Forced migrations are common in IT, but you can avoid the worst by trading passivity for action ... plan and take charge. Trending in telecom today is speeding up the pace of migrations by replacing “incentives” with announcements that a service is going to be discontinued. However, customers still have a choice, they can move or they can go dark.

A forced service migration isn’t usually seen as a positive thing. What’s making them even worse is a new carrier tactic in which they insert provisions into contracts and service guides that make it impossible for a customer to migrate from a service that the carrier is planning to discontinue without either paying substantial termination fees or securing the carrier’s permission, which is conditioned on migrating to the carrier’s own substitute service at prices and terms that the carrier specifies.

While forced service migrations seem inevitable, there is opportunity to be found within them. Listen, observe and communicate. Carriers usually telegraph service discontinuances years in advance. Accept the inevitable and start planning. Make sure you control the timing and pace of your migration; there are many different ways to do this. Lastly, make sure you negotiate protective provisions in your telecom agreements that address the key issues, for example:

• A provision to the effect that you won’t be forced to migrate until all commercial customers are similarly compelled
• A right to terminate without liability if services that constitute a material part of the contract are discontinued
• A commitment to cooperate on migration to another carrier if services are discontinued

Forced migrations may seem unavoidable, but your organization must force itself to look beyond the initial anger and denial and find the opportunity; opportunity that offers the chance to move to more cost effective, versatile replacement services through competitive procurements.

Download the complete report, Minimizing the Pain of Forced Service Migrations, written by Hank Levine, partner with Levine, Blaszak, Block, and Boothby LLP and chairman of CCMI’s 22^nd Annual Negotiate Enterprise Communications Deals Conference. This report is just an example of the breadth and depth of their proven strategies for securing world-class network services contracts. Learn from them first-hand at Negotiate Enterprise Communications Deals.