Telecom Expense Management Reduces Costs by 66% for Automotive Retailer

Automation streamlines network management while standardization unifies cost governance across 5,000 stores and five business units

The Challenge:

Complexity Obscures Accuracy and Limits Control

Keeping up with 5,000 automotive retail stores had become unmanageable for IT and Finance leaders tasked with controlling corporate telecommunications costs. Five business units each had their own process to handle services, so there was no simple way to track fixed network circuits and changes – much less govern spending. As a result, telecom management required manual, after-the-fact updates. For instance, when carrier invoices were received, employees spent 50 hours each week noting new orders, changes, and expenses in the company’s telecom inventory. Without accurate data and adequate time for analysis, cost savings remained elusive.

That’s when the SVP of Technology asked Tangoe to standardize their telecom financial management, putting in place a governance structure focused on accuracy and efficiency.

66%

cost reduction

50 hours

weekly productivity
savings

5,000

retail stores

Cloud innovation comes with challenges in visibility, management, and cost governance. These were the conclusions of senior IT and financial leaders at a technology research firm after migrating much of the company’s network infrastructure to the cloud. In the beginning, they invested in three Infrastructure-as- a-Services (IaaS) to gain IT agility and cost savings, but as their digital transformation matured, they found the cloud to be costly and resource intensive.

The Solution:

Automation and Standardization for Telecom Management

Fulfillment Services were added to the company’s existing Tangoe One Telecom Expense Management platform to establish a repeatable and scalable system for tracking circuits from start to finish across an array of network service providers. By introducing standardization and automation, the services unified processes for all five business units into one streamlined workflow while also reducing manual work. Since implementation, the company has gained efficiency while also enjoying clear visibility from the moment an order is submitted through the phases of installation, monitoring, and cost optimization.

Key features include:

One unified platform to oversee all telecom orders, services, contracts, and expenses • Global view of all network circuits with details into location, use, and cost
Automated processes to initiate, approve, and track all telecom services
Pre-configured workflows and cost allocations to help enforce control over spending

Now, the company has a closed-loop system for end-to-end telecom cost management. Chargebacks, budgeting, and forecasting are easier now too, as the services are customized to the company’s standard fiscal practices and integrated into its financial tech stack.

Telecom Expense Management

Fulfillment
Services

The Outcome:

Financial Efficiency and Performance

Tangoe Fulfillment Services reduced telecom costs by 66%, streamlining order management and providing greater efficiency for service tracking and financial analysis. An estimated 37% of those savings were attributed to network cost reductions and 63% to productivity gains. For instance, the team no longer spends 50 hours each week updating the telecom service inventory on their own.

Prior to implementation, IT and Financial leaders had little visibility into expenses and new ways to cut costs. Plus, they lacked the tools needed to automate telecom processes. Today, they enjoy the confidence of automated cost governance and higher IT budget performance.