Sun users who consider switching hardware providers would do well to realize they have considerable leverage to negotiate prices much lower than the original discounts offered by vendors such as IBM and HP, says Laura DiDio, lead analyst with Information Technology Intelligence.

Multiple vendors are competing for the attention of Sun customers, and they are desperate for new sales in this economy. Worldwide, disk storage revenue has dropped 18.2% this year and server revenue has dropped 24.5%, IDC has reported.

DiDio said Sun customers who make large-volume deals to switch to another vendor can likely secure discounts of 30% to 40% off list price, and negotiate for free training, services and software licenses. Large customers generally don’t pay list price for hardware, but IT shops should take advantage of market conditions and try to negotiate bigger-than-usual discounts.

“If we’re looking at this from a customer-centric angle, there’s never been a better time to make a deal. The vendors are hungry for business,” DiDio says.

DiDio advises customers to enter negotiations with a specific plan, with messages such as “Here’s how much I have to pay. I’m looking for a discount of this much, and by the way can you give me X number of days of free training vouchers, and can you give me a price cap for the duration of my contract.”