ON THE LINE – a consultant’s notebook

Networking Coming Out of a Management SlumpAt last, signs of a telecom revival A couple of weeks ago I got a call from a senior executive at a large company. "We need to hire a senior telecom person. You know a lot of people. Can you help?" After spending a year trying to fix a chronic problem, they finally admitted that they needed to hire someone with the experience and knowledge to take charge.This might not in itself mean that much, but it was the third call in two weeks about the same thing. The others were from senior IT executives looking to bring in the equivalent of a CNO-Chief Networking Officer. And then it hit me. I had not received any requests like that for several years. After going through the busiest nine months our firm has had in the past five years, I believe that the telecom industry is coming out of a slump. This industry is on the verge of change. After years of "doing more with less" or "everything with nothing," many enterprise business executives are starting to see the need for stronger networking management. Straws in the WindHere’s some of what we’ve seen over the past six months:A company saves several million dollars by negotiating better rates. They use the money to upgrade infrastructure and hire internal managers.An Information and Communications Technology group gets business units more involved in its technology planning efforts. As a result, the network is changed in ways that have a major impact, and special and unique business applications emerge.A company develops a telecom strategy that outlines its direction for the next three years in terms of not just the technologies but management and supplier relations. It enables them to deal with the future, and they realize, "it’s not about the phones."In a crowded conference room an astute executive states: "The firm will no longer treat the telecom function as administration only. We want to take control back from the suppliers and we want to manage this effectively." Morale skyrockets.A company’s accounting and IT departments collaborate on a major selection and implementation of IP telephony. The changes have an impact on the productivity of thousands of staff.A company brings in two major vendors’ resources and expertise to help implement a complete network makeover. Without the collaboration, it would have never worked.A company develops a multi-year transition plan to converged IP-based services, taking the time to understand the internal priorities and options, make the right decisions, and put the proper resources in place to manage the infrastructure changes.A New BreezeIn part, we are seeing this trend because the economy is strong. Employment is rising and production is near capacity limits. But there’s something else at work here.When converged communications technology was introduced five years ago, the vendors claimed it would enable customers to cut costs and staff. They had to make this claim because their products weren’t sophisticated. But IP telephony proved to be tricky to implement and manage. Some organization using it achieved cost savings, but this was not the norm. Now the products are maturing and the vendors are talking mostly about the potential to improve productivity. That potential is not yet in full bloom. But many executives get the message: communications technology can improve efficiency, increase sales, and provide competitive advantage. That’s why they’re making moves of different kinds to strengthen networking management. Enterprise end users see that they need to make changes. "On the Line" is based on the consulting experience of Angus Dortmans Associates. Henry Dortmans, President, welcomes comments and suggestions. Send an email to dortmans@angusdortmans.ca or call him at 416-849-2896. For information on the firm’s advisory services, seminars and speeches, visit www.angusdortmans.ca.

ON THE LINE – a consultant’s notebook

News | 10/03/2005 4:00 am EDT

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