Ask if the vendor will install extra capacity at no chargewhile they are bringing in your purchased hardware, with the provision that you will pay them to turn it on later when it's needed, he said. This "pay-as-you-grow" approach is popular because it means the vendor won't have to come back to add more money to a contract later. "Vendors love that," Peldzus said.
Ask for the same pricing terms for future purchases within the contract. That means that if you want to add another server or appliance later, you'll get it at no more than the price paid in the original contract. If the price goes up, you're protected, and if it goes down, you'll get the lower price. Think the vendor will offer such a provision to you if you don't ask? Think again, he said.
*Leave yourself three weeks for the final negotiations to give the two remaining vendors time to go back to their bosses to get needed approvals regarding your latest contract requests, he said.
Ask for references and then call them. You may be hesitant because they're selected by the vendor, but have faith. "References are a great call if you ask the right questions," he said. "The cool thing is that they're very honest."
Be open and tell the vendors what you are trying to do and what you are trying to solve, he said. "What keeps you up at night -- share that with them" to try to resolve it as part of the process.
Remember that just because you ask for all of these things, it's unlikely that you'll get it all. "But if you don't ask the question, you won't be able to get a 'yes' answer," he said.