CASE STUDY

Energy Leader Cuts $5.3M in Telecom Waste after Company Divestiture

Maximum savings delivered through deep inventory analysis, service review, and expert contract negotiations

The Challenge: Remove Legacy Waste to Maximize Savings

As an energy and climate solutions leader dedicated to environmental sustainability, this company appreciates the value of reducing waste and repurposing IT dollars. After undergoing a divestiture from a larger company, business leaders felt there was no better time to take stock of their telecom resources, eliminating legacy services that were no longer necessary. Moreover, it was time to modernize their voice and network technologies. However, the IT team needed help cataloging countless assets spread across more than 75 office locations.

They brought in Tangoe’s Advisory Services team to audit their telecom services and expenditures with three key goals in mind:

Clean up the inventory: A comprehensive and accurate inventory of invoices, contracts, and service usage details would be key in seeing how each asset is used (or not), earmarking items for upgrade, and tallying how much was being charged.

Reduce waste: The company wanted a lean list of services, but they also wanted to ensure their carriers were meeting agreed-upon terms and conditions. Contract rate compliance could help stretch their IT dollars further.

Modernize while cutting costs: In addition to transitioning MPLS services to cost-efficient internet services, more than 200 plain old telephone service (POTS) lines remained in use. With prices continually increasing for these sunsetting technologies, POTS was a key focus area for cost cutting.

As an IT expense management leader with a full-service consultancy, Tangoe was a partner the organization could trust to update its inventory, realign resources, and drive savings faster than they could on their own.

$5.3M

in telecom
savings

$2.9M

in eliminated
waste

26%

reduction in spending

The Solution: Deep Review Pinpoints Unnecessary Spending

Tangoe’s consultants combed through the company’s invoices, contracts, and network footprint, uncovering all unused and unnecessary services as well as credits due.

Inventory audit: Tangoe built a complete database of telecom resources and expenditures, creating actionable insights to save money, better match resources to business needs, and drive efficiencies in financial management. IT leaders now have a single source of truth for managing and modernizing their $20.4M telecom portfolio.

Invoice and contract audit: Tangoe investigated whether invoices were charged fairly – finding billing errors, credits due, and charges for services that had long been disconnected. Experts compared invoices against contract rates, plans, and terms to pinpoint discrepancies and overbilling – instances where the company was paying more than the agreed-upon rate. Tangoe handled all carrier disputes, and consultants validated each service in use, confirming spending and assisting with budgeting and forecasting.

Contract renegotiations: Tangoe’s team of negotiators were armed with information necessary to secure the most competitive rates and terms on renewals. This was particularly important in reducing the cost of their POTS lines.

The Outcome: $5.3M in Annual Savings and Carrier Credits

Tangoe Advisory Services delivered a savings of more than $5.3M — a 26% reduction in telecom spending. 

Unnecessary legacy services totaled $2.9M in annual savings.

Nearly $900K per year was saved by identifying and disconnecting 178 POTS lines. In addition, Tangoe negotiators drove $428K in contractual savings on the remaining lines.

Overbillings resulted in $680K in credits due while late disconnections generated $400K in annual savings.

With an accurate inventory, the energy company could now upgrade their telecom technologies. Roughly $1.5M in annual savings was achieved through a combination of innovations including transitioning MPLS circuits to SD-WAN and broadband services as well as standardizing their voice services on the Zoom® application. Tangoe was essential in laying the groundwork for this IT modernization.