With just 30 days until auto-renewal, a major UAE diversified conglomerate engaged Redress Compliance to challenge a punitive ServiceNow proposal — saving AED 6.2 million, eliminating a 12% annual uplift, and securing contract protections that didn’t exist in the original agreement.
A major UAE-headquartered diversified conglomerate — 18,000+ employees, operations spanning real estate, construction, logistics, hospitality, and financial services across the GCC, with an annual group turnover of approximately AED 14 billion — had been a ServiceNow customer for four years.
The group had deployed ServiceNow across multiple business units, running ITSM Enterprise, ITOM Health, HR Service Delivery, CSM, and Security Operations (SecOps). The platform had become deeply embedded in the conglomerate’s operating model — handling everything from IT incident management across 14 subsidiaries to employee onboarding for the hospitality division and SOC workflow automation for the group’s cybersecurity function.
The existing 3-year agreement, valued at AED 17.8 million, was approaching expiry. ServiceNow’s renewal proposal had been on the table for five months, but internal procurement delays, leadership transitions in the group IT function, and competing capital expenditure priorities had pushed the review down the agenda.
With only 30 days until the auto-renewal clause activated, the newly appointed Group CIO discovered that ServiceNow’s renewal proposal totalled AED 22.4 million for three years — a 26% increase over the existing deal — with an embedded 12% annual uplift compounding from Year 2. The auto-renewal provision in the existing contract would lock the group into this proposal automatically unless formal written objection was filed within the 30-day window.
The Group CIO immediately engaged Redress Compliance on an emergency basis.
Read our Strategic Toolkit: 20 Key Considerations for ServiceNow Contracts.
The existing contract contained an auto-renewal clause requiring written objection 30 days before expiry. Failure to act within this window would automatically commit the conglomerate to ServiceNow’s proposed renewal terms — including the 26% price increase and compounding annual uplifts — for a further three years with no recourse.
ServiceNow’s renewal proposal represented a AED 4.6 million increase over the existing agreement. The embedded 12% annual compounding uplift would push the effective Year 3 cost to nearly 40% above current rates — amounting to an additional AED 3.1 million by the final year alone.
A rapid assessment revealed that approximately 30% of licensed fulfillers were inactive. The hospitality division had 400 HR Service Delivery licences but only 240 active users. SecOps had been scoped for a threat volume the group had long outgrown. CSM was deployed in only 2 of 6 customer-facing subsidiaries, with the remaining 4 paying full licence fees for modules they had never activated.
The original agreement contained no mid-term reduction rights, no co-terming protections for future module additions, no data portability provisions, and a restrictive “all-or-nothing” bundling structure that tied discounts on ITSM to the retention of every other module — including the significantly under-utilised ones.
The conglomerate had no ServiceNow pricing intelligence, no access to comparable GCC or EMEA deal data, and no prior experience negotiating with ServiceNow at a strategic level. The regional ServiceNow account team had positioned the 26% increase as “standard” and “non-negotiable.”
Redress Compliance’s first action was to draft and file a formal written objection to the auto-renewal on behalf of the conglomerate, halting the countdown. Simultaneously, Redress’s former ServiceNow VP contacted ServiceNow’s regional sales leadership directly to establish a 45-day negotiation window — buying the client critical additional time without committing to any commercial position.
Redress conducted an accelerated licence utilisation assessment across all 14 subsidiaries. Working with the group’s IT asset management team, Redress mapped active versus licensed users for every ServiceNow module. The audit identified AED 2.8 million in annual shelfware:
Redress’s former ServiceNow VP benchmarked every line item against comparable enterprise deals across the GCC, EMEA, and globally. The analysis revealed that the conglomerate was paying 20–25% above market on core ITSM and ITOM modules even before the proposed uplift. Redress built a detailed counter-proposal that right-sized every module to actual usage, applied market-rate pricing benchmarks, and restructured the commercial terms to eliminate ServiceNow’s one-sided provisions.
Redress’s former ServiceNow VP led the negotiation directly, engaging ServiceNow’s regional VP of Sales and deal desk. With insider knowledge of ServiceNow’s internal approval thresholds, quarterly targets, and escalation processes, Redress executed a strategy that combined the conglomerate’s usage data with competitive alternatives analysis. When the regional team resisted, Redress escalated to ServiceNow’s EMEA leadership — presenting a credible walk-away scenario backed by a documented evaluation of alternative ITSM platforms.
Redress negotiated a comprehensive set of contractual protections that did not exist in the original agreement:
The final 3-year renewal totalled AED 14.6 million, down from ServiceNow’s initial AED 22.4 million proposal — and below the conglomerate’s existing AED 17.8 million agreement. This comprised AED 3.8 million from shelfware elimination and right-sizing, AED 1.6 million from improved discount levels on retained modules, and AED 800,000 from the elimination of compounding annual uplifts.
We were 30 days from being locked into a contract that would have cost us AED 22 million — and we had no idea it wasn’t a fair deal. Redress Compliance moved with extraordinary speed. Within the first week, they had identified millions in shelfware we didn’t know existed and built a counter-proposal that completely changed the dynamic with ServiceNow. Their former ServiceNow VP knew exactly which levers to pull and when to escalate. We ended up paying less than our previous contract — with vastly better terms and protections. Without Redress, we would have signed blind and overpaid by more than AED 6 million. They are now our standing advisor for every major software renewal.
Formal objection filed. 45-day negotiation window secured with ServiceNow regional leadership. Crisis averted.
Rapid utilisation assessment across 14 subsidiaries. AED 2.8M in annual shelfware identified. Right-sizing model built.
Line-by-line pricing benchmarked against GCC and EMEA deals. Detailed counter-proposal presented to ServiceNow.
Former ServiceNow VP led direct negotiations with regional VP and deal desk. Escalated to EMEA leadership with walk-away scenario.
Final agreement signed at AED 14.6M (35% below proposal). 0% uplift, 20% true-down rights, full contract restructuring.
Even with days on the clock, our emergency engagement model can protect your position. Our former ServiceNow VP has the insider knowledge and direct relationships to move fast and deliver results — even under extreme time pressure.