From a $95M renewal proposal to $70M in final negotiated value.
Large enterprise banking environment · Multi-year IBM software estate with complex licensing, compliance, and growth requirements
Situation
IBM represented one of the Bank’s largest software investment categories, with fragmented ownership and limited visibility across business units, infrastructure, and applications. The vendor’s renewal proposal of USD 95M–97M, driven by growth assumptions, compliance risks, and overprovisioning, threatened significant overspend and CAPEX exposure without a structured optimization and governance initiative..
Action
A structured multi-phase optimization and governance program launched in October 2024 validated actual software usage, optimized licensing demand, and strengthened the Bank’s negotiation position. Through ELP assessments, automated entitlement reconciliation, AI-driven analytics, and stakeholder governance, we eliminated redundant scope, rationalized demand, and built a defensible optimization baseline that reduced compliance gaps and accelerated commercial decision-making.
Result
Through structured optimization cycles and targeted negotiations, the Bank reduced renewal exposure and secured long-term scalability with compliance assurance. The final 3‑year IBM ELA closed at USD 70.2M, delivering USD 25.5+ in total financial benefit while strengthening governance, audit readiness, and future growth visibility.