Situation
A regional apparel and home goods retailer operating department and outlet stores with over 10,000 employees and over $1B in revenue was looking to migrate from finance and HCM legacy systems that were approaching end of life to a new strategic platform. The new platform would enable the client to adopt the best practices to improve business operations while also reducing costs and adding future flexibility for growth. The client faced several challenges:
- Lack of understanding regarding Oracle’s business practices and negotiating strategies
- Limited knowledge of market competitive pricing and commercial arrangements
- Pressure to commence project as legacy systems are nearing end of life
Action
UpperEdge provided key guidance and assistance throughout the entire negotiation process. Specifically, UpperEdge:
- Developed a negotiation timeline based on UpperEdge best practices to most effectively navigate negotiations in accordance with time constraints
- Conducted a comprehensive review and analysis of Oracle’s and competitors’ proposed commercial offerings
- Provided precise intelligence based on UpperEdge’s extensive experience negotiating with Oracle
- Participated directly in negotiations with Oracle to ensure the client negotiated a comprehensive and holistic commercial deal construct with long-term protections in place reflective of the long-term commitment this selection would mean for the client
- Assisted client’s legal counsel during execution stage, including reviewing proposed contractual language
Results
Utilizing strategies, insights, benchmarks, and the execution approach provided by UpperEdge, the client was able to achieve highly competitive discounting, future price protections, and a reduced BOM that better aligned with the client’s ability to deploy and value realization capabilities. The client’s achievements included:
- Achieved best-in-class discounting resulting in a TCO reduction of $5M over 10 years from original proposal
- 10 years of price protections on products in BOM and other products identified in a price hold list
- Renewal term price protections providing transparency and predictability over a 10-year horizon
- Protections for divestitures and acquisitions
