negotiation

ITIC Editorial Calendar

Laura's Insights ITIC Blog / By

March/April 2020: ITIC 2020 Global Server Hardware and Server OS Reliability Survey

Description: Reliability and uptime are absolutely essential. Over 80% of corporations now require a minimum of 99.99% availability and greater; and an increasing number of enterprises now demand five nines – 99.999% or higher reliability. But which platforms actually deliver? This survey polls businesses on the reliability, uptime and management issues involving the inherent reliability of 14 different server hardware platforms and server operating system. The survey polls corporations on the frequency, the duration and reasons associated with Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 outages that occur on their core server OS and server hardware platforms. The results of this independent, non-vendor sponsored survey will provide businesses with the information they need to determine the TCO and ROI of their individual environments. The survey will also enable the server OS and server hardware vendors to see how their products rate among global users ranging from SMBs with as few as 25 people to the largest global enterprises with 100,000+ end users.

The 2020 ITIC Global Reliability Survey has also been updated and expanded to include questions on:

  • Component level failure data comparisons between IBM Power Servers and Intel-based x86 servers such as Dell, HP, Huawei, Lenovo and Cisco.
  • Percentage of component level failure data comparisons by vendor according to age (e.g. new to three months; three to six months; six months to 1 year; 1 to 2 years; 2 to 3 years; 3 to 4 years; 4 to 5 years; over five years).
  • Which component parts fail and frequency of failure
  • A percentage breakout of server parts failures for parts such as hard disk drives(HDD), processors, memory, power components, fans, or other
  • Where available, how the component failed. For example: memory multi-bit errors, HDD read failures, processor L1/L2 cache errors, etc.

 

April/May: 2020 Hourly Cost of Downtime

 

Description: Downtime impacts every aspect of the business. It can disrupt operations and end user productivity, result in data losses and raise the risk of litigation. Downtime can also result in lost business and irreparably damage a company’s reputation. The cost of downtime continues to increase as do the business risks. ITIC’s 2019 Hourly Cost of Downtime survey found an 85 % majority of organizations now require a minimum of 99.99% availability. This is the equivalent of 52 minutes of unplanned outages related to downtime for mission critical systems and applications or just 4.33 minutes of unplanned monthly outage for servers, applications and networks. This survey will once again poll corporations on how much one hour of downtime costs their business – exclusive of litigation, civil or criminal penalties. ITIC will also interview customers and vendors across 10 key vertical markets including: Banking/Finance; Education; Government; Healthcare; Manufacturing; Retail; Transportation and Utilities. The Report will focus on the toll that downtime extracts on the business, its IT departments, its employees, its business partners, suppliers and its external customers. This report will also examine the remediation efforts involved in resuming full operations as well as the lingering or after-effects to the corporation’s reputation as the result of an unplanned outage.

 

May/June 2020: ITIC Sexual Harassment, Gender Bias and Pay Equity Survey

 

Description:  ITIC’s “Sexual Harassment, Gender Bias and Pay Equity Gap,” independent Web survey polled 1,500 women professionals worldwide across 47 different industries, with a special emphasis on STEM disciplines. The survey focuses on three key areas of workplace discrimination: Sexual Harassment, Gender Bias and Unequal Pay.

 

 

July/August: 2020 IoT Deployment and Usage Trends Survey and Report

 

Description: The Internet of Things (IoT) has been one of the hottest emerging technologies of the last several years. This ITIC Report will present the findings of an ITIC survey that polls corporations on the business and technical challenges as well as the costs associated with IoT deployments. This IoT Report will also examine the ever present security risks associated with interconnected environments and ecosystems. ITIC’s IoT 2020 Deployment and Usage Trends Survey will also query global businesses on a variety of crucial issues related to their current and planned Internet of Things (IoT) usage and deployments such as how  they are using IoT (e.g. on-premises versus Network Edge/Perimeter deployments); the chief benefits and biggest challenges and impediments to IoT upgrades.  Vendors profiled for this report will include: AT&T, Bosch, Cisco, Dell, Fujitsu, General Electric (GE), Google, Hitachi, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Particle, PTC, Qualcomm,  Samsung, SAP, Siemens and Verizon.

 

 

August: ITIC 2020-2021 Security Trends

 

Description: Security, security, security! Security impacts every aspect of computing and networking operations in the Digital Age. And it’s never been more crucial as businesses, schools, government workers and consumers are working at home amidst the ongoing Nouvel and damaging security hack impacting the lives of millions of consumers and corporations. This Report will utilize the latest ITIC independent survey data to provide an overview of the latest trends in computer security including the latest and most dangerous hacks and what corporations can do to defend their data assets. Among the topics covered:

 

  • Security threats in the age of COVID-19
  • The most prevalent type of security hacks
  • The percentage of corporations that experienced a security hack
  • The duration of the security hack
  • The severity of the security hack
  • The cost of the security hack
  • Monetary losses experienced due to security breaches
  • Lost, damaged, destroyed or stolen data due to a security breach
  • The percentage of time that corporations spend securing their networks and data assets
  • Specific security policies and procedures companies are implementing
  • The issues that pose the biggest threats/risks to corporate security

 

 

 

August/September: ITIC 2020 Global Server Hardware Server OS Reliability Survey Mid-Year Update

 

Description: This Report is the Mid-year update of ITIC’s Annual Global Server Hardware, Server OS Reliability Survey. Each year ITIC conducts a second survey of selected questions from its Annual Reliability poll. ITIC also conducts new interviews with C-level executives and Network administrators to get detailed insights on the reliability of their server hardware and operating system software as well as the technical service and support they receive from their respective vendors.  ITIC will also incorporate updated PowerPoint slides and statistics to accompany the report.

 

October/November: AI, Machine Learning and Data Analytics Market Outlook

Description: This Report will examine the pivotal role that AI, Machine Learning and IoT-enabled predictive and prescriptive Analytics plays in assisting businesses sort through the data deluge to make informed decisions and derive real business value from their applications. AI and Machine Learning take Data Analytics to new levels. They can help businesses identify new product opportunities and also uncover hidden risks. Machine intelligence is already built into predictive and prescriptive analytics tools, speeding insights and enabling the analysis of vast probabilities to determine an optimal course of action or the best set of options. Over time, more sophisticated forms of AI will find their way into analytics systems, further improving the speed and accuracy of decision-making. Rather than querying a system and waiting for a response, the trend has been toward interactivity using visual interfaces. In the near future, voice interfaces will become more common, enabling humans to carry on interactive conversations with digital assistants while watching the analytical results on a screen. Analytics makes businesses more efficient; it enables them to cut costs and lower ongoing operational expenditures. It also helps them respond more quickly and agilely to changing market conditions – making them more competitive and thus driving top line revenue in both the near term and long term strategic sales. Vendors Profiled: AppDynamics, BMC, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and SAS. It also discusses how non-traditional vendors in the carrier and networking segments e.g. Dell/EMC, GE, Google, Verizon and Vodafone have fully embraced AIOps and analytics via partnerships, acquisitions and Research and Development (R&D) initiatives and have moved into this space and challenged the traditional market leaders. And it will provide an overview of the latest Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) and their impact on the Analytics industry.

 

December: ITIC 2021 Technology and Business Outlook

 

Description: This Report will be based on ITIC survey results that poll IT administrators and C-level executives on a variety of forward looking business and technology issues for the 2020 timeframe. Topics covered will include: Security, IT staffing and budgets; application and network infrastructure upgrades; hardware and software purchasing trends and cloud computing.

Survey Methodology

 

ITIC conducts independent Web-based surveys that contain multiple choice and essay questions. In order to ensure the highest degree of accuracy, we employ authentication and tracking mechanisms to prohibit tampering with the survey results and to prohibit multiple votes by the same party. ITIC conducts surveys with corporate enterprises in North America and in over 25 countries worldwide across a wide range of vertical markets. Respondents range from SMBs with 25 to 100 workers to the largest multinational enterprises with over 100,000 employees. Each Report also includes two dozen first person customer interviews and where applicable, vendor and reseller interviews. The titles of the survey respondents include:

 

  • Network administrators
  • VPs of IT
  • Chief information officers (CIOs)
  • Chief technology officers (CTOs)
  • Chief executive officers (CEOs)
  • Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs)
  • Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs)
  • Consultants
  • Application developers
  • Database Administrators
  • Telecom Manager
  • Software Developer
  • System Administrator
  • IT Architect
  • Physical Plant Facilities Manager
  • Operations Manager
  • Technical Lead
  • Cloud Managers/Specialists
  • IoT Manager
  • Server Hardware/Virtualization Manager

 

 

ITIC welcomes input and suggestion from its vendor and enterprise clients with respect to surveys, survey questions and topics for its Editorial Calendar. If there are any particular topics or questions in a specific survey that you’d like to see covered, please let us know and we will do our best to address it.

 

 

About Information Technology Intelligence Corporation (ITIC)

 

ITIC, founded in 2002, is a research and consulting firm based in suburban Boston. It provides primary research on a wide variety of technology topics for vendors and enterprises. ITIC’s mission is to provide its clients with tactical, practical and actionable advice and to help clients make sense of the technology and business events that influence and impact their infrastructures and IT budgets. ITIC can provide your firm with accurate, objective research on a wide variety of technology topics within the network infrastructure: application software, server hardware, networking, virtualization, cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT) and Security (e.g. ransom ware, cyber heists, phishing scams, botnets etc.). ITIC also addresses the business issues that impact the various technologies and influence the corporate business purchasing decisions. These include topics such as licensing and contract negotiation; GDPR; Intellectual Property (IP); patents, outsourcing, third party technical support and upgrade/migration planning.

 

For more information visit ITIC’s website at: www.itic-corp.com.

 

To purchase or license ITIC Reports and Survey data contact: Fred Abbott

Email: fhabbott@valleyviewventures.com;

Valley View Ventures, Inc.

Phone: 978-254-1639

www.valleyviewventures.com

ITIC Editorial Calendar Read More »

ITIC 2020 Editorial Calendar

2019, 2020, Editorial Calendars / By

March/April 2020: ITIC 2020 Global Server Hardware and Server OS Reliability Survey

Description: Reliability and uptime are absolutely essential. Over 80% of corporations now require a minimum of 99.99% availability and greater; and an increasing number of enterprises now demand five nines – 99.999% or higher reliability. But which platforms actually deliver? This survey polls businesses on the reliability, uptime and management issues involving the inherent reliability of 14 different server hardware platforms and server operating system. The survey polls corporations on the frequency, the duration and reasons associated with Tier 1, Tier 2 and Tier 3 outages that occur on their core server OS and server hardware platforms. The results of this independent, non-vendor sponsored survey will provide businesses with the information they need to determine the TCO and ROI of their individual environments. The survey will also enable the server OS and server hardware vendors to see how their products rate among global users ranging from SMBs with as few as 25 people to the largest global enterprises with 100,000+ end users.

The 2020 ITIC Global Reliability Survey has also been updated and expanded to include questions on:

  • Component level failure data comparisons between IBM Power Servers and Intel-based x86 servers such as Dell, HP, Huawei, Lenovo and Cisco.
  • Percentage of component level failure data comparisons by vendor according to age (e.g. new to three months; three to six months; six months to 1 year; 1 to 2 years; 2 to 3 years; 3 to 4 years; 4 to 5 years; over five years).
  • Which component parts fail and frequency of failure
  • A percentage breakout of server parts failures for parts such as hard disk drives(HDD), processors, memory, power components, fans, or other
  • Where available, how the component failed. For example: memory multi-bit errors, HDD read failures, processor L1/L2 cache errors, etc.

 

April/May: 2020 Hourly Cost of Downtime

 Description: Downtime impacts every aspect of the business. It can disrupt operations and end user productivity, result in data losses and raise the risk of litigation. Downtime can also result in lost business and irreparably damage a company’s reputation. The cost of downtime continues to increase as do the business risks. ITIC’s 2019 Hourly Cost of Downtime survey found an 85 % majority of organizations now require a minimum of 99.99% availability. This is the equivalent of 52 minutes of unplanned outages related to downtime for mission critical systems and applications or just 4.33 minutes of unplanned monthly outage for servers, applications and networks. This survey will once again poll corporations on how much one hour of downtime costs their business – exclusive of litigation, civil or criminal penalties. ITIC will also interview customers and vendors across 10 key vertical markets including: Banking/Finance; Education; Government; Healthcare; Manufacturing; Retail; Transportation and Utilities. The Report will focus on the toll that downtime extracts on the business, its IT departments, its employees, its business partners, suppliers and its external customers. This report will also examine the remediation efforts involved in resuming full operations as well as the lingering or after-effects to the corporation’s reputation as the result of an unplanned outage.

 

May/June 2020: ITIC Sexual Harassment, Gender Bias and Pay Equity Survey

 Description:  ITIC’s “Sexual Harassment, Gender Bias and Pay Equity Gap,” independent Web survey polled 1,500 women professionals worldwide across 47 different industries, with a special emphasis on STEM disciplines. The survey focuses on three key areas of workplace discrimination: Sexual Harassment, Gender Bias and Unequal Pay.

 

 

July/August: 2020 IoT Deployment and Usage Trends Survey and Report

 

Description: The Internet of Things (IoT) has been one of the hottest emerging technologies of the last several years. This ITIC Report will present the findings of an ITIC survey that polls corporations on the business and technical challenges as well as the costs associated with IoT deployments. This IoT Report will also examine the ever present security risks associated with interconnected environments and ecosystems. ITIC’s IoT 2020 Deployment and Usage Trends Survey will also query global businesses on a variety of crucial issues related to their current and planned Internet of Things (IoT) usage and deployments such as how  they are using IoT (e.g. on-premises versus Network Edge/Perimeter deployments); the chief benefits and biggest challenges and impediments to IoT upgrades.  Vendors profiled for this report will include: AT&T, Bosch, Cisco, Dell, Fujitsu, General Electric (GE), Google, Hitachi, Huawei, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Particle, PTC, Qualcomm,  Samsung, SAP, Siemens and Verizon.

 August: ITIC 2020-2021 Security Trends

 Description: Security, security, security! Security impacts every aspect of computing and networking operations in the Digital Age. And it’s never been more crucial as businesses, schools, government workers and consumers are working at home amidst the ongoing Nouvel and damaging security hack impacting the lives of millions of consumers and corporations. This Report will utilize the latest ITIC independent survey data to provide an overview of the latest trends in computer security including the latest and most dangerous hacks and what corporations can do to defend their data assets. Among the topics covered:

 

  • Security threats in the age of COVID-19
  • The most prevalent type of security hacks
  • The percentage of corporations that experienced a security hack
  • The duration of the security hack
  • The severity of the security hack
  • The cost of the security hack
  • Monetary losses experienced due to security breaches
  • Lost, damaged, destroyed or stolen data due to a security breach
  • The percentage of time that corporations spend securing their networks and data assets
  • Specific security policies and procedures companies are implementing
  • The issues that pose the biggest threats/risks to corporate security

 

August/September: ITIC 2020 Global Server Hardware Server OS Reliability Survey Mid-Year Update

Description: This Report is the Mid-year update of ITIC’s Annual Global Server Hardware, Server OS Reliability Survey. Each year ITIC conducts a second survey of selected questions from its Annual Reliability poll. ITIC also conducts new interviews with C-level executives and Network administrators to get detailed insights on the reliability of their server hardware and operating system software as well as the technical service and support they receive from their respective vendors.  ITIC will also incorporate updated PowerPoint slides and statistics to accompany the report.

 

October/November: AI, Machine Learning and Data Analytics Market Outlook

Description: This Report will examine the pivotal role that AI, Machine Learning and IoT-enabled predictive and prescriptive Analytics plays in assisting businesses sort through the data deluge to make informed decisions and derive real business value from their applications. AI and Machine Learning take Data Analytics to new levels. They can help businesses identify new product opportunities and also uncover hidden risks. Machine intelligence is already built into predictive and prescriptive analytics tools, speeding insights and enabling the analysis of vast probabilities to determine an optimal course of action or the best set of options. Over time, more sophisticated forms of AI will find their way into analytics systems, further improving the speed and accuracy of decision-making. Rather than querying a system and waiting for a response, the trend has been toward interactivity using visual interfaces. In the near future, voice interfaces will become more common, enabling humans to carry on interactive conversations with digital assistants while watching the analytical results on a screen. Analytics makes businesses more efficient; it enables them to cut costs and lower ongoing operational expenditures. It also helps them respond more quickly and agilely to changing market conditions – making them more competitive and thus driving top line revenue in both the near term and long term strategic sales. Vendors Profiled: AppDynamics, BMC, Cisco, IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, SAP and SAS. It also discusses how non-traditional vendors in the carrier and networking segments e.g. Dell/EMC, GE, Google, Verizon and Vodafone have fully embraced AIOps and analytics via partnerships, acquisitions and Research and Development (R&D) initiatives and have moved into this space and challenged the traditional market leaders. And it will provide an overview of the latest Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A) and their impact on the Analytics industry.

 December: ITIC 2021 Technology and Business Outlook

 Description: This Report will be based on ITIC survey results that poll IT administrators and C-level executives on a variety of forward looking business and technology issues for the 2020 timeframe. Topics covered will include: Security, IT staffing and budgets; application and network infrastructure upgrades; hardware and software purchasing trends and cloud computing.

Survey Methodology

 

ITIC conducts independent Web-based surveys that contain multiple choice and essay questions. In order to ensure the highest degree of accuracy, we employ authentication and tracking mechanisms to prohibit tampering with the survey results and to prohibit multiple votes by the same party. ITIC conducts surveys with corporate enterprises in North America and in over 25 countries worldwide across a wide range of vertical markets. Respondents range from SMBs with 25 to 100 workers to the largest multinational enterprises with over 100,000 employees. Each Report also includes two dozen first person customer interviews and where applicable, vendor and reseller interviews. The titles of the survey respondents include:

 

  • Network administrators
  • VPs of IT
  • Chief information officers (CIOs)
  • Chief technology officers (CTOs)
  • Chief executive officers (CEOs)
  • Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs)
  • Chief Marketing Officers (CMOs)
  • Consultants
  • Application developers
  • Database Administrators
  • Telecom Manager
  • Software Developer
  • System Administrator
  • IT Architect
  • Physical Plant Facilities Manager
  • Operations Manager
  • Technical Lead
  • Cloud Managers/Specialists
  • IoT Manager
  • Server Hardware/Virtualization Manager

 

 

ITIC welcomes input and suggestion from its vendor and enterprise clients with respect to surveys, survey questions and topics for its Editorial Calendar. If there are any particular topics or questions in a specific survey that you’d like to see covered, please let us know and we will do our best to address it.

 

 

About Information Technology Intelligence Corporation (ITIC)

 

ITIC, founded in 2002, is a research and consulting firm based in suburban Boston. It provides primary research on a wide variety of technology topics for vendors and enterprises. ITIC’s mission is to provide its clients with tactical, practical and actionable advice and to help clients make sense of the technology and business events that influence and impact their infrastructures and IT budgets. ITIC can provide your firm with accurate, objective research on a wide variety of technology topics within the network infrastructure: application software, server hardware, networking, virtualization, cloud computing, Internet of Things (IoT) and Security (e.g. ransom ware, cyber heists, phishing scams, botnets etc.). ITIC also addresses the business issues that impact the various technologies and influence the corporate business purchasing decisions. These include topics such as licensing and contract negotiation; GDPR; Intellectual Property (IP); patents, outsourcing, third party technical support and upgrade/migration planning.

 

To purchase or license ITIC Reports and Survey data contact: Fred Abbott

Email: fhabbott@valleyviewventures.com;

Valley View Ventures, Inc.

Phone: 978-254-1639

www.valleyviewventures.com

ITIC 2020 Editorial Calendar Read More »

Want to Save IT $$$: Review, Renegotiate Licensing Contracts

2010, Laura's Insights ITIC Blog, News / By

If your business is strapped for cash and wondering how it’s going to find the money to pay for much needed hardware, software and network upgrades in 2010, it’s time to revisit your existing licensing contracts.
The specific terms and conditions of your licensing contracts could literally translate into money in the company’s coffers. C-level executives and IT departments may be pleasantly surprised to find that there’s gold in those contracts that may potentially net your organization much needed licenses and other already negotiated extras. While there are no guarantees, the chances are good that the organization’s existing licensing contracts could net you a windfall similar to unclaimed funds or finding treasure in Grandma’s attic. These overlooked items which may include things like unused and available desktop, server and software application licenses; discounted and free training and technical service and support could be worth thousands or even millions depending on the size and scope of the company are licensing agreements. ITIC primary research indicates that eight out of 10 businesses will undertake a major product or application upgrade during 2010. Eight out of 10 businesses will perform a major network migration in the next 12 to 15 months, and with budgets still tight, upper management is demanding tangible TCO and ROI.
Natural skepticism many prompt many of you reading this to question how organizations could fail to notice licenses and tools that they’ve already paid for, which are so crucial to the bottom line.
Very easily and it happens all the time. As an analyst at Giga Information Group, my colleague, Julie Giera and I put together a series of licensing boot camps or user seminars throughout the U.S., Canada and Europe. We were stunned to realize that the majority of organizations don’t know what licenses they’ve bought, what they’re using or not using and they frequently don’t take advantage of extras and freebies that are written into their contracts.
I’m not accusing users of being ignorant or lazy. But the fact is, licensing agreements are most often negotiated by persons within the organization who are only tasked with getting the deal done. Once the contract is signed, the negotiator hands it off to the appropriate executive or accounting person, who promptly files the document and forgets about it. Lax communication amongst departments means that IT departments may not see the actual contracts. Thus, they may be unaware that they are entitled to myriad “extras” like expanded technical service and support; access to days or weeks of free training on specific products and access to free online inventory and asset management tools that can assist the organization in tracking license usage and remaining compliant.
Compounding the problem is the fact that the majority of licensing contracts are negotiated once every two, three or even four years. ITIC research indicates that 60% of the time a different person will negotiate the licensing contracts once it comes due for renewal. And since organizations, oftentimes don’t keep good records; the new contract negotiator may be unaware of specific terms and conditions and whether or not the organization or the vendor fulfilled their responsibilities.
The result: organizations – from academic institutions and non-profits to the largest commercial enterprises –can unwittingly cheat themselves out of licenses and benefits that are rightfully theirs, leaving tens of thousands or even million on the table. Not everyone does this of course. Approximately 10% of organizations aggressively negotiate their contracts and keep tabs on their T&Cs, with the passionate obsession of Les Miserables’ Inspector Javert pursuing Jean Valjean through Paris.
Here’s a scary statistic: recent ITIC survey data indicates only 7% of organizations polled said they had attempted to renegotiate their licensing contracts in the past 12 to 18 months!
In this instance, the ongoing economic downturn can work your organization’s favor. Vendors and resellers are aware that most businesses are either strapped for cash or that their IT budgets don’t allow for extras. Your vendors and resellers are all anxious to retain your business and get you to re-sign your contracts once the licenses expire. Even if you just signed a new contract six months or a year ago, you can still contact the vendor or reseller and initiate interim negotiations. But you won’t get anything if you don’t at least make the attempt to renegotiate.
Negotiating to Save
First things, first: assemble a team that includes the appropriate members of the organization such as the CIO, CTO, VP of IT and the appropriate network administrators (e.g. database, server, messaging, security, storage, etc.) to review the T&Cs of your various licensing contracts. It’s also a good idea to involve the corporate attorneys. If your firm doesn’t have in-house counsel, engage the services of an outside firm. Legal counsel will help unravel the confusing and nebulous terms.
Do a thorough cost/analysis of your current environment. Next, conduct a thorough assessment of your current environment, tally up your licenses: are you using everything you paid for and are you paying for all the seats you’re using? Compliance is crucial. You won’t be able to negotiate a better deal if your organization has not paid for all its licenses – even if it was an honest mistake. There are lots of free software inventory and asset management tools available to assist your organization in this task. You may discover that your current licensing agreement entitles your organization to an online asset management tool. This tool will act as a discovery mechanism to uncover unused or available licenses for key products and applications. This is “found money” because your business has already paid for these product licenses.
Organizations that have recently been involved in mergers, acquisitions or divestitures should pay especially close attention to the T&Cs of the licensing contracts for all of the acquired or discarded business units. Some licenses will carry over but some may not and M&A activity will affect planned purchasing decisions.
Next, the team should collaborate and define the business needs and goals. Set priorities. There are many ways to improve TCO and ROI.
Where the Money Is
The team also must determine whether or not the organization purchased a maintenance and upgrade plan. These plans can be a real treasure trove, including everything from free or discounted upgrades; access to online training, learning and assessment tools. Additionally, they may also entitle the organization to many free services such as 24×7 phone support; free training vouchers for specific products; access to onsite technical training and support. Customers who purchased Microsoft’s Software Assurance maintenance and upgrade plan, for example, have the ability to swap or convert their Software Assurance tech support incidents for Microsoft Premier Problem Resolution incidents. The latter provides a much more detailed and hands on level of support service. Microsoft’s SA agreements also allow customers to purchase extended Hot Fix support to resolve code issues on products that are no longer sold or supported and complimentary “cold backup” server licenses for the purpose of disaster recovery.
If you’re not in compliance, take steps to return to compliance in advance of any product negotiations. Next, do a cost/analysis of your projected environment for at least two years and preferably three years. This should include estimates on staff increases or decreases which will affect future the purchasing levels and licensing agreements. Don’t over-estimate. It’s better to buy at a lower level and upgrade than to commit to purchase a higher discount level and be forced to downgrade and give back a percentage discount to your vendor or reseller in the event your company’s fortunes wane.
Before approaching your vendor/reseller, investigate what types of deals your peers are getting on their licensing contracts. Compare notes to determine that the T&Cs of your contracts are competitively priced. User groups are a great source of information. When it comes to negotiating for better terms, knowledge really is power.
Approach your vendor or reseller with several “wish list” items. Be as specific as possible. “I’d like a 10% discount on 50 licenses for XYZ product,” will yield better results than an open-ended request like, “How much of a discount can you give me?” or “What can you do for us?”
And above all be reasonable. The economic recession has had an adverse impact on vendors as well as end users so don’t ask for the Sun, the Moon and the stars.
If you have a good relationship with your vendor or reseller sales representative, there’s a good chance they’ll be receptive to negotiating things like fixed annual payments or extended payment plans and even negotiating down the percentage of the True-Up payment if your organization has experienced a reversal of fortune over the past year or two. Here’s a list of things your organization may want to negotiate:
• Keep your unused licenses and have them carry over when you re-sign a new contract.
• Negotiate for price caps on product and licensing increases
• Price protection for the duration of your licensing contract
• Contract buy-outs
• Licensing transfer fees
• Penalty waivers if you’re non-compliant
• Flexibility in signing upgrade and maintenance agreements
• Discounted or free training
• Discounted or free technical service and support incidents
• Free training vouchers

Again, this is all saved money that will shave your organization’s capital expenditure and operational expenditure budget. Don’t get discouraged if your vendor or reseller initially balks. That’s all part of the negotiating process. Be persistent; remember your vendor wants to keep you as a customer. Be prepared with a counter-offer. Remember: you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

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