July 20, 2010 ETMA, the authoritative voice for the Telecom Expense Management (TEM) Solutions Providers, held its annual meeting. Nineteen TEM companies and 32 attendees came to the annual meeting.
An Ethics Code was debated and ratified, new executive board members were selected, and future programs were discussed.
Trent McCracken from Spectrum was elected Secretary, and Kevin Whitehurst from mindWireless was elected Treasurer. Ravi Padmanabhan from IBM was elected as an at-Large board member.
“The time is right for IBM to join ETMA’s board to complement our Telecom Expense Management worldwide consulting and managed services solutions for fixed and mobile as part of the Integrated Communications Services portfolio,” stated Ravi Padmanabhan from IBM.
“mindWireless fully supports the concept of working in cooperation with other TEM industry companies,” said Mr. Whitehurst. “As a member of the ETMA board, I intend to continue our push to educate enterprises on the financial benefits they can achieve with a proactive TEM program.”
Trent McCracken added, “I am excited to be elected to the ETMA board. Spectrum values its relationship with ETMA, and I look forward to contributing my leadership skills toward the continuation of ETMA’s growth initiatives. It is my hope that with guidance and strategic direction from the other talented board members, we can work on ensuring that ETMA is providing valuable educational and industry resource for businesses and telecom agents that are seeking more knowledge on the benefits of Telecom LifeCycle Management.”
After some discussion, attendees and proxy votes from absentee members ratified ETMA’s new Ethics Code. It creates industry standards for accuracy and truth in advertising, marketing, sales, and all other forms of communication. It also states that members will seek to win on their strengths and not disparage competitors. The code requires members to disclose any potential conflicts of interest to clients. Another important highlight calls for members that have evidence that another member or non-member may not be conforming to the principles of this Ethics Code, to notify the Ethics Committee ([email protected]) for further review. The idea of having it apply to non-members means that ETMA will work to improve the entire industry. In the next months, ETMA will work to establish a balance implementing these standards while it works to avoid getting stuck in the morass of becoming a policing organization. Read the Ethics Code online.
“I believe the establishment of this Ethics Code is a game changer for the association and the entire industry,” stated Larry Foster, vice president/general manager of PINNACLE and president of ETMA. “ETMA has demonstrated how the power of collaboration can influence the industry for the betterment of our customers. ETMA is poised to build upon the successes we have achieved and help our clients’ maximize their investments by streamlining their relationships with their technology supply partners,” added Larry Foster.
One of the last acts at the annual meeting was to formally recognize and thank ETMA’s outgoing Secretary David Perdue, Treasurer Don Hobbs, and at-Large board member Chris Mezzatesta for their work. Each of these board members has served in leadership roles with ETMA since its founding in 2006. They have played vital roles in helping to establish ETMA as a professional association that serves to promote the value of Telecom Expense Management getting competitors to collaborate strategically for the betterment of the entire TEM market with standards and industry education.
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In 2006, many of the largest Telecom Expense Management (TEM) solution providers established the Telecom Expense Management Industry Association (ETMA) to raise awareness and knowledge of TEM solutions. ETMA’s ongoing mission is to improve the ROI and service quality through the development, promotion and adoption of industry standards. ETMA also seeks to cultivate shared industry knowledge among TEM providers, business partners, telecom service providers, and enterprise clients. ETMA solution providers help organizations manage over $31billion in telecom and data assets.
