In a recession, the idea of selling or buying a telecom expense management solution is a no-brainer. But what happens when times get better, and companies aren't so hard-edged about scrutinizing their expenses?

 

If you ask Trent McCracken, president of telecom lifecycle provider Spectrum (News - Alert), the competition in the TEM space has certainly gotten tougher, but enterprises are still moving toward adoption of a telecom expense management solution because of the long-term gains associated with it.

 

McCracken was recently named to the board of TEMIA (News - Alert), the Telecom Expense Management Industry Association, which was founded in 2007 by the country's largest Telecom Expense Management (TEM) providers. TEMIA members managed more than $29 billion of wireless, voice, and data telecom spend in 2007.

 

In a recent interview with McCracken, he explained how his membership on the board of TEMIA adds credibility to Spectrum as a telecom lifecycle provider.

 

"Spectrum's presence on the TEMIA board underscores our continued commitment to developing innovative solutions within the TEM and TLM space," McCracken said. "This dedication toward improving the efficiencies of our clients through managed telecom services and solutions has increased our name recognition, thereby making this election to the board an honorable accomplishment for myself and our company."

 

According to McCracken, Spectrum is actively involved in the association through providing input to TEMIA regarding articles and whitepapers that are being published; Spectrum also has one of its wireless specialists, Amy Stevens, serving on TEMIA's Key Performance Indicators Committee as well.

 

Looking ahead to the second half of 2010, McCracken weighed in on the major trends Spectrum is seeing in terms of TEM adoption.

 

"We continue to see companies - from small business to the enterprise - scrutinize their telecom expenditures, yet they still somewhat exhibit reluctance toward implementing a complete TEM/TLM solution. Given what appears to be a limited number of bona fide prospective deals, we are beginning to see a tremendous amount of competition and have to be very creative in the solutions being sold," he said.

 

Spectrum also recently received a Communications Solutions Product of the Year Award from TMC (News - Alert), which is given to companies that have created innovative products and services which facilitate voice, data and video communications, or a combination of them.