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IBM Supplier Briefing

May 5, 2020 Now Your Desk!

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As a result of recent financial struggles, IBM has taken an aggressive approach in its sales tactics. To compensate for the lack of projected short-term revenue, IBM has shifted its strategy to focus on front-loaded deals, bundled proposals, and audits. This briefing highlights the risks associated with IBM’s recent sales behavior and the opportunities buyers have to take advantage, given Big Blue’s need for upfront revenue.

Key Highlights:

  • Updated financial review and how it will affect IBM’s go-forward sales behavior
  • Discussion on tactics customers can employ to move off their ESSO
  • Introduction to 3rd-Party maintenance alternatives to IBM support
  • Tips to stay compliant and mitigate IBM audit fees
  • Front-loading and bundling strategies used to reduce proposal costs and incentivize sales reps

Speakers

Rachel Annello

Analyst

Rachel joined ClearEdge in 2016 to focus on software suppliers, including Salesforce, IBM, Red Hat, Tableau and ServiceNow. She is a subject matter expert on CRM solutions, and provides insight into pricing practices and contracts in these complex software solution sales. Prior to ClearEdge, Rachel worked as a pension analyst at Mercer, where she performed pension benefit calculations, and analyzed and tested system configurations against client customized requirements. Rachel graduated from Bentley University with a B.S. in Mathematics, and minored in Psychology and Business Studies.

Will Anderson

Analyst II

Will joined the company in 2018 and works in the software practice with a focus on IBM and Splunk. Before that, he ran a retail business. Will attended Babson College and hold a B.S. in Business Management with a concentration in Finance and Real Estate. He enjoys baseball, squash, tennis, skiing, travel and foreign languages.