Upfront: Telecom Costs Still Rampant

Although telecommunications cost control initiatives have burgeoned in the past couple of years, many finance organizations are still struggling to get a grip on this area, with its complex array of rebates, rapidly changing services and products, and invoices that are often riddled with errors. Visibility into some categories of telecom expenditure -- wireless costs, for example -- is almost completely lacking at many organizations, according to a study by AberdeenGroup.

"Telecom is a large and growing expense at most companies," reports Rick Saia, analyst with the Boston-based research firm and primary author of the study. "With the constantly changing market for many communications services, such as the growth of wireless devices and VoIP [voice over Internet protocol], enterprises need to get this spending under control."