
The heart wants what the heart wants, but if you’re still buying telecom and IT services directly from carriers, service providers, or digital transformation vendors, you’re doing yourself a disservice.
If you’ve been there, you know that telecom and technology strategy can be time-consuming and confusing areas:
- Managing technology requirements.
- Vetting service providers.
- Evaluating proposals.
- Measuring the ongoing optimization of solutions.
Not only is it a headache, but it can also erode the effectiveness of the solution or technology and its impact on your business processes. So, as we transition to a new normal in the business world, we all need to get the most value out of our technology solutions and budget, strategize a little more, make sure we’re choosing the right solutions from the right vendors, and really make sure we’re moving in the right direction.
TIP: You’ll never get to company hero status if you keep the status quo. Another way? Hire a strategic technology advisory firm that will get you precisely what you need, from the right vendor, at the right price.
TL; DR
- Stop the cut-and-paste of your old solutions hoping for a better outcome
- Stop patching legacy solutions that are tired and obsolete just because you think you don’t have the time to modernize
- Stop wasting your staff’s time sifting through vendor noise to find the right solutions for your business
- Stop “phone anxiety” of chasing down vendors for status updates and billing questions
- Stop paying for things that you canceled last year (yikes!)
- Stop with the delayed timelines and budgeting overruns
- Stop thinking you’re getting a better deal by going directly to a service provider. You’re not!
1) Is your Technology Advisor a Strategic and Transparent Partner or a Plain Old Telecom Broker?
Technology decision-makers are experiencing information (and sometimes misinformation) overload. With too many choices, there is no effortless way to make informed technology buying decisions.
Other ways to ensure you are working with a Strategic advisor.
2) Do they have an Efficient Process?
3) Do They Have Rockstar Teams?
Solutioning: You need advisory services that bring experts to the table that breathe telecom, IT systems, automation, and technology. I’m talking about depth and breadth. You have to have seasoned experts if you want to optimize your cloud, network, and voice communications. Many will assume that migrating to the cloud costs less, but lo and behold, cloud is much harder to track, manage, and optimize across a large organization – open bar vs. per drink.
Support Team: Ask how many people will be dedicated to your account. What are their backgrounds? What are their specialties? Are they known in the industry? You never know; you might want to poach one of them to work for your company. Just kidding! That would be illegal. OK, not illegal, just really bad form.
Communication: How often will they check in with you? Or do you get more attention from your pet rock? Telecom can be like musical chairs—are you constantly wondering who your account director is and what roadmap they are following?
4) Do They Support a Wide Breadth of Solutions?
5) Can They Demonstrate a Reliable ROI?
Return on Investment. Do they put their money where their mouth is? Even with sophisticated new technology solutions you choose to implement, you should always come out ahead in value and ROI. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.
The Ultimate Checklist
- Do they have a solid reputation?
- Does their culture mesh with yours? Will they be an extension of your team?
- Are they financially sound?
- Do they have very experienced staff?
- Do they have an efficient process?
- Do their communication channels work with your needs?
- Will they help you assess your current environment before leading with a product?
- What kind of dedicated team will be assigned to your account?
- Do they support a wide range of cloud and telecom solutions?
- Do they have customer testimonials or references you can speak with?
- Do they offer telecom expense management and bill pay?
- Can they demonstrate a reliable ROI?
Summary
We hope you learned a little bit from this guide and resolved never to go direct to the carrier again! Good luck! And as luck would have it, this blog’s author is a strategic advisory firm. Bluewave helps companies exceed their goals. Call us for a quick chat to see how we can help your company exceeds its goals.
More from the Bluewave Blog on Technology Lifecycle Management:
Holistic IT Management Is No Longer Optional
The Future of the Agent Model