Price rise or forced migration? Your options before you sign anything

First, take stock

• What does the contract actually say? Price review limits, renewal dates, notice periods and exit terms are often stronger than firms remember.
• When does support really end? Get the date, and what "end of life" means in practice, in writing.
• What would leaving cost? Not just licences: data migration, training, configuration, and fee earners’ time while everyone learns a new system.
• How well do you use what you have? In our experience most firms use around 40% of their system’s capability. If that is you, some of the frustration behind a move may not be the system at all.

Your four options

1. Negotiate. Vendors would rather keep a customer than lose one. A firm that knows its contract, its alternatives and the cost of moving negotiates from strength.
2. Stay and get more from it. If the system is staying supported and the price is defensible, closing the gaps in how it is used can deliver more value than a move.
3. Accept the vendor’s alternative, on evidence. If you are offered another product, test it against your own requirements and scripts, exactly as you would a new supplier. Check what you would lose, not just what it costs.
4. Move to a new supplier. Sometimes it is the right answer. If so, run it as a proper selection with your own timetable, not a rushed reaction to a deadline.

Warning signs in a "migration offer"

• A lower price with no clear list of what the new product does not do.
• A deadline that leaves no time for a trial migration or proper training.
• Data migration described as "standard" without a reconciliation of client and office balances.
• Contract terms that are shorter on protection than the ones you have now.

Keep the decision yours

Whatever you choose, make it a costed, evidence-based decision. Our free review scores how well you use your current system and builds an independent requirements specification that takes your reasons for moving into account, including price rises and forced migration. If you want help negotiating, testing an alternative or running a selection, we can do that too, independently of any vendor.