£6M risk avoided – Our negotiation strategy slashed potential penalties
Audit challenge resolved – Identified compliance gaps and clarified findings
Negotiation win – Equipped the client to save millions
Introduction
The client was a large automotive manufacturing company based in the UK.
The client is a long-term client of IBM and has invested many millions in IBM technology over the last few years. It received a notification from IBM for a RISE (Remote IBM Software License Evaluation) audit, specifically covering IBM App Connect. At the end of the process, the auditor notified the client that it was non-compliant. The client called on our help for a negotiation strategy.
Their Challenge
The client faced a number of challenges due to the auditor concluding that the client was not compliant for the following reasons:
- Operating System removed from eligibility for sub capacity licensing during the audit period, which concluded in a warning in the audit findings.
- They were using the enterprise edition of App Connect with standard edition licenses
- Ineligible for sub capacity licensing, as ILMT was not functioning
This led the client to have a risk of £6 million in penalties for new licenses and backdated support.
Their Objectives
The clients’ objectives were:
- To understand the result of the audit and the reasons for failing the audit
- To minimise the audit penalty paid to IBM
- To have a solid negotiation strategy to use for negotiating with IBM
bedigital solution
We implemented a staged approach to support the client.
- Discovery – analysing the data provided to us from the client to ensure the audit was completed correctly and the findings were correct
- Negotiation strategy – we delivered a clear negotiation strategy to the client enabling millions in penalties to be saved
Challenges
There were numerous challenges to overcome to deliver a successful project:
- The client had no dedicated SAM team
- The client had not maintained ILMT which made its position difficult
- The client had not realised that it was using the enterprise edition of ILMT which they were not licensed for
- The client had engaged with bedigital late in the audit process
Outcomes
Bearing in mind the challenges, bedigital was able to provide a clear negotiation strategy allowing the client to communicate confidently and effectively with IBM and reduce the overall audit penalties.
Benefits
Client had a clear negotiation strategy which had the potential to save millions.
Conclusion
The project was delivered in a tight timeframe, and client received a clear negotiation strategy.
*Sample list of IBM products in scope
- IBM APP Connect
