Situation
Aegion was looking to standardize its office automation platform to better enable collaboration and provide the ability to integrate future acquisitions into a common Aegion environment. After evaluating solution options, Aegion identified Microsoft Office 365 as its preferred solution. Aegion was looking to achieve key commercial and financial components in its deal construct with Microsoft, establish a foundation for building a long term relationship, and meet an aggressive deployment date. Some challenges Aegion faced include:
- Limited resources and information regarding negotiation best practices and relevant Microsoft market trends and intelligence
- Risk of abandoning an existing relationship with another provider by turning to a single cloud-based solution
- Limited experience with Microsoft’s pricing and purchasing models, business practices, negotiating strategies, and deal constructs
Action
UpperEdge provided key guidance and assistance throughout the entire negotiation process. Specifically, UpperEdge:
- Helped expand Aegion’s relationship to include Microsoft senior management while enhancing their current VAR relationship
- Developed a negotiation strategy and communication approach to achieve an optimized deal construct within a compressed time frame
- Provided robust commercial term sheets to clarify and articulate Aegion’s expectations, as well as solicit complete and meaningful proposal submissions
- Provided detailed analysis of the initial proposal and all commercial term sheet responses, streamlining the decision-making process
- Presented precise and relevant benchmarks for all financial and commercial issues
- Briefed and prepared Aegion representatives for all interactions and negotiations with Microsoft
Results
By utilizing UpperEdge’s services, Aegion was able to achieve a highly competitive deal construct aligned to its core business objectives and requirements. Results achieved included:
- Total savings representing over 4 times the return on Aegion’s investment with UpperEdge
- Validated best-in-class discount on all products and solutions
- Implementation investment credits
- Price protections for future renewals
- User license flexibility to align with Aegion’s unique user population access requirements
- Competitive pricing and price protections for Microsoft Premier Support and consulting services
