Is aggressive procurement your best defense?
In this camp, every contract is an opportunity to negotiate better pricing or more rights. After all, if it doesn’t pass the procurement gatekeeper, it doesn’t happen. Simple? Not quite. This only works if your procurement team has real insight into the business, the data to support their case and the savvy to know exactly where the leverage lies. Without that, it’s a blunt instrument.
OR, is tighter usage and licensing control the smarter play?
This approach tackles the root causes of spiraling costs and shifts the focus from reactive clean-up to proactive control. It means knowing exactly how market data is actually used – by desk, by user – and cutting anything that doesn’t deliver value. It also means educating the business on license terms and usage limits to prevent accidental breaches and duplicate spend.
So, which delivers better ROI?
Market data procurement teams bring a lot to the table. They know the industry. They’ve built relationships that take years to earn. They’ve sharpened their negotiation skills over countless rounds of friendly (and not-so-friendly) sparring with vendors.
They also know how to navigate the far trickier challenge of internal cost allocations for multi-asset-class deals.
But not everything is negotiable. Some market data is business critical. It’s incredibly expensive. And it comes from a shrinking pool of providers. That means the usual procurement playbook doesn’t always work.
You can’t bluff or bargain your way to savings when there’s no real leverage. Even the best negotiators hit a wall when demand is high and supply is tight.
That’s where usage control comes in
It offers huge potential. But to make it work, you need the right tools just to see what’s happening. Who is using what? Are licenses being underused? Where are you pushing license boundaries?
Then there’s the human layer: People to monitor it. Authority to act on it. If those people aren’t backed by leadership, they’re just another cost center – and often seen as more blocker than enabler.
No single right answer, but a better way forward
The truth? Both approaches have their place. Smart procurement teams understand business use cases, and know when to push or when to pivot. Smart usage control catches waste before it spirals and keeps you compliant.
Together, they unlock real value. Fewer duplications. Lower risk. Stronger vendor management. Tighter cost control. But that only works if they’re aligned – in synch, not siloed, not in turf wars and definitely not competing for control.
The right balance will look different for every organization, and often reflects how mature their approach to managing market data really is. But each side needs to understand what the other brings and the pressures they face. That’s when everyone wins.
How balanced is your approach?
Is there room to strengthen your procurement strategy? Or to modernize your usage oversight?
We’d love to hear how you're tackling this; what’s worked, what hasn’t… and what’s next?
