Insights for IT Negotiations

Google Cloud just kicked off their 9-week digital event series and made some important announcements in the keynote. Enterprises in particular should be aware of the key announcements (such as the launch of BigQuery Omni, Confidential VMs and industry-specific solutions) that will likely impact them as Google Cloud continues to focus on building and selling products that address the needs of enterprises. In this podcast, Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses how Google Cloud is ultimately looking to gain market share under the leadership of Robert Enslin and Thomas Kurian. He shares what he expects will be the focus of the messaging they will aggressively approach enterprises with and how Google Cloud will take Microsoft and Slack head on. He also covers what potential and current Google Cloud customers should strive for when establishing a relationship with Google Cloud in order to reap the most long-term value.

Erwann Couesbot, UpperEdge’s Oracle Senior Advisor discusses common mistakes customers make when trying to assess their licenses for Oracle Technology Products, and more specifically the NUP (Named User Plus) metric Oracle uses. The top mistake is users tend to refer to their entitlements vs. how many people and devices are accessing Oracles software. Oracle doesn’t limit clients to their entitlements, therefore it is very easy to become out of compliance. Listen now for a more in-depth analysis and go to UpperEdge.com to read his related blog. Host: Erwann Couesbot: https://bit.ly/2WIKJdX Oracle Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3C8PnSR Related Blog: https://bit.ly/3ymHUNx

Jeff Lazarto, UpperEdge’s Workday Practice Leader gives a rundown of the top 6 things to do for Workday customers looking to expand their Workday product portfolio. Start with assessing your current deal, look at the competitiveness of your pricing and commercial terms, this will put you on good footing for negotiation leverage, especially if you have any existing pain-points or issues you’ve needed to address. Listen further for additional tips and read Jeff’s blog, “Workday Solution Expansion – 6 Customer Mistakes” for more insights. Host: Jeff Lazarto: https://bit.ly/37eCXdN Workday Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3ik7zB3 Related Blog: https://bit.ly/3yl8Ld0

Salesforce beat expectations with $4.87B in revenue for the quarter, which represented 30% year-over-year growth. Despite lowering their full year revenue target to $20B, a $1B reduction, the earnings call was filled with optimism. Salesforce is confident that its broad portfolio of products will enable them to lead the Fortune 500 through their accelerated digital transformations. In this podcast, Salesforce Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses the commission guarantee Salesforce gave its sales representatives, what Salesforce is doing to help its customers in the economic downturn, and what this all means for enterprise customers. Host: Adam Mansfield: https://bit.ly/3rPGp8r SalesForce Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/37hFkMV

Salesforce announced the appointment of Gavin Patterson as President and Chief Revenue Officer of Salesforce. After joining Salesforce last year and quickly rising within the company, he is now the new leader of Salesforce’s global sales organization. With former co-CEO, Keith Block, stepping down earlier this year, could CEO, Marc Benioff, have a plan in place to eventually move Patterson into the co-CEO role? In this podcast, Salesforce Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, shares his perspective on what this leadership change means for Salesforce and discusses how enterprises should prepare for Patterson’s time with their senior executives. Host: Adam Mansfield: https://bit.ly/3rPGp8r SalesForce Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/37hFkMV

Workday has broken up their Full-Service Equivalent (FSE) workers into different categories: Salaried Workers, Hourly Workers, Part-time Workers and Contingent Workers. Jeff Lazarto, UpperEdge’s Workday practice leader explains why it’s important to pay attention to how you categorize and breakdown your workforce based on this new structure; you can find flexibility and cost savings within it. Host: Jeff Lazarto: https://bit.ly/37eCXdN Workday Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3ik7zB3 Related Blog: https://bit.ly/2WOUx6k

ServiceNow's recent earnings call showed a strong quarter and a confident Bill McDermott who emphasized the company's continued opportunity for growth in a post-COVID-19 world where companies will "embrace permanent transformation". In this podcast, Adam Mansfield, breaks down ServiceNow's "Fast-Start playbook" which features pre-packaged bundles they will be aggressively pushing onto companies. He also warns of the potential downsides of bundling and shares how enterprises can protect themselves from these pitfalls to better ensure long-term value. Host: Adam Mansfield: https://bit.ly/3rPGp8r ServiceNow Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3ls6VDt Related Blog: https://bit.ly/2WICJcV

Alphabet, Google’s parent company, announced their Q1 FY20 earnings which included an announcement that Google Cloud (GCP and G Suite) now has quarterly revenue of $2.78B, giving them a $11B run rate. Both GCP and G Suite continue to maintain strong growth that should not slow down any time soon based on the continued interest from enterprises. In this podcast, Adam Mansfield, shares his thoughts on what to expect from Google Cloud and how enterprises with interest in adopting should approach Google with their interest.

Most organizations have shied away from reducing costs of their SAP platform during lean times, but that’s no longer the case considering the breadth and depth of the economic impact of Covid-19. Chip Hanna, UpperEdge’s SAP Practice Director discusses some opportunities around AMS and hosting that companies have to drive down costs. There are a few levers companies can use—commercial levers on existing agreements, operational levers on relationships with AMS and hosting providers, and competitive levers to drive cost negotiations. Host: Chip Hanna: https://bit.ly/37gknCk SAP Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/3yjImwb Related Blog: https://bit.ly/37euUh0

Microsoft outperformed expectations set even before the coronavirus pandemic and beat estimates on the top and bottom lines. Microsoft’s strong quarter was driven by the Commercial Cloud Business, which is largely driven by Azure and Office 365. Though both showed strong growth in Q3, it is important to note that growth for both is slowing down. In the earnings call, Executive VP and CFO, Amy Hood, stated that “Microsoft does well when our customers do well” but what do Microsoft customers need in order to do well? In this podcast, Adam Mansfield shares his thoughts on what that means and discusses how enterprises should approach Microsoft during these uncertain times. Host: Adam Mansfield: https://bit.ly/3rPGp8r Microsoft Commercial Advisory Services: https://bit.ly/2V78ADX