What We Do / Renewal & Contract Review
Renewal & Contract ReviewYour leverage expires before the contract does.
Most technology agreements renew on terms set 60 to 90 days before the end date. A renewal review reopens that window while there is still time to use it: we pull the contract apart, compare it to what comparable organizations actually pay, and negotiate for you or hand you the position.
The deadline that matters is the notice date, not the end date.
The useful trigger is the notice deadline buried in the auto-renewal clause, commonly 30, 60 or 90 days before term end. After it passes, the agreement rolls forward on the incumbent's terms whether anyone reviewed it or not.
Ninety days out is comfortable. Sixty is workable. Thirty is tight but not hopeless: even inside the notice window there is often room on scope, term length and escalators, if not on headline price. Past the deadline entirely, the review still sets you up properly for next cycle.
None of this requires anyone to have made a mistake.
Renewals slide past because the people who would catch them are busy running the estate, not auditing it.
Price drift
An average 23% overpayment against market rates across MALA engagements, usually accumulated over two or three cycles.
Unused seats
Headcount changed, a project ended, a platform got replaced, and the line item stayed.
Overlap
Roughly 37% of tools overlap with another tool already in the estate.
Compounding escalators
An uplift clause agreed once keeps applying every term because nobody reopens the paper.
Terms never negotiated
Audit rights, breach notification, exit assistance: renewal is one of the few moments they are negotiable.
Lost optionality
After the notice deadline, the only leverage left is a change you no longer have time to make.
Audit, benchmark, negotiate, document.
- 01
Audit
Every term, pricing tier, renewal date and notice deadline in one view.
- 02
Benchmark
Your pricing against current market rates from real transactions, not list price.
- 03
Negotiate
We lead or support the negotiation. Your call which.
- 04
Document
New terms and a renewal calendar with owners, so the gap does not reopen.
A position you can defend.
Five things on your desk at the end of a review, whether or not anything changes vendor.
The contract as it stands
One view, including the deadlines nobody had written down.
A market comparison
Where your pricing sits against equivalent service.
A negotiating position
What to ask for, what to trade and what to walk from.
A renewal calendar
Dates and notice deadlines with owners attached.
A defensible decision
Reasoning written down for a board, a CFO or an auditor.
A multi-site manufacturer, contracts nobody had benchmarked in years.
Achieved without switching a single vendor where the incumbent could be renegotiated instead. Read the case study →
Why trust a vendor-paid advisor to negotiate against one?
It is the right question, and on this page it deserves a direct answer. Clients pay no direct fee. After you select and move forward with a participating provider, MALA is compensated by that provider, and providers within each category have similar compensation models, so our compensation does not meaningfully change based on which one you choose.
You are never required to select a participating provider, or to change anything. Staying with your incumbent on better terms is a perfectly good outcome of a renewal review, and a common one.
Built for the people who own the decision.
- CFO or ownerA defensible basis for the number, with the working shown.
- IT leadershipThe renewal handled without consuming a sprint. You keep the decision.
- Procurement & legalA documented, comparable evaluation that survives an audit.
No fee to you.
MALA is compensated by the provider you select, only if you choose to move forward with a change.
- Similar pay within each categoryProviders in each category have similar compensation models, so nothing steers the recommendation.
- Staying put is a good outcomeBetter terms with your incumbent is common, and there is no transaction behind it.
- No obligationYou are never required to select a participating provider.
Is there room in it? We'll tell you in two business days.
Tell us which agreement is up, roughly when it renews and roughly what you pay annually. No cost, no obligation and no requirement to change vendors.
- Audit and benchmark in one to two weeks once we have the contract
- An hour or two of your team's time up front
- Handles one contract or your whole renewal calendar
Review an upcoming renewal
What clients ask first.
How long does a renewal review take?
The audit and benchmark typically take one to two weeks once we have the contracts. Negotiation depends on the provider and the size of the agreement. Inside 30 days, we will tell you honestly what is still achievable before we start.
What do you need from us?
The current agreement and any amendments, recent invoices, and a sense of what has changed since it was signed. If you cannot find the contract, that is itself a finding.
Will this create work for my team?
An hour or two up front to hand over documents and context. After that the audit and benchmarking are ours. The decision stays yours.
What if we're happy with the vendor?
Then we renegotiate rather than replace. Knowing the market rate is what makes that conversation productive.
What if the review finds nothing?
Then you have written confirmation that your pricing is competitive and your terms are sound, before you sign a multi-year commitment. It costs you nothing either way.
Do you handle more than one contract?
Yes, and it is usually more useful. The whole renewal calendar surfaces overlap a single-contract review never would.
Thirty minutes on what's coming up. A straight read on the room to move.
Tell us what's renewing and when the notice deadline falls, and you'll get an honest answer on whether there is leverage and what it would take.
No fee to you. No obligation. An advisor responds within one business day.