Sitecom telecom costs cut by 50%, data transfer by 25%, service number charges by 15.7% - Expense Reduction Analysts
Anyone who has ever entered an electronics store will be familiar with the name of Sitecom, market leader in the field of home and small office networks, and supplier to the whole of Europe. Routers, printer servers, network cards, home storage centres and media players are just a few of the products in the range offered by the Rotterdam-based company.
Project manager Hans Touw brought Sitecom’s COO Mark Bergwerff and Expense Reduction Analysts consultant Maarten van Overeem into contact with each other, initiating a discussion about telecom, and analysing this expenditure across the full spectrum. Sitecom, it emerged, had just signed a new contract in the field of mobile telephony. So the focus was on the service number, landline telephony and data transfer.
Sitecom has a 0900 service number that customers can call if they have any questions about Sitecom products. This number redirects the callers to a call centre. The company had previously switched to a rival provider of this number, but the Expense Reduction Analysts expert wanted to take a closer look at these rates. This provider claimed that it was prepared to lower its rates to a level that Sitecom would be unable to get anywhere else. However, knowledge of the whole market proved otherwise: van Overeem was able to get a better offer from another supplier, achieving savings of 15.7% for Sitecom.
Additionally, as part of the Expense Reduction Analysts service, the invoices and contracts of the telecom provider were analysed – a service Expense Reduction Analysts often provides for clients. Companies regard the invoicing by telecom services as often being unclear and complex, and therefore difficult to verify. This is not so much a case of the providers being unwilling to provide clarity, but more a consequence of the nature of the information: the speed at which developments in the telecom branch occur results in constant changes being made to rulings, agreements and discounts. The administrative systems of telecom companies can barely keep up with these developments themselves. This means that in more than 50% of the cases, discrepancies in the invoices creep in, and almost always to the disadvantage of the client. So anyone trying to understand the vague invoices is grateful to know they are not paying too much. This is why it’s always good practice to allow an expert review the invoices. In Sitecom’s case, their telecom company was continually unable to give satisfactory answers when asked to provide more detailed specifications, because it did not have a clear picture of the situation either. Even the account manager was unable to clarify the situation. In this case, van Overeem was able to reassure Bergwerff that even though the telecom invoices were not at all transparent, and impossible for a layperson to verify, they did in fact comply with the contracts and their use.
In addition to providing clarity, the study of the costs of landline telephony also produced some savings: despite the fact that Sitecom already had a good deal with a provider, after analysing the number blocks and lines, combined with negotiations, a reduction in costs of 50% was achieved.
And that left the fibre-glass connection. Just before Expense Reduction Analysts started their analysis, Sitecom had received an offer from their supplier for increased bandwidth for a slight rise in costs, but linked to a long-term contract. Sitecom found the offer tempting, but van Overeem – who is aware of how quickly developments take place in this field, as well as knowing what kind of developments are likely to occur – advised against this. In the telecom expert’s view, Sitecom would be able to operate efficiently enough with the existing bandwidths for the time being and he expected the price/quality ratio to improve considerably within the coming 12 months. His advice was to allow the existing contract to run its course. And sure enough, within a year Sitecom received a much better offer. Sitecom now pays 25% less for data transfer, and the bandwidth is five times the previous one.
All in all, despite the recent negotiations and efforts of the company itself in the telecom area, calling in an expert proved that enormous benefits could be gained. Mark Bergwerff: “Expense Reduction Analysts provides enough options to compare against and produces effective reports, making it simple for us to make our decisions. This way, they save a lot of time for the organisation. And the aftercare is excellent once the contracts have been switched”.
Project manager Hans Touw brought Sitecom’s COO Mark Bergwerff and Expense Reduction Analysts consultant Maarten van Overeem into contact with each other, initiating a discussion about telecom, and analysing this expenditure across the full spectrum. Sitecom, it emerged, had just signed a new contract in the field of mobile telephony. So the focus was on the service number, landline telephony and data transfer.
Sitecom has a 0900 service number that customers can call if they have any questions about Sitecom products. This number redirects the callers to a call centre. The company had previously switched to a rival provider of this number, but the Expense Reduction Analysts expert wanted to take a closer look at these rates. This provider claimed that it was prepared to lower its rates to a level that Sitecom would be unable to get anywhere else. However, knowledge of the whole market proved otherwise: van Overeem was able to get a better offer from another supplier, achieving savings of 15.7% for Sitecom.
Additionally, as part of the Expense Reduction Analysts service, the invoices and contracts of the telecom provider were analysed – a service Expense Reduction Analysts often provides for clients. Companies regard the invoicing by telecom services as often being unclear and complex, and therefore difficult to verify. This is not so much a case of the providers being unwilling to provide clarity, but more a consequence of the nature of the information: the speed at which developments in the telecom branch occur results in constant changes being made to rulings, agreements and discounts. The administrative systems of telecom companies can barely keep up with these developments themselves. This means that in more than 50% of the cases, discrepancies in the invoices creep in, and almost always to the disadvantage of the client. So anyone trying to understand the vague invoices is grateful to know they are not paying too much. This is why it’s always good practice to allow an expert review the invoices. In Sitecom’s case, their telecom company was continually unable to give satisfactory answers when asked to provide more detailed specifications, because it did not have a clear picture of the situation either. Even the account manager was unable to clarify the situation. In this case, van Overeem was able to reassure Bergwerff that even though the telecom invoices were not at all transparent, and impossible for a layperson to verify, they did in fact comply with the contracts and their use.
In addition to providing clarity, the study of the costs of landline telephony also produced some savings: despite the fact that Sitecom already had a good deal with a provider, after analysing the number blocks and lines, combined with negotiations, a reduction in costs of 50% was achieved.
And that left the fibre-glass connection. Just before Expense Reduction Analysts started their analysis, Sitecom had received an offer from their supplier for increased bandwidth for a slight rise in costs, but linked to a long-term contract. Sitecom found the offer tempting, but van Overeem – who is aware of how quickly developments take place in this field, as well as knowing what kind of developments are likely to occur – advised against this. In the telecom expert’s view, Sitecom would be able to operate efficiently enough with the existing bandwidths for the time being and he expected the price/quality ratio to improve considerably within the coming 12 months. His advice was to allow the existing contract to run its course. And sure enough, within a year Sitecom received a much better offer. Sitecom now pays 25% less for data transfer, and the bandwidth is five times the previous one.
All in all, despite the recent negotiations and efforts of the company itself in the telecom area, calling in an expert proved that enormous benefits could be gained. Mark Bergwerff: “Expense Reduction Analysts provides enough options to compare against and produces effective reports, making it simple for us to make our decisions. This way, they save a lot of time for the organisation. And the aftercare is excellent once the contracts have been switched”.
Sammendrag af besparelser
| Ekspertise | Besparelser | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Telecommunication | 51% |