using gnu/linux for leverage

From Linux and Free Software:

Gillian was assigned to research GNU/Linux and found out that it would meet all the needs her department required and could be easily used instead of Microsoft Windows. Moreover, this switch to open source software would save them a lot of money.…However, like in all bureaucracies large or small, she still needed to get approval from the management. Little did she know that the management never genuinely wanted to switch over. Instead, they took Gillian's research and did what they wanted to do from the beginning. They used it as a leverage to get the Microsoft representative to get them a much better deal.

What's left unsaid is that this tactic can't work forever. At some point, Microsoft will be unable or unwilling to offer further discounts. Is the unnamed company willing to follow through with its threat if the boys from Redmond call its bluff? That's when we will see whether Gillian's research pays off.