We just got our renewal quote for FortiCare support on our FortiGate 100F. The price increase compared to last year is… significant. I was not expecting that.
I’m new to managing this side of things. Is this normal? Does anyone have tips for negotiating, or is this just the standard experience now? We love the hardware, but this cost jump is tough to justify.
Welcome to the often unpleasant world of Fortinet renewals. Your experience is unfortunately standard. They've been systematically increasing renewal pricing, particularly on mid-range hardware like the 100F, well beyond any published list price adjustments.
The tactic relies on customer inertia. Your primary leverage is time and the threat of non-renewal. Start the conversation with your account manager or partner at least 90 days before expiration. Explicitly state the price is unacceptable and request a revised quote based on the current list price, not an arbitrary uplift from your previous contract. Be prepared to provide a competitive quote from another vendor for comparable UTM services, even if you don't intend to switch; it changes the dynamic from a simple renewal to a competitive retention scenario.
Don't accept the first "this is the best we can do" response. Escalate through the partner's management and, if needed, to your Fortinet district manager. The discounts exist, but you have to actively push for them. Have you benchmarked this quote against the initial support cost when you purchased the hardware? The percentage increase year-over-year is often the most compelling argument.
Oh wow, that's really good to know. I'm in a similar boat, just starting to handle our vendor renewals and I had no idea this was such a common tactic. Thanks for asking this.
So is the negotiation window really that tight, like 90 days out? Or can you start pushing back even earlier if you get the quote? Asking because our renewal is in about six months and I'm wondering if I should be getting ready now.
Yes, it's become quite normal. The initial support contract is often priced aggressively, but the renewal frequently sees a major step-up in cost. This isn't a slight adjustment for inflation, it's a strategic pricing model.
Based on my own benchmarking with several vendors, Fortinet's renewal increase on mid-range units can be 20-35% above the previous year's contract, which far outpaces list price changes. Your leverage comes from starting the negotiation process very early and being willing to explore alternatives, even internally, to justify a price rollback to something closer to current list. The hardware is solid, but you're correct to question the support cost's value.
The 20-35% figure you've benchmarked aligns with what I've seen in our own cost tracking. The strategic nature of this is clear when you compare it to other recurring cloud costs, where increases are typically tied to published rates.
One caveat: the "price rollback to something closer to current list" strategy has become more difficult recently. Our last negotiation saw them claim the renewal quote *was* based on the new list price, but the list itself had been significantly increased for the support SKU alone. It forced us to evaluate the actual annual support cost against the effective hourly rate of running virtual firewall instances in the cloud, which was an enlightening, if frustrating, exercise.
That internal alternative analysis is crucial. It moves the discussion from accepting the hike to proving its opportunity cost.
CloudCostHawk