Carriers
As your carrier contracts expire, be sure to include language in the next round of negotiations that gives you wiggle room should the vendor come on hard times. You also want to invest more time to establish relationships with competitors should you decide to jump ship. It's easy to become dependent on one vendor, and viewing the vendor as a partner can be mutually beneficial. This can be productive, but you need to keep your options open. The vendor will be glad to have you as a partner, as long as you are a paying customer.
Unfortunately, you aren't going to see prices go down here--carriers have proven that they can't offer dirt-cheap pricing and remain financially viable. The one bright spot here is that as regional carriers enter the long distance market, there will be more competition there, which will drive down prices.
A stable, dependable infrastructure is vital to the success of any organization. Fight for the resources you need to keep it that way. And remember that you depend on all your vendors for your own success and survival. Make sure they can deliver, and keep your options open.
Peter Morrissey is a full-time faculty member of Syracuse University's School of Information Studies, and a contributing editor and columnist for Network Computing. Write to him at [email protected].
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