Insights for IT Negotiations

It is an understatement to say that enterprises are severely impacted when their subscribed to cloud solutions are down and not available. Downtime issues can be disastrous and costly. While Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are a standard in cloud subscription agreements, they are often boilerplate that simply don’t cut it. Regardless of which cloud vendor your enterprise is relying on (Salesforce,...

With Oracle OpenWorld 2018 just weeks away, Oracle has posted Q1 FY19 earnings that lack luster and have missed Wall Street's expectations. In Q4 Oracle stopped breaking out its revenue streams so it's hard to tell where the company may be struggling with their various products and services. Oracle users aren't seeing a business case to migrate to their cloud solutions.

Oracle’s Thomas Kurian has taken a leave of absence from his role as Senior VP President of Product Strategy. It seems Kurian wants to make more of Oracle’s cloud software run on other cloud platforms such as Azure and AWS, where as Ellison wants everything to run on Oracle. Clients need to be aware of Oracle’s eventual strategy as they become accustomed to using Azure and AWS; they may or may not...

Thomas Kurian, President of Product Development at Oracle is taking a leave of absence. Kurian has been at Oracle since 1996, in his email address to employees his leave hints at being more permanent than temporary, and with Oracle OpenWorld just weeks away, it can be assumed he will be absent for the event. Kurian was responsible for Oracle's move to the Cloud and with poor Cloud financials last...

Workday had a very good Q2, their subscription revenue is up 30% YoY with record highs for renewals—in relation to original contract values. Customers should be prepared for Workday to up-sell you with new products and services come your renewal—in an effort to expand their footprint across your enterprise. More detail can be heard in this podcast.

When defining what a business case is, consensus says it’s the reason for initiating a project or task. But UpperEdge’s Shawn Stamp says the real value of your business case goes far beyond project launch. A great business case should guide design decisions, manage scope, sustain alignment & momentum, and measure success.

Microsoft’s pricing and licensing changes will go into effect in October 2018 and many customers will be hit with significant price increases as a result. Microsoft claims these changes will “help customers compare solutions based on their organization’s need, not just price, accelerating their journey to modern commerce” but do they really have the customers’ best interest in mind? Here is a look...

Though many companies have short-term needs or a current project in mind when selecting a vendor, the long-term viability of the cloud service provider (CSP) cannot be overlooked. While the CSP selected a few years ago may have been an economical or strategic decision at the time, that same CSP could be a challenge to integrate into your future environment and ultimately be a burden.

Wall Street expectations were surpassed, significant revenue growth across all of Salesforce’s clouds (i.e. Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Salesforce Platform & Other, and Marketing Cloud & Commerce Cloud) was achieved and FY19 guidance was raised. Based on the extent of coverage during the earnings call and what we are already seeing in the market, MuleSoft is going to be heavily pushed into meeting...

Recently, our clients have shared with us how increasingly frustrated they are with their cloud vendor's behavior. In some cases, the vendor's aggressive approach has fractured the relationship and even influenced purchasing decisions. Have you experienced any of this upsetting behavior from your cloud vendor? !

With over 2,700 sessions to choose from, Salesforce’s massive conference can be overwhelming. But with the right approach, Dreamforce can be a valuable experience and can even be an opportunity to gain leverage at your next Salesforce renewal. Our tips will help you make the most of this year’s Salesforce conference.

Salesforce is approaching customers ahead of their renewals asking for additional purchases to help them meet their own quarterly goals. Beware of any changes to your price protections and conditions, the language is foggy and seems to be intended to protect Salesforce’s revenue more than customer needs. Whether you have been approached with these changes or not, we expect more customers to be con...

ServiceNow had another strong quarter beating expectations and reporting significant subscription revenue growth. ServiceNow closed 28 deals in the quarter with an average contract value (“ACV”) of greater than $1M, bringing the total number of customers spending $1M or more annually to an impressive 575. ServiceNow is leveraging the widespread need to make successful digital transformations to el...

Microsoft FY18 Q4 Earnings – Inside the Numbers by UpperEdge

RP implementation projects are large, complex endeavors that can quickly spiral out of control. Blown budgets and delayed implementations are not uncommon, and in the...

Cloud renewals are an opportunity for companies to amend unfavorable terms and ensure they maintain a customer-centric relationship. However, too many companies miss these opportunities because they wrongfully believe they can approach their cloud renewal negotiations the same way their procurement team approaches negotiations when ordering supplies. Here are some of the most common cloud renewal...

Is Your SAP SI Partner Evaluation Missing the Mark? by UpperEdge

All too often we find ourselves engaged with prospective clients that decouple the negotiation of their SAP agreement from their System Implementation (SI) selection, evaluation and negotiation. Before de-coupling, consider these five tenets...

Oracle had a very interesting Q4 earnings release, which initially triggered a stock price increase during after-hours trading, only to be followed by a very...

Too many organizations are under the false impression that since their SaaS Cloud contract includes a renewal term price protection, then they don’t have to worry about any unbudgeted fee increases. But the truth is, there are conditions that often remove the protection you thought you had. When planning for your upcoming cloud renewal, be sure to understand the conditions that can negate your pri...

You run your business every day and your experience qualifies you for your role. But how often do you engage outside consulting firms? Do you have a mature set of processes for engaging external System Integration (SI) companies for large complex IT programs? And how will you determine the level of your participation in the implementation?

Oracle’s change in revenue reporting for Q4 raises concerns about the strength of its business and the quarterly success picture Oracle painted during its earnings call.

All cloud vendors work from a common playbook in order to grab market share and increase revenues. Knowing their blueprint for success will help your company achieve the best deal and structure the most optimal go-forward relationship.

Workday Q1 2019 Earnings by UpperEdge

Another strong quarter for Salesforce that included beating revenue expectations, 25% year-over-year total revenue growth, significant revenue growth across all clouds and raised full year guidance. Salesforce’s focus is clearly on providing its customers the best solution to drive digital transformation. Expect an aggressive sales organization selling Salesforce’s ability to provide the best solu...