20. February 2020 | Know-How Tips & Tricks for Recontracting with Your IT Infrastructure Providers

Many companies today outsource their IT infrastructure to an experienced provider, allowing them to focus their internal resources on core business activities.

However, the IT infrastructure always remains the backbone of the entire digitalisation process. If necessary digital workplaces, applications, databases, or web portals are unavailable or cannot be scaled in time, the company will come to a standstill.

Recontracting IT Infrastructure Services

In order to successfully drive your digitalisation forward, appropriate contracts and continuous monitoring are central. To address any adjustments promptly, it is advisable to maintain ongoing communication with the provider, including controlling cost efficiency. Typically, it makes sense to renegotiate contracts during the term or at the very latest at the end of the term ("Recontracting").

The following points are central for successful recontracting:

Set a reminder 12 months before the contract expires. This strengthens your negotiating position. If you miss this deadline, the previous terms will apply.
Maintain a list of new or changed requirements.
Review in good time whether the services are still suitable and where optimisation or adjustments are needed.
If the business strategy and/or legal framework has changed, the contract should be re-evaluated and, if necessary, put out to tender again.
Our experience shows that the price for a service at the end of the contract term should be around 20% lower, or the service should have been expanded accordingly.

Over the last eight years, Metagon has successfully negotiated approximately 80 IT infrastructure contracts. We know the market and can therefore assess your negotiating room based on solid information. Thanks to our regularly conducted benchmark, we know what infrastructure services should cost.

We are happy to support you in upcoming negotiations and are also ready to work on a success-based fee.

Daniel Würsch (+41 79 683 11 00, daniel.wuersch@metagon.ch) and Donat Grimm (+41 79 470 30 74, donat.grimm@metagon.ch) are available for any questions.