Chapter 3: Telecommunications Strategic Planning


Overview

In most companies the telecommunications department doesn’t have its own strategic plan, because it only provide services to support the enterprise rather than services to generate revenue.  Therefore, the telecommunications manager will only provide information to the senior managers to include the telecommunications demand as a part of the enterprise strategic plan.  An enterprise views telecommunications resources as the following ways:
·        A cost to be minimized
·        A tool to improve the productivity of the work force
·        A strategic weapon to enhance the companies position against the competitors

In most enterprises corporate senior managers will recommend the telecommunications manager to take one or more of the top approaches based on the nature of the business.  For example, a senior manager in a noncompetitive or government enterprise will recommend the cost minimizing approach above the rest.

Strategic Plan vs. Operational Plan

Telecommunications managers only provide data, statistics and recommendation to enhance the telecommunication forecasting part of the enterprise strategic plan. However, telecommunications managers have more power in creating and changing the short term or operational plan.

Strategic Plan

·        General company direction
·        Limited detail
·        Market share, opportunities and threats
·        Long range of time usually between 2-7 years 

Operational Planning

·        Created and administered by line managers
·        Current planning usually no longer than 3 years
·        Specific details and task assignments 

Telecommunications Strategic Planning

In order to provide an affective strategic planning support to the enterprise the telecommunications managers should evaluate the following elements:

External Environment

·        Financial Community
·        Customers
·        Vendors
·        Technological advances
·        Government regulations
·        Competitors
·        Owners
·        Public

Internal Environment

·        Organization environment
·        Embedded technology environment
·        Work force environment
·        Financial environment (internal capital capacity)
·        Market environment (current markets)
·        Operational environment
·        Internal standards environment
·        Current customer environment
·        Current business requirements

Information System (IS) Planning

Telecommunications is the means to deliver information to the employees or customers.  Thus, a close relationship exists between telecommunications and information system.  The following elements should be considered when the IS department is supporting the enterprise on creating the strategic plan:
·        Expansion plans (enterprise growth or contraction)
·        Financial Objectives (supply of capital)
·        Operating Principals (level of risk acceptance)
·        Technology
·        Convergence of voice and data
·        Convergence of voice and video
·        Expansion of Internet and e-commerce
·        Networking of personal computers
·        Reduction in cost of computers

Use of Image Transmission to Replace Paper

·        Movement of computing budget from IS to the end- users
·        Movement of the high –bandwidth computing to the end-users
·        Dropping cost of the long haul transmission
·        Compression of information in smaller bandwidth

Maintaining Customer Service & Competitive Edge while Developing Technology

It is very important to communicate the technological development phase to the customers and let them know that their service will be improved after the change takes place.  Good planning and constant positive communication will avoid confusion and inconvenience to the customer during the development phase.  Also, monitoring the competitors technological advancement is very important for investing in the most effective and competitive technology.  

Communicate to the Customer

·        Changes to delivery system
·        Changes in requirement
·        Integration of customer and IS (extranet)

Monitor the Competitors

·        Who are our competitors?
·        Their strength and weakness
·        Their business delivery mechanism
·        Their telecommunications and IS resources
·        Our competitive position vs. theirs
·        What changes will shift our competitive position with the customers in the future

Planning for New Technologies:

Voice and data integration is the most desired future communications planning today.

Voice and Data Integration

Following is a list of reasons for voice and data integration:
·        Toll call cost avoidance
·        Wiring cost avoidance
·        Obtaining a voice and data managed platform
·        Information sharing and ease of voice connectivity
·        Selected customer service

Types of Integration Technologies

Following is the characteristic for the most common integrating systems:

ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network)

·        Gradual spread in USA
·        Only in central offices of heavy business areas
·        Slow expansion to residential sector with changes to its current services
·        Price is too high to compete with T1 PBX box

VPN (Virtual Private Network)

·        Extratnet
·        Intranet
·        Low cost from public network or IP, but insecure
·        High cost from Frame Relay

ATM (Asynchronous Transmission Mode)

·        Desktop to server connection without protocol translation
·        High capacity bandwidth usually use it
·        Shared bandwidth with prioritization feature (i.e. when there is not enough capacity voice transmission will get the first priority)