NiCE — Deal Risk Assessment

2026-02-24 · NiCE Opal 2026 · Proof-of-Value → $230K
Deal Snapshot
Account / Deal
NiCE — NiCE Opal 2026
Owner
Matt Emerson Payne (AE) · Conor Leary / Dan Tranter (overlay)
Stage / Target Close
Proof-of-Value / 2026-03-20
Size / Strategic Importance
$230,000 / High (new logo, $3B public company)
Key Champion(s)
Dor Danieli — driving evaluation, managing internal stakeholders, gatekeeping CMO access
Current Status
Point-solution competitors eliminated; Adobe is only remaining competitor. Botched full-suite demo 2/20 damaged credibility with doers. Recovery plan: targeted 1:1 sessions with Nikhil, Jonathan, Michele run by Conor/Dan. Paper process not yet started. Alex Atzberger / Arun Chandra exec meeting March 3.
Total Risks
8
Known Risks
8
Assumed Risks
0
Play Code Legend
P1ELT exec bridge (C-suite ↔ C-suite)
P2SLT bridge (VP/Director ↔ VP/Director)
P3Back-channeling / political intel
P4Value / business outcomes workshop
P5Technical / architecture risk session
P6Commercial alignment session
P7On-site
P8Own internal business case structure
P9Customer-facing exec 1-pager
P10Internal exec briefing 1-pager
P11Pricing / term levers
Risk Table
ID Category Risk Evidence Impact Plays Owner & By When
R1 Political Demo execution destroyed credibility with doers
Known
• 2/20 debrief: Matt/Marvin botched demo — no narrative, website skinning disaster, uncontrolled Opal drift. Dan intervened repeatedly to salvage.
• Michele (content lead) indicated doers do not want to replatform.
Doer resistance could create negative recommendation to CMO, stalling or killing the deal
P2 P5 P7
Conor/Dan — 1:1 recovery sessions week of Feb 24
R2 Political EB identified but not yet directly engaged
Known
• Deal file: “Not yet identified — Dor leading evaluation but approver unclear.”
• EB is Michelle Cooper (CMO) or Arun Chandra (COO). Budget path: Dor → Michelle → Arun → Scott (CEO). • Alex Atzberger meeting Arun Chandra March 3. Dan reaching out to Michelle Cooper for exec intro. • No direct Optimizely-to-EB conversation has occurred yet.
No EB access = no path to commitment or budget approval before March close target
P1 P3
Dan Tranter — exec outreach to Michelle Cooper + March 3 prep, this week
R3 Paper Paper process not started
Known
• 2/20 debrief: “Paper process has not started.” Dan pushing to send MSA this week.
• Public company requires security assessment from IT. Azure Marketplace potential.
AI legal review for public company = 2–3 month risk. March 20 close impossible without immediate initiation.
P6 P8
Conor — send MSA week of Feb 24
R4 Political Doers actively resist replatforming — initiative is top-down
Known
• 2/20 debrief: Michele (content lead) confirmed doers don’t want to replatform.
• Nikhil challenged experimentation differentiation: “I don’t see much difference with VWO.”
• Jonathan skeptical throughout demo.
If doers collectively oppose, CMO may not override. Must keep scope to Opal + DAM only.
P3 P5
Conor/Dan — address individually in 1:1 sessions, week of Feb 24
R5 Timing March 20 close target at severe risk
Known
• 2/17: Timeline shifted to end of March/April.
• Paper not started. Recovery 1:1s not yet scheduled. CMO demo not yet held. Alex/Arun Chandra March 3.
Deal likely slips to late March/April at minimum
P1 P6
Conor + Dan — accelerate all workstreams this week
R6 Technical DAM demo still owed — primary decision criteria unaddressed
Known
• 2/20 full suite demo: DAM not shown at all despite being Michele Carlson’s #1 priority. Matt committed to scheduling.
• Dor: “content creation and the DAM are my two pieces.”
Cannot secure CMO endorsement without demonstrating the capability they care about most
P5
Conor/Dan — schedule DAM demo this week
R7 Value Scope oscillation between Opal-only and full suite
Known
• 2/17: CMO expanded evaluation to full Optimizely suite.
• 2/20: Dor explicitly narrowed back to Opal + DAM.
• Nikhil now evaluating broader ecosystem.
Over-scoping delays decision and dilutes the pitch; under-scoping misses platform revenue
P4 P9
Conor — frame CMO demo as “Opal + DAM now / platform vision later / bridge between”
R8 Political Core team (Matt/Marvin) cannot run effective customer meetings
Known
• 2/20 debrief: “All future NiCE meetings will be run by Conor and/or Dan.”
• Less than 1 day of prep. No narrative. Unprofessional execution.
Creates resource bottleneck on Conor/Dan for every customer touchpoint
P10
Dan — address with Seb; Conor/Dan own all meetings going forward
Mitigation Cross-Map
P1 ELT Exec Bridge
Risks: R2, R5
Alex Atzberger / Arun Chandra March 3 call
P3 Back-channeling / Political Intel
Risks: R2, R4
Dan → Michelle Cooper SVP intro; individual doer sentiment
P5 Technical / Architecture Risk Session
Risks: R1, R4, R6
1:1 with Nikhil on architecture, DAM demo for Michele
P6 Commercial Alignment Session
Risks: R3, R5
MSA initiation, paper process acceleration
P9 Customer-facing Exec 1-Pager
Risks: R7
CMO demo framing: immediate value + platform vision
Action Plan — Must-Do Priorities
1 P6 Initiate paper process — send MSA to NiCE this week
Linked Risks R3, R5
Owner Conor
Why Public company AI legal review is 2–3 months; every day of delay pushes close further into Q2
Due 2026-02-26
2 P5 Schedule and run 1:1 architecture session with Nikhil
Linked Risks R1, R4, R6
Owner Conor
Why Nikhil is the new focal point for evaluation; need to rebuild credibility after botched demo and address his specific concerns (MarTech fit, DAM)
Due 2026-02-28
3 P1 Game-plan Alex Atzberger / Arun Chandra March 3 call
Linked Risks R2, R5
Owner Conor + Dan
Why Ideal state: NiCE has committed to Optimizely before this call. Need EB identified and engaged.
Due 2026-03-01
4 P3 Dan reaches out to Michelle Cooper (SVP) for exec intro
Linked Risks R2, R4
Owner Dan Tranter
Why Michelle Cooper (CMO) reports to Arun Chandra (COO) — second path to EB. Doer resistance needs senior-level counterweight.
Due 2026-02-25
5 P5 Schedule dedicated DAM demo for Michele Carlson
Linked Risks R6
Owner Conor/Dan
Why DAM is Michele’s #1 priority and was completely missed in the 2/20 demo. Cannot advance CMO presentation without it.
Due 2026-02-28
Action Plan — Secondary Tasks
Internal Exec Support

Top Risks Requiring Exec Help

What We’ve Already Done to Mitigate

Specific Requests from ELT / SLT