A changing landscape

The last few years have seen a dramatic shift in how we all use technology and how we all communicate. Following the pandemic, many companies have seen a change in infrastructure, with a reliance on digital like never before. This coupled with changing consumer habits and priorities means assessing digital strategies and deploying the network required to underpin them is more important than ever. Faster, efficient, more secure networks driving better access to applications and more efficiency of the underlying network infrastructure are essential to digital success. But when it comes to managing network transformation, where do you start?

The perfect storm

A rapidly evolving technology landscape, changing business practices and a severe lack of resources across many sectors has created a perfect storm that many businesses, like yours, are trying to navigate. During the last few years, organisations across the country have had to change the way they operate, which brings with it many new challenges especially when it comes to network transformation.

At the point of completing the procurement of your organisation’s new network solution everything seems smooth sailing, there’s a strong business case in front of the CFO, your new network harnesses next generation technical solutions such as SASE, SD-WAN or Zero Trust Networking, you’ve orchestrated a step up in SLAs with an improving operating model, all delivered with significant cost savings! Onwards to glory!

Now let’s roll the tape forwards a year – did all those benefits really happen? Did the network get deployed on time? Does it perform as expected? Most importantly, the CFO is having trouble identifying the cost savings and she’s asked for a report from you to prove they landed.

This might sound like a nightmare, but unfortunately it is the reality for far too many network transformations. Research shows that the real world results for many organisations fall far short of their expectations:

• The average network deployment takes more than six months longer than planned

• The time taken to procure and deploy services means that over 40% of organisations report that the new functionality no longer meets their requirements by the time it is delivered

• Worst of all, organisations report up to 50% of cost savings are lost between business case and the end of the deployment

• Ongoing billing issues further erode the business case

Clearly, these outcomes are bad news for any organisation, and probably aren’t doing any career development favours for the poor procurement and IT leaders responsible. However, the good news is that it doesn’t have to be like this – there are many, many things that these procurement and IT leaders could do to make sure their transformations are more successful, and they sail the course they originally planned.

Providing you with Clarity

Anyone who has gone through a network transformation before will know the process can be incredibly time consuming, and there’s a danger of overrunning on deadlines and budget. The key causes of delayed deployments include risks around gathering per site data for the entire estate, issues with low level design development, equipment shortages and project management failures. On top of this, a robust business case can be destroyed by dual running costs, not ceasing legacy services in a timely manner and change control costs. Understanding and planning around these risks is critical if you want to successfully deliver a new digital strategy. And that’s where our team can help.

We aim to take the stress away by managing the process for you. From communicating with key stakeholders to ensuring the promises made in a proposal are delivered on time and within budget, we’re here to help every step of the way. Our team can work with you on all aspects of network transformation, using our breadth of experience alongside our unique workflow platform, Clarity. The platform enables all stakeholders to have a single view of the programme and covers every aspect of deployment including cost control, site visibility, actions updates and benefits realisation. The combined team and platform solution also enables you to:

• Potentially save costs when undergoing transformation by ensuring two networks aren’t running at the same time

• Keep track of your project timeline with complete visibility and an auditable process and reporting structure

• Monitor your budget and spend to ensure you’re only paying for the services you need

• De-risk the deployment with best practice processes and key insights

• Ensure your digital transformation is aligned to your wider business goals

• Solve disputes quickly and efficiently with direct liaison with the service provider

• Take a long-term strategic view to your business with ongoing market assessments and insights on trends

• Feel assured your network is achieving what you want it to. Our team will work with you beyond the transformation timeline to give you complete peace of mind over the entirety of your contract and business case

Are you considering a network transformation? Contact us today to discover how our expert team can help you manage the risks and costs with our dedicated platform and proven process.

The majority of our customers realise a 22x ROI from TNC.

Other than matters relating to The Network Collective, this research is based on current public information that we consider reliable. Opinions expressed may change without notice and may differ from views set out in other documents created by The Network Collective. The above information is provided for informational purposes only and without any obligation, whether contractual or otherwise. No warranty or representation is made as to the correctness, completeness and accuracy of the information given or the assessments made.

This research does not constitute a personal recommendation or take into account the particular investment objectives, financial situations, or needs of individual clients. Clients should consider whether any advice or recommendation in this research is suitable for their particular circumstances and, if appropriate, seek professional advice.

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