Fiber To The Home Actuals versus Forecast

The Problem

A leading service provider was experiencing project and budget overruns and could not identify the root cause. They needed a detailed review that compared the projected forecast to the actual project costs.

DTS Approach

  • Aligned with the senior executives on the approach to analyze costs
  • Collected data on targeted projects
    • Forecasted material and labor costs
    • Actual material and labor charged
  • Created an Excel model to help facilitate analysis
    • Created a data dictionary to cross reference material costs
    • Created a data dictionary to cross reference labor costs
    • Created common categorization between forecast and actual costs
  • Identified and prioritized highest cost variances for each project
  • Analyzed variances of each prioritized cost area
  • Took corrective action to stop unnecessary expenses
  • Reviewed findings with the client and provided recommendations

Client Benefits

  • The client was able to identify expenses on spare materials that should not have been charged to the projects, leading to a development of a separate sparing program.
  • The client found that on over 10% of the projects, funds were being used to provide temporary HFC services not covered in the funding request.
  • Overall, the client was able to understand what was actually being charged to the projects and better manage and control their expenses closing a 43% program variance.