Page 15 - Telecom Reseller October-November 2016

October/November 2016
Telecom Reseller 15
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Focus on Business Needs to Improve Sourcing Results
administration of the event; identifying viable vendors, developing and managing RFx events, reverse auctions and approving vendors account for nearly 50% of the time spent during a sourcing event.
While this distribution of e ort may return equitable results, allocating more time to clearly de ning and vetting business requirements, cra ing equitable SLAs that guide desired business results and negotiating price against the entire solution is more likely to yield desired business.
e emphasis of the sourcing event should be on matching solutions to business requirements.
Administration of sourcing events is important, but the more time spent de ning requirements and evaluating vendor solutions against the requirements, the more likely
an organization is to make the best vendor decision. n
AOTMP research indicates that enterprises spend only 18% of their time in a vendor sourcing event gathering internal business requirements and 13% of their time negotiating contract terms, conditions and pricing.
Combined, this e ort equates to less than 25% of total sourcing event e ort. is is surprising as alignment of business needs with a vendor’s master service agreement, statement of work and/or service order is what de nes the desired solution.
When considering vendor selection criteria in a sourcing event, AOTMP research has determined that 30% of emphasis is placed on price. Product and service quality account for 27% of the decision emphasis with 20% placed on customer service and support capabilities. Yet, only 9% of the selection decision is predicated on service level agreements (SLAs).
Analysis of the activities consuming the most time in a sourcing event along with
COLWELL
By Timothy C. Colwell, SVP Ef ciency First® Adoption – AOTMP (www.aotmp.com)
the importance organizations place on each activity sheds light on sourcing practices and o ers some insight behind the reason some organizations struggle with vendor performance and vendor satisfaction a er a selection has been made. A large portion of time and
e ort in a sourcing event is dedicated to the
Ask the Telecom Pro
Q: What happens to existing service when a carrier sunsets a service o ering?
A: Carriers have the right to suspend or sunset service o erings in their solution catalog with notice to customers. When they do, the immediate impact for customers may be that they can no longer order those services.
In most cases, installed services are supported through contract term. After the contract term expires, the carrier may o er a comparable service to replace the service that has been sunset. In all cases, customers should seek to understand the speci c impact to installed service o erings and plan for alternatives to minimize service disruption.
Q: Are mobile device replacement insurance plans worth the money?
A: In some cases, device replacement insurance plans can be nancially advantageous; however, there are many types of replacement plans available. Some require a monthly premium plus
a deductible while others o er
no charge device replacement
with used or refurbished devices assuming premiums have been paid. For large scale device deployments, a more cost e ective solution may be to stock spares or purchase
new devices outright as needed.
As is with any device replacement program, understanding historical replacement volume against the deployed base o ers a trend that will assist in calculating the best approach for your organization.
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