It’s not every day that a Tangoe client becomes a Tangoe employee.
Meet Tyson Barker, the one who makes that rarity a reality.
Tyson always wanted a career in sales, and how he got there is a dual success story demonstrating how one company saved millions of dollars while one IT expert leveraged his knack for negotiations into a dream job.
Both stories were made possible by Tangoe.
Here’s the dual story.
Success #1: Saving Millions in Mobility Costs
In 2017, Tyson took over the enterprise mobility program at a global company, where Tangoe was providing mobility management services and telecom expense management services.
Supported by a dedicated Tangoe account manager and six direct reports across four continents, Tyson oversaw 23,000 mobile devices globally and worked closely with Tangoe’s IT cost management consultants to handle telecom contract negotiations. Together, they took on the work of auditing the company’s fleet of mobile devices and evaluating telecom service usage data to build a more informed purchasing strategy.
As a result, Tyson put in place an aggressive cost optimization program. It leveraged industry-standard pricing benchmarks alongside advanced analytics to help right-size mobile services, ensuring the company got the best service at the best price and didn‘t pay for anything that wasn’t necessary.
The savings of one contract negotiation totaled roughly $5 million, a 41% reduction in mobility costs.
“Our expenses were drastically reduced, and we achieved significant savings because of our engagement with Tangoe Advisory Services. During the first four years, I took the back seat, learning about contract management from Tangoe’s expert negotiators,” explained Tyson, who was new to mobility at the time.
Those hard-dollar savings came from solving the problem of paying too much, but there were also productivity gains that came from reducing the impact of change.
Benchmarks Proved “We Were Paying Too Much”
The company had two wireless providers delivering mobile services, with one preferred provider holding a share of over 90% of the business and expenses.
“It was hard to justify moving to a new service because of the agreements that we had in place and the potential disruption to the business, but Tangoe’s price benchmarking intelligence proved to us that we were paying too much,” he said.
With Tangoe Advisory Services leading the negotiations, the company was able to lower their telecom contract rates, sealing a new deal that saved significant IT funds. “Tangoe helped me understand how to position the RFP to get the most out of the negotiation exercise from both a pricing and leverage standpoint,” he explained.
With Tyson now trained as a master contract negotiator himself, the savings didn’t end there.
When the contracts were up for renewal, Tyson turned what he had learned from Tangoe to save more money for his employer. Tangoe’s Advisory Services handed Tyson the latest pricing benchmarks and let him do the leg work. As a result, he negotiated the best rates possible under a new provider.
“It was a massive change over two periods of contract negotiations,” he explained, and now it was time to make the switch to the new service.
Reducing the Impact of Service Changes
Naturally, Tyson and the company’s IT executives were hesitant to switch providers because of the potential impact on employees and the business continuity at large. However, Tangoe’s Advisory Services alleviated concerns, providing project support to smooth any bumps in the transition. Tangoe handled all device port changes and any related escalations. As a result, the implementation was a win – new services were deployed without significant disruption to the business. The service transition was performed on target, requiring only 30 minutes from each employee on average.
“The impact would have been much higher and far worse without Tangoe,” he added. “Tangoe’s support team saved our employees hundreds of hours and many, many headaches. The operational execution and service delivery was critical to the success of moving all those lines. Things that would have taken us 4 to 6 hours to resolve were completed in just 1 or 2 hours,” he said.
Success #2: Landing the Dream Job
Through his learning process and by practicing his new contract negotiation skills, Tyson started to believe in Tangoe’s mission: We simplify, manage, and optimize technology expenses and assets, so our customers can focus on what they do best. Simultaneously he witnessed Tangoe transforming as a company, growing and expanding into new cloud markets and positioning Advisory Services as a key element in multiplying business outcomes for its clients.
“The organizational changes played a pivotal role in my view of Tangoe,” he said. “I could see the company bringing in new leadership, re-organizing resources, and engaging their customer community in new ways. Plus, it’s the reach they have now that truly inspired me – they’re helping so many more mid-enterprise and smaller companies. I believe there are a lot of companies out there that need support of a company like Tangoe.”
That was the moment when Tyson started to see Tangoe as more than a partner, rather a business he wanted to become a part of. In understanding Tangoe’s value firsthand, he was inspired to pay it forward, turning his multimillion-dollar savings experience into achievements for others.
The quality of Tangoe’s Advisory Services also made Tyson think of his career aspiration in sales. Tangoe manages $34B in IT spend, has a database tracking 400+ tech providers across 200 countries, and has 60 IT cost management consultants on staff helping companies of all sizes target hundreds of millions of dollars in technology savings every year.
“With all the selling points that I could take into untapped markets, I found Tangoe exciting,” he said. “It’s a new era for Tangoe and a new career opportunity for me.”
And just like that, Tyson was hired as Account Executive at Tangoe Advisory Services.
Why sales? Tech sales were a hot trend in 2012 when Tyson was in college. He landed in IT by default. “IT was a 100% job placement out of college,” he explained. Like many students, Tyson was graduating with what he described as a “pile of student loans,” so he was seeking stable ground after graduation.
With his diploma in hand, Tyson earned a seat in an IT leadership development program which allowed him to accelerate his career in IT management. Tyson is proud to have had opportunities to learn and grow as a leader at this Fortune 200 company. “I had great leadership and an amazing team, so it was hard to switch career paths after 10 years of loyal dedication,” he said.
Today, Tyson will proudly tell you he is finally where he has always wanted to be – in tech sales. But better still, he sells with the confidence of fully appreciating how companies can save millions of dollars.