Insights for IT Negotiations

Salesforce had another strong quarter even during a pandemic, posting 20% revenue growth while even raising full year guidance.  Salesforce posted impressive revenue growth across all its clouds (Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Platform & Other as well as Marketing and Commerce Cloud).  Salesforce’s ability to raise full year revenue guidance is directly attributable to a strong pipeline that CRO, Gavin Patterson, mentioned is tied to the increased level of access they have with decision makers.  In this podcast, Salesforce Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses what enterprises should expect from Salesforce moving forward as they look to meet and exceed raised full year revenue guidance and achieve their objective of becoming a $25B company next year. He also shares how enterprises can take advantage of key insights from the earnings call in their upcoming negotiations and renewals.  Salesforce also officially announced they are acquiring Slack for roughly $28B. Adam will be providing insights on what this means in an additional podcast. Host: Adam Mansfield: https://bit.ly/3rPGp8r SalesForce Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/37hFkMV

UpperEdge's Len Riley chats with Alex Winthrop about how Accenture was particularly impacted by the global pandemic and what actions they took this year that customers should be aware of. —Discussion based on blog: How Accenture’s Strategy Evolved in 2020 – Published October 21, 2020

Understanding the pros and cons of Private Cloud vs. Public Cloud is essential to selecting the right scenario for your business. Through a combination of market research and experience supporting our clients going through similar transformational choices, Brian Undlin, IT Sourcing & Negotiation Analyst at UpperEdge has identified factors to help you decide whether a private or public cloud would be the best fit for your company. More in-depth analysis on this topic can be read in Brian’s blog at upperedge.com.

As the shift to digital accelerates, more enterprises are turning to the cloud to drive efficiencies, lower IT costs, and support work which now requires more collaboration. Alphabet reported that Google Cloud revenue increased 45% in Q3. It is clear that Alphabet is going to continue to aggressively invest in Google Cloud with headcount increases in technical and sales roles, further built-out go-to-market capabilities, and most likely acquisitions. Google Cloud has shown they are ready to take market share and win even more GCP and Workspace (formerly G Suite) customers. The announcement that they are going to finally breakout Google Cloud as a separate reporting segment starting in Q4 is one indicator of their confidence. They are going to provide not only Q4 information but full year 2018, 2019, and 2020 revenue and operating income. In this podcast, Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses what enterprises should expect from Google Cloud’s sales executives who have clearly defined goals. He also shares how customers could potentially take advantage of key insights from the earnings call in their Google Cloud negotiations.

ServiceNow beat expectations and exceeded the high end of revenue guidance despite COVID while also raising full year guidance. Subscription revenues were up 31% and they now have over 1000 customers with annual spends greater than $1M. ServiceNow is going to continue to position themselves as the platform enterprises need to ensure digital transformation success. They will continue to focus on pushing IT Service Management (ITSM) customers to the more robust ITSM Pro and getting customers to adopt additional products such as IT Operations Management (ITOM), HR Service Delivery, and Customer Service Management (CSM). In this podcast, ServiceNow Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses what enterprises should expect from ServiceNow’s sales executives who have clearly defined goals. He also shares how customers could potentially take advantage of key insights from the earnings call in their upcoming negotiations and renewals. Host: Adam Mansfield: https://bit.ly/3rPGp8r ServiceNow Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3ls6VDt

Microsoft had a strong start to its Fiscal 2021 and overcame the devastating impact the pandemic has had on many business including many of Microsoft’s customers. Microsoft was able to beat expectations across the board, relying heavily on its commercial cloud offerings (e.g., Microsoft 365, Teams, Azure, Power Platform, Dynamics 365, LinkedIn, etc.). Commercial Cloud revenue ($15.2B) was up 31% in Q1 and now represents 41% of total company revenue ($37.2B). Microsoft is clearly focused on pushing more enterprise customers to the all-in cloud bundle Microsoft 365, moving customers to the most robust E5 edition, getting more Azure use, ramping Power Platform adoption, and selling more Dynamics 365 solutions while taking market share from Salesforce. They have been and will continue to rely on the aggressive sales pitch that “Microsoft offers the most complete and highest value solutions for enterprises”. In this podcast, Microsoft Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses what enterprises should expect from Microsoft's sales executives who have clearly defined goals. He also shares how customers could potentially take advantage of key insights from the earnings call in their upcoming negotiations and renewals. Host: Adam Mansfield: https://bit.ly/3rPGp8r Microsoft Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/2V78ADX

On an annual basis, Workday requires clients to do a true up, to which clients ask, “How come when we do a true up, we have to pay more for overuse, but never get a refund for underuse?” Workday’s pricing, as given in an order form, represents (from their perspective) a minimum annual spend amount for the entire term. Jeff Lazarto, UpperEdge’s Workday practice leader, discusses why Workday has these pricing structures in place and why you are likely to have to pay more for Full-Service Equivalent (FSE) worker counts and SKUs after each true up. For a more in-depth analysis of Workday’s payment structures, download his recent webcast recording: Ask the Experts – Workday Licensing. Host: Jeff Lazarto: https://bit.ly/37eCXdN Workday Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3fq96DV

Many Workday customers are concerned about paying subscription fees in year 1 of their contract while they are going through their deployment. Workday’s typical response is that everyone must pay in year 1 because it is a cloud platform and they are constantly innovating—even while you’re deploying. However, Workday has started to make some exceptions to this position. Jeff Lazarto, UpperEdge’s Workday practice leader shares insights into these exceptions. For a more in-depth analysis of Workday’s payment deferrals and structures, download his recent webcast recording: Ask the Experts – Workday Licensing. Host: Jeff Lazarto: https://bit.ly/37eCXdN Workday Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3fq96DV

Workday deals consist of a number of factors and unique challenges, the top questions customers have is around pricing— e.g. “Is our proposal pricing from Workday a fair one?”, “Is our prior deal a good one?”, “Where do we stand within the market?”. To start answering these questions, you need to look at your benchmarking factors, which consist of list prices, discounts, net fees on a line-item basis, full service equivalents (FSEs), SKUs and more. Jeff Lazarto, UpperEdge’s Workday Advisory Leader breaks down the components of a Workday deal in this podcast, and in his recent Workday Webcast downloadable at upperedge.com. Host: Jeff Lazarto: https://bit.ly/37eCXdN Workday Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3fq96DV

If you’re an existing SAP customer, how can you determine what your licensing requirements are under the Digital Access Model? Truth be told, the answer hasn’t gotten any clearer. SAP has since introduced a Digital Access Evaluation service to help, however this is a guise for a soft audit which SAP will use to find gaps in your licensing to immediately monetize. Chip Hanna, UpperEdge’s Advisory Practice Director discusses these issues and more in this podcast and in his blog, “SAP and Digital Access – It’s Still a Mess” Host: Chip Hanna: https://bit.ly/37gknCk SAP Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3yjImwb Related Blog: https://bit.ly/3yoIOcm