Woodard Walker Associates, Inc.

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Management Consultants—Communications Technology

Services

Woodard Walker Associates, Inc. offers independent consulting expertise pertaining to Communications Technology.

Our firm offers our consulting services in two areas. The first is End User consulting services to commercial organizations to assist them in the application and procurement of CommunicationsTechnology. The second is Business Development consulting services to Communications Technology and Information Technology vendors to help them win U.S. Federal Government contracts.

End User Consulting Services

An ongoing challenge many organizations face is how to utilize changing Communications Technologies to operate and compete more effectively in terms of time, resources, and finances.

Not only must companies contend with rapidly changing and merging technologies but vendor mergers and acquisitions as well. The increase of mergers and acquisitions in the Communications Technology and IT industries complicate ongoing procurement decisions. Our firm helps simplify, clarify, and optimize your choices.

Telecommunications Industry Change

The biggest change in Telecommunications Technology occurred when companies began to deploy Internet Protocol (IP) networks instead of the traditional public switched telephone network (PSTN). The delivery of voice communications over IP Networks in packets became known as Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP). This technology enabled both voice and data transmission at greater speeds and reduced costs.

VoIP also necessitated the use of new hardware for the delivery and termination, and traditional PBX and Key System vendors began to see the value of replacing their older switching systems with software solutions based on IP which has become known as IP Telephony. The telephone handset now has become an end point on the network.

Unified Communications

The demand to further reduce communication response time and to know in real time the presence of individuals, the availability of specific people with skills, and real time collaboration has ushered in the age of Unified Communications (UC). Industry resource, Unified Communications Strategies, defines UC as communications integrated to optimize business processes. A well executed UC strategy will result in User Productivity gains, but more importantly, in Business Process Transformation where one can measure quantifiable sales increases, lower process costs, reduced operational costs, speeded up projects, and increased customer retention.

UC has many components which can deliver a unified communications experience. These components include Instant Messaging (IM) or Chat, IP Telephony, video and audio conferencing, Integrated Voice Response (IVR), Speech Recognition, Unified messaging (integrated voice mail, email, SMS, and fax), and mobile devices. UC combined with Web 2.0 technology, social media, customer relationship management (CRM), and cloud computing are revolutionizing the way organizations conduct business.

In addition to vendors, such as Avaya, Cisco, Siemens, etc., UC has also brought new entrants into the market place, such as IBM and Microsoft in the past few years.

Whether it is a migration from a traditional TDM switched PBX to an IP Telephony system, or to UC and its components, Woodard Walker Associates, Inc., can assist your organization. Depending on the scope of work and specific technology components, WWA will leverage its resources to bring the best team of experts together from consulting and engineering disciplines.

Consulting Services Offered

WWA can advise you at any point along your technology road map. The road map begins with planning and ends with implementation.

Our firm offers the following consulting services:

Strategic Planning

An integrated strategy would start with your company's current business strategy which would drive the Communications Technology strategy. The plan structure would include the following: Purpose, Vision, Assumptions, Issues and Challenges, Strategic Goals and Objectives, The Strategic Telecommunications Plan, and Plan Evaluation. Most importantly, WWA would key on identification of technology opportunities for competitive advantage and measurable ROI. WWA prefers an interactive approach with our clients, and whenever possible, C level participation as well as input from senior IT management.

Feasibility Studies

WWA can perform feasibility studies to determine the potential impact of a deployed technology and the degree of difficulty or success. The study would evaluate Technology Feasibility as well as Financial, Operational, Resource, and Cultural Feasibility and include cost benefit analysis. For example, a company might need to know if it's current contact center delivers the optimum customer quality and service experience, or would the implementation of new UC technology on site, or a hosted solution offer the most feasible solution.

Technology Assessments

A Telecommunications Assessment would evaluate your current telecommunications infrastructure in terms of mission effectiveness and cost effectiveness. The Assessment would include all software, hardware, billing, staffing resources, and vendor support and maintenance. WWA would also refer to industry Benchmarks and Best Practices to help gauge your company in comparison to others in your industry. Our report would include identification of any problems, potential solutions, and recommendations.

Procurements

The first phase is the Analysis and Requirements Definition Stage. Our consultant team would need to understand your key business applications and translate your specific needs into technical requirements. Then, WWA would prepare a Request for Proposal (RFP) to issue to qualified vendors. The second phase is the Evaluation Stage. WWA would evaluate the responses, utilize the vendors' product demonstrations, and narrow the process to two final choices based on input for the client. The third phase is the Negotiation Stage where WWA would request Best and Final offers from the two most qualified vendors. WWA would then negotiate the best terms, pricing, and conditions, including maintenance Agreements, with the winning vendor.

Project Management

Project Management involves the coordination of the system implementation with the appropriate vendors and any of your staff. WWA would set milestone dates with associated tasks and deliverables to help facilitate the successful implementation of all services and systems.

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Sample Clients—

Real Estate: CB Richard Ellis (Trammell Crow)
Consulting: Towers Watson (Watson Wyatt Worldwide)
Federal Government Contracting: ManTech International Corporation
Legal: Pepper Hamilton LLP

Federal Government Business Development Services
for IT and Telecommunications Vendors

Small and medium size IT and Communications Technology companies often do not have the knowledgeable resources to know how to penetrate the Federal Government market place and win contracts. Woodard Walker Associates, Inc., will empower you to overcome this challenge.

WWA will accelerate your business development process by helping you evaluate, qualify, and pursue contestable opportunities in civilian agencies and their component agencies. Most importantly, WWA will help align opportunities which best match your capabilities and past performance history.

The business development process will also involve identification of key agency IT and telecommunications influencers, stakeholders, and decision makers as well as contractors who might have need of your services and products as teaming partners.

WWA works with experts who know how to use available Federal Government contract vehicles to facilitate the procurement process and who can leverage their own contacts to help you win business in specific agencies including the Department of Defense. In addition, WWA teams with specialists in Capture Management and Proposal Management who have demonstrated track records of high win rates for their clients.

—Endorsement—

Ray Ciesinski, Sales Manager, GuardianEdge, an endpoint security software company purchased by Symantec, Inc.

"Bill opened a door at the CIO's office at DHS which we couldn't have gotten ourselves. As a result of his efforts, we received knowledge of interagency relationships within DHS and key introductions which would have taken us at least a year to gather, if not ever. He shortened our sales cycle and increased our win opportunity potential astronomically."

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© Copyright 2015, Woodard Walker Associates, Inc.

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