Technology is the backbone of modern business. It connects everyone to everything and provides the support that keeps it all running. Whether your operation is big or small, you’re using technology to get the job done.
How often do you think about the systems that keep your business running? If everything is running smoothly, you likely only give it thought when it's time to buy new equipment and renew contracts. Depending on your management model, these issues may never even hit your desk. Whether it's you, or someone else who is tasked with keeping track of your organization's technology needs, it's highly unlikely that any one person is the dedicated expert in technology expense management.
At Symplicity Communications, that's our specialty. We think about technology expense management all the time on your behalf.
What is Technology Expense Management (TEM)?
It’s not IT, so let's get that out of the way. TEM takes a look at all your technology and identifies the processes that allow your company to use it. Things like contracts, licenses, and invoicing all need looking after. In many companies, keeping track of these items ends up spread amongst different departments and different spreadsheets. Accounting, IT and individual managers probably all have a piece of the puzzle.
When multiple departments are in charge of these items, that creates a system fraught with errors — and those errors cost you money. By focusing on technology expense management, you can find cost savings and efficiencies that will help your bottom line. And, like other parts of your organization, having an expert in this area can make those benefits even greater.
The key goals of TEM are to Consolidate, Reduce, or Eliminate. Symplicity Communications' proprietary takes on TEM and does this by focusing on these three distinct categories. These categories will give you benefits that ultimately increase your bottom line. Let’s take a look.
1. Manage and Process Invoices
Your technology-related invoices get paid every month, you have people that take care of that. But do those people have the knowledge and expertise to examine the invoices to ensure they are accurate? Probably not.
Assuming you do have people on hand who review for accuracy, who has to shift gears to work with your providers to get errors corrected? What other higher-priority jobs are they putting aside? It all has to get dealt with, right?
Symplicity Communications will give you the peace of mind that comes from being confident that you are paying accurate invoices. When they aren’t accurate, we have the knowledge and experience to get them fixed quickly — and potentially recover overcharges you’ve been paying for years. We know how to work with your providers to get everything sorted out.
2. Proactively Manage Contracts
Your invoices are generated each month because of the contracts you signed. How often do you review your contracts to see if they are still serving your needs? If you find that this review tends to come up last minute before your agreements renew, or worse, doesn’t even get reviewed, you could probably use some help.
We will be looking six months ahead. That will allow us to be proactive in managing renewals, cancellations, and upgrades. You will have options on your desk with enough time to investigate and make the right call.
If you need to renegotiate any of your services, we can be a part of that process as well. This puts a well-informed expert on your team who knows the going market rates, terms, and deals.
The end result is that there are no more “gotchas” when your contracts come up for renewal. You’re also not going to get stuck with bad deals and agreements that don’t fully benefit your business. You will leave any negotiations knowing that you got the best deal possible. That's one reason our customers work with us.
3. Manage Licenses and Technology Inventory
Technology applications often come with limits. Most businesses have butted heads with some sort of license limitation. The larger your organization, and the more applications you need to employ, the bigger the headache is. Symplicity Communications will keep track of your license and technology inventory and work with providers to make the needed adjustments.
With our help, you won't fall victim to “technology sprawl” and end up paying for licenses you don’t need. You also won’t get caught off guard and find that not all your employees can access the tools they need after a workplace shuffle. Once again, you will have peace of mind, and capacity for other management issues, while also knowing that you are paying for what you need.
Budgets and Forecasts: The End Result
Working with someone who knows your invoices, contracts, and technology inventory allows clarity around your monthly expenses. Having a partner who provides you with a comparison of your monthly budget gives you measurable data that you can use to set expectations and predict needs.
For example, one of our clients came to us paying approximately $100,000 in late fees annually. Our proprietary TEM service eliminates things like late fees, and in some cases, we can even recoup past late fees from vendors.
If you don’t enjoy setting budgets, you will like the fact that you will be spending less time creating them when you work with us. You are going to have all the information you need to make informed decisions. That data will be accurate and actionable. You’ll be able to predict your spending confidently based on your well-managed contracts and licenses.
Conclusion
Technology rules the modern working environment and those tools bring with them their own unique set of expenses and processes. You have to follow those processes, or your employees will lose access to the tools they need to drive your business. Taking charge of those technology contracts involves, and inventory requires committed and skilled resources. That’s what we do. That’s why we are called “Symplicity.”
Give us a call. We know Technology Expense Management inside and out. Let us help you streamline this aspect of your business and take a few things off your plate.
