About the program
What is SPEND Advantage?
SPEND Advantage (Spend Placement Earns Network Dividends) is a member benefit operated by SpearPoint Technology Advisors that turns the technology purchasing your company already does into real dollars for your company and the Association. You buy from the same suppliers at the same or better pricing, and your spend pays a royalty to your company and a royalty to the Association, both in dollars.
Does my pricing change?
No. You receive the same competitive pricing you have already negotiated, often better, because a Certified Trusted Advisor helps you evaluate the market. The program never adds a cost, a fee, or a markup to anything you buy.
Where does the money come from, if not from me?
Technology suppliers budget a standard cost of sale as part of doing business. It is paid on nearly every contract, whether or not anyone in the Association community benefits. SPEND Advantage organizes those existing dollars so they flow back to the community the buyers belong to. Nothing new is charged, and nothing touches your invoice.
The royalty and what it funds
What does my company get?
A royalty, paid in dollars. Under the standard Association program your company receives 7.5% of the gross commission the program receives on your placed spend, on placement and on renewal. Spend it on the IT budget, the next project, or a savings target. Your technology review shows the actual numbers for your portfolio.
What does my Association community get?
Its own royalty, also in dollars, on the same spend. The Association directs it where its mission needs it: chapter programming, events, member development, leadership programs, and its foundation's giving. One action, and your whole Association community benefits with you.
How is my royalty calculated?
Royalties are calculated, not promised. Each supplier funds the program at a different level; the program applies a configurable waterfall to the gross commission actually received. Under the standard Association program, every $100 of gross pays $7.50 to your company and $7.50 to the Association, with $7.50 to the SpearPoint platform and the remainder to the advisor of record. Every share is paid in dollars and reported next to the spend. Your technology review calculates the exact figure for your supplier mix.
Working with the program
Who is the Trusted Advisor?
A SPEND Advantage Certified Trusted Advisor guides your technology evaluations: an expert across the supplier market who works in your interest with full transparency. SpearPoint is the program's founding advisor and advisor of record; authorized program partners are also active in specific chapters. If you already work with a technology advisor, tell us who they are. The program is built to work with them, not around them.
What kinds of technology are eligible?
Nine categories cover most of an IT portfolio: network connectivity, network edge and SD-WAN, security, cloud and colocation, communications (UCaaS/CCaaS), application optimization, business intelligence and data, software licensing, and AI and automation.
The nine categories, defined:
1. Network Connectivity: dedicated internet access, broadband, private lines, wavelength services, and fixed wireless connecting offices, data centers, and clouds.
2. Network Edge / SD-WAN: SD-WAN overlays, managed routers and edge devices, and the orchestration that keeps branch sites performing.
3. Cloud / IaaS / Colo: public cloud compute and storage, private and hosted cloud, and colocation space, power, and interconnection.
4. Security / SASE: managed detection and response, firewalls, zero-trust access, and SASE stacks protecting users, sites, and data.
5. CX / UCaaS / CXaaS: unified communications and contact center platforms, with their agent tooling and analytics.
6. Application Optimization: load balancing, content delivery, WAN and application performance, and observability tooling.
7. Software Licensing: productivity suites, SaaS subscriptions, and enterprise license agreements.
8. Business Intelligence: data platforms, pipelines, and the BI tooling a leadership team runs on.
9. AI & Automation: conversational AI, machine-learning platforms, document and workflow automation, and RPA.
Is there any commitment?
No. The way to start is a simple technology review: share an upcoming purchase, renewal, supplier, or need, even one you haven't fully defined, and an advisor helps you evaluate it. You stay in control of every decision, and your pricing stays exactly as negotiated. Start a technology review.
Research library
Deeper dives on program topics, added as they are published. Have a topic you want covered? Ask below.
The Smartest Way to Buy Technology
The flagship brief: why buying fails at the front, middle, and back of the decision, and the three requirements fifteen research organizations converge on.
Read the brief →The Trusted Advisor, Explained
What a trusted advisor is (and is not), exactly how advisors are paid and why your price never moves, and the questions that separate a certified advisor from a generalist.
Read the brief →The IT Buying Friction Atlas
Interactive: set your revenue band and industry and watch avoidable spend, cycle time, regret risk, and vendor sprawl recalculate for organizations like yours.
Open the atlas →C.L.E.A.R.: The Intelligence Layer
The methodology behind advisor certification: Context, Landscape, Experience, Alignment, and Roadmap, run continuously across your whole stack.
Read the brief →The New Gravity of IT Spend
The full research report: how SaaS, cloud, and renewals changed what IT spend behaves like, with KPIs, benchmarks, methodology, and a playbook.
Open the report →Browse the full library
All SPEND Advantage Research in one place, with the 90-second verdicts up front.
Open the research library →Ask a research question
Tell us what you'd like to see covered in a deeper dive. We'll research it and publish it here.