IBM Contract Negotiation

Have our expert advisors in your corner when negotiating your next IBM contract.

Negotiate from a position of strength

Negotiating agreements with IBM can be highly complex, particularly when IBM sales representatives communicate with many stakeholders within your organization.

Successful negotiations with IBM always result from careful preparation, and from knowing which cards each side holds.

We have supported many clients to prepare for new IBM agreements or agreement renewals by carefully analyzing software demand, comparing licensing options and prioritizing key terms and conditions.

Get contract negotiation support

Negotiate from a position of strength

Negotiating agreements with IBM can be highly complex, particularly when IBM sales representatives communicate with many stakeholders within your organization.

Successful negotiations with IBM always result from careful preparation, and from knowing which cards each side holds.

We have supported many clients to prepare for new IBM agreements or agreement renewals by carefully analyzing software demand, comparing licensing options and prioritizing key terms and conditions.

Get contract negotiation support

Key services

Assess existing agreement(s)

We analyze your current agreements with IBM to understand options and limitations, we will then benchmark pricing to compare your current levels with those of other IBM customers.

Talk to a consultant

Internal assessment and future demand

Through our detailed knowledge of IBM software license audit procedures, we can establish the minimal licensing requirements for all of your high-value and high-priority products. We then facilitate discussions with internal business stakeholders to establish future software demand.

Talk to a consultant

Establish agreement priorities

Once we have established the licensing baseline, we assess your historic and current relationship with IBM and identify key priorities for any future agreement.

Talk to a consultant

Continued support

After the agreement is signed, we offer continued guidance to ensure you meet all agreement obligations and are making the most of any beneficial clauses (such as license substitution), so you are fully prepared for agreement milestones and end dates.

Talk to a consultant

Key benefits of our contract negotiation service

Receive advice on all possible scenarios

The inventory of current and future license requirements allows us to develop your ideal license scenarios. We consider different saving possibilities such as price comparisons, multi-annual calculations, obtaining the best possible contract conditions, purchasing pre-owned Licenses and reselling obsolete Licenses.

Smart agreements

We strive for our customers to achieve future-proofed agreements that go beyond pricing discounts, ensuring optimal value and minimal risk of additional spend. Our focus areas include software licensing flexibility, expected future demand, optimal agreement duration, audit forbearance clause, SAM program option and not to exceed (NTE) support clauses.

Unique market insights

Level the playing field by using our first-hand knowledge of contract negotiation results between IBM and their enterprise customers. We help you to understand the agreement options IBM typically proposes, as well as agreement clauses they do not proactively offer.

Gain control over your negotiation

Our support and experience gives you the necessary control and ammunition to achieve an optimal agreement. Gain more control over your negotiation and enter with renewed confidence.

Customer-oriented solution

We understand that contract negotiations can be time-consuming and complex.

With our clear and independent advice, you have complete transparency through the negotiation process, with insights into how some parties would earn money directly or indirectly from the choices you make. Our support means you get the best deal for your organization.

See the results for yourself

We work with a variety of IBM customers, across a wide range of industries and specialisms.

By relying on our vast experience, our clients achieve tangible cost savings and real results, every time.

We performed a 9-month IBM license review covering over 30 sites to prepare for cancellation of IBM support contract.

This resulted in $8 million in savings to the client over the subsequent 3 years.

We provided ongoing IBM compliance measurements for the duration of a 5-year enterprise agreement worth $700M.

Our experts performed a review of draft License Management Option (LMO) procedures and suggested improvements to enhance operational efficiency and limit compliance risk. LMO is the predecessor to the current IBM SAM program.

featured-image

IBM Insight: IBM software license audit trends to prepare for in 2023

After an increase in IBM Software License Reviews, we highlight IBM audit trends...

Read more

Expert IBM support

If you’re looking to negotiate a better contract for your organization, book a call with one of our experts today. Fill out the form and we’ll be in touch within 24 hours.

Talk to us today