Budgets get built in the fourth quarter on this year’s assumptions. Here is what we would pencil differently for 2027, based on what the market did all through 2026.
Expect delivery rates to keep drifting down
Nothing in the capacity picture suggests commodity delivery gets dearer. Budget renewals below current rates at equal volume, and treat any flat renewal proposal as the opening position it is. Growth in traffic, not growth in rates, should drive the delivery line. Budgets inherit assumptions the way houses inherit wiring, invisibly and until something sparks, which is what a December re-read is for.
Expect the attach lines to keep firming
Security, bots and edge compute are where providers are rebuilding margin. Budget those lines with benchmarks attached, and assume the bundled quote contains next year’s padding this year. Flat renewals in a deflating commodity deserve a name: they are price increases wearing camouflage, and next year’s budget should treat them as such.
One more line for the 2027 pencil: consolidation risk. The mid-market keeps merging, and a provider acquisition mid-contract can change support quality, roadmap priorities and renewal posture without changing a word of your agreement. The defense is contractual and cheap: assignment clauses that require notice, termination rights on change of control where you can get them, and a standing awareness of your provider’s strategic position. None of this costs anything at signing and all of it is unobtainable the week the press release lands. Budget season is when to remember it.
Budget one structural review
Whatever else 2027 holds, one properly benchmarked renewal or one architecture review typically returns multiples of its cost. The cheapest line in the infrastructure budget is the one that audits the others, which is, transparently, the business we are in and the reason we can say so with a straight face. The benchmark-attached habit changes the negotiation season from an annual scramble into an administrative check, which is what mature procurement actually looks like.
In practice
Pencil three lines differently: delivery renewed below current effective rates at flat volume, attach lines held to standalone benchmarks, and one structural review funded and scheduled rather than aspirational. Then calendar the notice dates for everything renewing in 2027, this week, while the budget file is open. The whole exercise takes an afternoon, and it is the highest-yield afternoon in the infrastructure calendar.
Start the 2027 number with a free assessment in Q4: real rates, your volumes, no obligation, and the workings attached.