What earns its place stays.
Usage is healthy, the capability matters, the terms are acceptable, and switching would not produce enough net value.
Canonical methodology
Keep. Cut. Renegotiate. Replace.
Four decisions keep software cost optimization honest. We aim for the lowest responsible cost of delivering the capability the business actually needs.
Remove cost with no job.
Unused seats, former-employee licenses, duplicate subscriptions, dormant contracts, excess tiers, shadow subscriptions, billing errors, and obsolete tools.
Improve the deal.
Unit price, seat floors, term, ramps, overages, renewal caps, notice windows, support tiers, and consumption commitments.
Preserve the capability another way.
Only after net savings, implementation, maintenance, security, reliability, support ownership, and rollback have been assessed.
Evidence gate
From signal to verified result.
A signal starts an investigation. Evidence confirms what is true. Economics show whether the action is worth taking. You decide. Execution changes the contract, license, or workflow, and verification records the result.
For a Replace candidate, economics and risk are the gate. When the cost is an AI-bundled renewal uplift, apply the same four decisions to the AI line. See the AI tax at SaaS renewals playbook. When the question is unused seats on true-up-only paper, apply them on the true-up vs true-down playbook. When the question is proving unused seats for a renewal without buying a SaaS management platform first, apply them on the renewal usage evidence playbook. When the line is an AI minimum commitment, unused credits, or breakage, apply them on the AI SaaS minimum commitments playbook. When packaging, a SKU rename, or a retired tier would reset a price cap, apply them on the forced SKU migration playbook. When the paper is silent or the fight is the annual increase ceiling itself, apply them on the price uplift / escalation caps playbook. When the live question is how to send valid notice of non-renewal without closing renegotiation, apply them on the SaaS notice of non-renewal playbook.
What the Savings Map records
One row per capability, with a decision attached.
Illustrative Savings Map
CapabilityBaselineDecisionYear 1 netRisk
Core productivity$190KKeep$0High
Video tools$62KCut$44KHigh
CRM$240KRenegotiate$47KHigh
Reporting workflow$84KPilot$52KMedium