Pressure Season for Suppliers and Your Window of Opportunity
As the calendar flips toward the end of the fiscal year for major technology suppliers, procurement teams are entering a critical, and often perilous, window. January fiscal year-end suppliers are pushing hard to “make the number,” and their account teams are laser-focused on closing deals that boost quarterly and annual performance metrics.
That urgency can cut both ways.
While suppliers will apply every sales pressure tactic in their playbook to close favorable deals for them, savvy buyers can use this moment to turn the tables and secure exceptional commercial outcomes, if they plan correctly. At NET(net), we’ve seen it all: inflated “act now” discounts, bundling traps, extended terms that favor lock-in, and artificial deadlines designed to create FOMO. The key is preparation, understanding the supplier’s motivations, market conditions, and your leverage.
Below, we break down what to expect and how to prepare for renewals and negotiations with each of the major suppliers whose fiscal years end in January.
Veeva Systems
Veeva Fiscal Year-End and Agreement Analysis
Veeva’s model is built on long-term, high-margin contracts within the life sciences ecosystem. As they push to show consistent subscription growth, expect aggressive renewals that bundle products like Vault and CRM into multi-year commitments.
Your Move:
- Push back on multi-year terms, Veeva often folds higher uplifts into “standard” renewals.
- Benchmark per-user pricing across peers.
- Watch for compliance add-ons that may not deliver measurable value.
- Align renewal timing with product roadmaps or organizational changes to strengthen your position.
Anaplan
Act Now – Anaplan Fiscal Year-End is January
Anaplan’s sales culture is notoriously end-of-quarter driven, with January being the ultimate cliff. Account reps are under immense pressure to post ARR growth and renewals before the books close.
Your Move:
- Don’t get trapped by “this month only” pricing deadlines, they’re rarely real.
- Evaluate actual seat utilization versus licensed volume.
- Benchmark platform modules and consider competitive options like Workday Adaptive or Oracle EPM for leverage.
- Demand transparency on tiered discounting and uplifts.
Okta
Act Now – Okta Fiscal Year-End is January
With the IAM market tightening and Okta’s profitability under scrutiny, expect reps to push for longer-term renewals and bundled packages (e.g., Workforce + Customer Identity).
Your Move:
- Resist multi-year renewals unless price locks or terms improve your position.
- Right-size user counts post-pandemic (many clients are still over-licensed).
- Evaluate emerging competitors like Ping or ForgeRock for leverage.
- Focus on securing meaningful concessions: pricing transparency, audit protections, and SLA accountability.
Salesforce
Act Now – Salesforce Fiscal Year-End is January
Salesforce is the undisputed master of fiscal-end sales theatrics. Their January year-end drives a relentless internal push to report ARR expansion and new product adoption (Einstein AI, Data Cloud, etc.).
Your Move:
- Question every “growth” license assumption.
- Benchmark your core vs. optional modules.
- Push for pricing rationalization across product families (e.g., Sales Cloud vs. Service Cloud).
- Leverage your data, Salesforce hates churn optics, and even the threat of attrition creates real leverage.
Workday
Act Now – Workday Fiscal Year-End is January
Workday’s year-end deals often blend in “Flex Credit” incentives, AI modules, and expansion bundles that obscure real cost. They are under pressure to show high-margin recurring growth.
Your Move:
- Treat “Flex Credits” with caution, they often inflate budgets without adding measurable value.
- Push for clarity on per-user costs and module-level pricing.
- Demand alignment with your actual usage roadmap.
- Leverage benchmarking and market comparables from NET(net)’s Federated Market Intelligence.
Splunk
Act Now – Splunk Fiscal Year-End is January
Now part of Cisco, Splunk’s fiscal year-end urgency is layered with integration pressure, they need strong numbers to justify acquisition ROI. Expect more rigidity around renewals and less flexibility on term discounts.
Your Move:
- Benchmark pre- and post-acquisition pricing trends.
- Review your data ingestion tiers; oversizing is a common cost trap.
- Negotiate transition clauses that preserve legacy pricing through Cisco integration.
- Push for shorter renewal terms amid corporate changes.
Snowflake
Snowflake Fiscal Year-End is January – Act Now
Snowflake’s growth story depends on consumption and “land and expand” models. As the fiscal year closes, reps push for larger pre-commitments to pad revenue.
Your Move:
- Avoid oversizing your consumption commitments.
- Demand roll-over rights for unused credits.
- Evaluate total cost-to-value compared to competitive data warehouses.
- Secure exit or flexibility clauses, Snowflake will always trade flexibility for ARR.
Final Thoughts: Plan, Prepare, and Play Offense
If you’re entering renewal season with any of these suppliers, don’t confuse their urgency with your opportunity. Suppliers closing their fiscal year in January are managing internal chaos, forecasts, pipeline compression, and executive escalations, all of which create leverage if you know how to use it.
Your checklist for year-end success:
- Benchmark Early. Understand what peers are paying before they quote you.
- Align Internally. Get finance, procurement, and IT on one strategy.
- Build Competitive Tension. Introduce credible alternatives, even symbolic ones.
- Optimize Configuration. Rationalize licenses, entitlements, and deployments before you negotiate.
- Control the Timeline. Don’t let the supplier’s calendar dictate your decision.
At NET(net), we specialize in helping clients optimize, negotiate, and protect against supplier-driven pressures with self-funding models. Whether you’re looking to benchmark, re-engineer, or renegotiate, this is the time to act.
Because when suppliers are under pressure to close, that’s your best chance to win.
About NET(net)
At NET(net), we don't just optimize IT investments—we weaponize them for competitive advantage. As the world's leading technology investment optimization firm, we've spent over two decades perfecting the art and science of extracting maximum value from technology supply chains while neutralizing vendor pricing manipulation.
Our battle-hardened methodology has influenced trillions of dollars in technology investments, captured hundreds of billions in documented value, and transformed how enterprises approach every facet of IT spend—from emerging technology such as AI, ML, IoT, RPA, Quantum, and Blockchain, to IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS, to enterprise hardware and software solutions, and professional services arrangements including strategic outsourcing relationships.
We're not consultants who theorize about optimization—we're the specialists who help you devise and execute your strategy. Our proven frameworks turn vendor pricing chaos into strategic opportunity, licensing complexity into competitive advantage, and cost centers into value engines. Whether you're facing an aggressive vendor audit, navigating a forced migration, or simply refusing to accept runaway IT costs, NET(net) delivers the expertise, experience, and execution you need to dominate rather than merely survive.
Founded in 2002, NET(net) has established itself as the essential strategic partner for enterprises and technology providers who demand performance, not promises. We've mastered every major area of IT optimization because we understand that in today's vendor-hostile environment, half-measures guarantee defeat.
Experience the NET(net) advantage. Contact us at info@netnetweb.com, visit www.netnetweb.com, or call +1 (616) 546-3100 to discover how we can transform your technology investments from cost burden to strategic weapon.
Legal Disclaimer: NET(net)'s website, blogs, articles, and other content are subject to NET(net)'s legal terms and are offered for general information purposes only, and do not constitute legal advice. While NET(net) may offer views and opinions regarding the subject matter, such views and opinions are those of the content authors, are not necessarily reflective of the views of the company, and are not intended to malign or disparage any other company or other individual or group.
