Hyde Presentation Seattle 2011

1. The Procurement Process:
The 7 Steps to SuccessinNegotiating Carrier
Contracts
Presented By:
Michelle Hyde, Principal, Hyde NW
8.18.11

2. About Hyde NW…
• Serving the Pacific NW for over 20 years
• Focus on assisting mid-large enterprise with infrastructure
audit and technical advocacy
– Cross reference of services signed v. billed v. physically on prem
• Data (WAN, IP), Voice, Mobility & Datacenter
– Carrier partner mix and Contract review
– RFP Management, Vendor vetting
– On-Going Billing Management
– Special Projects: SIP & New Technology Deploy
– BC / DR / HA / EM Planning
– Infrastructure Design Assistance

3. Enough about me, let’s get to the
meat….

5. 7 Steps to Maximizing Leverage During Procurement
1. Understand How Commitments Really Work
2. Time your Procurement Right
3. Manage your Procurement Aggressively
4. Know the Competitive Landscape
5. Anticipate Vendor Tactics
6. Understand Pricing and Pricing Negotiations
7. Don’t Stop Negotiating Just Because the Deal is
Signed

6. 1) Understand How Commitments Really Work
• Create flexibility with your carrier
mix because economic and
technological uncertainties make
high commitments more
dangerous than ever.
• E.g. Know your spend with that
provider so that the average
monthly or annual spend and the
signed-for commitment have no
chance to converge if there is a
low season or if a site closes.

7. 2) Time Your Procurement Right
• Best leverage is 6-12
months before contract
expiration, not 30 days.
• Additionally, you have no
leverage if you are not
meeting commitments with
your incumbent

8. 3) Manage your Procurement Aggressively
• Really be honest if you truly
have time to issue an RFP and
know your best alternative to it
• Issue an RFP that is truly
competitive
• Demonstrate willingness to
change vendors
• Communicate with internal
teams for message consistency
to carrier partners

9. 4) Know the Competitive Landscape
• Know the players and the tiers
they play in along with their
capabilities
– Big 2 (AT&T, VZB)
– Alternatives: Sprint, Level3,
CenturyLink, XO, TWT
– Global and Regional players

10. 5) Anticipate Vendor Tactics
• Vendors are great at undermining
the negotiation process by…
– Going over your head
– Offering short term savings to avoid
the RFP process
– Delaying, delaying, delaying to
reverse customer leverage

11. 6) Understand Pricing and Pricing Negotiations
• These will revolve around:
– Term length
– Commitments in service volumes
– Pricing Escalation/Short-fall clauses
– Coterminous contracts - ideal

12. 7) Don’t Stop Negotiating Just Because the Deal is Signed
• This process is a
continuous flow from:
– Opportunity Identification
– Baseline Requirements
– RFP
– Vendor Evaluation
– Contract Negotiations
– Implementation
– Contract Management
– Contract Compliance
– And back to RFP again…..

13. 3 Keys to Client Engagement Success…
They know when to bring objectivity to their
problem – 2nd set of eyes.
They know when key disciplines or skill sets
cannot be found in house.
They know that either time or money is not
afforded to hire a FTE with critical deadlines
afoot.

14. 3 Key Expectations of Clients…
Lower Overhead
Project-based consulting options
Deep technical resources when you need them
Staff augment, project and on-going management
Results Through Objectivity
Second set on eyes on the project
Technical depth and professional execution
Tools, Best Practices & Process Improvement
By-product of a typical engagement

15. Thank you for your time…..
With further questions, please see me
at my booth today or contact me at:
michelle@hydenw.com