Healthcare Organization

Salesforce Engagement Success Story: Safeguarding and Optimizing Healthcare Organization's Salesforce License Utilization

When a healthcare organization discovered that Salesforce was conducting an audit of their license utilization, they sought the expertise of The Negotiator Guru (TNG). The organization's C-suite specifically requested the involvement of Dan Kelly, TNG's Founder and Senior Partner. With Mr. Kelly leading the engagement, supported by our global team, we successfully addressed the immediate audit risk and achieved the client's objectives of reducing costs. Through our efforts, the engagement delivered an impressive $3.3 million in cost savings and $8.6 million in cost avoidance for the client.

Our Approach

To ensure a successful engagement, we applied our proven 4-step IT Software Negotiation Process, tailored to the unique challenges faced by healthcare organizations:

Step 1) Discovery

We rapidly assembled a core team within the client's organization to act as a triage and steering team. Their primary focus was to uncover the facts surrounding any potential license abuse. We conducted a thorough assessment of the client's growth into and out of the Salesforce platform over the past five years. This analysis provided crucial insights into the organization's license utilization.

Step 2) Strategy

We coordinated and executed multiple workstreams aimed at identifying the client's future utilization of Salesforce over the next 3-5 years. Leveraging our Right Size/Right Price methodology, we quickly identified opportunities to optimize the license footprint and align it with the organization's evolving needs.

Step 3) Negotiate

At the client's request, we engaged directly with Salesforce to mitigate the audit risk and optimize the Salesforce environment. Leveraging our extensive experience and daily interactions with Salesforce, we swiftly negotiated a resolution to the audit risk while simultaneously renegotiating the client's contract. This approach not only safeguarded the organization but also delivered significant cost savings.

Step 4) Contract Execution

Working closely with the client's Legal Team, we provided guidance to mitigate contractual risks while enhancing flexibility. By advising on contractual matters and expanding the client's options, we ensured a mutually beneficial and stronger supplier relationship.

The Remarkable Results

Our engagement delivered exceptional results for the healthcare organization. They achieved substantial cost savings of $3.3 million and cost avoidance of $8.6 million. We successfully navigated a significant audit, mitigating both the commercial and contractual implications. Moreover, we right-sized and right-priced the client's contract, delivering immediate positive impact to their profit and loss statement while simultaneously enhancing their overall relationship with Salesforce.

At The Negotiator Guru, we are dedicated to safeguarding and optimizing our clients' software investments. This success story exemplifies our ability to efficiently address audit risks, achieve significant cost savings, and foster strong supplier relationships. Contact us today to leverage our expertise and drive favorable outcomes for your Salesforce engagements in the healthcare industry.

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IT Software

IT Software Case Study

Client Name/Size/Sector:

  • Company Name Confidential
  • $15+ Billion Annual Revenue
  • 5K+ Employees
  • Financial Services

Supplier:

  • Salesforce

Engagement Type:

  • Client engaged “The Negotiator Guru” (firm) to deliver IT Strategic Sourcing Advisory Services to a specific business unit.  
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Problem:

  • While the client had a centralized procurement department (good thing), there was very little support from the IT department. In other words, the IT department operated independently and did not trust the client’s procurement department.  
  • The client did not have a centralized spend visibility tool  
  • Note: The client had SAP as their primary ERP system but was not able to accurately identify spend across regions as a result of poor reporting from the tool.  
  • The client’s IT spend is broken between global and regional budgets depending on the application.  

Activities:

  • Identified current state contracts across the globe
  • Identified both influencing and decision-making stakeholders within IT and the Business Units that utilized similar software packages.  
  • Coordinated global business units and stakeholder meetings to discuss opportunity, gather feedback, and drive results.
  • Utilized proprietary tools, templates, and techniques to assign global roles & responsibilities, action items, and negotiation tactics in the interest of speaking from one voice.  

Results:

  • Client Savings: $13 Million
  • Negotiated the agreement down from $25 Million to $12 Million for a 3-year contract.
  • Even though the firm was retained to focus only on a specific business unit, we identified cost savings opportunities that benefited multiple business units across the organization.  ​
Microsoft Case Study

Microsoft Case Study: ​Fortune 50 Company

Microsoft Engagement Overview:
Fortune 50 Company  

One of our Fortune 50 clients engaged use to advise on a high-stakes negotiation with Microsoft. The client had a large contract with Microsoft which we were able to both 1) negotiate a large technology uplift while also 2) produce a $5 million in net savings.  

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Key Activities

We utilized our 4-step IT Software Negotiation Process to successfully engage with the client:  

  • Identified current state contracts and client-based obligations
  • Developed a risk profile of current state contract language against enterprise project plan timelines and dependencies
  • Utilized our proprietary decision-matrix framework to drive C-Level decision making
  • Advised client on key dependencies to consider throughout the project
  • Directly provided hands-on support/representation throughout the entire negotiation and contracting process

The Results

(not comprehensive)  

  • $5 Million cost savings and $10.7 Million cost avoidance over contract term
  • Significant technology uplift providing access to the most advanced digital capabilities
  • Uniquely engaged and supported the company’s cybercrime resilience strategy
  • Enabled Device Modern Management allowing for additional endpoint security
  • Negotiated a client specific license structure enabling the client to be highly flexible of their utilization of the platform
$53M in Savings for Biopharma Company

$53M in IT Savings for a ​biopharmaceutical company

One of our recent clients was a biopharmaceutical company with $5B+ in annual revenue. The client had a large software contract with one of the industry leading providers. The original agreement was charged on a “case volume” basis which was leading to rapid growth in costs beyond our client's budget.  

‍We helped the client renegotiate the agreement with their software vendor by:

  • Changing the cost lever from which the client was billed from “case volume” to “seat-based licenses”
  • Setting rates on a “should cost” basis due to The Negotiator Guru’s extensive experience in the IT Sourcing industry
    • We decided that 35% was an acceptable margin for a software provider to be charging the client. Previously, the software vendor had been charging a 200% margin.
  • Handling the entire renegotiation process

​The end result:    

$52.3M+ in savings over 5 years

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