Insights for IT Negotiations

Oracle shared some interesting facts in its Q4 earnings call that uncover the latest tactics its using to expand product adoption, forecast Autonomous Database growth, and seed its customer base. In this podcast, Practice Leader, Jeff Lazarto discusses some concerns with the numbers being reported and what potential and current Oracle customers should expect and prepare for when considering Autono...

In its recent Q4 earnings call, Oracle focused on the security features of both Generation 2 Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI2) and the Autonomous Database. In today’s world of data breaches routinely making headlines and the resulting fall from grace of company CEOs, Oracle’s sales pitch is ultimately about providing high-level security that ultimately saves the CEO. In this podcast, Oracle Pract...

Google Cloud CEO, Thomas Kurian, recently stated they want to be the easiest cloud provider to do business with. Amongst a number efforts to achieve this distinction, they will introduce easier pricing and easier contracting. In this podcast, Adam Mansfield discusses why this is a smart approach and how it would differentiate Google from rival cloud vendors like Microsoft, Amazon and even Salesfor...

As you prepare for your cloud subscription renewal negotiation, it is important to first assess and understand the goals and objectives of the cloud vendor sitting across the table from you. There are certainly universal things that matter to all cloud vendors pretty much at any point in time, like increased spend and product expansion but there are a few things that matter most to ServiceNow righ...

Happy customers and successful projects equals high customer satisfaction and a retention rate of over 100%. Even with all of Workdays recent success, you have a great amount of leverage in constructing your first deal with Workday. Jeff Lazarto discusses how you need to understand what a highly competitive deal looks like, and how you can go about obtaining such a deal—there are strategies you ca...

Salesforce had another strong quarter with revenue growth of 24%, and Service Cloud revenue breaking the $1B threshold for the first time. They also raised full year profit guidance. It is very clear that in order for Salesforce reach their self-imposed $26B revenue target by FY23, they will need to successfully sell enterprise CEOs on Salesforce being the only company that can truly provide them...

The higher education industry can expect to continue to field many calls from Workday account executives. Workday has taken more of a targeted approach with respect to gaining customer adoption of its Financial Management solution.  The first industry Workday focused on was the public sector which includes both government and education. Jeff Lazarto, UpperEdge's Practice Leader, breaks down what t...

SAP’s annual conference in Orlando is in full swing. In this podcast, UpperEdge’s SAP Advisory Practice Leader, Len Riley, discusses his observations and first impressions. He shares his thoughts on how this year’s conference compares to previous years so far, what SAP is doing well, and what SAP could have done better. Host: Len Riley: https://bit.ly/3fqLI99 SAP Commercial Advisory Services: http...

Now that Oracle has been officially eliminated from the Joint Enterprise Defense Infrastructure (“JEDI”) RFP process, they are pushing forward with their lawsuit against the Department of Defense (DoD). Jeff Lazarto, UpperEdge's Oracle Practice Leader discusses how Oracle, in short, is claiming to be a victim in a rigged RFP and procurement process. Host: Jeff Lazarto: https://bit.ly/37eCXdN Oracl...

If you are becoming a new customer of Workday (or any cloud vendor), it is extremely important to get your first deal right. Not only do you have the most leverage at this time but your first deal will set the precedent going forward. In this podcast, Workday Practice Leader, Jeff Lazarto, discusses the key parts of your negotiation leverage as a new customer as well as the specific areas you shou...

Day 1 of ServiceNow’s annual conference kicked off with a keynote focused on changing lives at work through technology and how ServiceNow is the right vendor to make that happen. ServiceNow will continue to focus on bringing new mobile features to market to increase the value of its solutions while mapping to customer needs. In this podcast, UpperEdge’s ServiceNow Advisory Practice Leader, Adam Ma...

Alphabet reported that overall company revenue increased 17% to $36.3B but came up short of the expected $37.3B. Other revenues (which includes Google Cloud) reached $5.4 billion, up 25% year-over-year. Though Google Cloud Platform has strong customer momentum and remains one of the fastest growing businesses in Alphabet, Alphabet and Google still have not released Google Cloud revenue or utilizat...

SAP made some significant announcements in its Q1’19 earnings call that will have implications for SAP customers. SAP is focusing on improving margins, Bill McDermott wants fair market value for SAP’s software, and Elliott Management takes a $1.5B stake in SAP. In this podcast, Len Riley discusses how Elliott Management will not just be focused on the operational efficiencies of SAP but more on re...

ServiceNow beat analyst estimates and raised full year 2019 subscription revenue and billings guidance. ServiceNow posted Q1 subscription revenue of $740M which represented an impressive 40% growth y-o-y. They closed 25 deals in the quarter with ACV greater than $1M which brings total customers fitting this profile to 717. Expect ServiceNow to continue to find ways to expand ITSM adoption within e...

Microsoft had another stellar quarter, beating expectations and posting double digit growth, both for top and bottom line. These impressive financial results were directly tied to the continued strength of their cloud business. Commercial Cloud revenue grew 41% with Office 365 commercial revenue up 30% as a result of continued install base expansion and average revenue per user (ARPU) growth. Azur...

After 27 years at SAP, Robert Enslin resigned from his position as President of the Cloud Business Group. In this podcast, UpperEdge’s SAP Practice Leader, Len Riley, discusses how SAP is restructuring its leadership responsibilities, the challenges SAP will face from these changes, and how customers will be impacted. Host: Len Riley: https://bit.ly/3fqLI99 SAP Commercial Advisory Services: https:...

Oracle has been struggling to meet Wallstreet’s expectations for cloud revenue. To motivate their on-premise customers to migrate to the cloud, they have offered two key cloud incentive programs: Universal Cloud Credits and Bring Your Own License (BYOL). In this podcast, Erwann Couesbot discusses what customers need to know about these programs, including the key benefits of both and potential dow...

Some things we’re seeing from Oracle coming out of their Q3 earning are similar to what we saw with IBM a few years back. Their revenue is flat or slightly declining (like IBM’s was) but their earnings per share are growing, just like IBM’s had—the main reason for this? Stock repurchasing program, like IBM had done, Oracle is doing the same now, Oracle just spent in Q3 alone $10B to buy back 206M...

Best Practice Metrics for Tower-based I&O Services When going to market to secure proposals for Infrastructure and Outsourcing (I&O) services, the responses you receive can be overwhelmingly complex and can challenge your ability to do a true apples-to-apples comparison. This 5-part series takes you through the steps you should take to ensure your responses are not only normalized but aligned in a...

How CIO’s can ensure they maintain control of their sole source negotiations: Make no mistake, your SI’s plan to secure a sole source award for your Implementation is set in motion from the moment they land resources to begin the strategy phase of your transformation initiative. There are several key tactics SIs will employ to lay the foundation to obtain a sole source implementation award.

Workday's performance in Q4 2019 has been going very well. Workday's subscription revenue was up 33% YoY, they are forecasting more than 27% growth next year and their customer satisfaction rating is at 98%. How are they going about doing this? Their focus has been on HCM, which is the hallmark of their product base and continues to show value to their clients. Once this value is realized, Workday...

In this podcast, Adam Mansfield provides a recap of Salesforce’s Q4 and full year Fiscal 2019 earnings call. Once again, Salesforce posted impressive revenue growth across all of their clouds. They also raised their FY 2020 guidance and announced they are now targeting FY 2023 revenue of $26B-$28B. If they were to achieve this, they would essentially organically double their revenue in the next 4...

Erwann Couesbot discusses some of the main commercial hurdles when it comes to Workday negotiations. Similarities exist when negotiating with major ERP companies, but there are some important differences when negotiating with Workday. They are not a full ERP provider yet, but with M&A they are moving up fast to compete with the likes of SAP and Oracle. This podcasts discusses important commercial...

Mergers and acquisitions are opportunities for SAP to push S/4HANA onto clients. During an M&A there is an optimistic air to discuss synergies, efficiencies and future benefits. But SAP at this time is thinking about big acquisition budgets, revenue opportunity and the possibility to audit either or both companies. SAP will take this time to win in the short term as as well as the long term for fu...

Part of SAP’s 2019 Capital Markets Day presentation centered on “The SAP Top Ten” which includes SAP’s ambition to be #1 in Cloud ERP by 2023. There was also a significant amount of time devoted to C/4HANA’s evolution, its position against competitors like Salesforce, and how the recent acquisition of Qualtrix comes into play. Host: Chip Hanna: https://bit.ly/37gknCk SAP Commercial Advisory Servic...