The advisors vendors would rather you never found.
Built from the other side of the table.
Atonement Licensing is a specialist advisory firm focused exclusively on enterprise software licensing and IT contract negotiation. Our consultants held senior commercial roles inside Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, AWS and Google Cloud before joining the firm.
The firm was founded in 2014 by James Hill-Wood, who leads its buyer-side advisory practice and authors its published guidance.
For 10–22 years each, our advisors designed the pricing systems, ran the discount approvals, and managed the audits that enterprises face every day. We know how vendors price, discount, escalate and audit — because we built those systems.
That institutional knowledge now works exclusively for buyers — across licensing optimisation, cloud contracts, AI procurement, SaaS agreements, IT outsourcing and vendor compliance audits.
Our engagements are confidential, objective and wholly independent of vendors. We are retained by the buyer and answer to the buyer alone.
Three capabilities that change the negotiation.
Insider Intelligence
Our consultants spent 10–22 years inside Oracle, Microsoft, SAP, AWS and Google Cloud in senior commercial roles. We know how vendors price, discount, escalate and audit — because we designed those systems.
Commercial Rigour
Financial modelling, benchmark databases and contractual analysis on every engagement. Our recommendations are quantified, documented and defensible at board level — evidence, not gut feel.
Buyer Advocacy
No referral fees from vendors. No vendor certifications. Our income derives solely from client engagements — our interests are permanently aligned with yours, not with the software industry.
Built and led by the executives who once sat on the vendor’s side.
Our founders and practice leads spent careers inside the vendors they now negotiate against. Below are the roles that lead every engagement — backed by a dedicated analyst bench.
Founder & Managing Principal
Twenty-two years of enterprise software experience across the vendor side, having advised some of the largest organisations in the world on their licensing and negotiation strategy.
Co-founder & Principal
A career spent negotiating and advising clients globally, bringing first-hand knowledge of how the largest vendors structure, price and defend their agreements.
Microsoft
23 years of enterprise experience, including 10 years inside Microsoft — leading EA, Azure and M365 negotiation and audit-defence engagements.
SAP
21 years in the SAP ecosystem — 10 years working for SAP, followed by 11 years as an independent consultant advising buyers on licensing and indirect access.
Salesforce
33 years of enterprise negotiation experience, including direct Salesforce expertise across complex multi-cloud renewals and commercial restructuring.
ServiceNow
13 years at ServiceNow as a Regional Vice President — bringing insider knowledge of how ServiceNow builds, prices and escalates enterprise deals.
Buyer-side, exclusively
We have never accepted a vendor engagement, commission or referral fee — and never will.
Quantified, always
Every recommendation arrives with the financial model behind it. Board-ready, defensible, documented.
Confidential by default
Vendors never learn we are in the room unless you decide they should. Many clients keep it that way.
Paid by outcomes that stick
Savings that survive the next true-up, the next audit, the next renewal — not one-quarter optics.
Permanently on your side.
Schedule a confidential consultation. We identify savings opportunities within 48 hours of engagement.