Microsoft Enterprise Agreement Negotiation
The problems we solve
Decreasing discounts.
Microsoft 365 and Azure — growing licensing complexity.
Loss of negotiation leverage due to Microsoft 365 subscription model.
Growing Azure consumption and increased monthly costs.
Loss of appetite by decision makers to confront Microsoft.
How we will support you
Pricing and discount intelligence from around the Globe.
Experts with over 20 years of Microsoft licensing experience.
Best practice negotiation tactics to optimise Microsoft 365 subscriptions.
Azure FinOps + Cloud Licensing Best Practices to cut monthly bills.
Our Chief Negotiation Officer will work closely with your executive team and put you back in the driver's seat.
How we work
We follow a well-defined, data-driven, and proven negotiation methodology. We help you achieve your digital transformation and business results without losing focus on your budget and financial goals.
Foundation
Understanding your environment
- Deployment assessment
- Gathering licensing assets
- License gap analysis
- Effective Licensing Position (ELP)
Planning
Future demand & requirements
- Discovery and requirements workshops
- Future demands
- Cloud & digital transformation roadmap
- M365 profiling based on persona needs
- Bill of Materials (BOM)
Optimisation
End to overspending
- Removal of redundant software
- Hardware reconfiguration
- Consolidating and organising assets
- License swap
- Final optimised True-Up
Negotiation Planning
- Objectives
- Interests
- BATNA
- Priorities
- The "whys"
- Step-by-step plan of action
- Power plays
- Team preparation
Negotiation Execution
- Requirement setting
- Multi-cycle negotiation alignment
- Proposal analysis and feedback
- Tactical war room of experts at your disposal
- Closing strategy
Closing & Execution
- Final proposal review
- Internal executive summary and presentation
- Contract review and validation
- Plan of internal communication of contract terms and benefits
Independent
We deliberately don't partner with Microsoft or sell licenses. It ensures that our advice is impartial and there is no hidden agenda.
Knowlegeable
We employ our thorough understanding of agreements, licensing, and cloud economics to help you achieve the best possible results.
Trusted
SAMexpert is trusted worldwide, advising Fortune 500 companies, businesses and government organisations.
Our expertise
We care only about you.
We know the benchmarks and the leverage.
We negotiate daily. We've done it 100+ times.
SAMexpert provides a unique experience and advantage, driven by the company’s founders, who personally oversee every negotiation and lead a passionate team of experts whose only goal is to create value for our customers.
We have distilled over 60 years of collective experience into a battle-proven process that is continuously updated to meet the latest trends in Microsoft licensing and Microsoft agreement negotiations.
Let's help you achieve your goals
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What we have achieved for our customers
Consumer Goods
Contract
Enterprise Agreement renewal.
Challenges
Decreasing discounts.
Single Microsoft 365 profile to meet all individual needs.
Solution
We helped the client to introduce three customised M365 profiles and kept discounts in line with the previous agreement.
Benefit
$6M bottom-line savings from Microsoft’s “best offer”.
Financial Services
Contract
EA & Unified Support renewal.
Challenges
Multiple large acquisitions over the years.
Increased Unified Support costs.
Solution
Consolidated global contract.
Moved the signing entity from Europe to the USA.
Negotiated improved pricing and Unified Support metrics.
Benefits
Centralised contract management.
Improved terms to deal with future acquisitions.
$9.5M bottom-line savings.
Tech Industry
Contract
Microsoft EA renewal and 3-year Azure monetary commitment.
Challenges
5-year EA with unique terms ending.
The entire digital transformation was based on Azure, with no long-term economic spending plan.
Solution
New 3+2 year contract.
Rolled over all contractual pre-negotiated terms.
Added two new M365 profiles to mitigate cost increases.
Kept discounts flat.
Signed a new Azure contract with a double-digit discount and monetary benefits.
Benefits
Avoided re-negotiating already beneficial contractual terms.
Migrated best practice liability and audit clauses to the new contract.
Facilitated an Azure contract, driving over $15M in cost savings and benefits.