Frequently Asked Questions
Over the years we've been asked all sorts of
different questions when discussing the benefits of MH2 CONSULTING
with prospective clients. So to assist you in deciding if we could
help your business, we thought it might help if we were to give you
some of those answers here.
ASSESSMENT AND BENCHMARKING
Q: We really don't have any spare budget at the moment, so how can
you help us?
A:
We understand that many organisations don't necessarily allocate
budget for this type of service in the same way they would for
others areas of ICT provision. The good news though is that our
process is completely self-financing and guarantees a return on your
investment, or we give you your money back. But our service not only
pays for itself of course, it also frees up additional ICT budget
which you can use elsewhere.
Q: We do this already internally so where is the benefit of using
MH2 CONSULTING?
A: Many firms do complete this type of work
internally, primarily because there has never been a suitable
external option for telecoms cost management from a company with
expert industry knowledge.
From our experience though we have discovered that companies who do
this internally generally save around 10% to 20% at best, whereas
our market average ranges from 20% to 50% on corporate client
projects. The MH2 CONSULTING service also takes little or none of
your time, which allows you to realign internal resources to more
important tasks whilst we complete the project.
Q: We already use an outsourced consultancy firm, what can you do
that they don't?
A:
Generally, outsourcing firms roll up telecoms into a number of ICT
or other non-related business areas. They then guarantee an overall
saving to the business across all of these areas, usually in the
region of 10%, but this may mean no reduction to your telecoms spend
at all. On the other hand, MH2 CONSULTING can drill down into the
telecoms area specifically and so create much better value for your
business.
What's more, some outsourcing firms have agreements with network
providers and will often, although not always, be taking a cut from
any negotiated deal - which means they can never give you the same
level of truly impartial advice that we can.
Q: We have a managed service contract in place already, so how can
you help us?
A:
If part or all of your telecoms provision is wrapped up into an
overall managed service agreement it can be very hard for you to
benchmark elements of the service against the competition. Our
independent analysis can help you to determine if your managed
service provider is charging well outside market rates for
particular elements within the contract, making you well placed to
negotiate revised rates.
Even if you are tied in to a long term contract, it's worth noting
that termination charges may sometimes be far less than the
financial savings which could be made if you were to change
providers.
Q: We're already on the best deal so what's the point of talking to
you?
A:
At least a quarter of firms we speak to believe that they are on the
best possible deal from their supplier, but you can only make that
determination with the tools and market knowledge that you have
access to. Our analysis system has been in development for over six
years now and contains accurate details on all the market leading
providers, their tariffs, their rules, their billing platforms and
more.
On top of this, our consultants have years of experience in
negotiating excellent contractual terms for our clients which makes
them very familiar with each providers' breaking and negotiation
points. Finally, we know what level of spend a client should be
achieving as we are running multiple projects at any one time within
the corporate market.
So, even if you are on the best deal that you have been able to
negotiate directly, there may still be options which MH2 CONSULTING
can offer that will save you even more.
Q: We recently signed a new contract with a provider, so there's
nothing you can do is there?
A:
Yes there is. Let us help you to check that it's correct, that
tariffs have been applied in line with your contract and that you're
receiving the cost savings you were promised. Rather than just
taking the provider's word for it, use an independent specialist to
ensure the figures are accurate instead.
Q: We're just about to sign a new contract, is it too late to talk
to you?
A:
Even if you have just been through a procurement exercise and have
carried out some analysis internally, it's very hard to complete an
accurate 'what if' analysis - and you may well have had to accept
the shortlisted providers' estimations of spend levels.
As an independent advisor MH2 CONSULTING can check which is the most
suitable, based on both cost and service. Our system understands all
providers' tariffs and their rounding and billing rules, so we can
compare the accuracy and projected spend levels of each contract on
a like-for-like basis. And if there's time we can also include some
direct market bids ourselves to ensure a true benchmark is achieved.
Q: We really don't want to change providers; can you still save us
money?
A:
More than 50% of our clients do not move provider, they stay exactly
where they are and still achieve significant savings. Usually when
provider contracts are renegotiated, around a 10% reduction is
achieved, when in reality the market is shifting more than this and
further savings could have been made.
By comparing current and projected offerings from your providers,
MH2 CONSULTING can also assess this against the marketplace to
deliver further savings across the existing contract. In addition,
our assessment services are an excellent way of ensuring that your
historic and future spend with that provider is accurate, and in
line with your business requirements.
Q: We have
too many other projects on the go, how would we have time to take
this on as well?
A:
Don't worry. Our services take so little of your internal resources
that we can work self-sufficiently to help you achieve savings,
whilst you focus on critical ICT projects.
MANAGEMENT
Q: We don't
have any budget for ongoing management, can you still help us?
A:
We understand that very few companies are actively spending money on
annual telecoms cost management contracts and as a result, no budget
is allocated. However, we can prove that the use of an ongoing TCM
tool can be justified by the return on investment that it brings,
through identifying areas such as over-charging, surplus services,
non-ceased lines and tariffs not applied - as well as streamlining
business processes such as bill checking, cost centre breakdown,
business charge-backs, trend analysis, saving analysis and so on.
On average a business which spends £500,000 per annum on telecoms
will waste up to five man days per month simply checking and
reporting on bills which are split across multiple providers and
billing types.
Q: We manage and monitor all costs internally so why would we need
your services?
A:
As outlined above, this takes up enormous amounts of internal time
and resource. Outsourcing this task to MH2 CONSULTING not only
allows you to re-align your internal resources to work on more
valuable tasks, it also yields faster and more accurate results that
will not be questioned by a provider.
Q: We receive
regular analysis from our providers already, what's different about
your offering?
A:
The MH2 CONSULTING Management service is completely independent,
something which individual providers can never be. It also enables
you to cross-analyse multiple providers, whether fixed line or
mobile or more than one of each, to consolidate multiple provider
and service bills into a single piece of management information.
Q: We
benchmark our services every year via procurement so why would we
need a Management service as well?
A:
By using our Management service to aid your internal procurement
process, we can generate time savings internally within your
procurement department and also enable more accurate analysis of all
annual benchmarking and procurement services.
We've recently moved providers to get more competitive rates, what
more can you do?
This is one of the best times to roll-out an ongoing TCM service. We
can help you to ensure that the new tariffs have been applied
properly and on time, as well as enabling you to receive rebates for
those that have not been. You can also determine whether all
services have been transferred correctly and that all billing is
properly centralised.
In addition, the MH2 CONSULTING Management service will allow you to
measure costs vs. your previous contract rates, to prove the level
of savings being achieved throughout the business, broken down by
department if required.
Q: We are about to merge with another business, is this a good time
to talk to you or not?
A:
This is an ideal time to get full visibility of all your telecoms
services, so you can ensure that location based services are moved,
ceased or changed accordingly. Benchmarking can also be completed
based on your new business profile, enabling you to benefit from
economies of scale. Within any merger or acquisition process,
visibility of costs is always high on the agenda, so by implementing
a telecoms management service you can save internal resource time,
reduce cost and ensure higher levels of accuracy.
We hope that these answers will give you an idea of how MH2
CONSULTING could add value for your business. Of course, if you have
any questions which are not answered here, we'd be more then happy
to talk these through with you and to provide any additional
information that we can.