VCF renewals ▲ 31.4% YoY· Symantec EDR true-ups ▲ 18%· Carbon Black avg quote uplift +22%· Mainframe MIPS capacity squeezes ▲· Audit notices ▲ 47% QoQ· Our last 10 deals avg −41% on quote· VCF renewals ▲ 31.4% YoY· Symantec EDR true-ups ▲ 18%· Carbon Black avg quote uplift +22%· Mainframe MIPS capacity squeezes ▲· Audit notices ▲ 47% QoQ· Our last 10 deals avg −41% on quote
Wednesday · 27 May · MMXXVIIssue II
Independent · Buyer-SideLive
Broadcom Negotiations
VMware · Symantec · CA · Carbon Black · Mainframe · Brocade The buyer's report on Broadcom contract economics. Not affiliated with Broadcom Inc.
About · How The Desk Works

Methodology.

A short version of how the Desk produces the work the site reports on. The longer versions live on three dedicated method pages. This page is the index and the standing position behind all three.
By The Negotiation Desk · Updated quarterly

The Desk runs three kinds of analytical work that show up in almost every engagement. Savings calculation, benchmarking and audit defense. Each has a defined method, a defined evidence base and a defined output. Each is intended to produce a number or a position that survives the seller's scrutiny in a commercial conversation. Nothing on this site is produced from estimate, projection or analyst secondary source unless explicitly labelled as such. The numbers we publish come from signed contracts in the engagement file.

This page is the standing position behind the three method pages. Each method has its own dedicated page that walks through the inputs, the calculation, the validation steps and the standard of evidence. The links to those pages are below. The summary on this page is intended to give buyers and counterparties enough to evaluate the rigour of the work before engaging.

The Desk's standing rule is that any figure published on this site or quoted to a buyer can be traced back to its source contract or contract set in the engagement file. Anonymisation is applied to protect the originating buyer. The underlying contract evidence is retained and can be referenced in writing to a buyer with a current engagement.

Method 01
Savings calculation.
How the Desk measures the reduction a buyer achieved against the seller's opening quote, against the buyer's internal forecast, and against the prior contract. The three numbers measure different things and the method keeps them separate.
Read the savings calculation method →
Method 02
Benchmarking data.
How the Desk builds the cohort ranges that appear in benchmark articles and engagement deliverables. The cohort definition, the normalisation method, the validation step and the standard of evidence for any number published.
Read the benchmarking method →
Method 03
Audit defense process.
The Desk's standard sequence for the first ninety days after a Broadcom audit notice. The scope restatement, the metric reconciliation, the benchmark introduction and the settlement structure.
Read the audit defense method →
Standing
Independence declaration.
The standing position on commercial conflicts, partner relationships, compensation flows and the firm's posture toward Broadcom Inc. The independence page is the precondition for the rest of the methodology.
Read the independence declaration →

What the methodology will not do

The methodology will not produce a guarantee. The Desk does not promise a specific reduction against a specific renewal because the variables that determine the outcome are partly outside the firm's control. The buyer's internal alignment, the buyer's calendar discipline, the seller's commercial posture in a given quarter and the underlying state of the buyer's contract are all variables. The method is designed to produce the best outcome the variables support. The outcome is not the same on every engagement.

The methodology will also not produce a recommendation that ignores the buyer's broader business context. A renewal that looks good in isolation may not look good once the operational risk, the migration cost and the dependencies on adjacent systems are weighed. The Desk's recommendations always run against the broader frame, not against the line item alone.

What the methodology will do

The methodology will produce a position the buyer can defend in front of the buyer's internal finance, audit and procurement teams. It will produce numbers that survive the seller's scrutiny in a commercial conversation. It will produce a contract that is signed on terms the buyer can explain to the board without hedging. The quality of the methodology is measured by whether those three things hold across the engagement file, not by any single deal.

For buyers who want to walk through the method in detail before engaging, the three dedicated method pages are linked above and the Desk is happy to take the conversation further over a first call. The contact form at the bottom of every page is the fastest route.

Correspondence Invited

Write before the quote becomes a position.

Two analyst calls. No pitch. We tell you what we would do, what the leverage actually is, and whether we are the right firm. If we are not, we will say so.
Who we work for. Buyer-side only. No reseller relationship with Broadcom. No partnership of any kind. We do not earn anything from products sold or renewed. Only from outcomes delivered against the contract.