56 CHANNELV ISION | SEPTEMBER - OCTOBER 2022 Facing an increasingly complex business landscape, Sage Management believes it has the tools to help partners and customers succeed – and save - well into the future. Since 2004, the firm has offered network inventory assembly and auditing options to manage costs, identify and execute savings, and assist clients with their telecom modernization efforts. Those two solutions and insights offered serve as the precursor for Sage’s blockchain offering. In Sage Management’s opinion, the future of telecommunications resides in blockchain. “We were performing historical audits for large global telecommunication carriers,” recalled president, Scott Johnson. “Possessing an inventory warehouse and witnessing the inefficiencies present in terms of telecom ordering and billing, we started down the path of developing our blockchain solution.” Sage sees the individual elements of its solution stack as being interrelated. Seeking to accelerate its mean time to actualize savings and digest large datasets, Sage hyper-focused on automation and developed its own proprietary supporting SaaS environment, inFuse. inFuse serves as a single pane of glass to manage client inventory, savings and blockchain needs. Sage’s comprehensive approach to network inventory includes memorializing supporting contract, invoice, order, ticket and tariff data, alongside industry source material and site survey results. That inventory translates to a $24 billion benchmark database to power Sage’s savings efforts. Sage offers a 99 percent correlation rate against its inventory efforts. With inventory established and supporting data centralized, customers can engage Sage on a contingencybased, SLA-backed savings initiative. During its 18-year history, Sage Management has saved clients in the telecom carrier, enterprise and large government space more than $4 billion. Savings are derived from contract and tariff variance studies, a range of optimization initiatives and exposure to Sage’s portfolio of 1,100 automated audits. Savings can then be reinvested in support of a blockchain initiative to further streamline operational and financial assurance efforts. As an example, Sage’s largest blockchain client has had its supporting SaaS fees covered 19 years into the future. Blockchain – which is the backbone of cryptocurrency - is an electronic system for managing distributed databases or ledgers, which are then shared across participant-approved network nodes. Sage’s offering is simply another use case for blockchain. To that end, Sage is already servicing four of the top 10 U.S telecommunications providers today. Among many operational and financial benefits, blockchain can: • eliminate legacy ordering environments (GUI, EDI and paper form examples) as orders are exchanged via blockchain; • reduce demands on carrier finance organizations as immutable smart contract data greatly diminishes accrual and claims potential; • improve data security via private and public keys as well as cryptography hashing; • offer scalability as blockchain operates from a decentralized architecture; and • enforce SLA performance between carriers, or carrier to client. “We’re the only provider to offer network inventory and savings initiatives alongside a blockchain solution,” said Johnson, “It’s all about actualizing blockchain. Our priorities are to raise awareness, educate the community and facilitate adoption. Our work with MEF, brand elevation efforts and revised go-to-market strategies reinforce our strategic vision. Finally, we have launched channel and white-label programs to improve market penetration. “The future of our business and telecom at large is in blockchain,” Johnson continued. “The telecom industry needs to shed the inefficiencies of today’s legacy OSS/ BSS systems as client demand has outpaced the back-office and billing capabilities of many carriers. First movers will capture early synergies in the form of operational efficiencies by streamlining teams, tools and processes, as well as empower on-going financial assurance efforts. “We have experience spanning order placement and rating, to billing, ticketing and SLA adherence, not to mention our ability to provide both the strategic and tactical roadmaps to our clients,” concluded Johnson. “With blockchain, carriers can modernize and recapture their forward-looking persona. We want to aid in that journey.” o For more information on Sage Management’s blockchain technology, auditing services and more, visit www. sagesemi.com or call (703) 999-6203. PROFILE By Brady Hicks Sage Management Looks to Transform Telecom with Blockchain CORE COMMUNICATIONS Sage Management president Scott Johnson
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