Insights for IT Negotiations

Adam Mansfield sees the same five mistakes derail enterprise SaaS and AI negotiations over and over: no unified message across IT, procurement, and the business; too much focus on what's new and not enough on what you already own; starting the renewal process far too late; failing to force licensing and consumption transparency; and fixating on upfront cost while ignoring what the deal costs o...

Salesforce made a major announcement on September 3, 2026: new Agentforce Sales, Service, and Industries editions have been rolled out...there three (3) new editions — Core, Advanced, and Max. And notably, Salesforce described "legacy" Enterprise and Unlimited editions appear to have removed from Salesforce's website. In this video, Adam Mansfield, Practice Leader at UpperEdge, break...

Many organizations heading into SaaS renewals this year and next feel confident: they negotiated price caps, price transparency, and renewal protections, so the noise about vendor price uplifts doesn't apply to them. Adam Mansfield, Practice Leader at UpperEdge, explains why that confidence may be misplaced. Most renewal protections come with conditions buried in the fine print. Two of the mos...

Approaching a SaaS renewal or fielding a pitch for new products, upgrades, or AI offerings? Before you ever talk pricing, there are three questions your entire team — procurement, IT, and line of business — should be consistently putting in front of your vendor. In this video, Adam Mansfield, Practice Leader at UpperEdge, breaks down the three questions that shift leverage back to you:1️⃣ Show me...

Salesforce just reported Q2 FY27 earnings — and dropped a major announcement alongside Anthropic: Claudeforce. In this video, Adam Mansfield, Practice Leader at UpperEdge, breaks down the numbers behind the earnings call and what the new Claudeforce offering could mean for your Salesforce (and Anthropic) relationship. Adam covers:• The Claudeforce announcement — Anthropic CEO Dario Amodei and Sale...

Learn when your organization should actually start preparing for SaaS renewals and why timing matters far more than most procurement teams realize. In this episode, Adam breaks down the real timeline for managing enterprise renewals, the critical prep work that determines deal quality, and what to do if you've already fallen behind. Whether you're facing a renewal in months or managing unexpected...

Adam Mansfield, Practice Leader at UpperEdge and leading Microsoft Negotiation Advisor, breaks down why Microsoft is aggressively pushing M365 Copilot adoption and/or accelerated usage at renewal time — even when customers want to stay flat or scale back their M365 Copilot volumes. Drawing from recent conversations with CIOs at some of Microsoft's largest customers, Adam explains why Microsoft...

Microsoft just closed out fiscal year 2026 with $90 billion in Q4 revenue, up 18% and beating analyst expectations. In this video, Adam Mansfield, Practice Leader at UpperEdge, breaks down the key results from the earnings call — and more importantly, what they mean for customers heading into renewals and negotiations. Adam covers: The headline numbers: $90B total revenue, 67% gross margins, and c...

Salesforce just shook up its Agentforce Help Agent pricing, moving from per-conversation consumption pricing to pay-per-resolution. Sounds like a win for customers, but is it? UpperEdge's Salesforce Practice Leader Adam Mansfield breaks down what "resolution" actually means, the resolution-pack mechanics customers need to watch for, and why this shift is really about Salesforce's...

Adam Mansfield, Practice Leader at UpperEdge, breaks down Microsoft Copilot Cowork — now generally available and priced on a consumption basis. Adam explains why the model is actually hybrid (not just consumption), what customers need to do with their Microsoft 365 and Microsoft 365 Copilot subscriptions, and how Copilot Cowork credits, pay-as-you-go rates, and P3 volume commitments work. He cover...

Salesforce just announced a major shift: Salesforce's Agentforce Help Agent (its Autonomous AI Service Agent offering) will come with outcome-based (Pay-Per-Resolution) licensing at $2 per successful resolution, with an ability to buy prepaid packs of resolutions. In this video, Adam Mansfield, Practice Leader at UpperEdge, breaks down what this means for Salesforce customers and why "out...

Microsoft has a playbook, and it's not yours. In this episode, UpperEdge’s Microsoft Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, breaks down what actually creates leverage in a Microsoft negotiation right now, what mistakes enterprises are making, and why the tactics that worked even a year ago may no longer apply. Adam and host Kylie Chisholm dig into the shift happening in mid-2026, where partial commitmen...

GitHub Copilot's licensing changed on June 1st — and if you're a business or enterprise customer, the stakes couldn't be higher. In this video, Adam Mansfield, Practice Leader at UpperEdge, breaks down exactly what changed, what it means for your organization, and how to negotiate from a position of strength. Adam covers the shift from a simple per-user model to a token-based consumpti...

Salesforce reported Q1 FY27 earnings with revenue exceeding expectations, but the bigger story is the company's push toward AI-driven, consumption-based revenue models. In this analysis, Adam Mansfield breaks down Salesforce's quarterly results, Agentforce adoption trends, Data Cloud growth, Headless 360, and how Salesforce plans to monetize AI through Flex Credits and customer-facing use...

In this video, Adam breaks down what ServiceNow customers are really asking:• How to get more value from existing investments• What embedded AI actually means for licensing and renewals• Risks around AI forecasting and overcommitment• Questions surrounding the various AI offerings coming out (i.e. AI Control Tower, Autonomous Workforce, Now Assist, Otto, Workflow Data Fabric, Autonomous CRM, etc.)...

In this breakdown, Adam Mansfield explains the key takeaways from Microsoft’s earnings call, including rapid Azure growth, surging Copilot adoption, and the expansion of AI-driven revenue. But the real story isn’t just AI—it’s how Microsoft is restructuring its licensing model. Customers must now prepare for a hybrid pricing approach that blends traditional seat-based licensing with consumption-ba...

ServiceNow’s Q1 FY26 earnings delivered strong growth, but what does it mean for customers navigating renewals, new AI product packaging and pricing, along with associated contract negotiations? In this breakdown, Adam Mansfield analyzes key takeaways from ServiceNow’s earnings call, including revenue growth, AI-driven packaging changes, and the shift toward consumption-based pricing. He explains...

With ServiceNow Knowledge 2026 right around the corner, what should IT leaders and sourcing professionals expect, and how can you prepare ahead of Las Vegas? In this episode, UpperEdge’s Adam Mansfield breaks down the biggest themes shaping this year’s event: from the surge of AI-driven messaging to evolving pricing models and increased pressure for early renewals. Learn how to navigate vendor con...

ServiceNow has announced "AI" will be included in all products moving forward, but what does that actually mean for customers? In this breakdown, ServiceNow Practice Leader and Industry Expert, Adam Mansfield analyzes ServiceNow’s new AI-enabled product strategy, including the shift to bundled AI capabilities without the need for an "add-on", and the new product packaging and a...

Salesforce is doubling down on Slack—and AI is at the center of it. With the introduction of Slack’s “AI agent” (Slackbot), customers should expect increased pressure to adopt, upgrade, and spend more. In this breakdown, Adam Mansfield explains what’s really happening behind the scenes: why Salesforce needs Slack adoption, how AI investments are driving sales behavior, and where hidden costs may e...

Consumption-based pricing is rapidly becoming the norm, especially with AI. In this episode, we break down ServiceNow’s hybrid consumption model for Now Assist and why it’s more complex (and risky) than it appears. Learn how vendors are using this model to drive revenue, the red flags to watch for, and what you must do to stay in control before costs spiral. If you're heading into a renewal or att...

Shane Griffin, Oracle Practice Manager at UpperEdge, breaks down Oracle’s latest strategic moves following its Q3 earnings call. From leadership changes and a new CFO hire to large-scale layoffs, Oracle is clearly doubling down on AI infrastructure and OCI growth. In this analysis, Shane explains how these developments connect and what they signal for Oracle’s future direction. More importantly, h...

In this video, Adam Mansfield shares a critical red flag to watch for when approaching a SaaS renewal negotiation, especially with major vendors like Salesforce, Microsoft, SAP, and/or ServiceNow. If you’ve explicitly asked for a simple “as-is” SaaS renewal proposal and the vendor sidesteps that request in favor of scheduling a meeting, it’s a red flag. Adam breaks down why this happens, what it m...

In this episode of Insights for IT Negotiations , we take a deeper dive into one of the most talked-about topics in enterprise transformation today: the real-world application of generative AI. Building on our previous conversation, we’re joined again byKevin Lagge of OGE and UpperEdge’s Ted Rogers to explore how AI moved from experimentation to mission-critical execution during a complex, large-s...

Enterprise customers are seeing a sharp rise in account team changes across major SaaS vendors like Microsoft, Salesforce, and ServiceNow. But this isn’t just turnover—it’s a strategic shift. In this video, Adam Mansfield from UpperEdge explains why vendors are reshuffling account teams more frequently in 2026, what it means for your organization, and how you should respond to protect your interes...