Negotiating World Class Conferencing Contracts

3/4/2016 Optelcon Confidential 1

“Best in class companies have 80% of their spend under external

management review”—Aberdeen Research

Expertise. Passion. Systems. Information. Savings

Negotiating World Class

Conferencing Contracts

3/4/2016 Confidential 2

Founded in 2003 and based in Chicago, Optelcon is a global IT, telecom and

mobility spend reduction firm that specializes in contract negotiations,

benchmarking, optimization and life-cycle management.

Optelcon has built a reputation for delivering best in class results. With minimal

client resources, our team has saved companies hundreds of millions of

dollars on over $2.2B in spend.

Optelcon is regularly engaged by some of the largest global IT procurement

and consulting companies to negotiate their own IT agreements as well as that

of their clients. Fortune 500 companies, mid-size enterprises and telecom

carriers also put their trust in Optelcon to consistently deliver industry leading

cost reduction results.

ABOUT OPTELCON


Optelcon is 100% results driven. Optelcon takes an

all of the above approach to deliver industry leading

cost reduction results.

How Do We Cut Costs?


Who hires Optelcon?

Some of the companies who put their trust in Optelcon to deliver

maximum cost savings and subject matter expertise.

Our Clients Save More Money With More Vendors

Optelcon helps our clients save money with over 90 global IT vendors.

Negotiating World Class

Conferencing Agreements


“The times are a changing”

• Traditional

• Per minute audio / web

• Toll-free access

• International toll-free

• Call-back

• Named hosts

• PSTN transport

• Multiple bridges

• Rising monthly costs

• Next-Gen

• Capacity-based models

• Named / concurrent users

• All you can eat

• On-net transport (SIP)

• Intelligent global routing MPLS with QoS

• Predictable monthly spend

• 24-hour global day

Traditional consumption models for virtual meetings

Pay per minutePremiums for int’l

minutes

Monthly spend

increases as adoption

grows

Next-Gen consumption models for virtual meetings

Unlimited usage 24/7Includes local access from

international locations

Predictable, fixed

cost licensing

STEP 1: Securing buy-in from your key stakeholders

• Identifying key stakeholders:o Power users (sales, marketing, training, corporate communications, executive

team)

o Executive Admins

o The users with the loudest voice

• Ways to engage them:o End-user feedback requests (via survey)

o User panels

o Online discussion groups (Chatter, Yammer)

• Questions to ask:

o What % of time do they spend in the office (versus on the road)?

o What functionality do they use the most in virtual meetings?

o What new functionality do they want to see added in the next 12 months?

o Is there a willingness to change platforms if it improves the collaboration

experience?

o Are they open to connecting via VoIP?

o Are they open to using local toll access numbers (versus toll-free access)?

STEP 2: Getting your house in order

Confirm the key dates Analyze the invoice

Auto-renewal date

Notification date (auto-renew)

Minimum commitment &

Interval

Minimum call fees

Feature charges

Taxes, fees, surcharges

What is in the invoice frequently does

not line up with the contract

STEP 3: Preparing your contract negotiation checklist

End Of Contract Specify Month To Month Term When Initial Term Ends

Max Suggested

Revenue Commitment

%60% of total expected contract spend

Type of Commitment% Of Total Term Of Contract, Not Monthly Or Annually

(check out the link in the resources section for a great article about this)

Technology UpgradeCommitment Relief If Newer Lower Cost Solution Is Implemented. E.g. Toll Free to

VOIP

Comprehensive

PricingAll Current And Projected Services Pricing In Agreement

Fees And Surcharges Complete List. Negotiate Waivers

Call Rounding 4 or 5 Digit Rounding. Avoid 2 Digit Rounding

Technology

SeparationKeep Voice Terms Separate From Other Technology. i.e. WebEx

Call Minimums Negotiate Removal

SLAs Well Defined With Out Clause For Non-Performance

Global Rates List All Country Rates

STEP 4: Reviewing the impact of surcharges & fees on your

invoice

Unless specifically requested, added surcharges and fees will not show

up on a contract, in an RFP or in billing reports

STEP 5a: Ask about the active host pricing model

• What is the Active Host model?

• Pay for 15% of your employee

count (in year 1)

• Deploy to 100% of your

employees

• Simplify administration,

maximize investment

• Re-evaluate every 12 months

When does it make sense?

• Changing virtual meeting

platforms

• Adoption is at least 15% of your

employee count

• Initiative to increase collaboration

• In acquisition mode (fastest way

to integrate new user groups)

STEP 5b: Take advantage of your global footprint

• Challenge with named licensing modelso Licenses go unused for 16 hours every day

o Global companies have to license every user (paying for idle time)

o No flexibility to take advantage of 24-hour workday

• Concurrent User Plan Solves This Problem!• Customer Example:

• 6,000,000 minutes per month in virtual meetings

• 15,000 registered users in North America, Europe & Asia

• 3 x 8-hour workdays (with minimal overlap)

• Benefit:• Approximately 9,000 minutes per concurrent port

• 700 ports (includes buffer)

• $50 p/port

• $0.0058 per minute

Step 6: How will virtual meetings integrate with your UC strategy?

• Deployment of unified communications is not a

flash-cut

• Virtual meeting tools can augment your UC strategy:

o Advanced use cases (online training, town hall meetings, sales demos)

o Bridge video endpoints into virtual meetings

o Executive, high-profile users

o Minimize change during a phased deployment

• Questions:

o What is your UC strategy and who’s leading that effort?

o How important is video communication to your organization?

o What functionality gaps will need to be addressed by virtual meeting

tools

Contract negotiation cheat sheet

1) Secure buy-in from key stakeholders

2) Confirm the key dates / commitments on current contracts

3) Prepare your contract negotiation checklist

4) Calculate the impact of fees and surcharges on your current

invoice

5) Ask about new consumption models (Active Host, Concurrent

Ports)

6) Validate how a new solution will integrate with your UC strategy

• *When in doubt, call in the experts to help you negotiate the best

deal possible


Our Recent Results Speak For Themselves. (2014-2015 Only)

In addition to saving clients money in Telecom and Wireless, Optelcon will address

your entire global IT spend.

Life Cycle Management

•Deliver• Improve

•Advise•Analyze

-Audit-Benchmark

-Strategy-Tactics-Playbook

-Negotiate-Source-Recover -Implement

-Measure-Optimize-Advise


Optelcon’s services include monthly incremental improvement analysis,

audits, optimization, Market Rate Watch and advisory services.


Team Member Role

Years of

Experience Prior to Optelcon

Full Bio

Double Click on Icon

Robert PommerFounder & CEO,

Executive Consultant24

Co-Founder, COO/CTO and Vice Chairman of

Universal Access (Now Global Capacity)

Anita Mandell

VP of Operations,

Customer Care,


VP of Global Network Delivery and Voice

Operations - Accenture.

Chris Barger

VP of IT Operations,

Category Leader,


Director Of Data Center Operations and IT

Procurement - CGI (60,000 Global Employees)

Larry ConklinDirector of Audit

Operations21

Sr. Telecom Auditor And Designated Auditing

Subject Matter Expert- IBM

Therese AlcalaDirector of Telecom

Analytics24

Service Program Manager, Bill Auditor and analyst

- Verizon Business Network Services

Debra Walker

Sr. Director of Analysis

and Database

Development 22

Sr. Telecom & IT Data Analyst- ATT/IBM Global

Services

Matt Galman

Sr. Director of Mobile

Operations, Sr.

Consultant10

Director Of Wireless Operations and Analysis -ADT /

Tyco International

Combined years of Experience 150

There Is No Substitute For Experience.

You will not find a team of individuals that is more experienced or more

passionate about customer care and reducing the IT costs of our clients.

Why should you choose Optelcon?

• No Risk Fee Structure- Fees are a % of realized savings. No Savings, No Fees

• Better Results –Average IT, Telecom and Mobile Savings - 41%

• Better Value – Optelcon is more nimble and provides a better value than larger consulting firms

• Experience– Company-wide avg. industry experience – 21 Years Avg. industry experience

• Experience – Over $2.2B+ in contracts negotiated and spend addressed - $500M+ saved

• No Software – No complex, resource intensive software. We do all of the work.

• Ease –Optelcon only needs a copy of your invoices and contracts. We do the rest

• Speed – Optelcon gets real results in an average of only 2.4 months

• Life-cycle Management – Optelcon helps manage the contracts and spend over its lifecycle

• Addressable Spend – One Partner – Cost reductions with over 90 global IT vendors


“Thank You For Your Time”.

We look forward to adding value to your company’s

cost reduction initiatives.


Robert J. Pommer

Founder & CEO