Published: 24 April 2024
Sourcing, procurement and vendor management leaders struggle to negotiate with Microsoft, spending notably more with each renewal. Use this three-step approach to uncover leverage with Microsoft’s priority offerings: M365 E5, Azure, D365, Power Platform, Viva, Copilot for M365 and Unified Support.
Organizations unprepared for — and unaware of — Microsoft’s strategy to prioritize expanding sales in key market areas find themselves in a compromised leverage position, which results in significant cost increases at renewal.
Microsoft’s growth strategy for its cloud business incorporates several different sales tactics. These include replacing competitive products, increasing Azure consumption, driving adoption of Copilot offerings, promoting Dynamics 365 (D365) and the Power Platform with reduced pricing, and pushing premium add-on features.
Microsoft typically presents multiple offers side by side, proposing preferential concessions in line with its sales priorities while positioning “as-is” renewals as comparatively less attractive with
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Analysts:
Ben Jepson, Yoann Bianic, Aadil Nanji, James Chang, Samantha Ruiz
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