① Guide · Software AG
Adabas and Natural sit under decades old applications, which is exactly why steep renewal uplifts land on them. Lock in is the leverage, and the vendor knows it. This playbook turns that lock in from their advantage into a negotiable, time bound number.
The uplift is priced to your switching cost, not to the software's value. Change the switching cost and you change the price.
Software AG, now operating as Software GmbH under Silver Lake ownership, spun Adabas and Natural into a standalone business in 2025. Adabas, the transactional database, and Natural, the application language, run under business critical workloads that were written in the 1980s and 1990s and were never fully replaced. That depth of integration is the product's real moat, and renewal uplifts are commonly priced against it: where the vendor judges that migration is years away and expensive, the opening number reflects that judgment rather than any change in the value delivered.
The response is not outrage, it is evidence. Validate what you actually license and use, quantify the lock in honestly, and put a credible modernization clock on the table so the vendor cannot assume the estate is captive forever. The publisher picture is on the Software AG hub, and the product specifics are on Natural licensing. For the underlying renewal mechanics, see mainframe license negotiation.
Confirm exactly what Adabas and Natural components you are licensed for, on what metric, and on what capacity. Legacy Software AG contracts accumulate entitlements and capacity assumptions that no longer match the estate. The uplift is being applied to that basis, so correcting it lowers the number before you argue rate.
Map which applications depend on Adabas and Natural, how deeply, and what a migration would actually take. You need this number whether you migrate or not, because it is the true measure of your leverage and the vendor has already estimated it. Knowing it precisely is what lets you push back on an uplift built on a vaguer guess.
A costed, phased modernization or migration plan, even a multi year one, resets the assumption that the estate is captive forever. It does not commit you to migrate; it puts a defensible end date on the lock in, which is the single thing that most changes how the vendor prices the renewal.
Legacy Software AG contracts carry audit risk precisely because they are old and poorly documented. Get the entitlement position clean and defensible before the renewal, so an audit cannot be used as pressure during the negotiation. Reconcile usage to entitlement on your terms, not under a notice.
Take the corrected basis, the quantified lock in, and the modernization clock into the renewal together. The uplift is now negotiated against documented reality rather than the vendor's assumption of a captive estate. When the renewal is under 18 months out, we compress and mobilize within 48 hours.
| Move | Vendor assumption it challenges | Effect on the number |
|---|---|---|
| Validate basis | You are licensed for everything on the old contract | Shrinks the baseline the uplift applies to |
| Quantify lock in | Migration cost is unknown, so it is effectively infinite | Sets a real ceiling on what lock in is worth |
| Modernization clock | The estate is captive indefinitely | Puts an end date on the leverage the uplift is priced against |
| Audit hygiene | An audit can be used as renewal pressure | Removes the lever before it is pulled |
Vendor renewal behavior described here reflects patterns commonly observed on legacy Adabas and Natural contracts, not a fixed policy. Your agreement governs.
Audit notice or renewal under 18 months out? We mobilize within 48 hours. A steep Adabas or Natural uplift just landed? Start the playbook now.