① Commercial · Broadcom (CA)
Since Broadcom acquired CA Technologies, mainframe renewals have been restructured around portfolio agreements and assertive economics. Buyers who arrive without alternatives commonly face uplifts of 30 to 80%. We build the position that changes the quote.
The opening quote is a test of your preparation, not a price.
Broadcom (CA) negotiations typically follow a recognizable pattern. The renewal proposal arrives late in your cycle, bundled at portfolio level so per product pricing is hard to see. Annual escalators in the 5 to 7% range are commonly observed in standard terms, and where machine capacity grew during the term, the uplift is applied to the new, higher baseline. Multi year commitments are offered as protection against worse, and the clock does the rest.
None of this is unbeatable. The same patterns that make Broadcom renewals expensive for unprepared buyers make them responsive to prepared ones: portfolio bundles typically include products you no longer run, usage data the vendor relies on can be independently validated, and Broadcom's own Mainframe Consumption Licensing (MCL) model creates a structured alternative to capacity based pricing that can be negotiated on buyer terms.
Every CA product, contract, and capacity figure in one inventory. Across Broadcom renewals we commonly find bundled product families that nobody still uses; retiring them is typically worth more than negotiating the headline rate.
SCRT and R4HA data verified independently before it anchors the deal. Where MCL is on the table, the consumption baseline and overage pricing get modeled against your actual trajectory, not the vendor forecast.
Third party and ISV alternatives assessed and costed for the products where displacement is real. The walk away does not need to cover the whole estate; it needs to be evidenced enough that Broadcom prices the risk.
Uplift caps, escalator ceilings, capacity protections, rollover rights, and exit language, negotiated while leverage exists. A multi year term should cap your exposure, not defer it. See Negotiating Broadcom Portfolio License Agreements for the structures.
The sequence starts 12 to 18 months out, so proposals arrive on your timeline. When the engagement starts late, we compress: a renewal under 18 months out mobilizes within 48 hours.
Mainframe spend negotiated, a large share of it Broadcom (CA) paper
Engagements delivered since 2019
Typical renewal reduction against the vendor's opening position
Audit notice or renewal under 18 months out? We mobilize within 48 hours. Facing an uplift right now? Start with Responding to a Broadcom Renewal Uplift.
Uplifts of 30 to 80% are commonly reported where capacity grew without a negotiated cap, and annual escalators in the 5 to 7% range are typical in standard paper even when consumption is flat. The size of the opening number usually reflects your leverage position, not a fixed price list.
12 to 18 months before expiry. Credible alternatives take months to cost, usage data takes time to validate, and the walk away position must be real before the vendor controls the clock. If your renewal is closer than that, we compress the sequence and mobilize within 48 hours.
MCL replaces the R4HA management game with a negotiated MSU consumption baseline, with rollover of unused MSUs between true up periods and dev test utilization excluded for customers running IBM dev test containers. Whether it saves money depends almost entirely on where the baseline and overage pricing are set, which is a negotiation, not a formula. See Broadcom MCL: Negotiating the Consumption Baseline.
For some products, yes: schedulers, monitors, and security tools have credible third party alternatives. For others the switching cost is high. The negotiation does not require exiting everything; it requires a costed, evidenced exit case for enough of the portfolio that the vendor prices the risk of losing it. The rationalization sequence is covered in Broadcom CA Portfolio Rationalization Before Renewal.