- Strategic advisor for growth-stage companies
Transform Strategy Into Sustainable Growth
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- Strategic advisor for growth-stage companies
IBM negotiated the deal you signed. Now it's your turn.
The Vertens Group was founded by former IBM Dealmakers — members of one of the most exclusive specialist roles in enterprise software globally. For the first time, that knowledge sits entirely on your side of the table.
Fewer than 60 IBM Dealmakers exist across North America. We are the only independent advisory firm led by former members of that group, and we work exclusively for enterprise clients.
- Why it works
The Insider Knowledge IBM Does Not Want You to Have
IBM Enterprise License Agreements are among the most complex and consequential vendor contracts in enterprise technology. They are deliberately structured to obscure pricing mechanics, limit negotiation leverage, and protect IBM’s margin — regardless of how sophisticated your procurement team is.
For over a decade, The Vertens Group’s founders sat inside IBM as Dealmakers — the only role in IBM’s global organization with full visibility into how ELAs are actually priced, structured, and negotiated. IBM Dealmakers are deliberately kept separate from account executives, solution architects, and senior sales management. Those roles have no access to the pricing engine.
Our founders designed the agreements that enterprise clients across North America signed. We understand every clause, every lever, and every place where IBM’s position is softer than it appears.
That knowledge now works exclusively for you
Strategic Precision
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Experienced Leadership
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Customized Approach
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Implementation Focus
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Alexander Morrison
Founder & Managing Partner
- The Structural Imbalance
The Negotiation Was Never Designed to Be Equal
For most enterprise organizations, IBM software negotiations follow a predictable pattern: IBM sets the number, the client pushes back on headline price, and both sides arrive at an agreement that looks reasonable — but leaves significant value on the table that the client never knew was available.
The structural problem is information asymmetry.
External advisors, even well-resourced ones, typically operate from incomplete information. They advise on the discount percentage IBM offers — not on how IBM actually builds its number. That gap between what clients accept and what was achievable often remains invisible. Until now.
01
IBM pricing mechanics are opaque by design — clients cannot see how individual components are weighted
02
Reducing licenses rarely reduces cost — IBM adjusts per-unit pricing to protect total spend
03
IBM pushes perpetual licenses while clients need consumption flexibility
04
Migrating from on-premise to SaaS or hosted models is complex and costly without expert guidance
05
Overlapping agreements — ICA/CRA, IPAA, IPLA, S&S, Mainframe — create compounding contractual risk
06
Internal teams don’t know what they don’t know — the gap is invisible without Dealmaker knowledge
“We understand not just what the contract says, but how it was built, where IBM’s real position lies, and which levers actually move.”
- Our Position
IBM Experience.
Enterprise Client Loyalty.
The Vertens Group exists because enterprise organizations deserve the same depth of IBM knowledge that IBM brings to every negotiation.
We do not advise on surface-level discounts. We restructure agreements from the architecture level — addressing consumption models, S&S pricing mechanics, SaaS migration pathways, contract overlap risk, and the full range of negotiation levers that only former IBM Dealmakers know are available.
Our engagement is fully aligned with your outcome: under our Percentage of Savings model, we earn when you save. Under our Fixed Fee model, scope and deliverables are agreed before work begins. No ambiguity. No misaligned incentives.
Percentage of Savings
We earn when you save. Incentives fully aligned from day one.
Fixed Fee
Scope and deliverables agreed before work begins. Full transparency.
- How We Work
The Insider Protocol —
Six-Phase Advisory Framework
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Discovery and Portfolio Assessment
A confidential conversation to understand your IBM contract situation, renewal timeline, and organizational priorities. Under NDA, we review your current IBM agreement at the architecture level.
Leverage Mapping
We identify every point of negotiation leverage in your agreement: pricing mechanics, consumption structure, S&S dependencies, product mix, and IBM's position relative to your renewal date. Most clients discover leverage they did not know they held.
Negotiation Strategy
We develop a precise strategy tailored to your specific IBM portfolio. We advise on what to ask for, what IBM will and will not concede, and how to sequence the conversation.
Active Negotiation
We work directly alongside your team, or fully on your behalf. Our presence and our knowledge of IBM's internal process fundamentally changes the dynamic.
Contract Execution and Confirmation
New agreement signed. Savings documented. Deliverables confirmed against engagement scope.
Optional Ongoing Advisory
Monitoring, compliance review, renewal readiness, and strategic guidance for the duration of your IBM relationship.
- What Clients Achieve
What the Right
Advisory Engagement Produces
- Documented, measurable savings on IBM software spend — confirmed at contract execution
- Greater flexibility in how IBM licenses are structured and consumed
- Reduced contractual risk exposure from overlapping IBM agreement terms
- Clarity on IBM's true pricing architecture — not just the number IBM presents
- Stronger, more informed positioning for every future IBM renewal
- Who we serve
The Organizations
We Serve
The Vertens Group works with senior leaders at enterprise and mid-to-large organizations whose IBM software relationship represents a material line item — and a significant strategic decision.
Our clients operate across financial services, telecommunications, aviation, and government. They share one characteristic: they hold complex IBM agreements and are preparing for a renewal where the stakes are too high to approach without expert guidance.
Procurement & Vendor Management Leaders
Responsible for managing IBM costs and contract performance across the enterprise
CIOs & VP Engineering Executives
Whose technology roadmap depends on how IBM agreements are structured and consumed
CFOs & Finance Leaders
Accountable for enterprise software spend at the board level
“If your organization’s IBM software spend exceeds $5M annually and your next renewal is within 18 months — this is the conversation to have now.
Identify and capture new revenue opportunities through market expansion, product innovation, and business model evolution.
- What We Offer
Advisory Services
Comprehensive negotiation and renewal advisory for enterprise organizations with material IBM software spend. From portfolio review and leverage mapping through active negotiation and contract execution — handled by advisors who spent over a decade on the other side of this table.
- Who it's for
CIOs, CFOs, Procurement leaders, and Vendor Management executives at organizations with IBM ELA spend of $10M+ annually
- Timeline
60–120 days from portfolio review to contract execution
- Models
Fixed Fee or Percentage of Savings
Post-negotiation monitoring and strategic guidance covering IBM consumption management, compliance risk, upcoming renewal planning, chargeback model recommendations, and SaaS migration strategy. For organizations that want to maintain structural advantage across the full lifecycle of their IBM relationship.
- Includes
Compliance monitoring, renewal planning, consumption management, SaaS migration strategy, and chargeback model recommendations
- Testimonials
What Our Clients Say
About Working With Us
What Our Clients Say About Working With Us
- Our Differentiation
Why No Other Advisory
Firm Can Match This
Why No Other Advisory Firm Can Match This
There are firms that advise on IBM contracts. There is one firm founded by former IBM Dealmakers.
IBM Dealmakers are the only professionals inside IBM’s global organization with full, unrestricted access to the pricing engine behind every Enterprise License Agreement. Account executives do not have this access. Solution architects do not. Even senior IBM sales leadership is deliberately excluded from the mechanics that Dealmakers control.
60+
IBM Dealmakers across all of North America
The Vertens Group
Founded by former IBM Dealmakers. We understand how the agreement was built — and where IBM’s real position lies.
Generalist Advisors
Advise on the discount percentage IBM offers — not on how IBM actually builds its number
IT Consultancies
Broad enterprise expertise without the insider Dealmaker knowledge that changes outcomes
Gartner-Affiliated Practices
Operate from incomplete information, without access to IBM’s internal pricing architecture
The Strongest IBM
Negotiation
Starts Here
If your organization holds a material IBM Enterprise License Agreement and a renewal is on the horizon, the time to engage is before IBM opens the conversation — not after. We begin with a confidential, obligation-free discovery conversation.