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 TELECOM'S BIG THREE . . .

No, not the three big service providers; these three are key to every service provider of any size. I am speaking of Billing, Customer Experience and Revenue Assurance.

They all get attention in the trade press, though Customer Experience seems to be the prettiest these days based on the amount of space devoted to CE. By now every provider has a strategy in each of these functional areas. Because these are far reaching functions, change will be incremental. Billing and Revenue Assurance will respond to the technical solutions you love. Throw in a new wiz-bang platform and "woof" - problem solved. But, the long-term continuous improvement will come from attention and careful improvement to your business process.

As we have for 18 years, Alliance can help you with vendor selection if you are choosing a RA platform. From requirements to configuration, we can provide support with consultants experienced in the functional area. We can also provide Process Analysts with deep experience in the business process of service providers. They will arrive with a thorough understanding of business process requirements to support the end-to-end review that needs to accompany an RA effort. If you already have a platform, we can support the change initiatives that will flow from the increased ability to analyze your revenue sources and your cost management efforts.

Customer Experience is driven by examination of business process once you have defined what you are willing to commit to changing in your relationship to your customers. Breaking down the elements of your order to cash processes, and examining the interconnection between these three key functional areas is key to improving Customer Experience. The positive association with your company that an order promptly and correctly completed to create a new customer can be completely erased by an incorrect or incomprehensible bill, or misapplied payment.

Process Analysis and change are skills long practiced at Alliance. We will be at CTIA next month. I go to this event to listen to your plans and concerns, perhaps over a coffee, an adult beverage, or a meal. Please click here if you plan to attend.

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Peter Covey published the 7 Habits of Effective People in 1981 and it was updated and republished in 2004. If you want to improve your ability to manage people or process, I recommend the book for your long term development. If you need to improve your productivity today, click here to read an article from Inc. magazine. What we do during our day, and how we approach our work matters a great deal. Get control of your work and you will get control of your life, and you will get more done vs. being busier.

Featured Consultant: Tim Peart, Senior Architect

TT: How and when did you get into telecom?  

TP:  I moved into telecom (USWest) in the early '90s. I had been in the defense industry for some years and telecom was a 'near neighbor' for some of the work that I had been doing. Initially, I worked in supporting 'Capacity Provisioning' and authored extensive training for field engineers using Outside Plant - essentially being dropped in the deep end! I went on to help USWest figure out how to offer and provision DSL as a product. After USWest became Qwest, I was an architect for Inter-Connect Mediated Access whereby other providers gain access to Qwest facilities (LSRs & ASRs). After CenturyLink came on the scene, I worked in the area of Customer Management and Sales Automation including Product Configure-Price-Quote. I have worked for several Telcos and Cablecos running the gambit from VoIP thru Order Management and Customer Care, most recently as an Enterprise Architect at Cricket Communications.

TT:   What is your subject matter expertise and how did you develop your knowledge in that area?

TP: I have a broad strategic focus, and consider myself a 'big-picture' guy. I have seen several telcos experience challenges when relating short-term and long-term plans, and then get locked into inflexible legacy based & tightly coupled solutions through cumulative, but independent, short-term projects. I can assist with Architectural transformations, and help senior management with Strategy allowing them to return to an overall robust, but flexible architecture with a speedier 'time-to-delivery', through road maps and governance.

TT: What do you feel is the biggest contribution you've made to a client?

TP:  The design and implementation of the Customer Master Data Management (MDM) for Qwest. This was a significant undertaking which provided the first end-to-end view of their customers across all channels and functions; Marketing, Sales, Contracts, Orders, Billing, Care (inc Trouble Ticketing) while also aggregating the fragmented views of the larger customers both organizationally and products-in-use footprint. More than 20 internal and external sources were eventually integrated to provide a consolidated One-Stop-Shop for any part of the 360 degree view of a customer.

  
TT: What is one of the most interesting projects you've worked on?

TP: The Customer MDM for Qwest.

TT: What is your favorite city/country to work in?

TP: Although I miss London and enjoy visiting back there as often as possible, I really enjoy Denver. The weather takes a lot of beating, and the mountains are always within easy reach.

TT: What hobbies do you pursue in your free time?  

TP: I enjoy motorcycling, bicycling (actually I ride a trike!), steam trains (both full-size and models), camping, gardening and just generally being outdoors - especially in the mountains!

TT: What do you like best about working with Alliance?