 Sameer
Joshi
For this
month’s issue of the Consensus we are pleased to
spotlight GRAPA member Sameer Joshi, a Director of
Consulting at Teleonto Technologies Pvt. Ltd., and a
revenue assurance expert.
It’s no exaggeration: Sameer Joshi has a lot to share
with us, and we intend to invite him back for future
discussions in the Consensus. In order to better
introduce you to Sameer and his expertise, we’re going
to let him do most of the talking in today’s GRAPA
Member Spotlight feature:
Sameer, thank you for joining us. Tell us:
where did you originally begin your career? What brought
you into the revenue assurance industry?
“I commenced my career as a Management Trainee in
German Remedies Ltd., a MNC pharmaceutical major in India,
in 1995. I then worked for Ajay Piramal Group companies
in the capacity of a Group Internal Auditor. I was later
offered to lead the revenue assurance initiative of
Hutchison Max Telecom Pvt. Ltd. in Mumbai Circle - one
of the most revenue lucrative and challenging telecom
circles.
“In my
view, then as well as now, Revenue Assurance is the key
function in any services industry where the services
measurement is extremely dependent on various
sub-systems which often do not 'talk to each other'
coupled with time based and scenario-based services. This
is the function which can have a lion's share in the
overall Risk Management Initiative of any telecom
company per se. It is the function which offers you an
opportunity to, not only understand the business, but to
contribute to it by positively affirming that there is
no revenue leakage or by precisely conveying the extent
of revenue leakage and measures to salvage it and
prevent their recurrence.
“Two factors made me join the Revenue Assurance
Function: 1) My conviction of how Revenue Assurance is
critical for any Telecom Company - both strategically
and tactically; 2) Extremely good reporting managers:
Hariharan Sambasivam, Head- Financial Operations and
Sunil Ranka, VP of Finance.”
Could you briefly describe your experience in
the revenue assurance industry (and related fields)?
“I was in charge of Revenue Assurance Operations in
Hutchison Max Telecom Pvt. Ltd., Mumbai from May 2000 -
March 2003, and the Head of Revenue Assurance for Tata
Communications (then VSNL) for all geographies and for
all the revenue streams from March 2003 - March 2006.
“I also have strong consulting experience in big
consulting firms including service with telecom clients
like Tata Teleservices Ltd. and Bharti Airtel Ltd.
between April 2006 and March 2008 in the capacity of a
consultant of Axis Risk Consulting Services Pvt. Ltd.
and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
“Recently I joined Teleonto Technologies Pvt. Ltd. as
Director of Consulting where my responsibilities include
providing independent Revenue Assurance Consulting to
Telecom clients. The consulting team I have lead has
enriched the Revenue Assurance Automation tools and
analytics tools being developed by Teleonto for the last
two years.”
What are some of the greatest challenges and/or
successes you've personally experienced working in
revenue assurance?
“Some of my key successes include:
1) Building Revenue Assurance Functions from scratch
for telecom companies and establishing credibility of
the function and positively contributing to companies
e.g. a) GSM - Hutchison Max Telecom Pvt. Ltd.; b)
Carrier's Carrier / Enterprise Service Provider /
Broadband Services - Tata Communications (VSNL).
2) Independent Revenue Assurance Consulting Review
and Risk management for all circles of CDMA technology
using operator - Tata Teleservices Ltd.
3) Internal Audits and Risk Management Services to
Bharti Airtel Ltd.
4) Developed an automated in-house Revenue Assurance
Monitoring tool for Tata Communications to monitor
the entire Revenue Management Chain for Wholesale Voice
Business.
5) Developed an automated in-house inter-carrier
settlement dispute resolution system.
6) System Migrations.
7) Customer Database Migrations.
8) Special Assignments on Revenue Leakage
Investigations.
9) GAP Analysis of existing and desired Revenue
Assurance Initiative.
10) Revenue Assurance Policy document preparation.
11) Revenue Assurance Due-Diligence of acquisition of
Telecom Companies.
12) Proactive prediction of the extent of revenue
leakage and initiative preventive and detective measures
to control the same.
“These successes can be attributed to top management
support in Revenue Assurance Initiative. The key
challenges for any Revenue Assurance Professional are:
1) To objectively analyze the GAP between actual RA
initiative, if any, and an appropriate RA Initiative.
2) Get buy-in and support from the top management
as well as Operational Management Teams.
3) Executing the RA Initiative and keeping top
management informed at regular intervals conveying them
either positive assurance or extent of revenue leakage
in absolute terms.
4) Revenue Assurance Processes Automation - either
in-house or off the shelf / customized that meets the RA
objectives.
“However, I am very happy to mention that I was able
to convert these challenges into opportunities to
implement the Revenue Assurance processes as an
organization-wide initiative in which most of the non-RA
functional teams too contributed positively and top
management supported every initiative by clearly
articulating the tangible and intangible advantages.”
What would you most like to see change in the
revenue assurance industry?
“Revenue Assurance and Risk Management will converge
significantly. A company-specific Revenue Assurance
Automation will be the next level of development. In
turn, dependence on manual activities will reduce
significantly and a few but highly skilled Revenue
Assurance Professionals would be the most sought after
by telecom companies. RA would also become an extremely
important aspect of SOX (Sarbanes-Oxley) compliance.”
What are your goals with GRAPA?
“I have joined GRAPA very recently and would like to
contribute articles which can help fellow RA
professionals to make a big success for themselves and
their companies.”
What are some of your professional goals and
personal interests that you would like to share with the
GRAPA Membership?
“My key professional goals are to:
1) Sharpen revenue assurance processes to an extent
that they become industry wide critical processes and
share them with fellow professionals.
2) Continue to learn and share the knowledge with
fellow professionals.
“My personal interests include reading, history,
strategy, subjects related to social sciences, and
playing chess.”
Is there anything else about your career,
expertise, or professional philosophy that you would
like to share with the GRAPA Membership?
“Strive for excellence by competing with yourself.”
Thank you Sameer for taking the time to chat
with us today. We look forward to hearing more from you
in upcoming articles!
View Sameer Joshi’s professional profile at LinkedIn:
(www.linkedin.com/pub/2/916/949). |
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