Another strategy is to influence the design of the next upgrade, an effective tactic especially midcontract. Mulders says Dow Corning works closely with SAP to let it know where Dow is headed. "That gives Dow the functionality we need in a general-release product so that we don't have to pay additional [customization fees]," she says.

Certainly large companies such as Dow Corning have more leverage when it comes to influencing the shape of future versions. But small companies can have an influence as well through user groups and vendor conferences. For years, members of the Oracle Application User Group requested that Oracle reduce or waive the $100 fee the software maker charged for each technical reference manual. In 2000, the vendor started providing the manuals to licensed users through the Internet free of charge.

Finally, and this may seem obvious, use the support you're paying for. "You need to push every problem that you have out to this group," says Lafontan.

Know When to Cut the Cord

When all else fails, CIOs can let a maintenance contract expire and support the system on their own. Running major software without maintenance happens, says Canada Life's Cohen. "This is the same thing as when it is no longer supported," he says. Cohen says the Toronto-based insurer won't be intimidated into paying maintenance if it doesn't make business sense. In fact, last year he decided not to upgrade a key industry-specific package. The current version is 6.3,and Cohen runs version 4.6, which the vendor no longer supports. "We have modified it to the point where you would not recognize it," he says, meaning that upgrading wouldn't be a simple task. In fact, Cohen determined that customizing the upgraded software would cost between$2.7 million and $3.4 million - a price tag that greatly outweighs the potential benefits of the new version.

AMR's Barron agrees that sometimes it doesn't make sense to keep paying maintenance, such as when a company has no plans to upgrade or if a vendor doesn't plan to add new features. A CIO may choose to let a contract lapse if he never uses the vendor's help desk or an audit shows that an application doesn't have enough users.