Page 593 - Handbook of Modern Telecommunications

4-124 CRC Handbook of Modern Telecommunications, Second Edition

measures is important in benchmarking, the main focus of benchmarking is to understand and com-
pare processes.
Benchmarking can be used in a variety of ways. The four basic types of benchmarking are:

• Benchmarking against internal operations, called internal benchmarking: In most large companies
there are similar functions in different business units. The objective of internal benchmarking is to com-
pare these internal operations and identify the internal performance standards of an organization.
• Benchmarking against external direct product competitors, called competitive benchmarking:
Benchmarking can be done externally against competitors. Direct competitors are the most obvi-
ous to benchmark against. The objective is to compare companies in the same markets that have
competing products or services or work processes, e.g., Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi.
• Benchmarking against external functional best operations or industry leaders, called industry or
functional benchmarking: You can benchmark against customers, suppliers, or other companies
that are in the same industry who may have the same products or services but are not competi-
tors in the same market. Industry benchmarking tends to involve comparisons between firms
that share some common technological and market characteristics and to concentrate on specific
functions. For example, Telecom Australia might benchmark its billing process against the billing
process of British Telecom.
• Benchmarking a process in one or several unlike organizations, called generic or process bench-
marking: Some business functions or processes are the same regardless of the dissimilarities of
the industries. This type of benchmarking focuses on identifying excellent work processes rather
than examining the business practices of a particular organization or industry. Although generic
benchmarking requires a lot of creativity, it is most effective in identifying practices that can lead
to new developments and breakthroughs.
In general, benchmarking requires a large amount of effort. Many clients have the expectation that we
have all the data at hand, when in the majority of cases we actually don’t have the information. In reality,
benchmarking is not an activity that Accenture routinely performs. For these reasons, one must be quite
cautious about starting a benchmarking activity.
Budget pressures force service providers to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the use of
their networking infrastructures. The key to improvements lies in processes, tools, standards, and in
human resources of operations, administration, and maintenance. In most cases, however, service
providers are not clearly aware of the value of their operation: are they stronger or weaker than the
industry average. Audits and benchmarks help to answer this question.
An additional target is the preparation of outsourcing decisions. There is a mutual interest for
both parties, the service provider and the outsourcer, that they quantify the value of the network,
its infrastructure, management, and its human resources in charge of operations, administration,
and maintenance. Benchmarks can easily be incorporated into the diligence segment of the out-
sourcing process.
Thanks to the growing acceptance of audits and benchmarking, it is becoming increasingly common
for service providers to get together and compare notes on how they solve problems and what the results
are. Theoretically, these service providers are coming away with the stronger sense of their operations
position relative to others in and out of their industry. The mediator role is usually supported by consult-
ing companies.
Auditing and benchmarking help determine what accomplishments really exist or can be achieved
and give companies the chance to match or exceed the best in the business. Now, these activities are an
integral part of the total quality management program, based in most cases on ISO 9000 or TQM (Total
Quality Management). ISO 9000 offers practical guidelines for how to improve the quality of conduct-
ing businesses. It became a condition of business from the European point of view. TQM has similar
goals, but from the American point of view.