In telecom should the focus be on cost reductions or efficiency gains?

While telecom bill auditing started in earnest in the late 80's there has been considerable movement towards full telecom lifecycle management. What continues to amaze me however is how many enterprise executives continue to just focus on telecom cost management and "how much have you saved me this year?" And the same holds true down at the director and manager levels in the telecom department as well. Of course this is not in all cases but it is certainly in the majority.

I always shake my head in amazement just how many times we hear from enterprises who say we saved 10% or whatever this year. And they have been saying the same thing for the last 6 years. Does that mean their costs should be closing in on being free?

And equally amazing is how many enterprises judge the success of their telecom departments but how much they saved last year. When do enterprises get away from the focus on cost savings as the measurement of success in a telecom department? You can reduce telecom costs by reducing the number of retail stores you have but does that mean you are successfully managing your telecom department? You can fix errors on your telecom invoices and save 10% but does that mean you are successfully managing your telecom department?

So when do we start managing telecom based on meaningful numbers? When does the focus on an industry metric become more important than the overall cost? For instance wouldnt the telecom cost per retail square foot be a lot more meaningful than what the overall telecom costs are? When do we focus on the root cause of the problem and fix the root cause instead of just correcting the bills? When does telecom and the millions being spent (and increasing every year)become something with a very disciplined approach to management? When does it become a strategic business driver or a profit center versus a cost center?

It has to change

What are your thoughts?

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