Previously known as telecom expense management, TEM has evolved as telecommunications have evolved. Instead of being focused solely on managing wireline and wireless telecommunications expenses, Technology Expense Management now includes all manner of a company’s networking technologies and services spend, including managed services, maintenance, hosting and cloud services. The complexity of these technologies has also increased the complexity in managing them. As these technologies become more complicated and expensive, many enterprise users have availed themselves of third-party TEM services, such as those provided by Wheelhouse Solutions, to help manage some or all of these expenses.
TEM services can help an organization to order, provision, support and manage costs of large-scale corporate communications, associated IT services and their inventories. TEM services change as often as the company’s needs evolve, with fixed (voice and data) and mobile devices increasing and the incorporation of other services and communications-related asset tracking. These offerings include inventory tracking of cloud/consumption-based services; other IT-related services, such as unified communications and collaboration (UCC); voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP); and IoT expense management. They can also include software licenses, computer and Mobile equipment, desktop and mobile applications, managed services, online hosting, and cloud services.
Enterprises are seeking third party providers as the most cost-effective way of managing their technology costs. TEM Providers have structured their service capabilities in the following areas: Sourcing, Procurement and Vendor management; Ordering and Provisioning Management; Inventory Management; Invoice/Contract Management; Usage Management; and Dispute Management. These capabilities can be applied to Wireline Voice and Data, Mobile, Cloud, UCC, IoT, and other services.
Enterprises are moving toward outsourcing their TEM services to providers that use cloud-based TEM applications to provide fully managed services. They are also showing interest in vendors’ that can use a single platform to track services, costs and inventories associated with XaaS, Cloud storage, IoT and other digital technology assets. Data collected from our TEM service application can be used with advanced data analytics and business intelligence to perform strategic and tactical business decisions relating to an enterprises’ technology ecosystem. This includes investments, budgets, inventory contract negotiations, and process improvements. As more companies automate their services, this may also include Artificial intelligence and Robotic Process Automation.
Several factors are of paramount importance when selecting a TEM vendor. Among those factors are Pricing and Savings Guarantees; Performance, Delivery Capabilities and Service Level Agreements; System Scalability; Vendor’s prior experience; Service Delivery; Platform Evolution; and Merger & Acquisition.
Clarus Communications is committed to providing our customers with the best tools and services to, accurately and efficiently, manage their telecom and technology budgets. If you’d like more information on Technology Expense Management, fill out the form on this page or give us a call at (314) 801-6700 and we’ll arrange a demo to discuss how TEM can benefit your organization.