Customer Profile:
A Fortune 20 global corporation with hundreds of locations and an annual IT expenditure of $65 million.

Business Challenge:
The company’s senior executives set a goal to reduce IT costs by $2.5 million during the next 12 months, and another $3 million during the following 12 months. Telecom was identified as one of the largest expense line items, and it was believed that substantial savings could be realized.

The Solution:
The company contracted with LME Consulting because of their expertise in the area of telecom expense management. LME Consulting developed the following two-part plan:

1. Audit the entire WAN, which consisted of 300 circuits—primarily Frame Relay and ATM. It appeared that many circuits were billing even though they were no longer in production.

2. Audit the CISCO SmartNet maintenance contract. This contract contained 11,000 line items and there was a lack of clear definition regarding what costs were valid.

Outcome:
LME Consulting saved the company a total of $1.6 million annually in the following areas:

1. A total of 32 circuits no longer in production—but still being billed—were identified. Total savings exceeded $600,000 annually.

2. Over 300 devices were discovered in the CISCO SmartNet contract that were no longer in production. Total savings exceeded $1 million annually.

3. A policy was developed that identified different maintenance options and applied the appropriate maintenance type based on the site. Annual savings of $200,000.