Review the original expectations

Compare the promised scope and service with what the business actually used. Identify underused capacity, recurring problems and capabilities that became important later. Include feedback from the teams who operate the service, not only the commercial owner.

Recalculate the full economics

Review usage charges, support effort, integration maintenance and switching work. A lower headline price may not produce a lower total cost. Keep estimates explicit and ask whether a changed plan or scope would better fit the next period.

Start early enough to have choices

Allow time for evaluation and appropriate commercial review. If a replacement is plausible, assess transition requirements before using it as a negotiation claim. The best outcome may be renewal, a narrower package or a managed change, depending on evidence and business needs. Ask the operating team which problems they have learned to work around manually. Those workarounds may hide supplier limitations from the commercial owner and should be included when comparing renewal value with the effort required by alternative solutions. Use the renewal review to update the supplier owner and escalation contacts, especially if the original purchasing team no longer operates the service.

Imagine this

Illustrative operating example

A hypothetical team pays for 500 user licences but actively uses 180. Before renewal, it should understand expected growth and any contractual constraints rather than automatically renewing the full allocation or cutting capacity without a deployment plan.

Make it practical.

Use this checklist as you read. Checks are not stored.

Published by Tap Tap Go. Product availability and eligibility vary by programme and market. About our stories.