Helping a leading North American bank benchmark an applications sourcing contract

A leading North American bank sought to evaluate the competitiveness of its applications sourcing contract with a Tier-1 IT provider. With rising costs and evolving market rates, the bank needed clarity on whether its rate card, delivery model, and contractual terms remained aligned with market benchmarks. Everest Group’s pricing and contract assessment revealed substantial savings opportunities and enabled the bank to negotiate from a position of strength.

Client challenge

Navigating uncertainty around vendor cost and performance

The bank questioned whether its legacy rate cards, India-based delivery structure, and service-level expectations reflected current market standards. Limited visibility into competitive pricing and outdated contractual protections hindered cost efficiency. Without objective benchmarking, the bank risked continued overspending and limited leverage during upcoming negotiations.

Everest Group solution

Combining rate benchmarking with contract optimization

Everest Group benchmarked day-rate pricing across roles, skills, and seniority levels and compared them with market norms for similar heritage providers. A comprehensive contract review evaluated service-level structures, terms and conditions, cost-related clauses, and productivity metrics.

The team recommended recalibrated rate cards, optimized delivery mix, refined role definitions, and strengthened service-level and productivity expectations. These insights gave the bank clear negotiation levers.

Results

Stronger vendor accountability and more than 30% savings

The bank achieved more than 30% cost savings through rate card adjustments, improved onshore–offshore leverage, and competitive role pricing. The provider relationship also strengthened through clearer performance expectations and updated contractual structures. As the client noted, “Without the support of the Everest Group experts, we would not have achieved such a significant cost savings.”