十条建议助力CIO供应商谈判

导语

IT领导者与技术供应商和服务提供商达成的交易具有战略意义，这使得有效的谈判不仅对 IT 部门，而且对业务都至关重要。

在一个以动荡、通货膨胀和经济不确定性为特征的 IT 市场中，与供应商签订技术产品和服务合同的过程对 CIO 来说已经变得愈发困难。

Everest Group 定价保证业务合伙人 Achint Arora 认为，IT 领导人可能会发现，价格在上涨，但效益却没有随之增加。由于技术供应商对行业或地域的依赖性较低，因此往往对交易采取更强硬的态度。CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

Gartner 采购、采购和供应商管理团队的高级主任分析师 Melanie Alexander 对此 bn 表示同意：“价格在增加，谈判变得越来越艰难。供应商不再像过去那样给予优惠了。”

与数据隐私、数据主权和负责任的人工智能有关的法规不断发展，使客户和供应商要解决满足日益严格的要求的责任和成本，也把问题进一步复杂化。更重要的是，技术合同往往是多层次的。与你谈判的 SaaS 供应商可能会受到它自己与 IaaS 供应商和IT服务供应商的交易的限制。

Mayer Brown 公司芝加哥办事处的合伙人、其全球技术交易实践的领导者 Brad Peterson 表示：“今天最大的挑战是复杂性和合规性。有越来越多的技术和供应商。人工智能等技术和敏捷等流程使人们更难知道应该寻求什么样的承诺。利益相关者的群体日渐增壮大。”

Alexander 说，定价模型和指标也可能是复杂的，使人很难理解什么时候会有额外的费用发生。事实上，计算方法是完全不透明的。CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

Arora 表示：“有些合同被构造成一个黑盒子，对组成部分及其商业影响的看法有限。”他进一步补充解释，在谈判时，对市场数据了解有限的买方处于不利地位。而“卖方通常有信息优势”。

通常由第三方提供的技术能力是业务运营和增长的内在因素，因此 IT 领导人与他们的供应商和服务提供商建立的交易具有战略意义，这使得有效的谈判不仅对 IT，而且对业务都具有关键性的影响。CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

为此我们采访了技术交易专家，他们以合同和定价为生，阐述了为有效地与供应商谈判，获得自己寻求的成果，IT 领导可以采用的最佳行动。以下是他们的十大建议。

一、认识到合同的重要性

供应商和客户之间的法律协议不仅仅是一份阻碍工作开始的文件；它为双方的关系和对供应商业绩的期望设定了基调。如果你所期望的服务或功能不在合同中，它当然不可能实现。

Peterson 说：”最大的失误似乎来自于在组织内部应用成功的方法，”他说。”这导致 IT 领导者低估了合同作为关系基础的作用，以及供应商的激励措施、文化和业务对合同成功的重要性。

二、为洽谈返覆留出时间

达成协议需要时间，IT领导应该考虑到流程和业务期望，以确定交易的完成速度。Arora 说：“我们经常看到，IT领导没有留出足够的时间进行谈判。达成一个双赢的协议需要双方的耐心。”CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

这对服务合同的续约尤其重要。 Alexander 表示：“忽视跟踪合同续签日期不可避免地会导致没有时间进行有效的谈判。积极主动地管理软件维护和支持续约，以及 SaaS 续约，并留出足够的时间来真正评估这些交易是否符合你的技术路线图。”

三、寻求跨职能专业知识和投入

West Monroe 公司咨询和转型实践的管理合伙人 Marc Tanowitz 认为，当参与谈判与执行协议脱节时，就会出现一系列问题。

Tanowitz 说：“这带来了摩擦，因为协议中概念化的操作不一定能传达到交付团队。这最终会削弱客户的信心、降低交付价值。”CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

在与任何供应商谈判之前，IT 部门需要与其他业务领导就核心目标、风险偏好和评估交易条款的标准达成共识，而不是等到产品或服务的合同已经被摆上桌面再来讨论。

Peterson 说：“ IT 采购是一项团队运动。仅仅由业务用户完成的交易可能在技术上并不可靠。由采购人员独立完成的交易可能会降低成本，但会让用户失望。由 IT 部门单独完成的交易带来了领先的技术，但往往有很高的成本，甚至可能存在法律风险。这就是为什么 IT 领导人在决定关键交易点时，应该建立一个咨询团队，或者至少获得适当的意见反馈。”

Peterson 建议建立一个团队，不仅要有IT代表，还要有用户、运营、财务、采购和法务代表。Peterson 说：“尽早听取专家意见，以避免代价高昂的陷阱。同时，为了能在做出优质的决策的同时建立良好的关系，有必要保持流程是信息透明对称的、高效的、有效的过程。”

四、超越价格

这是 Tanowitz 在供应商谈判中看到的最大的失误？他表示：“过度关注价格，比如追求最低成本而不关注价值是个错误。”他补充说，与服务提供商合作构建为企业增值的完整解决方案的IT买家最终会在 IT 服务提供商关系中获得更高的满意度。CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

IT 买家可能认为，只要他们能让供应商降低价格，他们的交易就相当划算。但事实并非如此。事实上，低价可能是一个危险信号，这表明以后可能会出现隐藏成本或供应商交易规模不足。Arora 指出：“定价过低的交易可能比支付过高的价格产生更大的负面影响。”

五、做好你的功课

Everest group 采购和供应商管理部门的合伙人 Amy Fong 建议：“在开始谈判之前要考虑基准、市场规范和战略。价格应该是谈判前评估的一部分，但不是主导因素。”

Fong 指出：“有必要建立一个整体的服务交付观，并考虑成本之外的因素，如性能、效率和风险管理。”。CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

六、决定谈判方式

Arora 说：“经常听见谈判的某一方因为输赢而发牢骚。这往往是由基于立场的谈判策略驱动的。”

采取单方面的立场来满足自己的需求、要求结果或发出最后通牒可能会简化过程或加快过程，但这并不能促进合作。Arora 指出：“事实上，这往往会导致对方在利益上妥协，从而导致分歧。”

一个更有效的方法是基于利益的谈判。 Arora 说：“在这个框架下，双方都努力理解对方的需求、愿望和要解决的问题，。虽然由于解构和分析立场可能是复杂和细微的，使这种额外的努力可能难以执行，但这个过程更侧重于解决问题。”

其结果是更合理的价值分配，通常可以与供应商建立更牢固的关系。Fong 指出，寻求共同利益，商定公平的条款，并执行一个平衡的合同才是目标。CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

七、超越显而易见的解决方案

IT 买家往往把谈判作为一个目的，而不是更广泛地考虑如何产生商业价值。例如，他们可能专注于签署一项 IaaS 协议，而不是寻找一个可靠的平台来运行特定的软件。

即使在谈判开始的时候也要把定价先放在一边。Tanowitz 建议：“在谈判最终价格之前，先从业务上设计正确的解决方案。让服务供应商有机会根据他们可以为业务带来的独特资产、工具或加速器来进行区分。”

可能会有其他更可行的交易模式。Arora 说认为：“买方不应该回避复杂的商业模式，比如基于结果的合同。与服务提供商讨论基于结果的合同应该是一项战略决策，旨在为双方带来更好的商业结果。”CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

八、获得固定总价并要求成本保护

即使IT领导者采取双赢的方式与供应商进行交易，他们也必须保护自己的利益。Peterson 指出，首先要确保你从供应商那里得到固定的总价，以便消除意外成本。

Alexander 建议推动交易和续约的成本保护。 Alexander 说：“一些缺乏这种保护的交易导致年费增加 5%至 20%，有时甚至更高。就续约增加的上限进行谈判，揭示并保护隐性成本，并在定价模式或合同期限长度中包括灵活性。”

Tanowitz 还建议在供应商合同中 “硬性规定”所有可能的生产力和成本节约的改进，以确保它们得到实现。CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

九、利用经济波动的优势

宏观经济动态的变化比以往任何时候都快，IT 领导人应确保他们的交易可以与时俱进。

Peterson 说：“随着我们从一个炙手可热的科技经济走向衰退，IT 领导者有机会通过与 IT 供应商签订合同来优化成本。根据你在经济衰退中获得的谈判杠杆，使用灵活的方法。将谈判的精力集中在过去的经济衰退所显示的谈判中的‘赚钱点’，同时为未来做准备。”

十、制定退出计划

就像初创企业的创始人在启动时有一个明确的退出计划一样，CIO 在签订供应商合同时也应如此。CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

Alexander 表示：“IT 领导人需要了解要花多少钱才能与该供应商脱离关系，以及同样重要的什么时候可以脱离关系。通过在合同中包含数据提取和过渡帮助，可以确保顺利过渡到另一个解决方案。”

翻译：

Lead

The strategic nature of the deals that IT leaders strike with technology vendors and service providers makes effective negotiations critical not only to the IT department, but also to the business.CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

In an IT market characterized by volatility, inflation, and economic uncertainty, the process of contracting with vendors for technology products and services has become increasingly difficult for CIOs.

Achint Arora, a partner in the pricing assurance practice at Everest Group, said IT leaders may find that prices are rising, but the benefits are not. Because technology vendors are less dependent on industry or geography, they tend to take a tougher approach to deals.CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

Melanie Alexander, senior Director analyst in Gartner’s sourcing, procurement and vendor management team, agrees with this bn: “Prices are increasing and negotiations are getting tougher. Suppliers don’t give as much as they used to.”

Evolving regulations related to data privacy, data sovereignty, and responsible AI are further complicating matters as customers and suppliers grapple with the responsibilities and costs of meeting increasingly stringent requirements. What’s more, technology contracts tend to be multi-layered. The SaaS vendor you negotiate with may be limited by its own dealings with IaaS vendors and IT service providers.

“The biggest challenges today are complexity and compliance,” said Brad Peterson, a partner in Mayer Brown’s Chicago office and leader of its global technology transaction practice. There are more and more technologies and suppliers. Technologies such as artificial intelligence and processes such as agile make it harder to know what kind of commitment to seek. The group of stakeholders is growing.”CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

Alexander said pricing models and metrics can also be complex, making it difficult to understand when additional charges will be incurred. In fact, the calculation method is completely opaque.

“Some contracts are structured as a black box with a limited view of the components and their commercial implications,” Arora said. He further added that buyers with limited knowledge of market data are at a disadvantage when negotiating. And “sellers usually have an information advantage.”CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

Technology capabilities, often provided by third parties, are intrinsic to business operations and growth, so the deals IT leaders establish with their vendors and service providers are strategic, making effective negotiations critical not only to IT, but also to the business.

We spoke to technology deal experts, who make their living in contracts and pricing, about the best actions IT leaders can take to effectively negotiate with vendors and get the results they seek. Here are their top 10 tips.

Recognize the importance of contracts

A legal agreement between a supplier and a customer is not just a document that prevents work from starting; It sets the tone for the relationship and expectations for supplier performance. If the service or feature you expect is not in the contract, it certainly cannot be implemented.CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

“The biggest mistakes seem to come from applying successful methods within organizations,” Peterson says. This has led IT leaders to underestimate the role of contracts as a foundation for relationships and the importance of vendor incentives, culture, and business to contract success.

Allow time for feedback

Reaching an agreement takes time, and IT leaders should take into account processes and business expectations to determine how quickly a deal can be completed. “Too often, we see IT leaders not setting aside enough time for negotiations,” Arora says. Reaching a win-win agreement requires patience on both sides.”

This is particularly important for the renewal of service contracts. Alexander said: “Neglecting to track contract renewal dates inevitably leads to no time for effective negotiations. Be proactive in managing software maintenance and support renewals, as well as SaaS renewals, and allow enough time to really evaluate how those deals fit into your technology roadmap.”CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

Seek cross-functional expertise and input

Marc Tanowitz, managing partner of West Monroe’s consulting and transformation practice, sees a host of problems when engaging in negotiations becomes disconnected from executing agreements.CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

“This creates friction because the actions conceptualized in the protocol don’t necessarily translate to the delivery team,” Tanowitz said. This ultimately undermines customer confidence and reduces the value of delivery.”

Before negotiating with any vendor, IT needs to agree with other business leaders on core objectives, risk appetite, and criteria for evaluating deal terms, rather than waiting until a contract for a product or service is already on the table.

“IT procurement is a team sport,” Peterson says. Transactions completed solely by business users may not be technically sound. Transactions done independently by the purchasing staff may reduce costs, but will disappoint users. Deals done by IT departments alone bring leading edge technology, but often come at a high cost and may even be legally risky. That’s why IT leaders should build an advisory team, or at least get appropriate feedback, when deciding on key transaction points.”

Peterson recommends building a team with not only IT representatives, but also user, operations, finance, procurement, and legal representatives. “Get expert advice early to avoid costly pitfalls,” Peterson says. At the same time, in order to make good decisions and build good relationships, it is necessary to keep the process transparent, symmetrical, efficient and effective.”CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

Go beyond price

Is this the biggest misstep Tanowitz has seen in vendor negotiations? “It is a mistake to focus too much on price, such as the lowest cost rather than value,” he says. He added that IT buyers who work with service providers to build complete solutions that add value to the enterprise end up with higher satisfaction in the IT service provider relationship.CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

IT buyers may think they’re getting a pretty good deal as long as they can get vendors to lower their prices. But that’s not the case. In fact, low prices can be a red flag, indicating that there may be hidden costs or insufficient scale of supplier deals later on. “Underpricing a deal can have a greater negative impact than overpaying,” Arora notes.

Do your homework

Amy Fong, partner in Purchasing and supplier management at Everest group, advises, “Consider benchmarks, market norms, and strategies before starting negotiations. Price should be part of the pre-negotiation assessment, but not the dominant factor.”CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

“There is a need to develop a holistic view of service delivery and consider factors beyond cost, such as performance, efficiency and risk management,” Fong noted. .

Decide on negotiation methods

“It’s common to hear one side of a negotiation whine about winning or losing,” says Arora. This is often driven by position-based negotiating tactics.”

Taking unilateral positions to satisfy one’s own needs, demanding results or issuing ultimatums may simplify or speed up the process, but it does not promote cooperation. “In fact, it often leads to compromise on the other side’s interests, which leads to disagreements,” Arora notes.CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

A more effective approach is interest-based negotiation. “Within this framework, both parties strive to understand each other’s needs, desires and problems to be solved,” Arora said. While this additional effort may be difficult to perform because deconstructing and analyzing positions can be complex and nuanced, the process is more focused on problem solving.”

The result is a more rational distribution of value, often leading to stronger relationships with suppliers. Seeking common interests, agreeing on fair terms, and enforcing a balanced contract are the goals, Fong said.

Go beyond the obvious solutions

IT buyers tend to negotiate as an end in itself, rather than a broader consideration of how to generate business value. For example, they may focus on signing an IaaS agreement rather than finding a reliable platform to run a particular piece of software.CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

Put pricing aside even at the beginning of the negotiation. “Design the right solution for the business before negotiating the final price,” Tanowitz advises. Give service providers the opportunity to differentiate based on the unique assets, tools or accelerators they can bring to the business.”

There may be other, more viable trading models. According to Arora, “Buyers should not shy away from complex business models, such as outcome-based contracts. Discussing outcome-based contracts with service providers should be a strategic decision aimed at delivering better business outcomes for both parties.”

Obtain a fixed total price and require cost protection

Even if IT leaders take a win-win approach to dealing with vendors, they must protect their own interests. First, Peterson notes, make sure you get a fixed total price from your supplier in order to eliminate unexpected costs.

Alexander recommends pushing for cost protection for deals and renewals. “Some deals that lack this protection result in annual fee increases of 5 to 20 percent, sometimes even higher,” Alexander said. Negotiate increased caps on renewals, reveal and protect hidden costs, and include flexibility in pricing models or contract term lengths.”CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

Tanowitz also recommends “hard-and-fast” all possible productivity and cost-saving improvements in supplier contracts to ensure they are realized.

Take advantage of economic fluctuations

Macroeconomic dynamics are changing faster than ever, and IT leaders should ensure that their deals can keep up with The Times.CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

“As we move from a red-hot tech economy to a recession, IT leaders have an opportunity to optimize costs by contracting with IT vendors,” Peterson said. Use a flexible approach based on the negotiating leverage you have gained in a recession. Focus your negotiating efforts on the ‘money points’ in negotiations that past recessions have shown, while preparing for the future.”

Have an exit plan

Just as the founder of a startup has a clear exit plan when he or she launches, the CIO should do the same when it comes to vendor contracts.

“IT leaders need to understand how much it will cost to disengage from that vendor and, equally important, when it will be possible to disengage,” Alexander said. By including data extraction and transition help in the contract, you can ensure a smooth transition to another solution.”CXO UNION-CXO联盟cxounion.cn

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