Your contract with your outsourcer is about to expire, so what do you do? There is no better time to renegotiate a deal than when the contract is nearing its final days or hours.

As the end of a contract approaches, the customer has more power than at any other point in the relationship, according to an article in this week's CIO magazine. Nevertheless, vendors are not totally in the back seat on this one. They know just how hard it is to actually cut the cord.

"Client threats to repatriate or go to RFP [can] ring hollow as vendors recognize that replacing an incumbent is complicated, expensive and risky," Bob Mathers, senior consultant for Compass Management Consulting, tells CIO magazine. Here are a few pointers on getting a better deal the second time around:

• Develop a sourcing strategy at least a year before the contract expires.
• Be specific when you negotiate with your vendor, don't just use general ideas about saving money.
• Have some alternative suggestions if the vendor doesn't give you what you want.

"The ability to affect change comes from a thoughtful process of defining what you want, evaluating the available options and putting in place a strategy and plan to execute," says Mathers. "The worst behavior is just not being prepared and assuming that the end of a contract brings with it significant power to negotiate change. It doesn't."

For more on renegotiating a contract:
- check out this CIO.com article

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