Controlling the Telecom Service Lifecycle
A Manager’s Guide Book
Guide Book Contents
1. Today’s current carrier challenges
2. IT Executives’ greatest challenges
3. The Telecom Service Lifecycle
(Balancing Strategy and Execution)
5. Execution & Control
Phase 4: Manage Service Delivery
Phase 5: Audit & Control Billing
Phase 6: Order & Ticket Management
4. Strategy & Planning
Phase 1: Define Business Objectives
Phase 2: Define Solution Criteria
Phase 3: Carrier Evaluation & Selection
6. Telecom Service Lifecycle
Roadmap
7. Example of Selection Criteria Matrix
About DuPont Solutions & The Author
Today’s current carrier challenges
IT Executives are more
reliant on Carriers than ever
before.
Carrier Solutions are more
sophisticated and more flexible.
Products range from Ethernet,
MPLS, VPLS, Cloud Solutions,
Managed Solutions, etc..
….but carriers’ ability to
execute is severely lacking.
We all have horror stories of
service deliveries going awry.
•  IT Executives spend way too
much time trying to get
proper carrier support in
the case of outages!
Intense competition has driven
carriers to focus attention on
sales growth and neglect service
delivery and support.
IT Executives’ Greatest
Challenge is Post-Sales
Support!
IT Executives Greatest Challenges
In a recent Poll we ran,
IT Executives reported that
Post-Sales Support is the
greatest challenge they face
when dealing with telecom
carriers.
…but how do we control
carriers to get better results?
To answer that question, we
need to examine the Telecom
Service Lifecycle from an IT
Executive’s perspective.
Poor Support, Service Delivery, and Post-Sales Account
Management are Real Challenges for IT Executives
The Telecom Service Lifecycle
Balancing Strategy and Execution
Phase 6
Order &
Ticket
Management
Execution
&
Control
Phase 5
Audit
&
Control
Billing
Phase 1
Define
Business
Objectives
Te l e c o m
Service
Lifecycle
Phase 4
Manage
Service
Delivery
Phase 3
Carrier
Evaluation &
Selection
Phase 2
Define
Solution
Criteria
Strategy
&
Planning
Phase 1: Define Business Objectives
Revenue Objectives
How much is the company
planning on growing this year?
Will some departments grow
faster than others and how will
that affect usage?
Cost Reduction Objectives
Capex cutting might shift costs
to operational spending i.e. to
cloud, hosted, and/or
managed solutions.
Employee Growth Objectives
Revenue growth probably means
adding sales and support
resources, which in turn
requires further IT resources.
Productivity Objectives
Productivity goals can drive
organizations to change their
workflow, collaboration, and
communications styles.
Phase 2: Define Solution Criteria
Design the solution to match
your business objectives
Your business objectives will
clearly dictate the design of
the solution.
Design your WAN framework
before meeting with potential
carriers.
Define Budget
Determining your budget will
define telecom service
possibilities and constraints.
Define Service Requirements
Larger carriers tend to have
more products but offer poor
support in general.
Smaller carriers focus more on
support but generally lack full
product suites.
Phase 3: Carrier Evaluation & Selection
Create Selection Criteria
Matrix
A selection criteria matrix should
comprise key categories that
match customer needs.
Criteria Matrix Parameters will
vary depending on the vertical
and business need.
Carrier Selection
The matrix is not meant to be
inflexible, it’s only meant to be
a tool to help decide which
carrier can best match your
network design and service
requirements.
Contract Negotiation
Contract areas can be focused on
pricing, free months of service,
SLAs, Delivery Times, Business
Downturn Clauses, No AutoRenew clauses, etc..
Phase 4: Manage Service Delivery
Appoint a Team Lead
A member of the IT team should
be responsible for managing the
carrier.
Schedule regular meetings
Organize regular meetings
with the Carrier including a
proper kick-off.
Define key milestones and
dependencies
Agree upon milestones at the
beginning of the project.
Understand carrier order and
delivery process
Due to human latency, lack of
attention to detail, and a lack of
ownership, orders can be wrong,
delayed, or even lost. Be sure
to track the order in order to
control it.
Identify Carrier Resources for
each phase
Determine who will be
responsible for overseeing the
project at each phase, so you
can move items along if the
order stalls.
Phase 5: Audit & Control Billing
Audit first bill compared to
contracted price
Billing disputes can be
terribly frustrating.
The majority of times when
billing mistakes are made, they
occur when bringing on new
services. These errors can
linger for years if not
corrected.
Open a Billing Dispute if
billing is incorrect
The key to getting credits is to
be armed with the right
documentation. If you are well
prepared and organized,
persistence will prevail, and
billing will be corrected.
Control billing on a quarterly
basis
While not a fun exercise,
auditing the initial bill will
clean up all sorts of potential
future issues.
Once billing is correct, it
rarely reverts to wrong
billing.
Phase 6: Order & Ticket Management
Clearly identify which
methods will be used be to
open tickets and track orders
Most carriers’ back office are
broken, and orders and tickets
need to be escalated, which can
be terribly frustrating.
It is important that you take
control and manage the
carrier through the process.
Understand Escalation
Process
Understand the carrier’s order
process and timeframes.
Designate a strong member of
your team to control the order
and to escalate when an order
is stalled.
Understand SLAs
Understand the Service Level
Agreement timeframes and
escalate when there is a breach.
Telecom Service Lifecycle
Roadmap
Strategy & Planning
Phase 1
Define
Business
Objectives
Phase 2
Define
Solution
Criteria
Phase 3
Carrier
Evaluation &
Selection
Revenue
Objectives
Design solution to
accommodate
business
imperatives
Create Selection
Criteria Matrix
Cost Reduction
Objectives
Identify Telecom
Services needed
to support
solution
Evaluate Carrier
Options against
Criteria
Execution & Control
Phase 4
Manage
Service
Delivery
Appoint Team
Lead
Define Budget
Select Carrier
Productivity
Objectives
Define Service
Requirements
Contract
Negotiation
Phase 6
Order &
Ticket
Management
Audit first bill
compared to
contracted price
Clearly identify
which methods
will be used be to
open tickets and
track orders
Open a Billing
Dispute if billing is
incorrect
Understand
Escalation Process
Control billing on
a quarterly basis
Understand SLAs
Schedule regular
meetings
Define key
milestones and
dependencies
Employee
Objectives
Phase 5
Audit and
Control
Billing
Understand carrier
order and delivery
process
Identify Carrier
Resources for
each phase
About DuPont Solutions &
Mischa DuPont
•  DuPont Solutions is a Carrier
Neutral Telecom Agency
representing over 50 carriers
across the United States.
Mischa has spent his career
working in the telecom industry,
both domestically and
internationally.
•  Management Services are
paid for by the selected
carrier, not by the End-User.
His passion is in collaborating
with organizations to deploy new
technologies.
•  For more information, please
go to
www.dupont-solutions.com
Please feel free to
contact Mischa
directly at
mischa.dupont@dupont-solutions.com