FactSet provides thousands of financial analysts, portfolio managers and investment bankers with instant access to data and analytics through its proprietary software. FactSet's global customer base includes the top 10 global investment banks and 95 of the world's top 100 asset managers. It has been listed as one of Forbes' "200 Best Small Companies" for 11 consecutive years.

Background
FactSet's business is built on the creative use of technology and a dedication to client service, including 24-hour personal support and real time industry updates. Having an effective mobile service is therefore crucial to its successful operation.

Challenge
FactSet provides over 300 mobiles and Blackberrys to its UK consultants, giving them the ability to email clients the latest financial information while on the move. This is a vital component of its promise of a 24/7 service. However, this comes at a cost — the company's mobile call and email service is in excess of £20,000 per month. All of the mobiles were with a single supplier — BT — but FactSet was not getting the most competitive deal and its contract was up for renewal.

The company's EMEA IT manager needed comprehensive, independent advice from a consultancy with the time and resource to manage and analyse the company's mobile phone spend. The mobile bills were not itemised and were therefore regarded as an IT cost, as they couldn't be reasonably attributed to the individual departments using the service. FactSet therefore wanted to implement individual user analysis and cost centre billing to gain a better understanding of how costs could be allocated and reduced.

Solution
IP Solutions' in-house auditing and data software provided FactSet with a comprehensive review of mobile expenditure and identified areas of excessive spending. The analysis pinpointed different aspects of FactSet's telephony usage, including average call duration, call destination and calling times. Then, using this call profile, IP Solutions' software matched FactSet with the best and most cost-effective service plan amongst all those available on the market.

Based on FactSet's requirements, IP Solutions identified Vodafone as the most competitive network and then negotiated directly to ensure FactSet benefited from the most competitive and appropriate tariffs. The upheaval to FactSet, in terms of number porting and changes in billing, was negligible, and consultants continued undisrupted.

IP Solutions also arranged a mobile billing service to analyse costs on an ongoing basis. This vital online tool allowed managers to supervise mobile usage at an individual and business level — and everything in between. As a result, FactSet could monitor spending and make adjustments to usage as required.

Results
IP Solutions facilitated significant cost savings for FactSet — the reduction in mobile tariffs alone is approximately £150,000 per year. The ability to itemise bills has allowed the company to allocate costs to the appropriate department, and this realignment of spending has freed up considerable budget for the IT department and enabled new investment in technology. Further reductions are expected in the medium to long term with the implementation of the mobile billing service as departments and individuals become more accountable for their usage.

Due to these substantial savings IP Solutions has been instructed to look at all FactSet's global mobile tariffs with the aim of delivering further cost savings across all regions in which the company operates.

"IP Solutions set up a mobile billing service throughout our European company so that we could easily identify excessive spending. They sourced the best and most costeffective mobile tariffs available to FactSet Europe Ltd, and since our bills have been itemised, we've seen considerable savings of nearly £150,000 per year." - European Systems Manager, FactSet

"The review of our mobile tariff was extremely thorough; not only did they compare all the service plans available on the market, they also provided us with a service that would help us analyse mobile usage on an individual basis. The services started in our UK office but soon IP solutions were helping us to see cost savings in our other European offices and have been a one stop shop for our European mobile phone services." - European Systems Manager, FactSet