- Internal stakeholders usually have different – and often conflicting – needs and expectations that require careful facilitation and management.
- SaaS solutions bring forth a unique form of “switching costs” that can make a decision to migrate solutions financially, technically, and politically painful.
Our Advice
Critical Insight
- Conservatively, it’s possible to save 5% of the overall IT budget through comprehensive software and SaaS contract review.
- Focus on the terms and conditions, not just the price.
- Learning to negotiate is crucial.
Impact and Result
- Take control of your SaaS contract negotiations from the beginning.
- Look at your contract holistically to find cost savings.
- Guide communication between vendors and your organization for the duration of contract negotiations.
- Redline the terms and conditions of your SaaS contract.
- Prioritize crucial terms and conditions to negotiate.
Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last Research & Tools
Start here – read the Executive Brief
Read our concise Executive Brief to find out how to redline and negotiate a SaaS agreement, review Info-Tech’s methodology, and understand the different ways we can support you in completing this project.Besides the small introduction, subscribers and consulting clients within this management domain have access to:
- Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last – Phases 1-3
1. Gather requirements
Build and manage the stakeholder team, and then document the business use case.
- Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last – Phase 1: Gather Requirements
- RASCI Chart
- Vendor Communication Management Plan
- Software Business Use Case Template
- SaaS TCO Calculator
2. Redline contract
Redline the proposed SaaS contract.
- Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last – Phase 2: Redline Contract
- SaaS Terms and Conditions Evaluation Tool
3. Negotiate contract
Create a thorough negotiation plan.
- Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last – Phase 3: Negotiate Contract
- SaaS Contract Negotiation Terms Prioritization Checklist
- Controlled Vendor Communications Letter
- Key Vendor Fiscal Year End Calendar
- Contract Negotiation Tactics Playbook
Workshop: Negotiate SaaS Agreements That Are Built to Last
Workshops offer an easy way to accelerate your project. If you are unable to do the project yourself, and a Guided Implementation isn't enough, we offer low-cost delivery of our project workshops. We take you through every phase of your project and ensure that you have a roadmap in place to complete your project successfully.
1 Collect and Review Data
The Purpose
Assemble documentation.
Key Benefits Achieved
Understand current position before going forward.
Activities
1.1 Assemble existing contracts.
1.2 Document their strategic and tactical objectives.
1.3 Identify current status of the vendor relationship and any historical context.
1.4 Clarify goals for ideal future state.
Outputs
Business Use Case.
2 Define the Business Use Case and Build a Stakeholder Team
The Purpose
Define the business use case and build a stakeholder team.
Key Benefits Achieved
Create a business use case to document functional and non-functional requirements.
Build an internal cross-functional stakeholder team to negotiate the contract.
Activities
2.1 Establish a negotiation team and define roles.
2.2 Write a communication plan.
2.3 Complete a business use case.
Outputs
RASCI Matrix
Communications Plan
SaaS TCO Calculator
Business Use Case
3 Redline the Contract
The Purpose
Examine terms and conditions and prioritize for negotiation.
Key Benefits Achieved
Discover cost savings.
Improve agreement terms.
Prioritize terms for negotiation.
Activities
3.1 Review general terms and conditions.
3.2 Review license and application specific terms and conditions.
3.3 Match to business and technical requirements.
3.4 Redline the agreement.
Outputs
SaaS Terms and Conditions Evaluation Tool
SaaS Contract Negotiation Terms Prioritization Checklist
4 Build a Negotiation Strategy
The Purpose
Create a negotiation strategy.
Key Benefits Achieved
Controlled communication established.
Negotiation tactics chosen.
Negotiation timeline plotted.
Activities
4.1 Review vendor and application specific negotiation tactics.
4.2 Build negotiation strategy.
Outputs
Contract Negotiation Tactics Playbook
Controlled Vendor Communications Letter
Key Vendor Fiscal Year End Calendar