Fees, stated plainly

How We Are Paid: Fees and the Engagement Model

You should not have to book a call to learn how an advisor charges. This page states our engagement model in full: what is free, what is paid, and how the fee is set. The short version, the assessment is free, the fee is tied to the savings it finds, and if there is nothing to recover, you pay nothing.

Step one is free: the spend assessment

Every engagement begins with a free digital workplace spend assessment. Over roughly three weeks we map your Microsoft 365, collaboration, video, content and agreement stack against real usage, and quantify the recoverable spend, typically expressed per line item with the mechanism to recover it. The output is yours either way. There is no fee, no obligation, and no vendor ever learns the assessment happened.

Step two is paid only against savings

If the assessment finds material savings and you want them recovered, we agree a fee before any paid work begins. Depending on scope it is structured as a share of first-year recovered savings or a fixed fee sized against the quantified opportunity. Either way the anchor is the same: the fee exists because the saving exists. No saving, no fee. Across our engagements, an average of 34% of recurring SaaS spend is recoverable in the first audit cycle, which is why the model works for both sides.

What we never charge for

We take no vendor commission, no reseller margin, and no referral payment from any software company. We do not sell licenses, and we hold no partner quota with Microsoft, Zoom, Slack, Box, DocuSign or anyone else. Our income comes from you alone, which is the only arrangement under which advice to shrink your spend is credible. More on that stance in why independent, buyer-side advisory wins better deals.

Engagement shapes

Most clients start with one of three shapes. A single renewal: we prepare and run one negotiation, for example a Microsoft 365 agreement or a SaaS renewal. A stack engagement: assessment plus recovery across the full digital workplace estate, right-sizing, rationalization and renegotiation in one program. Or standing advisory: we sit on your side of the table for every renewal in the calendar, year round. Fees scale with the savings at stake in each shape, and every one begins with the same free assessment.

Frequently asked questions

Do you charge anything up front?

No. The engagement starts with a free, confidential spend assessment of your digital workplace stack. You see the quantified saving before any fee exists.

How are your fees structured?

Fees are tied to recovered savings identified in the assessment. If we find nothing worth acting on, you owe nothing. The exact structure, a share of first-year savings or a fixed fee sized against them, is agreed before any paid work begins.

Do you take vendor commissions or resell licenses?

No. We are independent and buyer side only. We hold no reseller agreements, no partner quotas, and take no commission from any software vendor.

What does a typical engagement cost relative to savings?

Clients keep the large majority of every dollar recovered. Because fees are set against quantified savings, the engagement is cash-flow positive from the first renewal it touches.

How long does an engagement run?

A spend assessment takes about three weeks. Acting on it, renewals, right-sizing, rationalization, runs from a single renewal cycle to a standing advisory arrangement, at your choice.