EXECUTIVE INTERVIEW Network Control Recertifies with AOTMP, Continues Proving Its Distinctions
Network Control Recertifies with AOTMP, Continues Proving Its Distinctions Companies that dedicate the time, effort and people to obtaining specialty certifications prove they are serious about matching their claims to their capabilities and, as a result, demonstrating their value to customers. That axiom applies doubly to organizations that pursue and achieve specialty certifications more than once. Enter Network Control, the Iowa-headquartered TEM/WMM services provider that once again is earning AOTMP Efficiency First Solution Certification in three focus areas: TEM/WMM Managed Services Help Desk and Provisioning Sourcing, Procurement and Negotiations The certification program consists of diagnostic and scoring elements in which the vendor s solution capabilities are evaluated for alignment with AOTMP s Efficiency First Framework, a disciplined, best practice-driven approach to managing fixed and mobile telecom environments. Network Control President and CEO Mark Hearn said undergoing these verification activities serves several purposes. AOTMP certification helps us identify our strengths and, God forbid, weaknesses but it also helps us to understand the industry and how we are doing from a competitive perspective in the marketplace, he said. AOTMP has looked at processes and technologies, and can say where they think we re short and where we stand out. To that end, AOTMP has identified the following as core Network Control strengths: Account Management Managed Services Quality Control Sourcing and Contract Negotiations Service Ordering and Help Desk This in-depth expertise positions Network Control well to serve enterprises spending $100,000-$3 million per month on telecom/it/mobility. WHAT MAKES NETWORK CONTROL DIFFERENT Service and Knowledge Network Control does not hand off a TEM/WMM platform to its customers and walk away, expecting users to know what to do. Rather, the nearly 20-year-old company operates from a managed services perspective. It therefore combines software with consulting and project management; provides strategic planning; and oversees all day-to-day communications network management needs. Hearn said this includes provisioning a platform that maintains an accurate and up-to-date inventory of all services and their usage, as well as expenses and contracts. People Who Care Another differentiator comes in the form of Network Control s people. The service and operations center is based in Iowa, a location Hearn thinks lends to employees work ethic, pride and sense of ownership. It may be a Midwestern thing, he said. Whatever the explanation, Hearn takes great pride in his staff s desire and ability to look out for their customers. They truly care about how the client perceives them and what they re delivering, he said. 2
Return on Investment Even though Network Control focuses on much more than finances, employees do reinforce value by showing return on investment. We have a client that we retained from another TEM that wasn t doing anything beyond loading bills and sending reports, and didn t identify cost savings beyond $2,000 in late fees over a 12-month period, Hearn said. We identified more than $135,000 in the first year alone and that was well beyond our service fees. An Eye for Abnormalities Cutting costs counts for a lot. But a top-notch vendor also will set itself apart by staying abreast of, and addressing, how services are consumed. Network Control does this. Hearn shares an example of a customer in the senior housing business. The client relies on a bigname cable provider and Network Control discovered that many of the services, including pay-per-view, were getting The Value of Inventory billed to the corporate account. So our team took Say it s 2 a.m. and a client s circuit goes down. ownership, Hearn said. Rather than flipping the bill back The carrier will need to know the circuit ID. to the customer, they re calling the general manager at the Having that information is huge, Hearn said. site to ask about each charge and identifying cost savings. Have serial numbers, have dates of installation. Dedicated Personnel One reason Network Control staff can catch abnormalities is because they know their clients. The company assigns the following specialists to each customer: Account manager Wireline analyst Wireless analyst Dedicated wireline and wireless billing expert Wireless rate plan optimization manager Contract manager All of that data around inventory is valuable but only when you need it. Logging this information does something else, too it results in non- traditional cost savings that organizations can use in the negotiation process, Hearn said, adding that only is true if accounts payable has the information. Network Control tracks each of these components and handles negotiations with or for the client. And if the client is large enough, Network Control also appoints a dedicated ordering expert and a dedicated contract manager for alerts, benchmarking and reviews. Regular Check-Ins Regardless of customer size, the Network Control employees assigned to an account meet with the client at least once a month. We become the domain experts in knowing everything about the organization s infrastructure, Hearn said. That way, Network Control knows at all times who its contacts are, how it needs to help those people, which workflows it needs to attend to on their behalf, which devices it can authorize for the client and so on. Of course, that does not mean the end user doesn t need to participate in its own success. If an employee leaves and no one notifies Network Control, then the vendor does not know to shut down access to a smartphone, for instance. It has to be a cooperative effort, Hearn said. However, regular communication eliminates these problems. 3
Stewardship Meetings Network Control holds these meetings annually or semiannually, depending on client size. These provide time for the customer to update Network Control on, for example, migration thought to new technology, new mobile application rollouts or changes in worker rolls. In addition to monthly client meetings I want every client to be formally touched at least once a year and the larger ones to be on either a quarterly or semester basis. Our client meetings have to be meaningful and of value, Hearn said. Willingness to Say No Don t expect Network Control to accept a new project without exploring the requisite nuances and requirements. In fact, the company just recused itself from a giant TEM/ WMM request for proposal, even though it was one of three finalists because it would extremely tax our internal resources to meet our own expectations and the company s expectations were not aligned with ours, Hearn said. In other words, the company does not throw itself at potential clients and make promises it cannot deliver. We won t take on unachievable demands, said Hearn. Both parties agree on what the successful outcome will look like. Shared Responsibility And what does success look like? For Hearn, that can vary. Success can be Network Control identifying millions in cost savings that the previous TEM did not; benchmarking data to show how the cost-per-gig came down while bandwidth doubled; writing letters that explain why an expense deviates from a defined percentage; showing soft-dollar savings in terms of time; and more. But, at Network Control, the responsibility for total success does not lie solely with the vendor. Success also requires honest input from the customer. Tell us what you expect from us, we want open communication for a successful partnership, Hearn said. Elevating the TEM Discussion A TEM/WMM services provider keen on doing more than auditing and optimization will provide the tools and experts to reach that goal. If all you have is access to SAP that tells you 10 geo codes for IT and telecom, whoop dee doo, Hearn said. In other words, elevating the TEM discussion requires going beyond basic costs analysis. How will you know whether SIP or SD-WAN is going to save you any money? If you re going to acquire another company, do you know your average cost per device, per user? What about retail, where average cost per store is huge? Hearn said. Advancing the TEM marketplace overall happens when vendors such as Network Control handle tasks outside of what traditionally has been known as telecom think business continuity and disaster recovery, or analysis of wireless security risks, as just two examples. To that end, the graphic below illustrates how AOTMP defines telecom. And it should be noted that Network Control adheres closely to this interpretation. Ability to Embrace New Technologies Success also arises from always trying to stay ahead of the curve, Hearn said. For Network Control this means tracking new kinds of bills and identifying areas to help our clients. For example, if a client s Azure cloud computing costs keeps rising, Network Control will step in to see what it can do. The vendor also can audit the Avaya maintenance contracts on customers global locations, for instance, and 4
manage IoT assets, including number of wearables, their locations and total monthly spend. Network Control s ability to embrace new technologies stems from knowledgeable and forward-looking staff, and from communication during the regular check-ins and on-site visits. It s just having conversations with clients, looking at what s coming onto their plates, figuring out strategies of how we can assist and aid, Hearn said. What s Next None of that will let up throughout the rest of 2017 and into 2018, especially as next-generation technologies such as software-defined wide area networks (SD-WAN) continue making their way to the forefront. SD-WAN is interesting because it shifts conversations away from the once highly vaunted MPLS network, and Network Control is ready to talk with customers about the benefits and expected impacts. Compared to MPLS, SD-WAN generally is cheaper and more flexible, scalable, and remains secure; it installs also more quickly. To the first point, 10G MPLS circuits are extremely expensive in China and India, Hearn said, and SD-WAN can reduce the cost by at least half for the same amount of, or even more, bandwidth. But clients don t always know how to determine when a technology transition makes sense, or how to implement it well. That s where a managed services provider such as Network Control makes all the difference and ensures positive outcomes. Indeed, implementing technology change works best when relying on the insight and experience of longtime experts. To that point, Network Control has provided TEM/WMM services for more than 20 years. Hearn started his first telecom management company in 1987 and bought Network Control in 2011. Both Hearn and Network Control have navigated, and continue to navigate, the industry s changes so much so that Hearn s view has evolved beyond the initial value proposition of TEM (saving money through auditing and optimization) to a more valuable and effective perspective. The TEM lifecycle management approach today should be one that does everything, Hearn said. Why should the client still order and terminate services, maintain the inventory, and update the MDM software? Network Control follows through on that philosophy through strategic consultation with each client, and continued evaluation of and adaption to new technologies. By default, all of this pushes Network Control past the traditional TEM boundaries, and the company s commitment to maintaining AOTMP Efficiency First Solution Certification affirms its caliber. Telecom Management Best Practices and Industry Standards 7835 Woodland Dr. Indianapolis, IN 46278 800.860.8608 5