How it works

A Savings Map, not a vague review.

Josh maps spend, tests the evidence, and assigns Keep, Cut, Renegotiate, or Replace. You approve every move. Most first reviews take roughly 2 to 3 weeks once the data is available.

First conversation

Free spend assessment

A short fit conversation with Josh about the business pressure, broad spend context, and decision you are considering. No documents or system access are needed.

Full engagement

Contingency optimization engagement

Before deep analysis begins, the engagement terms define covered opportunities. Full engagements have no upfront consulting fee. The fee is a flat 25% of verified first-year savings. Replacement math is on the Pricing page.

The numbered loop below is the work sequence. It is separate from the commercial path above.

The operating loop

Every recommendation earns its place.

01

Map

Collect vendor, capability, annual baseline, contracts, owners, usage, renewal dates, and known constraints.

Spend · contracts · usage · ownership
02

Validate

Test the signal. Confirm whether the seat is unused, the tools overlap, the contract can move, or the business capability is actually required.

Evidence before recommendation
03

Decide

Assign Keep, Cut, Renegotiate, or Replace. Replacement candidates go through the stricter economics and risk gate. Read the methodology →

Capability · economics · risk
04

Execute

With approval, pursue cancellations, billing corrections, negotiation, consolidation, a pilot, or a replacement plan. SaaS Spartan does not bind the client without approval.

Approved action only
05

Verify

Capture objective evidence of the implemented price, license, contract, or replacement economics. Identified savings are not the same as verified savings.

Implemented · verified · documented

What we need

Start light. Go deeper only when the decision requires it.

01 · ASSESS

Free spend assessment

Name, work email, company, broad spend or pressure, and any renewal timing are enough to decide whether a deeper review is sensible.

Useful context
  • Approximate software and AI spend
  • Renewal or cost-reduction trigger
  • Capability the business must preserve
Not needed
  • Invoices or contracts
  • Passwords or system access
  • Customer, regulated, or production data
02 · MAP

Savings Map evidence

If the engagement proceeds, we request only the evidence needed for the agreed scope: a vendor spend export or selected invoices/order forms, renewal dates, seat totals, owners, and aggregated usage.

Preferred starting point
  • Client-prepared exports or screenshots
  • Aggregated usage and seat data
  • Selected documents tied to a decision
Sharing boundary
  • Use a client-controlled workspace
  • No public-form uploads
  • No unrestricted admin access
03 · VALIDATE

Validation

We use exported usage reports or client-prepared reports to test the signal. Individual-level license data is considered only when it is genuinely required for the approved question.

We test
  • Unused or duplicate seats
  • Renewal terms and notice windows
  • Usage against the required capability
We avoid
  • Raw email or message content
  • Unnecessary employee records
  • Permanent or shared credentials
04 · REPLACE

Replacement analysis

A replacement question needs business requirements, integrations and dependencies, data classification, reliability expectations, internal support capacity, migration constraints, expected AI/API consumption, and a fallback path.

Required for the decision
  • Outcome and capabilities to preserve
  • Operating and switching costs
  • Risk, ownership, and rollback plan
Default exclusion
  • No raw production content
  • No source code unless separately scoped
  • No access without specific approval
Access boundary: shared passwords and unrestricted admin access are not part of the normal review. If direct access is genuinely necessary, it must be specifically approved, named, time-limited, least-privilege, and preferably read-only.

See the full data and sharing boundaries, including AI use and retention.

The Replacement Economics Gate

A replacement recommendation needs more than a lower quote.

Show the required outcome, current baseline, replacement operating cost, one-time switching cost, risk, payback, Year-1 net savings, and Year-2+ run-rate savings. High-criticality systems face a higher bar.

Current annual cost$100K
New operating cost$15K
Switching cost$20K
Year-1 net savings$65K
Year-2+ run-rate$85K
Risk / paybackModerate / approx. 3 mo.

Illustrative example only: not a client engagement. Read the full Replacement Economics Gate.

Before the engagement

Choose the operating model first.

This page is the engagement sequence. If you are still deciding among a SaaS management platform, a procurement or pricing platform, or an independent review, use the platform vs independent advisor essay. If Vertice's acquisition of Vendr is forcing a stay-or-switch question, use the stay, switch, or independent review decision instead of stretching this methodology into a platform comparison.

See what your stack is asking for.

The first conversation is with Josh. No documents required. A full engagement has no upfront consulting fee.

Talk to Josh →