Service 05 · Cloud Contract Advisory

Cloud commitments without the trap.

AWS EDP, Azure MACC, Google Cloud CUD — three-year commitments worth tens to hundreds of millions, signed under pressure, with burndown risk, egress cost surprises, and price-hold clauses that quietly disappear. We benchmark the discount, structure the commitment, and engineer exit optionality before signing.

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$1.8B+
Documented client savings
3 hyperscalers
AWS, Azure, GCP
340+
Cloud deals advised
11
Vendor practices
What we engineer

Beyond the headline discount.

01
Discount benchmark
Hyperscaler private-pricing discounts vary wildly by industry, spend tier, and quarter. We benchmark your offer against the actual discount comparable enterprises secured in the past 90 days. The headline rate is rarely the best the rep can do.
02
Burndown modelling
A three-year $60M AWS EDP that you only burn down $45M of is a $15M loss. We model burndown against forecast workload, FinOps reality, and team capacity. The commitment should match the deployment plan, not the salesperson's bonus target.
03
Egress and ingress economics
Egress fees are how hyperscalers tax exit. We negotiate egress credits, intra-region transfer caps, and where appropriate, dedicated interconnect economics. The DR strategy and the egress cost are the same conversation.
04
Service-credit and SLA terms
Standard SLA credits are cosmetic. We negotiate financial SLAs with meaningful penalties, dedicated support tier inclusion, and architectural review hours that recover real value beyond the discount.
05
Multi-cloud leverage
If you run on more than one hyperscaler — or could credibly threaten to — we coordinate timing and concessions across vendors. Azure tends to soften when AWS shows up at the executive review.
06
Exit and reset rights
Three years is a long time. We negotiate annual reset checkpoints, downside protection, M&A flex clauses, and exit terms that don't lock you into legacy commitment levels through an acquisition or workload migration.
Why hyperscalers price asymmetrically

The discount you see isn't the discount they offer.

01
Quarter-end leverage
Hyperscaler reps live or die on quarterly bookings targets. Quarter-end is when the unusual discounts approve. We sequence the timing of every executive decision against that calendar.
02
Private pricing isn't published
Unlike software list prices, hyperscaler private-pricing offers have no public anchor. The buyer has no benchmark — except ours, drawn from 340+ engagements across industries and spend tiers.
03
Workload commitments hide flex
Reserved instances, savings plans, committed-use discounts, and reservations behave differently under workload migration, region failover, or instance-family change. We engineer commitment composition to maintain operational flex.
04
FinOps doesn't negotiate
FinOps tools surface usage waste; they don't move commitment terms. Optimization on the consumption side is essential — but if the commitment itself is misstructured, the FinOps wins evaporate at renewal.
Inline · talk to a senior advisor

Not sure where to start?

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Research before you commit

Cloud negotiation frameworks.

All papers
Framework
Cloud Contract Negotiation Framework
AWS EDP, Azure MACC, GCP CUD strategy
Briefing
AI Vendor Contract Red Flags
Usage pricing, IP, data rights, indemnity
Guide
SaaS Spend Optimization Guide
Rationalising the long tail of SaaS subscriptions
Report
Software Price Benchmarking Report
What comparable enterprises actually pay across major vendors
Recent outcomes

Where our work paid for itself.

All cases
Data center
AWS · Media
$6.8M
AWS EDP Optimization
Three-year EDP restructured with burndown protection.
Read case study
Tech infrastructure
VMware · Technology
42%
VMware/Broadcom Renegotiation
Below initial Broadcom proposal.
Read case study
Banking headquarters
Multi-vendor · Banking
$22M
Portfolio Renegotiation
Five vendors aligned across cycle.
Read case study
Questions

Frequently asked, frankly answered.

Q1
When should we engage you on a cloud commitment?
Six to nine months before signing. EDP, MACC, and CUD negotiations require discovery, workload modelling, and competitive positioning — none of which happens well under three months of runway.
Q2
Do you work with our hyperscaler reps?
Only with your authorisation. Most engagements run as advisory — we model the deal, draft the redlines, and coach your executives. Direct vendor engagement happens only when you direct us to.
Q3
Can you support multi-cloud strategy?
Yes. Several of our largest engagements involve coordinated AWS, Azure, and GCP commitments. Workload portability and exit optionality sit at the centre of the design.
Q4
What about FinOps tooling?
We work alongside CloudHealth, Apptio Cloudability, Vantage, Pelanor, and others. FinOps surfaces consumption opportunity; commitment structure determines whether you can capture it.
Q5
How do you bill?
Fixed-fee, scoped by deal size. No percentage of savings, no contingency. The fee is disclosed up front — see /pricing/.
Q6
Do you advise on Oracle Cloud or IBM Cloud?
Yes. Both are covered under our Oracle and IBM vendor practices, including OCI committed-use programmes and IBM Cloud reserved capacity.

EDP, MACC, or CUD
on the table?

Three-year commitments deserve three-year scrutiny. Benchmark first, sign second.

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