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What is Technology Expense Management (TEM)?

Technology Expense Management (TEM) encompasses tools and processes that reduce IT and telephony costs, optimize operations, and provide you with visibility into your technology spend. TEM helps you reduce costs, increase efficiency, and make informed decisions about your technology stack.
Want to optimize your IT costs and streamline operations? Symplicity monitors and organizes your invoices and contracts with a keen eye for inefficiencies. This ensures that you only pay for the services you need and get the best possible solutions at the best prices. Contact us to learn how TEM provides scalable, cost-effective resources to improve business agility.
Who needs TEM?
The more complex your technology stack and the higher your technology budget, the more you can save with a thorough TEM audit. Large enterprises almost always realize significant savings by hiring a qualified TEM consultant. Even small and medium-sized businesses often achieve a positive return on investment. Managing technology spend is a specialized discipline. Most IT departments and finance teams are skilled in their core competencies but are too busy to scrutinize their invoices as thoroughly as our TEM experts can.
We work with a wide variety of industries and businesses of all sizes to achieve savings and increase efficiency.

What technology spend needs to be managed?

TEM encompasses all types of technology spend within the enterprise. Here are some common subcategories we cover:

• IT Support and Managed IT Services
• Mobile Devices and Service Subscriptions
• Cloud and Storage Services
• Software Licensing
• IT Hardware (PCs/Servers)
• Telecommunication Services (POTS, Data, Mobile, VoIP)

Key Features of TEM
TEM is a discipline that helps you minimize your enterprise infrastructure spending while finding the best possible solutions for your budget. Inventory Management
TEM provides visibility into your technology assets, including any waste or inefficiencies.
Invoice Management
Our TEM experts review invoices from all your technology vendors, identify billing errors, enforce contract terms, recover overpayments, and verify billing accuracy. This reduces overall telecommunications and IT costs.

Contract Management
Our expert team tracks contract renewal dates, analyzes terms, and ensures you don’t overpay or miss out on promised vendor discounts.
Cost Reporting and Analytics
TEM provides insights and facilitates accurate budget planning, identifying cost optimization opportunities, and making data-driven decisions about your IT investments.

How can TEM help my business?

• Technology Cost Management helps your business:
• Reduce total invoice volume
• Identify and correct billing errors
• Enforce contract terms
• Identify technology savings
• Technology upgrades
• Negotiate better terms
• Increase transparency

Reduce total technology invoice volume
Our TEM experts analyze your invoices from all vendors to uncover hidden savings opportunities. They identify and correct billing errors, enforce contract terms, recover overpayments, and verify the accuracy of your invoices.
As part of our partnership with one of our clients, a large supermarket chain, we reduced the total number of invoices from 457 to 34. Read the case study.
Identify and correct billing errors
Our team of experts reviews each invoice line for errors. We identify unreasonable charges, incorrect prices, and other errors that drive up your costs. Once we identify these errors, we correct them and refund the overcharges, saving you money.
Enforce contract terms
Suppliers don’t always follow the agreed-upon terms. Our experts ensure that your suppliers follow all the contract terms you’ve negotiated. If they “forget” to apply the promised discounts or prices, we’ll find out. We’ll apply the agreed-upon prices and discounts, and refund you any overpayment. What is Technology Expense Management
Identify technology savings
We thoroughly analyze your technology stack to identify redundant areas – services or systems you’re paying for that overlap or duplicate existing functionality. Our experts actively search for more cost-effective alternatives that can replace your current technology at a more affordable price without compromising functionality. We identify redundancies and support you in upgrading to more affordable solutions

Technology Upgrades

Outdated technology can be costly. We help you identify situations where you are paying too much for underperforming systems or services. Newer, more efficient solutions with improved performance and functionality may be available at the same or even lower price. Our experts show you ways to upgrade to the latest technology while maintaining or reducing your costs.
Negotiate better terms
Vendors often offer better prices and terms, but do not offer these discounts voluntarily. Our experts analyze your contracts and services to identify opportunities for renegotiation to more favorable terms.
We show you areas where you can use your influence to secure a better deal. We then negotiate on your behalf to achieve optimal contract terms.
Increase transparency
A good TEM partner provides detailed reports and analytics that show exactly what services you offer, what you pay for them, and how those costs are structured. With this information, you can easily identify areas of potential savings or optimization.
We identify overspending or underutilized services and show you ways to allocate those expenses more efficiently. This transparency enables you to make informed decisions that align your technology investments with your business priorities.

Different types of technology cost management

TEM solutions cover different aspects of a company’s technology spend. Each type of TEM focuses on specific areas, and the right solution will help you better manage and optimize your technology spend. We examine the most important types of TEM and how they can benefit your business.
Telecom cost management focuses on managing telecommunications costs, including fixed and mobile voice and data services. TEM includes telecommunications asset inventory management, auditing and cost optimization by identifying unused or underutilized services and preparing telecommunications cost analyses.

Cloud Expense Management (TMS) manages the costs of cloud services and infrastructure.
IT Financial Management (ITFM), a broader discipline, encompasses TEM and focuses on aligning IT spending with business value. ITFM includes budgeting, IT spend forecasting, financial management, investment evaluations, and linking IT spending to business outcomes to improve ROI.
Wireless Expense Management (WEM), a subcategory of MEM, focuses on mobile services. WEM includes voice minutes management, shared data plans, employee portals for device procurement, service plan management, and wireless cost optimization through detailed usage tracking.
Managed Mobility Services (MMS) provides comprehensive control over mobile devices, applications, and services. MMS includes mobile device management, mobile application management, mobile mobility management, and mobile security management.
Technology Business Management (TBM) encompasses TEM but also improves business outcomes by translating technology investments into business value. TEM aligns IT and business strategies, creates value, reduces IT costs, and improves the ROI of technology investments.
Symplicity Communication covers all aspects of TEM. From telecommunications to IT financial management, our TEM solution offers countless opportunities to simplify your life. Book a free consultation today and we’ll show you how TEM can transform your business for good.

How to Choose the Right TEM Service

Working with a TEM provider requires expertise, rigor, and a collaborative approach. You want a provider that is committed to your success and dedicated to saving you money. Also, make sure the provider is a good fit for you in the following areas:

• Service Packages
• Scalability
• Customization
• Integration Capabilities
• Reporting and Analytics
• Customer Service
• Industry Expertise
• Security and Compliance

Service Packages

Find a TEM provider that will thoroughly review all of your telecom and IT invoices, contracts, and technology requirements. The right TEM service analyzes your entire technology stack and provides recommendations for cost optimization and avoiding unnecessary spending. A comprehensive TEM solution helps you identify savings opportunities in your company’s technology investments.
Scalability
Consider your company’s growth trends and ensure that the TEM service is scalable to meet the increasing complexity of your technology environment. The solution should adapt to changes in your business, such as mergers, acquisitions, or entering new markets.
Customization
Consider whether the TEM service can tailor its offerings to your unique needs. A one-size-fits-all solution may not be right for you. Look for TEM providers that adapt their services to your company’s existing processes and workflows.
Integration Capabilities
Consider how well the solution works with the tools and platforms you already use, rather than expecting complete integration. Seamless integration ensures smooth data flow and minimizes manual processes.
Reporting and Analytics
The right TEM provider gives you clear insight into your technology costs. These features help you identify cost optimization opportunities and make important decisions. Review the depth and presentation of the TEM service.
Customer Service
Review your TEM provider’s customer service. Fast problem resolution and high-quality support require dedicated customer service representatives, responsive help desk services, and proactive communication.
Industry Expertise
Evaluate the TEM provider’s experience and expertise in your industry. They should be familiar with your industry’s unique challenges, regulations, and best practices.
Security and Compliance
The TEM service must meet strict security standards and relevant regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, or PCI-DSS. Data protection and confidentiality are crucial when handling sensitive financial information.
Our TEM solution meets all requirements. We are a team of TEM experts who thoroughly review invoices, contracts, and technology requirements within your company.
About Symplicity
At Symplicity, we understand the challenges of moving from traditional technology-based cost management to a comprehensive approach and are happy to support you.