Most cloud technology providers include a clause in their contract that calls for CPI (Consumer Price Index) or X% price increase/uplift at the time of renewal (in some cases, these price increases are uncapped! ). Typically this increase is justified based on inflationary impacts, which can be argued one way or another (i.e. natural inflation due to economic conditions vs. how efficiently technology can be delivered; an example is the reduced cost of data storage over the past couple of decades). The other reason for these uplift costs is due to increasing innovation. The premise is that through the course of your subscription, the cloud technology provider is continuing to make investments in the solution that will yield a benefit to you. These innovations need to be developed and supported, so the increase across the customer base helps to fund the associated efforts. This makes sense. You get what you pay for. The expectation we put on cloud providers is that they will not

Last week, I presented to non-profit leaders and consultants about the importance of establishing meaningful relationships with their SaaS/Cloud technology partners. This roughly 40 minute session was also live streamed on LinkedIn, as well as recorded and posted to YouTube (shared below) for future viewing by those that weren’t able to attend. A copy of the slides was also posted to SlideShare . Many thanks to the team at TechSoup Canada (Western chapter) for the opportunity to share my background and experiences on this topic.  The session served as a chance for those embarking on a digital transformation journey, to think deeply about how to view and work with technology partners. These partners underpin an organization’s ability to be successful over the span of a multi-year subscription contract. I spent time focusing on things that strain these partnerships, signs that the relationship may be in jeopardy, and finally how to go about addressing these challenges.  With SaaS/C