It should also be able to offer a modular, 'life-cycle' solution that allows customer organisations to start off as basic users, and then grow the scope and scale of services as they start realising gains from the solution.
Beyond the technical capabilities, it is critical to find a partner who can deliver a range of services, understands your business priorities and delivers you services as you require them to be - proactively and pre-emptively.
The partner needs to have a sound understanding of, and close relationships with, carriers across geographies, and the experience to effectively manage the complex challenges inherent in the world of telecoms.
A bit like marriage - except there is money to be saved here!
The most compelling measure of any Expense Management solution, however, has to be the money it saves and the time it takes to do so.
From our experience, a well-implemented telecom expense management solution has the ability to dramatically lower the cost of telecom ownership and can typically deliver ROI targets within the first year of service itself.
This is no time for rainbows - not with the global wobbles that we're experiencing now. However, this is probably the best time for organisations to invest into their business.
In times like this, when companies are looking for solutions that help them manage their telecom resources more efficiently and keep IT costs under control, the value of a well-managed telecom expense management solution cannot be overlooked as the a leading option in your IT and telecommunications strategy.
The writer is Vice-President of Service Delivery for Cable & Wireless Asia-Pacific.
This article was first published in The Business Times on January 05, 2009.
