--- title: "On TEMs: You Can't Benchmark Your Network if You Don't Understand What You're Buying" description: You can't benchmark unless you truly understand what you're buying and how much it costs. TEMs and benchmarking truly go hand-in-hand. image: https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/2020/Blog%20Assets/person-731479_1280.jpg --- [![TG\_LOGO](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/TeleGeography%20Hub%20Theme%20Nov%202025/images/TG_LOGO.svg)](https://www2.telegeography.com/) - [About](https://www2.telegeography.com/about-us) - [Research](https://www2.telegeography.com/our-research) - [Products](https://www2.telegeography.com/products) - [Solutions](https://www2.telegeography.com/solutions) - [Resources](https://resources.telegeography.com) [Log In](https://www.telegeography.com/login/login?service=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.telegeography.com%2Faccount%2Fhome%2Findex) [Contact](https://www2.telegeography.com/contact-us) ###### Data and Analysis Tools - [Cloud and WAN Research Service](https://www2.telegeography.com/cloud-and-wan-infrastructure) - [Data Center Research Service](https://www2.telegeography.com/data-center-research-service) - [GlobalComms Database](https://www2.telegeography.com/globalcomms-database-service) - [International Voice Report](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-report-and-database) - [IP Networks Research Service](https://www2.telegeography.com/ip-networks-research-service) - [ISP Navigator](https://www2.telegeography.com/isp-navigatorisp-navigator) - [Transport Networks Research Service](https://www2.telegeography.com/transport-networks) - [Network Pricing Database](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-pricing-database) - [WAN Cost Benchmark](https://www2.telegeography.com/wan-cost-benchmark) - [Product Passes](https://www2.telegeography.com/product-passes) ###### Consulting - [All Consulting Services](https://www2.telegeography.com/consulting) - [Submarine Cable Consulting](https://www2.telegeography.com/submarine-cable-consulting) ###### Maps - [All Map Services](https://www2.telegeography.com/map-services) - [Sponsor a Map](https://www2.telegeography.com/sponsor-a-map) - [License Map Data](https://www2.telegeography.com/license-geocoded-map-data) - [Cite a Map](https://www2.telegeography.com/cite-telegeography-map) - [Buy a Map](https://shop.telegeography.com/collections/telecom-maps/) ###### Industry - [Education](https://www2.telegeography.com/telegeography-for-education) - [Enterprise](https://www2.telegeography.com/enterprise) - [Tech](https://www2.telegeography.com/tech) - [Telecom](https://www2.telegeography.com/telecom) ###### Case Studies - [AI + Retail Telecom Data](https://www2.telegeography.com/where-to-get-global-telecom-data) - [EXA Infrastructure](https://www2.telegeography.com/exa-infrastructure-case-study) - [Orange Wholesale](https://www2.telegeography.com/orange-wholesale-case-study) - [The European Commission](https://www2.telegeography.com/the-european-commissions-data-backed-approach-to-international-policy) [Back to Resources](https://resources.telegeography.com) # On TEMs: You Can't Benchmark Your Network if You Don't Understand What You're Buying ##### By [Greg Bryan,](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/greg-bryan) Mar 23, 2020 [WAN](https://resources.telegeography.com/tag/wan) Let's talk about telecom expense management, better known as TEM. TEMs are designed to make untangling telecom investments a little easier. For larger organizations with bigger telecom bills, this can be huge for streamlining costs and saving dollars. But why bring up TEMs? Why do we think WAN managers might be interested? Well, as proponents of network benchmarking, we have it on good authority that you can't benchmark unless you truly understand what you're buying and how much it costs. TEMs and benchmarking truly go hand-in-hand. ### TEMs Build a Better Benchmark [TeleGeography's approach to benchmarking](https://www2.telegeography.com/wan-cost-benchmark) includes modeling different network scenarios to understand how network configuration changes might reverberate through a network and affect those same costs, security, and performance factors—for better or for worse.  Benchmarkers might discover that moving to a hybrid or SD-WAN enabled WAN could lower network costs. Or that a small investment could yield major performance upgrades.  We see a TEM as a tool that levels up this process, leading to a more exact and impactful report on how you can configure your network to maximize performance and decrease cost. ### Network Managers Aren't Accountants. That's Not Their Job! We've worked with lots of IT staff to adjudicate and upgrade their networks. While these pros are experts on networking, they're not always experts on billing, invoicing, or device management. (Nor should they be!) When it comes time to benchmark, these non-accountants talk dollars and cents. Those with access to a TEM provider ultimately spend less time in the invoice weeds, figuring out how many telecom bills are coming in and how they relate to a better network budget. ![Greg Bryan](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/tg-staff/greg-bryan-telegeography.png) #### Greg Bryan Greg is Senior Manager, Enterprise Research at TeleGeography. He's spent the last decade and a half at TeleGeography developing many of our pricing products and reports about enterprise networks. He is a frequent speaker at conferences about corporate wide area networks and enterprise telecom services. He also hosts our podcast, TeleGeography Explains the Internet. [View Greg Bryan Work](https://resources.telegeography.com/author/greg-bryan) ## Explore Related Content ![Are You Paying the Right Price for Global Connectivity?](https://resources.telegeography.com/hubfs/2024/Blog%20Assets/AdobeStock_203267618-1.jpeg) ###### Blog Apr 25, 2024 #### [Are You Paying the Right Price for Global Connectivity?](https://resources.telegeography.com/are-you-paying-the-right-price-for-global-connectivity) The enterprise wide area network (WAN) market is in a state of flux, forcing multinational corporations... 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