Another major issue is the response time needed both to operate and repair the service. All of these issues have financial implications. To build one's own infrastructure requires rare and expensive skills. For the vast majority of companies, telecommuni-cations are not a part of their core business and they don't have the resident expertise. Technology will continue to evolve too fast and be too highly specialised for one or two people in an organisation to grasp all that is essential and what is irrelevant to the organisation.
Executives understand their company's strategic direction and the business outcomes they require.
Armed with this they should call on external service providers to advise them on the telecommunications infrastructure they need to meet these outcomes. They need to choose service providers whose core business is the convergence of IT and telecommunications and who have an in-depth, objective knowledge of all the options. Many executives feel a pressure to acquire the latest technology because they assume this will put them at the cutting edge . . . In countries where there's a telecommunications monopoly this can be difficult. In SA there is some deregulation and players other than the national carrier have entered the market.