Challenge
Previous studies undertaken by the billing organization of a major European logistics group provided ample evidence of substantial revenue leakage in current operations across numerous aspects of the business. Based upon the amount of potential benefit and the expected degree of complexity involved in the solution, senior management determined the need for a comprehensive data validation and revenue assurance IT solution to address the business improvement needed. The client’s objectives were:
- Reduce revenue leakage by providing a solution that will identify any operational checkpoint data for which manifest data has not been passed to the relevant billing system
- Enhance the automation of a number of critical extra charges and value added services, creating additional charge records based upon the criteria specified within the mediation framework
- Reduce the number of invalid transactions reaching current billing systems through the application of data validation rules to trap potential errors
- Reduce the effort associated with correcting invalid transactions through the provision of automatic error correction functionality
- Reduction of resources required to manage the validation and correction of data
- Decreased billing errors leading to enhanced customer satisfaction and reductions in the resources required to process credit notes
After the initial analysis of RFI responses, the client determined the need to extend the RFQ to additional billing/mediation vendors in order to ensure an adequate assessment of top solution providers.
TMNG Global Solution
TMNG Global agreed with the client that the extending the RFQ to additional vendors would ensure a best-in-class product selection, provide for industry benchmarking of mediation capabilities, reduce risks from a single vendor solution and provide an additional basis for negotiating the best possible contract terms. The TMNG Global team’s comprehensive three-phased project plan included the use of our proprietary TMNG Lexicon™ methodology. Lexicon enables the team to jump-start the process of identifying and documenting business systems requirements, as well as evaluating and selecting vendors rapidly and efficiently. It is a comprehensive framework of over 4,000 requirements in 43 categories, including Order Entry, Customer Service Account Management, Customer Self-Service and Electronic Bill Payment and Presentment (EBPP).
Phase I - RFI Review and Evaluation
The initial effort was to consolidate vendor analyses from the RFI phase. The approach included:
- Reviewing the current evaluation matrix/template and creating a consolidated evaluation report
- Reviewing RFI feedback of vendors, consolidating key evaluation criteria and creating a summary for each vendor
- Providing experience/insight on the vendors’ capabilities and past performance
- Consolidating the different assessments from client work groups and vendor presentations into a single evaluation report
- Creating a vendor short-list recommendation presentation
- Providing benchmarks/ranking of telecom billing vendors
After developing a comprehensive list of 20 vendors in the marketplace, the team narrowed the list to 8 qualified suppliers based upon client requirements and the feedback from the RFI process. Using broad criteria such as functional fit, technical fit, reputation and the ability to provide resources for a prototype, the list was further narrowed to a short list of four vendors to receive the RFQ. Using the Lexicon, the team was able to quickly and easily incorporate the client’s scoring criteria, including the functional requirements, technical and usability capabilities, as well as vendor delivery time. A summary of non-technical areas was also provided, which allowed core team member input into quality, performance and presentation of short list vendor solutions. The team reviewed the differences in each key category to highlight areas for focus including further discussion with each vendor as well as areas to be used in structuring the RFQ.
Phase II – Developing the RFQ
In Phase II, the team built upon the analysis completed in the RFI phase to develop the RFQ and manage the RFQ process. They consolidated client needs and vendor capabilities to develop a comprehensive set of requirements, which focused on the functional and operational capabilities, as well as the commercial/contractual aspects of the relationship with the potential vendor.
The RFQ input package was then developed and delivered it to the short list of potential vendors identified in Phase I of the project. As a part of this package, an overall cost model/scheme was developed as a template for the vendor to follow in his RFQ response using best practice business case guidance.
Overall factors that were used for evaluating the vendors included:
Phase III – The Selection Process
In the final phase of the project, TMNG Global provided analysis and support for the final phase of the selection process. Once the responses were received and analyzed, the team also coordinated the prototype review and incorporated the results into the assessment process using TMNG Lexicon™ methodology.
Both the client and TMNG Global teams observed differences in the prototype demonstrations from the RFQ submissions. As we had predicted, prototype observations appeared to be the most reliable measure of each vendor’s ability to meet the client’s requirements. Noting these differences, the team consolidated the various assessments from client work groups and the vendor presentations into a single evaluation report using Lexicon scoring. Existing documentation was also updated with regards to the selection process approach; documenting why specific vendors had not been chosen.
The consolidated evaluation included a review of vendor feedback and a consolidation of the key evaluation criteria with a summary for each vendor. This evaluation was developed as an executive presentation. Using it’s experience and knowledge of best practices in business case development, the team developed a comprehensive business case and financial model based on vendor responses for both mediation and hosting.
Ongoing vendor negotiations were supported by providing experiential contract information and guidance to the client procurement team. Included in the list of key contract negotiating positions factors were pricing, terms, maintenance, liabilities, roles and responsibilities and others.
Benefits to the Client
This client acknowledged the speed and thorough nature of the entire RFP process and the benefits of TMNG Global’s disciplined and unbiased approach to information gathering, scoring, and ranking.
This approach enabled the client to concentrate their efforts on their internal business requirements, processes, and observations of the prototype demonstrations; while relying on the TMNG team’s for an impartial analysis of the billing/mediation marketplace, vendor proposal analysis, evaluation of the prototype demonstrations and business model development.
With the help of TMNG Global’s Lexicon methodology, the client was able to deliver a very detailed and systematic RFP to a pre-qualified set of billing and mediation vendors, review the vendors in prototype presentations and make an informed and comprehensive solution decision. Lexicon’s ability to organize thousands of technical details into summary reports that clearly and succinctly presented the vendor responses enabled the client to quickly and confidently choose the top billing/mediation provider to meet their requirements.