
2024’s TEM Market Guide by Gartner®: Insights for the Year Ahead
Gartner’s new 2024 TEM Market Guide for Telecom Expense Management services has arrived! Packed with crucial insights on the TEM landscape, it encapsulates the challenges, trends, and changes that have impacted how enterprises manage telecom costs in an uncertain economic climate. In a time when efficiency and adaptability are more vital than ever, the details within offer must-have knowledge for finding success in 2025.
Sakon is proud to be included in this year's guide, and we’re ready to share some key takeaways that can help you adapt to these changes. By aligning your approach with the latest trends like proactive AI-driven analytics and integrated IT expense management, selecting future-ready TEM service solutions is a surefire strategy for market longevity.
Telecom Expenses in an Uncertain Economic Climate
As inflation persists in 2024, businesses are honed in on maximizing the value of their telecom spend. Enterprises must evaluate how their TEM vendors can shrink costs through improved analytics, reporting, and dispute remediation. Gartner emphasizes the need for TEM providers to continuously assess telecom services to ensure every dollar spent contributes to tangible value.
But how can the aspiration of lower costs become a reality? Real-time insights allow businesses to optimize resource allocation, predict potential cost overruns, and pivot their budgets accordingly. Ongoing optimization — according to hard data — helps any enterprise confidently make informed decisions.
Information from the past has little bearing on future resiliency; with predictive analytics, businesses can identify patterns, foresee potential disruptions, and implement strategies that minimize risks.
A Market Demand for Proactive Engagement
Another major trend identified by Gartner is the change from reactive to proactive TEM services. Regular updates, actionable recommendations, and a partnership that anticipates needs instead of simply providing baseline services have turned from a well-appreciated bonus to a minimum expectation.
Proactive engagement means more than just periodic check-ins. A thorough understanding of an enterprise's communication needs — and the ability to provide insights that lead to tangible improvements — is required. Frequent communication, transparency, and collaboration ensure enterprises receive actionable advice, allowing them to stay flexible amid ongoing changes this year and beyond. By suggesting opportunities for savings like contract renegotiations or adjustments to service levels, TEM providers go from a simple third-party vendor to a collaborator equally invested in their partner’s improvement.
While telecom spending rises, a greater interest in gain share models has also grown, with both the enterprise and the TEM provider benefiting from cost optimization. Gain share models, where the savings generated by the TEM provider are shared with the enterprise, align the goals of both parties, cultivate a mutually beneficial relationship, and motivate both parties to aim for the highest value for all stakeholders involved.
Transparency in Commercial Models and Integrated IT Strategies
The importance of transparency is woven throughout this year’s Market Guide — enterprises continue to face complex commercial models with varied scopes and hidden costs, making selecting the right vendor and negotiating favorable terms formidable. A lack of clarity tends to be a slippery slope to unexpected expenses and confusion, affecting an enterprise's ability to manage telecom expenses effectively, as well as their provider’s ability to perform at their own standards.
Customizable commercial models that provide clear visibility into costs, roles, and deliverables are essential to standing out. Clearing up the fine details of cost structures — including potential undisclosed cost drivers like implementation fees, consulting support, and third-party engagement — translates into a market differentiating factor. An improved level of clarity helps enterprises reduce the risk of unexpected costs (and a lack of satisfaction with the services provided).
Integrating TEM services with broader management goals can help organizations manage telecom expenses, cloud costs, utilities, and sustainability initiatives. Integrating TEM with long-term IT strategies has been shown to reduce redundancies and cut costs effectively.
The Need for Interoperability and Sustainability
In 2024, integrating TEM solutions with existing infrastructure is more critical than ever. Enterprises need solutions that work seamlessly with their current infrastructure, and TEM providers are increasingly expected to support sustainability by aligning with environmental targets and reducing carbon footprints. Interoperability ensures that new solutions can be quickly adopted, all without disrupting existing processes and sticking to an organization's commitment to long-term positive impacts.
Leading TEM solutions have been leaning into integration with ERP, CRM, and other financial management tools an organization already relies on for communication and cost management. Services like device recycling, electronic billing, and net-zero data center initiatives are helping enterprises achieve their environmental objectives as well, contributing to financial optimization and environmental responsibility simultaneously.
Sustainability has become a core component of business strategy for many enterprises. By choosing TEM providers that prioritize environmental initiatives, organizations can contribute to global sustainability efforts and meet regulatory requirements. A solid commitment to sustainability has been known to strengthen brand reputation and is an ever-growing necessity in the eco-conscious market ahead.
Sakon's Commitment to Transforming TEM
Sakon is proud to be a part of the 2024 Gartner® TEM Market Guide — this past year, we’ve focused on enhancing the proactive nature of our services, expanding our analytics capabilities, and refining our commercial models to ensure heightened transparency and value. We have invested significantly in technology and talent to stay ahead of industry trends and continue delivering top-tier services to our clients.
Our commitment extends beyond providing a foundation of advanced TEM solutions; a renewed focus on exceptional customer service, innovation, and sustainability has remained at our core. We are proud to support enterprises in navigating economic challenges, optimizing telecom and IT spending, and aligning with broader sustainability ideals. As we continue to refine our offerings in line with Gartner’s trend analysis, we’ll strive to meet and exceed the needs of our clients, regardless of how they fluctuate in the face of new challenges.
If you want to learn more about the trends shaping telecom expense management and how Sakon can help you navigate this evolving landscape, be sure to check out the full Gartner 2024 Market Guide for Telecom Expense Management Services. With Sakon by your side, you can turn telecom expense management from a necessary expense to a competitive advantage against unpredictable competition and economic forces alike.