Off the clock
No vendors this week. The panel steps back from the table to talk about the people doing the work: what they do when they are not negotiating, the mentors and moments that shaped them, the human cost of a job that is always someone else's deadline, and why they stay in a profession nobody thanks.
See the episodeOff the clock
The people behind the deals: interests, mentors, burnout, and why they stay.
The renewal calendar
The boring system that decides every negotiation before it starts.
Cloud commits: the hyperscaler trap
Sizing and renegotiating Azure, AWS, and Google commitments.
How to actually negotiate
The craft, start to finish, in one hour.
ServiceNow, Workday, and the platform fee
Where the seat money is quietly moving.
The audit letter
The first forty eight hours after a vendor says compliance.
The seat that isn't a seat
AI add ons, consumption pricing, and the death of per seat.
Broadcom took VMware. Now what?
Forced subscription migration and negotiating with no alternative.
Oracle comes calling
Audits, Java per employee, ULA exits, and the LMS review.
The mistakes we all made
The five errors that cost every sourcing pro real money once.
Thirty vendors, one quarter
Negotiating a whole renewal book when you are one person.
RISE with SAP, and whether to
The 2027 deadline, the padded user count, and the document charge nobody measures.
The Microsoft EA, decoded
The EA is being pulled from the mid market, E7 arrived, and the discount matters least.
Scar tissue
The launch. Everyone introduces themselves and the deal that left a mark.
Bella
Host and moderator. Eight years in sourcing before the microphone. Keeps time, pulls threads, lands the plane.
Roger
The consultant. Negotiates software deals for clients, thirty to forty a year. Speaks in market patterns.
Bill
Thirty years running IT sourcing at a global manufacturer. The calendar is the strategy. Boring wins.
Laura
Sourcing lead at one of the country's biggest retailers. Early adopter, allergic to vendor theater.