Home  >  Functions / Products  >  Network Services

Network Services

Network services – Voice, Data, Internet, Wireless, Local, Access, International, Managed Services – typically account for three to six percent of overhead and have a significant impact on your business operations. Network is viewed as a commodity, but it's a high value commodity with thousands of different rate elements. Our data-driven network sourcing methodology enables our clients to make apples-to-apples comparisons despite the challenges posed by rapidly changing costs, inherently complex contracts, and the operational aspects of the communication industry. Our database of contract pricing and terms gives our clients the transparency and leverage necessary to make and execute informed business decisions. Over the last 350 projects, we have helped clients achieve savings of up to 52% (average of 27%) on their annual network spend.

Below are some triggers that indicate a need for assistance from Alsbridge:

• My telecom contract is about to expire within the next 12-18 months
• I'm interested in integrating wireline and wireless services together
• I'm currently negotiating a contract, but don't feel I'm getting to market competitive terms
• I'm interested in consolidating contracts and vendors
• My company is about to or recently went through a M&A
• My contract has a rate review clause scheduled now or in the near future
• I'm not sure I'm getting the best price and want to conduct an assessment to understand current market pricing
• I'm interested in network convergence, but don't know what's right for me
• I think I'm paying too much for my wireless services. Are my users on the optimal rate plan?

Alsbridge Network Services Group (NSG) is the #1 network sourcing advisory firm in the world by transaction volume. We average 100+ full network procurement engagements per year plus approximately 50 ancillary engagements that include network benchmarking, rate reviews, transformation, engineering, analysis, optimization and TEM engagements. Alsbridge placed over $1B in telecom contract value in 2011, and our team is actively negotiating 25-40 engagements at any given point in time. This volume of work feeds our proprietary database of over 900 contracts and 80,000 data points – 50% or more of which are for international network services.

Alsbridge NSG's suite of services includes:

• Network Procurement
  • Sole Source
  • RFP Development
  • Competitive Bid Management
  • Carrier Evaluations
  • Contract Negotiation
• Network Assessment
  • Audit
  • Rate Review
  • Network Benchmark
  • Network Transformation Analysis
  • Wireless Optimization
• Telecom Expense Management
  • TEM Procurement
  • TEM Service

Global Presence

No matter where your company is headquartered, you likely have international operations that need to be covered by your telecom network contract. Even more convoluted than domestic wireline and wireless contracts, international services offer the added complexity of varied tax structures, lack of discovery in market prices and changing regulatory environments. Alsbridge's international experience, in country resources and contract databases provide transparency to buyers seeking to navigate this space. The vast majority of Alsbridge clients have operations around the globe and international services accounted for over $550M of the telecom contract value Alsbridge negotiated in 2011. Our database of contract data points covers North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa or Asia-Pacific ensuring you get the best possible deal structure and price for current services in any geography. Alsbridge consultants on the ground in Europe and Asia have deep experience in pan-European and pan-Asian contracts for wireline and wireless services. We can help you structure the right contract with the right carrier(s) at the right price for your unique geographic requirements.

Network Procurement

Whether it's for data or voice services (or a converged IP network), wireline or wireless, national or global, Alsbridge's network sourcing services help clients achieve cost savings and performance improvement – and get to value faster due to the acceleration of negotiations. Network procurements are growing more complex with carriers offering new solutions to the market at a rapid pace. Meanwhile, corporate telecommunications and network professionals are overloaded with increasing responsibility for managing diverse business needs and technology choices.

Our team of analysts and negotiators will handle the heavy-lifting leaving your resources free to manage your day-to-day network requirements. Alsbridge's network sourcing team includes over 45 individuals with 20+ year careers in pricing, negotiations, business development and executive leadership roles with leading network carriers. Alsbridge's insider knowledge can provide transparency to the market and our prowess at the negotiating table can help your business save money on your telecom costs. We know the negotiating strategies and tactics the carriers employ and how to overcome them. We know the price points and terms the carriers are willing to accept because we are executing multiple contracts with each carrier every month around the globe. Our network procurement team negotiates more transactions every year – across a broader set of clients – than any other consulting firm. Engaging Alsbridge will not only get you a better price and better services from your carrier(s), it will shorten the negotiation process which means your business begins saving money sooner.

Our approach to network procurement differs in several key ways from our competition. In contrast to many of our competitors, Alsbridge does not take fees – or compensation in any other form – from carriers. Our team is completely unbiased ensuring we recommend the right vendor for you, not the vendor paying us behind the scenes. We leverage a repeatable methodology and templates, but offer a more customized approach to suit each client's needs and provide complete and utter transparency to our client throughout the process. Alsbridge's bidders' conference is different from the competition's and sets an upbeat tone to the network sourcing engagement that yields a better relationship between the enterprise client and carrier. Our ability to maintain open lines of communication between clients and carriers as well as circumvent stall tactics helps to accelerate negotiations and ensure you obtain the maximum value from your network investments.

Network Benchmark

Alsbridge's network benchmark compares your carrier's contract performance against the market and other businesses of the same size working with similar carriers – line by line against each rate element. This analysis determines the potential value of renegotiating a contract at any point in the contract lifecycle as opposed to waiting for termination.

The telecom market has been very volatile with increased M&A activity over the past several years. Given the high speed of change – both inside organizations and in the marketplace – a network benchmark is an essential asset needed to keep up with changing market prices. It's vital to have a complete and clear understanding of current lines, products and services your organization is being charged for so that you can ensure your organization is actually using them and you are being charged appropriately for those products and services.

Implementing a network benchmark coupled with industry-leading network sourcing insights is the winning combination to successfully managing your organization's network strategy. Contact us today to learn more about how Alsbridge can help you achieve your objectives.