Budget is a four-letter word for most organisations. The final quarter of the financial year takes place amid much head-scratching over interminable spreadsheets outlining endless costs, all needing to be compartmentalised into miniscule budget allocations. The mantra running through the collective mind of the enterprise is: "How do I do more with less?"
According to Dimension Data`s General Manager for Converged Communications, Kevin Hardy, making sure that funds stretch to cover expenses is just part of the problem.
"Business and technology are evolving at a rapid rate and allowances need to be made for investment in emerging (and inevitable) technologies. Virtualisation, convergence and unified communications are all moving from buzz words to business imperatives clamouring for funding."
As business and IT become inexorably intertwined, the IT department is taking on a far more strategic role. "The CIO has leapt from chief techie to business development manager," explains Hardy. "Budgeting in this area of the business is no longer just about controlling spend, it`s requiring a lot more forward - and deeper - thinking.
"The move to externalise many IT functions and utilise cloud-based services is paving the way to a certain extent, and the ability to `rent` functionality as an operational expense is eliminating the need for large capital expenditure," says Hardy. However, the question still remains: how to find the financial manoeuvrability needed to take advantage of these opportunities? The most likely source is by trimming existing expenditure - or adopting a `save to invest` approach. And expansive communications spend is a great place to start.
Show me the money
Telecommunications spend accounts for around 30% of the IT budget. Add multimedia and mobility costs and this becomes significantly higher.
The proliferation of devices and plethora of service providers associated with telecommunications has made it increasingly difficult to monitor this effectively. "The cold hard fact is that many organisations don`t actually have the means of tracking this spend with any real accuracy," says Hardy. "Traditional telephone management system (TMS) tools are just not geared for the multiple modes prevalent in modern business: Smartphones access the Iternet; desktops are making telephone calls;and telephony links to e-mail. TMSes are not tracking all these channels, and if you can`t measure it - you can`t manage it."
Show me the money
Tools geared for modern, converged communications, such as Dimension Data`s Telecommunications Expense Management (TEM) suite, are now coming into their own, aiding organisations in defining and optimising expenditure across modes and vendors.
Converged management solutions are ideally positioned to unlock potential savings within communication budgets in a number of ways:
* Enhanced visibility allows the business to identify wastage, over allocations and possible fraudulent usage. If managed effectively these areas can create immediate, significant savings that can be ploughed back into the business.
* Service providers are offering `bundled` products in response to the market`s desire for multi-modal access. A common example, cellular service providers often offer Internet access and data bundles in addition to voice. What seems like a great save on the surface may be wasted expenditure if these added services are already being paid for elsewhere. TEM takes this bundling into account and can assist in curtailing duplication, overlapping of services and gratuitous spend.
* By understanding what and where spending occurs, funds can be allocated appropriately to true cost centres for a realistic perspective of expenditure. Your business gains bargaining power with your vendors through bulk purchasing.
* A complete analysis of all telecommunication utilisation and trends across the organisation will enable IT to adapt existing infrastructures and deploy new technologies according to the business requirements.
* Billing aside, the amount of energy expended on managing and maintaining service level agreements with a number of disparate service providers can be exhausting. By being able to consolidate vendors, this process is simplified, saving time and money.
Share