Dexter Siglin

Jul. 21,2026 | Procurement, CIO, IT Services, IT Insights

There was a time when the technology advisory market had a healthy population of independent specialists. These firms focused on a specific mission: helping clients select technology, optimize licensing, benchmark pricing, negotiate agreements and manage supplier relationships. They did not necessarily want to implement the system, resell the software, manage the environment or turn the initial project into a five-year transformation program. They were paid to advise the client and or save them money. Increasingly, those firms are disappearing into larger consulting, outsourcing, software-resale and technology-services organizations. Some of ...

Tjeerd Edelman

Jun. 30,2026 | Procurement, CFO, CIO, IT Insights

As a former Head of Procurement for a couple firms, I have seen this play out first hand, and even more working with companies all over the globe with NET(net). For years, most companies managed technology costs one transaction at a time. A major renewal appeared on the calendar, procurement negotiated a discount, everyone survived the final week of redlines, and attention moved to the next supplier. That approach worked reasonably well when technology portfolios were simpler. But it's becoming much less effective today. Worldwide IT spending continues to climb, while major suppliers are changing pricing, packaging, licensing metrics and ...

Steven Zolman

Aug. 29,2025 | Procurement, CFO, CIO, Savings Cloud, IT Insights

The technology vendor ecosystem has declared economic warfare on enterprise customers. In 2025 alone, organizations have endured a relentless onslaught of cost escalations that would have been unthinkable just years ago: Oracle's "Free" Java Trap: Some discovered that "free" Java came with massive Oracle audit bills reaching eight figures (see our detailed analysis: Breaking the Java Monopoly VMware's Broadcom Betrayal: Others were forced to navigate VMware's post-Broadcom acquisition gauntlet, facing cost increases of up to 800% (reference our blog on VMware strategies) Cloud Cost Hemorrhaging: Meanwhile, runaway cloud consumption costs ...

Steven Zolman

Jul. 9,2024 | Procurement, Market Alerts, Negotiation, IT Services, Vendor Management, NET(net)

Top 10 Sneaky Tactics Technology Suppliers Use to Jack Up Your Costs Preface Nearly all clients are seeking greater prosperity in 2024. While client organizations are still focused on cost reductions to meet the challenges of their new economic and market realities, the pent-up demands of the business are increasingly calling for innovation, automation, and organizational performance improvement. Digital Transformation has emerged as the #1 Way to Boost Performance and Savings concurrently. Client organizations that are digitally transforming are harvesting greater value by: Automating tasks (RPA) to streamline efficiencies Unlocking data ...

Michael Welsh

Jul. 31,2023 | Procurement, Negotiation

Introduction: Doing the same things and expecting a different outcome is the definition of insanity, at least according to Albert Einstein. Engaging with suppliers in 2023 requires a different approach otherwise, you can expect price increases by 20% or more on your annual renewals. The Rise of an Anti-Customer Profiteering: Historically, technology suppliers would at least try to align with their customers for mutual long-term benefit. In 2023, at the very time that their customers are in desperate need of relief on costs, technology suppliers have departed from their long term aligned stance. Instead, suppliers are forcing substantial ...

Steven Zolman

May. 11,2023 | Procurement, Oracle, Audit, Negotiation, Cloud, Vendor Management

Ahh, May. The month itself is named after Maia, the Greek goddess of Spring - and it's easy to see why. In the emerald month of May, life begins anew as the grass turns green, new leaves come out on the trees, and flowers bloom. It is the season of hope, optimism, and renewal. Oops, did I just say renewal? Oh, that's right, May is also Oracle's fiscal year-end, and the busiest month of the year for your beloved Oracle reps as they scramble to sell new business and process your most recent hostage invoices (otherwise known as your annual maintenance service & support renewals). Instead of enjoying the greening of the great outdoors, many ...

Steven Zolman

Feb. 20,2023 | Procurement, Market Alerts, CFO, CIO, Saving on IT

This will be a tough year for many in the IT industry as companies are challenged on many fronts. However, for those with the fortitude and the right partners - it can also be a transformational year for forward thinking strategic companies. Our Top 3 Market Messages for 2023: 1. Clients are Clamoring for Savings in 2023. What we know - this has largely been brought on by several factors. First, since 2020, with few exceptions, clients have largely been suffering from... rising input costs, and softening business forecasts and the economic outlook for 2023 is dire at worst, and gloomy at best. This is causing many clients to re-evaluate ...

Michael Welsh

Oct. 27,2021 | SaaS, Microsoft, Procurement, SAP, IBM, Oracle, Supplier Management, SSM - Strategic Supplier Management, CFO, Workday, Infrastructure, Cisco, Amazon, google, CCO

As we've been saying for months, post (hopefully) pandemic Market Conditions are ripe for you to act in driving business value into your company. If you've ever dreamed of being the budget hero, this is it. With the tumult in the supplier marketplace around M&As, shifts of products to the cloud, small company disruptions, the supplier competition has never been as robust. Once you digest the list below and want more, we're happy to talk. There's nothing we like better than chatting about how to get more value from technology suppliers - especially now. Big Software SAP Nearly 100% of SAP deals come due in December. This is driven by ...

Steven Zolman

Oct. 27,2021 | Procurement, Audit, Supplier Management, Negotiation, CFO, Cloud

‘The Most Wonderful Time of the Year’ is a popular holiday song and was written by Edward Pola and George Wyle in 1963. It was popularized in North America by singer Andy Williams that same year on his television show by the same name. However, we didn’t have to do much research to learn that the inspiration for that song had nothing to do with the 4th quarter for most business leaders and their respective companies. Anecdotally, we believe most business leaders might say it’s the most *stressful* time of the year, especially for publicly traded companies – most of whom have their fiscal year end aligned with the calendar year end of ...

Tjeerd Edelman

Dec. 30,2020 | SaaS, Procurement, Banking, Financial Services, Supplier Management, Operations, CFO, CIO, Digital Transformation

The IT landscape in Financial Services is changing rapidly. Regardless if they want to be industry leaders, fast followers of reactors, the ever-spreading cost base for Financial Services Companies leaves less budget available for capital investments in new technology, driving a vicious cycle of increased operating cost. In the drive to enact transformational change, Financial Services Companies should seek out the benefit from low hanging fruit to reduce current Opex. According to a PwC Global FinTech survey, 81% of CEOs are concerned about the speed of technology change, which is more than any other industry sector. Thousands of startups ...