A life sciences group was negotiating a three-year Databricks commit with an opening proposal that bundled All-Purpose and Jobs DBUs at a blended rate and priced Mosaic AI outside the master discount. Fourteen weeks later, the commit was restructured for $2.7M of measurable saving, with All-Purpose and Jobs SKUs separated to actual workload mix and Mosaic AI brought inside master-discount parity.
The group's existing Databricks commit had been negotiated against an early-stage adoption plan. Two years in, the workload mix was settled: roughly two-thirds Jobs and one-third All-Purpose, with a strong push from research teams to standardise on Mosaic AI for model training. The opening renewal continued to price All-Purpose and Jobs at a blended rate that overpaid for the Jobs portion.
The Databricks account team proposed a commit increase of approximately 16%, held the blended DBU rate, and quoted Mosaic AI at list with a separate growth uplift. The proposal also framed Mosaic adoption as a future commitment that would unlock incremental discount only at year two.
A blended DBU rate masks the difference between Jobs and All-Purpose. When the actual workload skews toward Jobs, the blend systematically overpays. SKU separation is the lever, not headline commit size.
We pulled twelve months of DBU consumption by SKU and built a defensible workload split. The output: actual Jobs/All-Purpose ratio, with a forecast that named the consolidation programme as a likely shift toward Jobs.
Negotiated separate Jobs and All-Purpose unit prices reflecting actual workload mix, removing the blended-rate overpay on the Jobs portion.
Brought Mosaic AI inside the master discount at SKU parity from year one, with no separate growth uplift schedule.
We drafted the position paper. The group's data platform director presented it. Our team ran the three follow-up sessions across commercial, finance and technical reviews.
Databricks commit conversations default to blended rates because they're easier to model. The leverage comes from refusing the blend and pricing SKUs against actual workload mix. The Mosaic question negotiates better when it's part of the master, not a separate add-on.
The signed commit separated Jobs and All-Purpose SKUs at unit prices reflecting actual workload mix, brought Mosaic AI inside the master discount at parity, and removed the separate growth uplift schedule.
Tell us the commit shape, the workload mix and the Mosaic position. We will respond within one business day with the lead and the most relevant precedent.