Telecom Strategy in Four Steps

Organizations that want to manage their telecom infrastructure effectively need goals in line with the organization’s business goals. These goals need to be documented in a telecom strategy. Despite the necessity of a telecom strategy, many organizations have not formulated one. IT directors associate strategy with long drawn out, laborious processes resulting in a report with a huge thumb factor that is allowed to collect dust on a shelf. Others disengage because of the perceived amount of work associated with it, the lack of support from upper management or simply because the day-to-day operations take priority.

For most organizations, the role of telecom has changed over time. Telecom is more and more interwoven with business processes such as contact centers or self-service portals. The market, technology and social developments require organizations to make the right decisions. Only then can telecom be used to support the business goals of the organization.

The question arises: How can IT directors create a telecom strategy that forms the basis for effective telecom management? The questions that need to be answered are: What is a telecom strategy and how is one created?

What is a Telecom Strategy?

A telecom strategy is a collection of principles to manage and use telecom in organizations. Because a strategy is a tool, it should not be a thick binder that collects dust on a shelf. The strategy should describe specific, measurable, achievable and coherent goals including the process to achieve those goals. A telecom strategy does not describe what systems or technology is used. This is described in a telecom architecture and blueprint which can be derived from the telecom strategy. A telecom strategy can be divided into three components: service, process & organization and policy.

The service component describes the telecom services offered to the organization, for example desk or smart phones, applicable service levels and reports to upper management.

The process and organization component describes on one side the role of telecom in the primary business processes of the organization and on the other side the management of the telecom infrastructure.

The policy component describes how the organization will use the telecom infrastructure, for example how is voicemail and IVR used, what are the expectations for call backs and what are do’s and don’ts for smart phones (is Internet traffic monitored on smart phones?).

Telecom Strategy in Four Steps

To create a telecom strategy, IT Directors go through three steps documenting the organizational goals, the current situation and relevant external developments. The fourth step is the creation of the strategy based on this information.

Step 1: Business Goals

Step one in creating a telecom strategy is documenting the business goals and the priorities of upper management. This forms the basis for telecom services and the role telecom plays in the organization. It also allows insight in culture and policies that will determine the way telecom is utilized. The documentation of the business goals and priorities of upper management is based on seven questions.

7 Questions for Upper Management

• What is the business strategy?
• What are the business goals, both short and long term?
• How does telecom contribute to those business goals?
• What is the importance of telecom for the primary business processes?
• How does the organization want to communicate, both internal and external?
• What are the financial, organizational and political constraints and developments?
• What are the current telecom policies?

Step 2: Current Situation

Step two is documenting the current situation regarding what systems, service and contractual commitments are in place, how the current architecture and blueprint look like and what the strengths and weaknesses (‘The Good, The Bad and The Ugly’) are of the current situation. Step one and two can be combined into a gap analysis of the current vs. desired situation.

7 Questions for the Telecom/IT Department

• How accurate is the knowledge of the current telecom infrastructure?
• What are the current telecom and IT architecture and blueprint?
• What is 'good, bad and ugly' of the current architecture/situation?
• What systems, features, services, vendors and contracts are in place/used?
• What is the Telecom TCO per unit (employee, device, and workplace)?
• What are the end users' needs?
• How does the organization communicate, both internal and external?

Step 3: External Developments

Step three involves documenting relevant market, technology and social developments. In this step questions are answered such as: What new technologies are available, what directions are vendors taking and how is the regulatory field developing?

7 Questions for You

• What are the industry trends?
• What are legal and regulatory trends?
• What are the IT/Telecom market trends?
• What are the technology trends?
• What is the maturity of the technology?
• How will it impact the industry in general and the organization specific?
• What are the risks (technology risks or risks that prevent/delay technology reaching maturity)?

7 External Developments to Keep an Eye On

• Fixed Mobile Convergence
• RFID/Location Based Services
• 3G/4G
• Increased appetite for Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery
• Smart Phone (security, mobile applications, policy enforcement)
• Continuity of vendor experience (Mergers & Acquisitions)
• Appetite for total cost of ownership reduction

Step 4: Telecom Strategy

Step four is creating the telecom strategy based on the first three steps. This step will result in an evaluation of the options for the organization’s telecom strategy for the next three to five years. How this process is used or in what order the steps are used depends on several aspects such as size and setting of interview sessions, political or cultural aspects, secondary goals to the strategy project such as creating collaboration, stimulating people or setting business priorities.

Conclusion

A telecom strategy is a requirement to effectively manage the telecom infrastructure. Going through this process to create a telecom strategy is the opportunity to make upper management aware of the opportunities and threats telecom can offer. Also for the other participants (interviewers and interviewees), this process can create awareness of how telecom is currently used and how it can best serve the business. This process and a clear and concise telecom strategy can not only revamp the way telecom is seen and used in the organization, but also create great insight to how the organization works – from top to bottom. Enough reasons to start right now!

7 Tips and Tricks for the Strategy Process

• Clearly communicate why a telecom strategy is created and what the goal of it is
• Document the used procedures to come to the telecom strategy, who has been involved and why and what is expected from them
• Clearly communicate upfront what the goal is for interview or workshop sessions
• Provide (well) in advanced a mind-set document that describes reason, procedure, goal and a preview of the questions that will be asked during the interview or workshop sessions. This way people can prepare and if needed consult with peers.
• Communicate how the results will be used and provide interview or workshop feedback to the participants.
• Try to stay pragmatic and specific in both questions and answers.
• Involve all the right people. Too many people can create a process that never ends, not enough people will create a telecom strategy that is not supported. Make sure to involve all departments.

To learn more about developing a telecom strategy for your business, contact Tim Wise (Tim.Wise@advocatenetworks.com) or Scott Fogle (Scott.Fogle@advocatenetworks.com).