Maximise your budget and secure better software agreements

At Jisc we’re striving to maximise the collective power of our members to bring benefits for everyone, as transparently as possible.

The end goal is that every organisation, no matter what they’re doing, should gain access to world-leading content and software solutions in a sustainable manner.

On the software side, we’re already making an impact, through negotiated agreements with vendors like Microsoft, Adobe, Lumivero ,Esri and more. Now, we’re looking to multiply that impact.

Better data lets us negotiate more affordable software

The more our members engage with the negotiations, the more evidence we can provide to support the process.

For example, during the negotiation for a widely used enterprise-level product that we are launching soon, we conducted surveys with members to allow negotiations backed by real-world insight from the education sector. This helped us to go back to the vendor illustrating the impact of different pricing models and terms of their standard models. This then meant we could better negotiate for sustainable pricing structures that balance affordability within a long-term, fair collaboration.

Jisc’s enterprise systems licensing team is currently engaged in negotiations for more than 60 different software products. There are also other specialists in our licensing team focusing in other strategic areas like research and learning, teaching and assessment. We combine deep negotiation expertise with long-term strategic vendor management, building strong relationships and trust over long periods of time.

The multiple benefits of outsourcing your negotiation

Navigating software renewals and purchases with an evidence-based approach requires significant time and resources, making it challenging to dedicate the necessary effort to these complex negotiations. Perhaps some organisations have capacity for this, but it is not always feasible across the board.

The fact we can simplify this process, with a strategic, evidence-based approach and provide a structured, scalable solution, ensuring fair pricing and favourable terms is welcomed by the sector.

We work closely with vendors to adapt agreements to the unique requirements of the education and research sector, ensuring both sustainability and value. By fostering long-term collaboration, we help vendors understand sector-specific needs and align their offerings accordingly.

We carefully review every term and clause no matter how long it takes, making sure nothing is overlooked, covering different use cases. We’ve just closed a new agreement in just over seventy days – but a negotiation usually requires longer in-depth strategic discussions to secure the best possible terms. The baseline is a very strong due diligence, so we can ensure compliance, aligned with Jisc's ethos of transparency, fairness, and value for members.

Do you want us to explore negotiations with a software vendor? Use our form to give us suggestions for new Jisc negotiated agreements.

Negotiations built around the needs of our members

The leadership surveys that Jisc and UCISA conduct every year are important. As well as providing evidence for negotiators, they help to shape our priority strategic themes when it comes to licensing. Our strategic themes and three-year business plan are complemented by the support of the UUK strategic and expert groups, as well as for some individual representation groups focused on specific agreements.

This focus helps us to develop a roadmap of priority negotiations, supported by due diligence at the vendor and product level – making sure they’re compliant and viable long-term. How well does each product fit with the digital estate and needs of the institution? Are they using AI responsibly? Are they creating favourable conditions for data interoperability and portability? Just some examples of the thoughts behind it.