a more flexible and potentially complex work environment.
You may have been reluctant in the past to bring in an expert to do a deep dive into your IT contracts, suppliers and inventory and identify areas to tighten up and save. But if ever there was a time to put your hesitations to one side and conduct a thorough audit, this is it!
Here are five areas that an independent, third party professional will look at to set you on your way to greater savings and improved efficiencies as you move forward towards a post-COVID work environment:
- Billing errors
- Did you know that 85% of IT/telecom invoices received from vendors have billing errors? According to analysts, they can cost an organization up to 12% of their annual IT/Telecom spend in the form of inflated costs. An auditor can quickly find these errors and help you get rebates from vendors. By the way, if you do this yourself, you are limiting your savings to around 3-5%.
- Inventory waste check
- What systems and equipment are you no longer using and still paying for? Inventory waste is just one of the areas an auditor will help you identify.
- Vendor performance
- Do you have the right mix of service providers and vendors? How current are your contracts? Have renewal dates come and gone? Auditors understand what goes into successful sourcing and can quickly uncover weak vendor performance.
- Contracts
- Once you have conducted a review of your vendor performance, it’s time to do a deeper dive into your contracts. This is where knowledge, expertise and access to all your provider tariffs can make a big difference. For instance, lower rates should not be the only goal. Contracting favorable contract terms can be as vital or more vital than a low rate. Our sourcing team knows how to ask and receive best in class rates along with terms and conditions.
- Technology expense management
- How are you managing your wireless, wireline and mobile expenses? How are you managing your inventory? How much visibility do you have? Are you using a technology expense management (TEM) solution? A TEM will help you effectively manage your inventory and billing expense going forward. This is the ideal way to continue to run a tight ship and garner additional savings dollars long after the audit has been completed.
At TTI we believe that a professional audit should save you money, not cost you money. Our professional team can conduct a complete historical audit of services throughout your enterprise, including all expenses in your voice, data and wireless infrastructure - to recover refunds and credits for your organization.
Our audits typically result in a 25-40% annual savings. Those are real dollars that you could probably use these days.
Contact us. We'll be happy to walk you through the process and explain various options around a telecommunication audit, telecom contract sourcing or a telecommunications expense management solution to create an audit experience that works for your organization.