Uppercut Podcasts By Upperedge

ServiceNow had another strong quarter beating expectations and reporting significant subscription revenue growth. ServiceNow closed 28 deals in the quarter with an average contract value (“ACV”) of greater than $1M, bringing the total number of customers spending $1M or more annually to an impressive 575. ServiceNow is leveraging the widespread need to make successful digital transformations to elevate awareness of ServiceNow’s products within enterprises to the C-Suite and CEO. ServiceNow is focused on adding new customers but also understands that upsells represent greater opportunity. Whether you are considering ServiceNow for the first time or are already a customer, it is critical that you not only negotiate the proper upfront pricing but ensure you have the proper price protections and flexibility built into your contracts.

Microsoft FY18 Q4 Earnings – Inside the Numbers by UpperEdge

RP implementation projects are large, complex endeavors that can quickly spiral out of control. Blown budgets and delayed implementations are not uncommon, and in the...

Cloud renewals are an opportunity for companies to amend unfavorable terms and ensure they maintain a customer-centric relationship. However, too many companies miss these opportunities because they wrongfully believe they can approach their cloud renewal negotiations the same way their procurement team approaches negotiations when ordering supplies. Here are some of the most common cloud renewal negotiation mistakes we see organizations commit.

Is Your SAP SI Partner Evaluation Missing the Mark? by UpperEdge

All too often we find ourselves engaged with prospective clients that decouple the negotiation of their SAP agreement from their System Implementation (SI) selection, evaluation and negotiation. Before de-coupling, consider these five tenets...

Oracle had a very interesting Q4 earnings release, which initially triggered a stock price increase during after-hours trading, only to be followed by a very...

Too many organizations are under the false impression that since their SaaS Cloud contract includes a renewal term price protection, then they don’t have to worry about any unbudgeted fee increases. But the truth is, there are conditions that often remove the protection you thought you had. When planning for your upcoming cloud renewal, be sure to understand the conditions that can negate your price certainty.

You run your business every day and your experience qualifies you for your role. But how often do you engage outside consulting firms? Do you have a mature set of processes for engaging external System Integration (SI) companies for large complex IT programs? And how will you determine the level of your participation in the implementation?

Oracle’s change in revenue reporting for Q4 raises concerns about the strength of its business and the quarterly success picture Oracle painted during its earnings call.

All cloud vendors work from a common playbook in order to grab market share and increase revenues. Knowing their blueprint for success will help your company achieve the best deal and structure the most optimal go-forward relationship.

Workday Q1 2019 Earnings by UpperEdge

Another strong quarter for Salesforce that included beating revenue expectations, 25% year-over-year total revenue growth, significant revenue growth across all clouds and raised full year guidance. Salesforce’s focus is clearly on providing its customers the best solution to drive digital transformation. Expect an aggressive sales organization selling Salesforce’s ability to provide the best solution for your organization to obtain the critical and coveted 360 degree customer view.

Due to the complexity at hand, Microsoft licensing changes typically fly under the radar. Microsoft’s aggressive sales tactics and increased focus on Azure are cause for more scrutiny. Listen to see how Microsoft’s May 2018 change is affecting the way that you pay for Azure services.

When planning for your upcoming Salesforce renewal, you need to understand the conditions that negate and remove the renewal term price protection found in Salesforce’s standard Master Subscription Agreement.

As you approach your negotiation with ServiceNow, whether you are a net-new customer or coming up to your renewal, it is important to understand the things that matter most to them. Knowing this and how to most effectively use it, will help increase your leverage and ensure you not only pay the right price but have the proper level of flexibility and downstream price protections in place.

Microsoft continues to aggressively push customers into the cloud. Microsoft is approaching their base of customers that have already adopted Office 365 with renewal proposals that include enticing offers to get them to jump into their cloud bundle Microsoft 365, which includes Office 365, Windows 10 and Enterprise Mobility + Security . They do this even when a business case for Enterprise Mobility + Security (1/3 of the bundle) has yet to be made. Don’t let the offered “special” upfront discount alone get you or your organization to jump, too often there are serious consequences in doing so.

SAP recently announced completion of “an over year-long journey of collaboration with user groups, customers, industry analysts and other stakeholders, to develop a first of its kind outcome-based pricing model for Indirect Access. Len Riley breaks down what this means for SAP customers.

Microsoft’s impressive revenue growth has been fueled by increased cloud adoption. Microsoft understands that future revenue growth will continue to be driven by their ability to convince their customers to migrate to the cloud while adding more cloud solutions to their portfolio. Microsoft will continue to push their cloud solutions as necessities for organizations hoping to achieve their digital transformation objectives.

ServiceNow’s Q1 subscription revenue grew and impressive 40% year-over-year reaching $543M. ServiceNow is focused on becoming a trusted strategic technology partner for their customers. They are no longer interested in selling just their core product, IT Service Management (ITSM) to get in the door. ServiceNow wants multiple product adoption including other IT products like ITOM and perhaps more importantly emerging products like Customer Service Management (CSM).