If you haven't already, you may want to read this 12/7/06 Network World article called "Companies waste millions in unnecessary telecom charges". It covers a new Aberdeen Group survey that says a large portion of companies have inadequate control over telecom expenses, and are bleeding millions of dollars annually as a result.
Since the report was funded by a group of so-called telecom expense management vendors , it primarily tackles issues related to complicated bills and exorbitant late fees. But it doesn't go into any depth on how much it costs when a company unknowingly over-provisions its network or over-subscribes for bandwidth because it is blindly supporting non-business related activities. It doesn't talk about how applications that are authorized by senior management but perform inefficiently over the WAN can unnecessarily add to the telecom cost burden. It doesn't tell network managers how to distinguish between business and recreational uses of streaming audio and video.
Sure, you should get your act in gear and avoid paying late fees. We all know that. A more interesting approach to lower your telecom expenses is to fully understand your traffic mix today and leverage that information to plan properly for tomorrow.
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