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Prove TEM Value Beyond Savings

By Timothy C. Colwell, Executive Vice President at AOTMP

Is your TEM program recognized only for reducing costs, or for enabling better business decisions across the organization?

The AOTMP Community, including Advisory Council members, Industry Leadership Committee members, subscribers, and thought leadership followers, consistently tells us that TEM earns attention when it finds savings, but it earns strategic support when it improves decisions.

That distinction matters. If TEM is described only as a cost-cutting function, leaders will value it primarily when budgets are tight. When it is positioned as a decision-support capability, it becomes relevant to vendor management, governance, reinvestment, and risk reduction.

The work is not just about reporting dollars saved. It is about showing what the organization can now do because those dollars were freed up. That might mean reinvesting in strategic projects, reducing manual effort, improving oversight, or making better sourcing decisions.

Actions to take

  • Translate savings into business outcomes.
  • Show how TEM improved visibility or prevented waste.
  • Connect TEM data to vendor, contract, and lifecycle decisions.
  • Share success stories in business language.
  • Reframe TEM staff as analysts and decision supporters, not just processors.

How to measure success

  • Increased leadership engagement with TEM results.
  • More use of TEM data in sourcing and planning.
  • Faster identification of billing errors or inefficiencies.
  • Greater reinvestment of recovered funds.
  • Higher internal confidence in technology spend management.

TEM becomes more powerful when it is seen as a business enabler. The strongest programs do not just save money. They help the organization make smarter choices with more confidence.

Gain Insights from the AOTMP Community and Your Peers

Want to hear directly from technology management leaders, enterprise practitioners, and industry experts about the trends, risks, and opportunities shaping the profession?

Register for the 2026 State of the Technology Management Industry Online Meeting, live on Wednesday, October 14, 2026, from 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM ET. Participation is open to professionals managing their organization’s internal technology environment, AOTMP Community Sponsors, and industry vendors. Register for the live online event.

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This post is sponsored by Sakon and Bearstone.

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About Sakon

Sakon is the Telecom Cloud — a governed architecture that brings clarity, control, and automation to global enterprise telecom and mobility operations. As a pioneer in telecom lifecycle management, Sakon created the industry’s first unified system of record and continues to lead with data-governed solutions that power real-time visibility, intelligent automation, and modernization across network, wireless, and financial systems. Built for outcomes, Sakon helps CIOs, CFOs, and IT leaders stabilize platforms like ServiceNow, Coupa, and SAP, reduce risk, and drive transformation. Beyond technology, Sakon supports global connectivity through its teams and Kids Connect Global, making telecom smarter, simpler, and more equitable. Learn more at www.sakon.com.

About Bearstone

Bearstone is a telecom vendor governance firm founded by Bill Henrichs, Former Head of Telecommunications at Simon Property Group. Managing telecom for a 200+ site portfolio, Bill saw what most CIOs learn: invoices routinely carry unauthorized charges — services billed after disconnect, rates outside contracted terms — that no one is validating line by line. He built Bearstone to close that gap.

Bearstone delivers BearGuard — a managed governance service that validates invoices against contracted terms, surfaces unauthorized charges and variance, and holds carriers accountable for correction. Where TEM platforms stop at reporting, BearGuard begins.

Headquartered in Noblesville, Indiana, Bearstone serves multi-site enterprises — retail, hospitality, and distribution — with 200+ locations or $2M+ in annual telecom spend.

Learn more at www.BearstoneLLC.com/ExecutiveBrief  

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