https://www.channelfutures.com/wp-content/themes/channelfutures_child/assets/images/logo/footer-new-logo.png
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Services Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Information Center
    • 2021 MSP 501 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Top Gun 51
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
Channel Futures
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Home
  • Technologies
    • Back
    • SDN/SD-WAN
    • Cloud
    • RMM/PSA
    • Security
    • Telephony/UC/Collaboration
    • Cable
    • Mobility & Wireless
    • Fiber/Ethernet
    • Data Centers
    • Backup & Disaster Recovery
    • IoT
    • Desktop
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Analytics
  • Strategy
    • Back
    • Mergers and Acquisitions
    • Channel Research
    • Business Models
    • Distribution
    • Technology Services Brokerages
    • Sales & Marketing
    • Best Practices
    • Vertical Markets
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
  • MSP 501
    • Back
    • MSP 501 Information Center
    • 2021 MSP 501 Rankings
  • Intelligence
    • Back
    • Galleries
    • Podcasts
    • From the Industry
    • Reports/Digital Issues
    • Webinars
    • White Papers
  • Channel Futures TV
  • EMEA
  • Channel Chatter
    • Back
    • People on the Move
    • New/Changing Channel Programs
    • New Products & Services
    • Industry Honors
  • Resources
    • Back
    • Advisory Boards
    • Industry Organizations
    • Our Sponsors
    • Advertise
    • 2022 Editorial Calendar
  • Awards
    • Back
    • 2021 MSP 501
    • Circle of Excellence
    • DE&I 101
    • Top Gun 51
    • Channel Partners 101 (CP 101)
  • Events
    • Back
    • CP Conference & Expo
    • MSP Summit
    • Channel Partners Europe
    • Channel Partners Event Coverage
    • Webinars
    • Industry Events
  • About Us
  • DE&I
    • Newsletter
  • REGISTER
  • MSPs
  • VARs / SIs
  • Agents
  • Cloud Service Providers
  • Channel Partners Events
 Channel Futures

Business Models


10 Tips for Selecting a TEM Provider

  • Written by Channel
  • November 24, 2008

I remember a few years ago, nearly every company exhibiting at the Channel Partners Conference & Expo was a VoIP provider, and everyone had the No. 1 solution available. This buzz has transitioned to telecom expense management. And similarly, a variety of companies — from software developers to auditing companies to bill payment companies — claim to be TEM providers and, of course, each claims its solution is the best.

As an agent, you are urged to offer a TEM solution as part of your business model. The question is, where to begin? Below is a checklist of considerations you can use when evaluating a TEM company with which to partner.

1. Is the TEM company or the agent handling the customer help desk?

It is very important to determine up front which company is handling help desk functions. If you have a customer with a BlackBerry e-mail issue, who is going to troubleshoot it? Who is going to handle the ESN swaps, ports, etc. Be aware, however, some TEM companies claim to offer help desk services, but only provide a help desk e-mail address for you to use.

2. Does the TEM company have an SaaS, BPO hosted solution or licensed service?

There is a distinct difference between the three methods — software as a service, hosted and licensed — for delivering TEM services. Each has its pros and cons. I would recommend you carefully research these different methods and decide what would be the optimal solution. For example, an SaaS typically has more robust capabilities, like allowing customers to upload their own invoices, audit their own bills, do specific expense allocations, etc. In contrast, a hosted solution doesn’t typically offer this functionality. A licensed solution may require an install at your customer’s location. Who will be doing this — you, your customer, or the TEM company? What is the additional cost for the installation?

3. Can the TEM company work with invoices that aren’t electronic?

Some TEM companies only focus on enterprise accounts and only work with electronic billing. What happens when a subsidiary of your enterprise account is on a separate billing platform and only receives a paper bill? Your customer isn’t going to be happy only being able to process a portion of its invoices.

4. Does the TEM company “normalize” their data regardless of carrier?

Let me explain: Some TEM platforms don’t have the ability to commonly handle multiple carrier invoices. Their TEM platforms were built specifically for one operator and typically don’t work with other operators that group items differently on their invoices. For example, AT&T Wireless puts its credits under the “Other Charges” section while Verizon Wireless puts them under the “Monthly Service Charge” area. The last thing you want when analyzing and trying to optimize a customer’s telecom environment is to go through a series of reports trying to match apples to apples. A good TEM platform should produce “normalized” reports regardless of carrier.

5. Who is managing the wireline/wireless inventory updates — the agent, their customer or the TEM company?

When a mobile user relocates to a new location/department, or an MPLS circuit is cancelled, who will be handling these types of moves/adds/changes? Some TEM companies have feature-rich platforms to handle this, but others don’t even have an inventory management component in their solution. If this is important to your customer, be sure to understand how this will be handled.

6. Can the TEM company handle international invoices/inventory?

Some platforms don’t have the ability to handle international invoices and inventory. If your clients have international offices, make sure this international ability is inherent to the platform. Some TEM companies claim they work with dozens of international carriers, but this doesn’t mean they have experience in handling the invoices or auditing the bills.

7. Will the TEM company train the agent’s customer on their specific software or processes, or is the agent expected to handle this responsibility?

TEM companies are still in an infancy stage; no company does more than $50 million, so their resources are limited. Most TEM companies do demos, presentations and training via webcast. The small amount of time allocated for the training is never enough for you to become an expert on the TEM platform and processes. Be sure your contract with the TEM company allocates a certain number of hours of free training/help desk per month, particularly during the first 90 days.

8. Does the TEM platform provide a workflow approval process for ordering/procurement?

Be sure you understand the platform’s ordering/procurement capabilities. TEM companies handle this very differently. Ask how many approval levels there are and how rejections are handled, etc. For example, Joe, the truck driver, orders a specific mobile device. It then routes to Joe’s manager, then up to the vice president. Can the vice president approve or reject the order, or does he/she have the ability to reject the first mobile device and approve an entirely different one without stopping the workflow? Also, you should ensure this activity is tracked and is part of the reporting.

9. Who is responsible for the billing for the TEM service?

Many agents get their revenue from carrier commissions and are not equipped to handle monthly detailed invoicing. If you don’t have billing ability in-house, be sure to understand how the invoicing is handled and how much it will cost to have the TEM company process invoices for you.

10. Is the TEM company an agent too?

To nobody’s surprise, some TEM companies now have indirect agreements with the carriers. If you are going to partner with a TEM company, be sure to understand upfront who is getting the commission from the carrier. TEM companies will now give a large discount on their professional services or platform costs if they get the credit under their carrier base. Some claim that their agreements with the carriers will allow you to get paid on an existing MSA, but only if you bring them into the deal. Remember, this is just a third-party company you are partnering with to bring an additional value to your solution — don’t let them dictate your business model.

Trent McCracken is president of Spectrum Inc., a master agency that developed its own TEM platform after realizing the challenges of working with a third-party TEM company. He can be reached at [email protected].

Tags: Agents Business Models

Most Recent


  • Enterprise Resource Planning
    Unit4 Driving Shift from Service Delivery to Sales-Driven Partners
    A top partner says it has “backed the horse it wants to win the race” as the ERP vendor seeks to move away from the co-sell model.
  • Strategy compass
    Zoom Vet Laura Padilla to Shape Airtable's Channel Strategy, Partner Program
    Airtable presents a "huge" opportunity for channel partners.
  • You are partnering with your customers so develop a longterm relationship with them
    5 Things Vendors Aren’t Doing that Partners Wish They Were
    What are traits of a valuable vendor/partner relationship? We asked our roundtable partner participants to weigh in.
  • Microsoft Envision UK
    Microsoft Creating a Front Line to Help Ukrainian Government
    Microsoft president Brad Smith explains how the company is supporting Ukraine, including with IT services.

Leave a comment Cancel reply

-or-

Log in with your Channel Futures account

Alternatively, post a comment by completing the form below:

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Related Content

  • Stressed young people
    More Partner Pain Points: MSPs On Lack of End-to-End Security, 'New Normal'
  • zero trust security
    Leveraging Partner Expertise to Build a Zero-Trust Strategy
  • Drive revenue
    Proofpoint Protect: Rising Vendor, Partner Revenues Amid COVID-19
  • Growth plan
    N-able Empower Day 1: How to Grow Your Business

Upcoming Events

View all

Channel Partners Europe

June 14, 2022 - June 15, 2022

MSP Summit

September 13, 2022 - September 16, 2022

Galleries

View all

Verizon Data Breach Investigation Report: Employee Cybersecurity Training Still Lagging as Stolen Credentials Rise

May 24, 2022

8 Takeaways You Need to Know from AWS’ Public Sector Summit

May 24, 2022

Top 5 Cloud, Data Announcements from Informatica World

May 24, 2022

Industry Perspectives

View all

Leverage Your MSP’s People Power

May 24, 2022

How SD-WAN Helps Secure the Expanding Network Perimeter

May 19, 2022

A Sneak Peek at the 2022 BrightCloud Threat Report

May 17, 2022

Webinars

View all

Simplifying SaaS Security for MSPs

April 27, 2022

How to Supercharge The Network to Support Your IT Superhero Moves

May 3, 2022

The 2022 MSP Challenge: Scale Service Delivery Despite the Talent Gap

April 21, 2022

White Papers

View all

The New Bottom Line: How MSPs Can Meet the Healthcare Crisis While Evolving Their Businesses

April 19, 2022

How to build a Security Operations Center (on a budget)

April 4, 2022

The AT&T Cybersecurity Incident Response Toolkit

April 4, 2022

Channel Futures TV

View all

AT&T, Microsoft, Cisco, ThreatLocker on Unlocking Partner Potential

Agents Share ‘Secrets,’ Industry Opportunity

May 11, 2022

Vonage Addresses Potential Partner Opportunity via Acquisition by Ericsson

May 5, 2022

Lumen Technologies ‘Built for Growth and Scale’

May 4, 2022

Twitter

ChannelFutures

.@IngramMicroInc's John Dusett talks @ThisIsCloudBlue, MSPs, cybersecurity, AWS and more. dlvr.it/SR0Cw1 https://t.co/OpcZRj9fdb

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@VZDBIR dove deep into the latest #databreach trends. @TheMediaTrust @saryunayyar @Gurucul @olsontmt… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

Using people power to drive #profitability and capitalize on emerging #tech @Sherweb #MSPs dlvr.it/SQzrrl https://t.co/XwLfY492B0

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@Unit4Global @embridgeconsult talk the shift away from service delivery to sales #ERP. dlvr.it/SQzmPV https://t.co/dKLAPIKfzS

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

This Thursday, join us online for this incredible discussion, hosted by @chachelly of @figfirm, and featuring the i… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

Check out the news coming from @Informatica today regarding cloud, data, #AI. #InformaticaWorld… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 24, 2022
ChannelFutures

What are traits of a valuable vendor/partner relationship? We asked our roundtable partner participants to weigh in… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 23, 2022
ChannelFutures

.@Microsoft pres. @BradSmi on how the co. supports #Ukraine with $100M of free tech to fight #cyberattacks.… twitter.com/i/web/status/1…

May 23, 2022

MSSP Insider

Business advice for MSSPs and news from the broader security channel.

Newsletters and Updates

Sign up for The Channel Report, Channel Futures Update, MSP 501 Newsletter and more.

Live Channel Events

Get the latest information on the next industry-leading Channel Partners event.

Galleries

Educational slide shows and images from live events.

Media Kit And Advertising

Want to reach our audience? Access our media kit.

DISCOVER MORE FROM INFORMA TECH

  • Channel Partners Events
  • Telecoms.com
  • MSP 501
  • Black Hat
  • IoT World Today
  • Omdia

WORKING WITH US

  • Contact
  • About Us
  • Advertise
  • Newsletter

FOLLOW Channel Futures ON SOCIAL

  • Privacy
  • CCPA: “Do Not Sell My Data”
  • Cookie Policy
  • Terms
Copyright © 2022 Informa PLC. Informa PLC is registered in England and Wales with company number 8860726 whose registered and Head office is 5 Howick Place, London, SW1P 1WG.
This website uses cookies, including third party ones, to allow for analysis of how people use our website in order to improve your experience and our services. By continuing to use our website, you agree to the use of such cookies. Click here for more information on our Cookie Policy and Privacy Policy.
X