

"We had two problems: we were at risk of losing control and visibility, and I was spending too much time on vendor calls and negotiations instead of focusing on strategy and direction. Clearly our structure had to improve."
The Challenge
For CFO Lorenzo Seu and his team, managing SaaS procurement for NewtonX - the world's leading B2B research firm - had become a growing challenge. With 300 employees and approximately $2m spent across more than 70 different SaaS vendors, their procurement process was chaotic: contracts, budgets, approvals, and renewals were managed manually through spreadsheets, and vendor negotiations consumed valuable time.
NewtonX faced three critical issues:
- No structure. Teams were signing contracts independently, leading to duplicated tools, inconsistent terms, underuse and wasted spend.
- Leadership dependency. Lorenzo was being pulled into every negotiation, diverting his focus from strategic financial initiatives.
- Wasted spend. Without market intelligence or proper oversight, NewtonX was overpaying for software and missing opportunities for optimization.
The Solution
Vertice began by discovering the true size and shape of the NewtonX tech stack - achieved by uploading contracts manually and integrating the Vertice platform with NewtonX's single sign-on (SSO) system.
The unprecedented total view then revealed the extent of the suspected duplication, underuse, overspend and unauthorized spend - and numerous opportunities for immediate rationalization.
This new clarity also highlighted a clear need for improved procurement processes. Using Vertice’s library of 50+ best practice workflow templates, the team created a tailored, intuitive system for managing SaaS requests, approvals, and renewals.
These new workflows:
- Integrated seamlessly with approvers’ preferred communication and project management platforms, ensuring notifications and actions were easily visible.
- Automated select actions, cutting down approval times and reducing manual effort.
- Aligned with NewtonX’s compliance requirements, policies, and preferences.
- Could be continuously improved using the platform’s performance analytics.
The workflows proved to be so reliable, intuitive and user-friendly that within just three weeks, they were rolled out to 40+ stakeholders outside the finance function - key to preventing continued rogue spend.
"At first, the idea of empowering dozens of employees with procurement access seemed risky. But with Vertice as our control tower, it became our advantage. With Vertice's workflows, we moved faster, stayed coordinated, and turned what could’ve been chaos into our biggest accelerator."
These workflows also allowed NewtonX’s team to collaborate easily with the Vertice procurement team. Once intakes and preliminary approvals were complete, Vertice’s expert buyers could take over and begin negotiations - taking the burden away from the NewtonX team, and Lorenzo specifically.
Armed with Vertice’s own uniquely global price benchmarking data, vendor insights and negotiation strategies, plus a deep understanding of NewtonX’s corporate priorities, the Vertice team could ensure every SaaS contract struck a balance between financial savings and terms that met NewtonX’s current and future needs.
“The unexpected benefit of working with Vertice was the improvement to our vendor relationships.
Because Vertice always knew not only what our goals were for the contract, but also what mattered most to our vendors, they were able to strike perfect balances and achieve the impossible: great deals for us that our vendors were pleased to sign!"
The Results
The impact of the partnership was immediate and transformative.
Vertice has already delivered 83% of the total guaranteed savings in less than half the contract term.
While the financial results were impressive, Lorenzo emphasizes that the transformation went far deeper:
- A professional procurement engine: NewtonX now has a scalable, professional procurement engine with Vertice as the quarterback. Every purchase is built on market intelligence, and renewals are no longer last minute and expensive.
- Complete visibility: For the first time, finance leadership has a single source of truth for all software spend and approvals, eliminating guesswork and ensuring continuous compliance.
- Empowered teams: More than 40 employees now manage purchases seamlessly, supported by Vertice’s robust workflows and expert guidance.
"Vertice isn't just a vendor; they're the expert procurement team we always needed but never had. They feel like a true part of our organization.”
See how simple procurement can be
Let us show you how to halve your procurement cycles and cut costs by 20%.
