Global Retailer

 

 Integration Needed to Rehabilitate Network Management Practice

A big brand international retailer needed to reign in control of the management of its fragmented and decentralized telecommunications network.  The IT Finance department was not pleased with the performance of its outsourced invoice processing vendor or the results generated from a one-time audit performed by a competing telecom consulting firm. 

 

The Right Solution is Often Right in Front of You

In looking to breathe new life into its Telecom Expense Management practice, the company moved to engage Source Loop for a more holistic and integrated TEM approach.  After all, its IT Finance department had experience working with Source Loop on prior contract renegotiation efforts with a major service provider. Perhaps Source Loop could bring the same creativity, energy and processes to drive audit results as it did to drive network savings with its sourcing efforts.

 

Select Vendor Prioritization, Focus & Results

An aggressive 90 day timeframe was established for the initial review and audit before the focus would be shifted to long-term process improvements and implementation of TEM best practices.  Select vendors were chosen on the basis of network spend prioritization and anticipated vendor dependent issues; the aggregate spend was $12M.  Our initial review and audit resulted in over $3.5M in savings.  Within months of completing our initial audit, the company engaged Source Loop to be its full service TEM partner and take on 100 percent of its recurring invoice management and audit functions.

 

Our team’s relationship with the retailer has continued to expand over time.  Our dispute and optimization efforts drive additional millions of dollars in savings each year by avoiding or eliminating unnecessary network costs.

 

Multi-National Energy Provider

 

International Reach & Network Review by Region

 A global oil services company with worldwide operations realized that its global networks were due for review. With multi-million dollars in annual telecom spend, the firm decided to begin regional reviews in Canada for its contract services while evaluating its on-going Telecom Expense Management requirements. After the initial contract services review, tentative reviews were planned for international operations throughout Europe as well as tariff services reviews for two of its large Canadian providers.

 

Canadian Contract Services Visibility & Savings

Our team reviewed the contract services for three leading Canadian providers and identified hundreds of thousands of dollars in annualized savings; savings were derived from audit and cost avoidance decisions as well as optimization opportunities. Our energy firm client was grateful for the visibility it gained into its network and the communication of audit processes and best practices beyond monetary findings.

 

Source Loop was asked to perform the same review for the company's international operations. The review consisted of evaluating invoicing for twenty-five vendors across Europe and Northern Africa. Despite communication challenges posed by cultural differences, multiple languages and currencies exchanges, the international review proved a success with rate negotiation savings delivering six-figure results to the network bottom line.

 

Returning to North America - Canadian Tariff Services Review

Our team performed a comprehensive tariff review of the monthly spend for a select group of Canada’s largest providers. Rate elements were viewed and evaluated down to the universal service order code (USOC) level. Term agreement errors were identified that resulted in identified savings from billing errors for the year approximating 83% of the monthly spend for one of the Canadian providers. Moreover, tariff pricing optimization opportunities for local services for both providers identified six-figure savings opportunities.

 

Financial Services Firm

 

Managed Sourcing Opens Path to Greater Network Control

A leading provider of or risk management and financial services desired greater control of its master contract and more competitive pricing for its services relative to its monthly telecom spend.  With the incumbent contract expiration only five months away, the client team asked Source Loop to join its team and lead its sourcing project to completion within three months of the project’s kickoff.

 

Material Network Cost Reduction, Vendor Accountability and Flexible Terms & Conditions

With our client committed to doing all things necessary to ensure a more manageable and cost effective telecom network in its near term future, aggressive goals were set.  There were three priorities: (1) Achieve material reductions in the cost of telecom services covered by the master agreement; (2) Increase the company’s ability to hold providers accountable for quality of service; and (3) Ensure that the contract Terms and Conditions were both flexible and minimized risks.

 

We leveraged our established and electronically automated Request for Proposal process to create a ranking matrix by which vendors’ responses could be evaluated.  We then performed a comprehensive benchmark study utilizing Source Loop’s proprietary telecom contract database to pinpoint pricing targets the team should be striving for relative to the market.

 

Realized Savings and Control

Our team efforts resulted in a 50 percent savings over the old contract while delivering a dramatic commitment level reduction to 60 percent of the client’s current spend levels; this allowed for much more flexibility and a massive reduction in the risk of incurring shortfall penalties.  Moreover, the incumbent provider agreed to concessions with respect to the management of Quality of Service allowing our client greater control.  Finally, the new contract contained multiple newly added custom provisions that offered risk protection and increased network flexibility.

 

Warranty Services Firm

 

Contract Expirations are Opportunities for Savings

A major extended warranty plan services firm was nearing expiration of its contracts for its voice and data network services.  The company decided that it was the right time to reassess its processes relating to the engineering of the network, procurement of services and operational and cost management practices.  Our project team established three major goals: (1) Determine the most efficient network backbone architecture; (2) Implement a strong sourcing process to drive down the cost of services and improve the terms under which services are purchased; and (3) Accelerate the company's ability to manage its network and vendor performance.

 

Sourcing & Optimization Best Practices

Our assessment indicated the need for more updated network architecture and sophisticated measurement tools in order to maximize and maintain optimal levels of network Quality of Service (QoS).  We then directly managed the sourcing effort through our established process and online e-sourcing platform which includes: standardized RFP documents; user-friendly bidder conference functionality; and capabilities for multifactorial assessment and differential weighting.  And upon completion of the optimization and sourcing efforts, our vendor management services conducted carrier performance reviews, vendor scorecard analysis and carrier dispute escalations where appropriate to maintain network operational and cost efficiencies.

 

Greater Control & Realized Savings

With full network operational efficiency restored and cost controls in place, the completion of the sourcing effort saw our client realize a reduction of network costs by more than 60 percent.  The warranty services firm VP of Information Technology had laudatory remarks for our effort as he stated, "Source Loop's knowledge of the marketplace, telecom domain expertise, e-sourcing technology and sourcing process were the driving forces in surpassing our greatest expectations."

 

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