Insights for IT Negotiations

Michael Casey, CTO of EY’s SAP and ERP practice with 27+ years in large-scale transformations, and Gaurav Rastogi, Managing Director at EY, share their insights on innovative AI solutions. They discuss EY's generative AI strategy, the launch of the EY.AI platform, and its 'human in the middle' philosophy. The duo also highlights how AI is transforming ERP implementations, improving practitioner support with digital agents, and navigating the complexities of generative AI, including intellectual property concerns and the necessity for human oversight.

Salesforce’s Q3 FY25 total revenue came in at $9.44B, representing an 8% growth year-over-year. This came in slightly above the $9.35B expected by analysts. While Salesforce did slightly raise the low end of their Full Year FY25 guidance from $37.7B to $37.7B (high end set at $38B), they also maintained an expected single digit revenue growth for FY25 at 8%-9%. It is clear from the earnings call that CEO Marc Benioff and COO Brian Millham will push their sales organization, which will have 1000 new members soon, to get more customers to start using their AI Agent offering Agentforce. Salesforce had 200 Agentforce wins in Q3. It was also clear that Salesforce will be pitching Data Cloud as part of a package deal with Agentforce. The push on customers is expected to be aggressive given the important role adopting these products will play in driving revenue growth for Salesforce moving forward. In this podcast, Salesforce Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses what Salesforce’s earnings mean for customers and what customers should expect from Salesforce as they push through their upcoming negotiations (in term or at renewal). In addition, Adam provides his perspective on how best to prepare for Salesforce’s aggressive push to get customers to adopt and start using Agentforce and Data Cloud. For more innovative IT sourcing and risk mitigation insights, subscribe to the UpperEdge newsletter and follow UpperEdge on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Welcome to Insights for IT Negotiations, a podcast by UpperEdge, a leading IT sourcing, negotiation, and project execution advisory firm. Join John Belden, UpperEdge’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer, and Kylie Chisholm, UpperEdge’s Marketing Manager, every other week as they share valuable insights to help you maximize the value of your key IT relationships. This week, John and Kylie are talking with UpperEdge’s expert Managed Services advisor, Scott Braverman, about Generative AI’s impact on Managed Services offerings, specifically in the field services sector. They discuss why field services will likely be the most impacted by Gen AI and give tips for evaluating Gen AI in a field services environment. Resources: BLOG – 4 Actions to Enable Gen AI Success in Field Services WEBINAR – Mitigating Cloud Transformation Risks in AWS, Azure, and MSP Relationships For a more tailored conversation around your Managed Services and Gen AI goals, explore our Managed Services Advisory to see how UpperEdge can help. For more innovative IT sourcing and risk mitigation insights, subscribe to the UpperEdge newsletter and follow UpperEdge on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Microsoft announced their FY25 Q1 earnings last evening. Total revenue was reported as $65.6B, better than the $64.5B that analysts were expecting. The critically important Microsoft Cloud revenue, which includes Azure, O365 Commercial, LinkedIn, Dynamics 365, and other cloud products, came in at $38.B, representing a 22% increase year-over-year. Microsoft’s go-forward success and revenue growth (including ARPU growth) will continue to be directly tied to Microsoft’s ability to expand their Cloud revenue and AI Business revenue, which is tracking towards becoming a $10B business. Their success will also be tied to getting more customers to adopt and use their AI solutions, like Microsoft 365 Copilot, GitHub Copilot, Copilot Studio and the agents built in Copilot, as well as get more customers to migrate to the costly all-in Microsoft 365 E5 suite. In this podcast, our Microsoft Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses how Microsoft customers can take advantage of Microsoft’s needs, clear goals and focus areas to ensure the right deal is struck at the negotiation table. He also covers what Microsoft customers should expect from the vendor as they prepare for their renewal negotiations. For more innovative IT sourcing and risk mitigation insights, subscribe to the UpperEdge newsletter and follow UpperEdge on LinkedIn and Twitter.

ServiceNow’s FY24 Q3 subscription revenue came in at $2.72B, representing 23% growth year-over-year while, once again, beating guidance and analyst expectations. ServiceNow also raised their full year FY24 subscription revenue guidance, now expecting somewhere between $10.65B and $10.66B, about a 23% growth. In this podcast, ServiceNow Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses what customers should expect from ServiceNow over the course of the upcoming year as the vendor does everything it can to enhance their position as a leader in the highly competitive GenAI and “AI Agents” space.  More specifically, ServiceNow will continue to be focused on ramping upgrades and adoption of “Pro Plus” while also continuing to upsell and cross sell their current customers and adding net new logos. Adam also shares how customers can leverage ServiceNow’s clear goals tied to particular industries and product adoptions during their upcoming ServiceNow negotiations and renewals. For more innovative IT sourcing and risk mitigation insights, subscribe to the UpperEdge newsletter and follow UpperEdge on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Welcome to Insights for IT Negotiations, a podcast by UpperEdge, a leading IT sourcing, negotiation, and project execution advisory firm. Join John Belden, UpperEdge’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer, and Kylie Chisholm, UpperEdge’s Marketing Manager, every other week as they share valuable insights to help you maximize the value of your key IT relationships. This week, John and Kylie are talking with UpperEdge’s expert Workday advisors, Jeff Lazarto and Erwann Couesbot, about the ways you can strategically elevate your Workday negotiations to maximize success. Jeff and Erwann discuss Workday licensing basics, key financial and commercial terms, and how Gen AI could impact your Workday negotiation strategy moving forward. Resources: ON-DEMAND WEBINAR – Elevate Your Workday Negotiations to Maximize Success BLOG – Evaluating Workday’s LDP: Critical Insights for Small & Mid-Sized Businesses COMPLIMENTARY ASSESSMENT – SmartDeal by UpperEdge For a more tailored conversation around your Workday relationship and goals, explore our Workday Advisory Services to see how UpperEdge can help. For more innovative IT sourcing and risk mitigation insights, subscribe to the UpperEdge newsletter and follow UpperEdge on LinkedIn and Twitter.

In this discussion, Adam Mansfield, a Salesforce expert advisor, reveals insights from the recent Dreamforce conference and the game's new player: Agentforce. He explains how this AI-powered feature can enhance productivity by automating routine tasks. The conversation also dives into pricing strategies, highlighting the shift towards consumption-based models and their implications for client negotiations. Adam emphasizes the importance of understanding these dynamics as businesses approach Salesforce renewals, ensuring they optimize their investments while navigating the evolving landscape.

Welcome to Insights for IT Negotiations, a podcast by UpperEdge, a leading IT sourcing, negotiation, and project execution advisory firm. Join John Belden, UpperEdge’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer, and Kylie Chisholm, UpperEdge’s Marketing Manager, every other week as they share valuable insights to help you maximize the value of your key IT relationships. This week, John and Kylie are taking a deep dive into the various Generative AI platforms, specifically AWS SageMaker, Microsoft Azure AI and Nvidia AI Enterprise. John breaks down what each of these platforms offer, how they compare to and differ from one another, and the pricing structure for each platform to help you make the most informed decision in your evaluations. Resources: PODCAST –9 Predictions for Generative AI in ERP Implementations ON-DEMAND WEBINAR –Vendor AI-Enabled Delivery Models: Extracting Value from Your IT Suppliers BLOG – Generative AI: Reshaping SI Engagements and the Client Advantage For a more tailored conversation around your organization’s AI challenges and goals, reach out today to chat with our expert advisors. For more innovative IT sourcing and risk mitigation insights, subscribe to the UpperEdge newsletter and follow UpperEdge on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Salesforce’s Q1 FY25 total revenue came in at $9.325B, representing an 8% growth year-over-year. This came in slightly above the $9.225B expected by analysts. Operating Margin came in at 33.7%, beating the analyst expected 31.94%. While Salesforce did raise their FY25 operating margin guidance to 32.8%, they also maintained their expected single digit (8%-9%) revenue guidance for FY25, citing a predicted deceleration in license revenue growth for the back half of the year. In addition to revenue numbers, it was also announced during the earnings call that CFO Amy Weaver will be stepping down. It is clear from the earnings call that CEO Marc Benioff and COO Brian Millham will push their sales organization to get customers to start using their Agentforce AI offerings once it becomes available. Agentforce AI, along with Salesforce’s Data Cloud solution, will be aggressively pushed on customers to help Salesforce meet their revenue goals. In this podcast, Salesforce Practice Leader, Adam Mansfield, discusses what Salesforce’s earnings mean for customers and what customers should expect from Salesforce as they push through their upcoming negotiations and prepare for Dreamforce. In addition, Adam provides his perspective on how best to prepare for Salesforce’s aggressive push to get customers to adopt their AI solutions and Data Cloud. For more innovative IT sourcing and risk mitigation insights, subscribe to the UpperEdge newsletter and follow UpperEdge on LinkedIn and Twitter.

Welcome to Insights for IT Negotiations, a podcast by ⁠UpperEdge⁠, a leading IT sourcing, negotiation, and project execution advisory firm. Join John Belden, UpperEdge’s Chief Research and Strategy Officer, and Kylie Chisholm, UpperEdge’s Marketing Manager, every other week as they share valuable insights to help you maximize the value of your key IT relationships. This week, John and Kylie chatted with ⁠Sam Bayaa, the Practice Leader for UpperEdge's Project Execution Advisory Services, to discuss how digital transformation implementation methods are affected by GenerativeAI. Sam speaks to the risks associated with implementing digital transformations in the age of AI, how companies can successfully mitigate those risks, and how leaders can manager these implementations effectively to ensure success. Resources Mentioned: PODCAST - Predictions for Generative AI’s Impact on ERP Implementations – A Mid-Year Update BLOG –⁠ Don’t Become an ERP Horror Story – Implement Solid Risk Management BLOG - Fear of Premature Escalation (FPE): Diagnose and Treat this Silent ERP Program Killer ON-DEMAND WEBINAR – ⁠Digital Transformations: Exposing and Mitigating Program Risks Other Resources: UPCOMING WEBINAR – Elevate Your Workday Negotiations to Maximize Success Explore our ⁠Project Execution Advisory Services ⁠to see how we help our clients optimize their Oracle deals. For a more tailored conversation around your organization’s Oracle relationship and goals, ⁠reach out today⁠ to chat with our expert advisors. For more innovative IT sourcing and risk mitigation insights, ⁠subscribe⁠ to the UpperEdge newsletter and follow UpperEdge on ⁠LinkedIn⁠ and ⁠Twitter⁠.