The Conference Board of Canada just announced that the telecommunications industry has hit a speedbump. The Board claims that for 2015, industry revenues would grow by only 2.3%. Growth hasn’t been this low since the 2008 recession. The Board notes that one of the factors for this slowdown is due to rising prices (which are themselves due to a host of other factors). Despite the rising prices, our demand for telecom devices and services are as high as ever (and are growing, in fact).
The two trends put together means that the telco industry along with businesses and consumers who use their products will be affected. And yes, that’s practically everyone.
Why is this happening?
There are 3 key reasons for this recent industry slowdown.
1. The recent economic slowdown. It’s no secret that the Canadian economy has been suffering of late. This hasn’t been much help for telecommunication companies. With less money being allocated to budgets, everyone’s revenues go down, including telco businesses.
2. Government policies have changed. Since the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC)’s new 2013 policies were adopted, telecom companies have been paying increased tariffs and have been facing stricter constraints. Not only have these initial tariffs increased, but they will continue to increase over the coming year. Understandably, these tariffs drive up prices for the end-user, which in turn forces spending to go down in quite a few instances.
3.Consumption habits are changing. Do you pay for on-demand movie and television viewing, and have opted out from traditional television pay-per-channel viewing? Chances are you have. The recent exponential growth in on-demand video streaming (particularly mobile streaming services) have started to push out tradition big-name television providers. Not only has this reduced pay-per-channel viewing, but has also increased data consumption. Remember what I said above about increasing demand for telecom services? This is part of the reason why.
You Can Hedge Against this
Knowing the above points should be enough to convince you that it’s time to at least evaluate whether or not you should make adjustments to your company’s telco use and budgeting. You most likely have to do so. What you shouldn’t do is make huge blanket changes or cuts to what you have; you need a measured approach.
Even in the absence of changes to the telecommunications industry, it’s always a good idea to be adaptable. In our article on the sigmoid curve, we noted that all companies should always be ready to make changes so as to better adapt to fluctuating economic and social environments.
The current situation is a perfect opportunity to effect positive change, especially in the way they track their inventory of business technology. This is especially true of their IT and telecom assets. It is now more important than ever for businesses to have a clear knowledge of what of IT and telecom assets they own and manage, who’s in charge of the asset, and where it is in order to make the most of a telecom investment.
What’s Kaizen?
Keeping on the subject of change, there’s a well-known Japanese word that means “change for the better”. What’s that word? It’s Kaizen. But, by change, we don’t mean flip the whole company around in a week’s time. Within the Kaizen methodology, there are series of gradual small changes done by everyone involved which eventually lead huge overall changes. This big change will lead to big positive results, if done right.
But, how is it done right?
You’re in luck: The Kaizen – A Guide to IT and Telecom Management eBook has the answers to this question. Because we know owning IT and using telecom services is essential for any business, we’ve recently released a guide which aims to provide insight on how the Kaizen process can be put into practice, especially with technology.
Of particular note is the ebook’s discussion on the benefits of using telecom expense management software to comprehensively identify the elements in an organization that need changing. We then follow that by providing a step-by-step guide on how to select the perfect provider to suit your business needs.
Want more information on selecting the right TEM?
At Etelesolv, we pride ourselves on being Canada’s leader in IT and telecom expense management. Our CimplManager, CimplControl, and CimplMobile solutions provide businesses with innovative IT management and help them track assets from start to finish. Don’t want to keep track of it all by yourself and want to focus on what you do best? We also offer professional managed services with a team of experts who will help you make the best of your time. Download our free Kaizen eBook and watch our CimplControl Webinar on-demand to see how it’s done!
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