Handmarc’s services help you reach agreements that align with your needs.  We provide services to provide negotiation support for agreements with software publishers and cloud providers such as EULAs, Master Agreements for services, licenses, or maintenance, RFPs, and related agreements and negotiations. 

Enterprise Agreement Renewals 

Negotiating a renewal for an enterprise license agreement can be a daunting prospect if the software concerned includes several products across more than one category.  For example, Microsoft, Oracle, Adobe Systems and many others all offer software in many categories:  end user, database, server, middleware and network.  Handmarc manages the end-to-end process, to a deadline, for determining your needs across all these products and categories.  We then help you decide which products, editions, versions, services and maintenance options to renew, and what volumes to commit to based on criteria such as your current and likely future usage, and past and anticipated future corporate events (i.e. M&A activity).  We also work with you to review commercial terms and concessions, and make sure you perpetuate those that are useful.  Handmarc works with you to identify new concessions to put on the table arising from changes to the publisher’s product strategy or licensing models.

New Enterprise License Agreements 

Negotiating a new agreement entails a similar set of activities to those needed for renewal and which also need to be managed to a deadline.  However, it may start with an RFP, and there is a greater emphasis on deciding and prioritizing terms and concessions that your company needs over and above pricing considerations.  Read more about Handmarc’s contract negotiation support service in our Vendor Management Services – Software Licensing Agreements sales brief.

Cloud Services Agreements 

Cloud agreements present different challenges.  There is less scope for negotiation, but the importance of ownership and protection of your data, and the support and timeframe for transferring it away from the cloud service at the end of the contract are just some of the critical factors that need to be included in cloud agreement negotiations. 

IT Managed Services Agreements 

Handmarc has experience with common mechanisms for calculating and charging services (e.g. ARC/RRC) and the ways performance can be monitored and linked to financial elements to create incentives for continual improvement and innovation.  We understand the importance of determining your equivalent in-house cost of providing a service and how critical it is to agree on a clear definition of the services, the limits of their scope, and what will be measured to calculate charges.  Handmarc’s leadership in working through requirements and trade-offs, identifying and prioritizing negotiating positions, and negotiating a sound ITSM master agreement and comprehensive statement of work greatly benefits organizations by yielding contracts more aligned with their needs and having lower multi-year operating costs. 

Supplier Risk Assessment and Mitigation 

“What if my supplier or service provider goes out business?” – this is often the most obvious concern.  But more probable risks are changes of ownership, new licensing models, disruption by competing technologies, failure to invest in new features, security breaches, and a host of uncertainties and unexpected events.  Handmarc’s Supplier Risk Assessment service uses publicly available information, competitive reviews and industry trends to assess risk on key dimensions.  It includes assessment of factors such as financial stability, competitive position, technology maturity, reputation, etc., and creates a risk profile.  The service can also identify potential mitigation options for major risks to assist a client in planning how to offset unacceptable exposure or take more modest precautions. 

Other Software Contract Services 

We also offer services to address more limited activities such as preparation of a cost comparison model for different service options or other tasks that are elements of broader services. 

 

Please note:  Handmarc LLC does not provide legal advice nor perform any legal services whatsoever.  Handmarc is not a law firm and is not engaged in the practice of law. 

 

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