Predictika · Managed cloud quotes

An AI sales agent's managed VMware cloud quote, checked before it goes out

An AI sales agent prepares a monthly quote for iomart VMware Cloud: virtual machines by size and operating system, flash storage, IP addresses, backup, disaster recovery and managed services. Before it goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of iomart's published G-Cloud price list and service definition and returns a verdict, every reason, the line-item quote and the figures it computed.

Scope: iomart VMware Cloud monthly quotes at published G-Cloud list prices: VM sizes, storage, IPs, backup, disaster recovery, Complete Management and OS Management. See everything this validator covers

This validator models monthly quotes for the iomart VMware Cloud service as priced in iomart's G-Cloud 15 pricing document (January 2026), not just the scenarios shown below.

  • Virtual machines — the 16 priced t-shirt sizes (GP1-4 to GP32-128 and HM1-8 to HM16-192) for Linux and for Windows, each with the published monthly price per VM, which includes the operating system licence. The GP24-96 size is in the service definition but has no published price, so it goes to a person.
  • Storage, network and protection — all flash storage per GB, IP addresses, local and remote backup per GB, and disaster recovery at the published from-price per VM. Outbound data is included up to 10 TB per virtual machine; local-only backup and anything above that allowance have no published price and go to a person.
  • Managed services and checks — Complete Management per VM (published bands for 1 to 30 and 30 to 100 VMs) and OS Management per VM; OS Management or disaster recovery for more VMs than the quote has, a quote with no VMs, and a stated monthly total that differs from the list prices are blocked.

Any VMware Cloud quote that touches these rules is in scope — not only the scenarios pictured here. Not covered: iomart Private Cloud, Microsoft CSP, other iomart services, professional services day rates, VAT, discounts and negotiated terms (all pricing is stated by iomart to be subject to discovery and design), and the Education pricing iomart mentions without publishing a table.

The AI sales agentBuilds the monthly cloud quote from the conversation and says it is ready.
Predictika validatorChecks every rule at once and returns the verdict, each finding, and the computed figures.

7 scenarios in 3 groups · each group runs from the agent’s first attempt to the outcome · click one to switch

What the agent proposes

The AI sales agent says

Illustrative agent statement. The validator receives the structured request below.

Proposing agent: AI sales agent (scripted)

Before sending, the agent must call Recorded run

Predictika validator


      

        
        
        
      

      
Waiting for the call.

      
    

  

  
  

    
Where rules-based CPQ gets it wrong
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Our assessment of what a typical rules-based CPQ (product rules, price rules and validation rules, as in Salesforce CPQ) does with the same cases. It is a judgment about effort and reliability, not a claim that nothing can be built.

    
What the validator caughtTypical rules-based CPQPredictika
A stated monthly total that must equal what the list prices giveOnly with care
A stated figure is a free-entry field; a rule can compare it with a computed total, but the total depends on 32 VM lines, storage, backup and services all being priced the same way.		The stated total travels with the quote and is compared with the computed total on every call.
Managed services quoted for more VMs than the quote hasOnly with workarounds
A quantity on one line has to be checked against the sum of quantities on 32 other lines, which crosses quote lines and is easy to miss.		Every VM line and the services quantities are in one request and compared on every call.
A price band that depends on the total number of VMsOnly with care
The Complete Management rate depends on the number of VMs across all Linux and Windows lines, so it needs a roll-up before the price rule can fire.		The total VM count is computed from every line and picks the band on every call.
Items the price document does not price, such as a size or a local-only backupOnly with workarounds
Approval routing has to be built as a separate flow and kept in step with the price rules; an unpriced item can quietly price at zero.		The quote comes back as needs approval with the reason, in the same answer as every other finding.
Outbound data above the included allowanceOnly with care
The allowance is 10 TB per VM, so it scales with a roll-up of the VM lines; a rule can do it but each limit is one more rule to maintain.		The allowance is computed from the VM count and compared with the expected volume.

  

  

    
What this validator catches: findings from its test cases
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Every rule is checked on every call, in any order the choices arrive; one problem never hides another. Blocking findings stop the quote; approval findings need a person to sign off; everything else is computed.

    
1The quote has 0 virtual machines; at least 1 is needed.
2The quote states a monthly total of £2,015.00; the list prices give £2,025.00.
3The quote states a monthly total of £2,025.01; the list prices give £2,025.00.
4OS Management is quoted for 9 virtual machines but the quote has only 8.
5Disaster recovery is quoted for 9 virtual machines but the quote has only 8.
6The disaster recovery price of 30 pounds a virtual machine is a from-price; confirm it for 9 virtual machines.
7The disaster recovery price of 30 pounds a virtual machine is a from-price; confirm it for 4 virtual machines.
8The Complete Management prices are published for 1 to 30 and 30 to 100 virtual machines, so 30 is in both bands and more than 100 has no price; the quote has 30 virtual machines.
9The Complete Management prices are published for 1 to 30 and 30 to 100 virtual machines, so 30 is in both bands and more than 100 has no price; the quote has 101 virtual machines.
10The GP24-96 virtual machine size is in the service definition but has no price in the pricing document; 3 such virtual machines are left out of the total and need a quoted price.
11The GP24-96 virtual machine size is in the service definition but has no price in the pricing document; 2 such virtual machines are left out of the total and need a quoted price.
12The pricing document gives a price only for local and remote backup; a price for local-only backup is not published.
1381 TB of outbound data a month is above the 10 TB per virtual machine that is included (80 TB for this quote); no price above that is published.
14The quote states a monthly total of £2,025.00; the list prices give £2,105.00.
15OS Management is quoted for 12 virtual machines but the quote has only 9.
16Disaster recovery is quoted for 10 virtual machines but the quote has only 9.
17The quote states a monthly total of £0.05; the list prices give £3,525.00.
18The GP24-96 virtual machine size is in the service definition but has no price in the pricing document; 1 such virtual machines are left out of the total and need a quoted price.
19The disaster recovery price of 30 pounds a virtual machine is a from-price; confirm it for 10 virtual machines.
20500 TB of outbound data a month is above the 10 TB per virtual machine that is included (90 TB for this quote); no price above that is published.

  

  

    
Scenarios and results
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The recorded result of the validator for each scenario on this page: the request the AI agent sent, the verdict, and every finding, in the order they appear above.

    
1. Estate migration: A 24-VM estate with OS Management for 26 VMs and a total that leaves out backup

    
The agent's request. Please quote a monthly iomart VMware Cloud order for 12 Linux GP4-16 VMs, 6 Linux HM4-32 VMs and 6 Windows HM8-64 VMs, with 20,000 GB of all flash storage, 6 IP addresses and 30,000 GB of local and remote backup, Complete Management, plus OS Management for 26 VMs, and about 120 TB of outbound data a month. The quote states a monthly total of £9,362.00. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • More OS Management VMs than VMs. OS Management is quoted for 26 virtual machines but the quote has only 24.
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  • Stated total does not match. The quote states a monthly total of £9,362.00; the list prices give £13,462.00.
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2. Estate migration: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote a monthly iomart VMware Cloud order for 12 Linux GP4-16 VMs, 6 Linux HM4-32 VMs and 6 Windows HM8-64 VMs, with 20,000 GB of all flash storage, 6 IP addresses and 30,000 GB of local and remote backup, Complete Management, plus OS Management for 24 VMs, and about 120 TB of outbound data a month. The quote states a monthly total of £13,262.00. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
    
      
  • Order summary. 24 virtual machine(s), estimated monthly total of £13,262.00 at list prices.
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3. Web hosting estate: A 14-VM web estate with OS Management for 16 VMs, a short total and 160 TB of outbound data

    
The agent's request. Please quote a monthly iomart VMware Cloud order for 10 Linux GP2-8 VMs and 4 Linux GP8-32 VMs, with 8,000 GB of all flash storage, 3 IP addresses and 10,000 GB of local and remote backup, Complete Management, plus OS Management for 16 VMs, and about 160 TB of outbound data a month. The quote states a monthly total of £5,220.00. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • More OS Management VMs than VMs. OS Management is quoted for 16 virtual machines but the quote has only 14.
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  • Stated total does not match. The quote states a monthly total of £5,220.00; the list prices give £5,426.00.
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  • Outbound data above the included allowance. 160 TB of outbound data a month is above the 10 TB per virtual machine that is included (140 TB for this quote); no price above that is published.
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4. Web hosting estate: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote a monthly iomart VMware Cloud order for 10 Linux GP2-8 VMs and 4 Linux GP8-32 VMs, with 8,000 GB of all flash storage, 3 IP addresses and 10,000 GB of local and remote backup, Complete Management, plus OS Management for 14 VMs, and about 160 TB of outbound data a month. The quote states a monthly total of £5,226.00. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Needs approval.

    
    
      
  • Outbound data above the included allowance. 160 TB of outbound data a month is above the 10 TB per virtual machine that is included (140 TB for this quote); no price above that is published.
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  • Order summary. 14 virtual machine(s), estimated monthly total of £5,226.00 at list prices.
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5. Web hosting estate: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote a monthly iomart VMware Cloud order for 10 Linux GP2-8 VMs and 4 Linux GP8-32 VMs, with 8,000 GB of all flash storage, 3 IP addresses and 10,000 GB of local and remote backup, Complete Management, plus OS Management for 14 VMs, and about 130 TB of outbound data a month. The quote states a monthly total of £5,226.00. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
    
      
  • Order summary. 14 virtual machine(s), estimated monthly total of £5,226.00 at list prices.
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6. Windows estate: An 18-VM Windows estate with a total that leaves out the IP addresses

    
The agent's request. Please quote a monthly iomart VMware Cloud order for 6 Windows GP4-16 VMs, 8 Windows GP8-32 VMs and 4 Windows HM4-32 VMs, with 10,000 GB of all flash storage, 4 IP addresses and 12,000 GB of local and remote backup, Complete Management, and about 60 TB of outbound data a month. The quote states a monthly total of £7,331.00. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Blocked.

    
    
      
  • Stated total does not match. The quote states a monthly total of £7,331.00; the list prices give £7,339.00.
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7. Windows estate: The agent resubmits after fixing the errors

    
The agent's request. Please quote a monthly iomart VMware Cloud order for 6 Windows GP4-16 VMs, 8 Windows GP8-32 VMs and 4 Windows HM4-32 VMs, with 10,000 GB of all flash storage, 4 IP addresses and 12,000 GB of local and remote backup, Complete Management, and about 60 TB of outbound data a month. The quote states a monthly total of £7,339.00. It is ready to send.

    
Verdict: Allowed.

    
    
      
  • Order summary. 18 virtual machine(s), estimated monthly total of £7,339.00 at list prices.
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Narration transcript
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The text of the narrated walkthrough, step by step.

    
    
      
  1. Welcome to a demo of Predictika's Validator. An AI sales agent prepares a monthly quote for iomart VMware Cloud: virtual machines by size and operating system, flash storage, IP addresses, and more. Before it goes out, the agent sends it to Predictika, which checks it against a declarative model of iomart's published G-Cloud price list and service definition and returns a verdict, every reason, the line-item quote and the figures it computed.
    2. 
      
  2. I will start with the first request by the agent.
    3. 
      
  3. The agent says. Please quote a monthly iomart VMware Cloud order for 10 Linux GP2-8 VMs and 4 Linux GP8-32 VMs, with 8,000 GB of all flash storage. The quote states a monthly total of £5,220.00. The rest of the request is on screen.
    4. 
      
  4. Before it goes out, the agent calls the validator.
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  5. Blocked, with two findings and one approval, all in one answer. OS Management is quoted for 16 virtual machines but the quote has only 14. The quote states a monthly total of £5,220.00; the list prices give £5,426.00.
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  6. The validator returned two blocking findings and one approval in one answer. A check that reads one field at a time would pass most of this; it shows only when the choices in the quote are checked against each other and against the stated total.
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  7. What this shows: for outbound data above the included allowance, a rules-based CPQ is error-prone for this.
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  8. Now the agent resubmits.
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  9. The corrected request. It changes the VMs with OS Management to 14 and the stated monthly total to £5,226.00.
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  10. It calls the validator again.
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  11. Not blocked, but held for a person.
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  12. The validator also returns the line-item quote. It starts with Linux GP2-8 VM (2 vCPU / 8 GB) and Linux GP8-32 VM (8 vCPU / 32 GB); the other five lines are on screen.
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  13. The two blocking findings are cleared; one approval remains for a person: outbound data above the included allowance.
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  14. The agent resubmits once more.
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  15. The revised request. It changes the outbound data a month to 130 TB.
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  16. It calls the validator once more.
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  17. This time the validator clears it.
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  18. The validator also returns the line-item quote. It starts with Linux GP2-8 VM (2 vCPU / 8 GB) and Linux GP8-32 VM (8 vCPU / 32 GB); the other five lines are on screen.
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  19. The earlier finding is cleared, and the validator's total, £5,226.00, matches the quote.
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  20. Three problems caught in one call, fixed in two passes, and a clean £5,226.00 quote. That is the value of Predictika's validator: catching mistakes before they reach the customer. Now you can try the other scenarios yourself.
    21.