The rapid growth of SaaS ERP and CRM is putting unexpected pressure on consulting firms, VARs and system integrators to take more accountability for business outcomes, and evolve a business model that has long been associated with consultant billable hours.
The accepted business model is lacking in service-level commitments, incentives to perform, or accountability for outcomes.
Meanwhile, the prevalence of SaaS-based solutions has facilitated predictability of outcome. Implementations or “setups” as we like to call them, have become less complex. In short, the landscape has changed and it’s time for us to keep up.
How are we responding?
In 2018 we will pioneer a new engagement model and look to inspire other IT services companies to reinvent their value propositions in similar ways to embrace what the cloud really means.
Introducing Bundled Subscriptions
The investment will be predictable, and the outcomes will be dependable.
• Customers will subscribe to a “solution” that includes everything they need – software, setup, on-going training, support, upgrades, and performance tuning. They will pay a subscription fee over a 3 to 5 year contract term.
• The customer’s CEO and leadership must make a commitment that their people will be where they need to be, when they committed to be there. They will utilize self-service content and complete “homework” assignments to gather necessary information about the business.
• The SOW will be used as a roadmap, and only minor deviation will be permitted.
• When setup is complete, the partner will facilitate rigorous user acceptance testing and work out any kinks, refining the solution and tweaking functionality to align it with the business.
• Partners will offer client-specific and curriculum-driven training – for all your staff, not just the “super users”.
• The cutover to the new system will include daily onsite involvement from partner solution experts who will check in with staff and departmental leaders on their experience.
• When new versions are released, the partner will test, plan, and execute the upgrade so the customer is always running the latest and best version.
• As a customer, you can call your partner at any time and the meter is NEVER running.
This is the beginning of a new conversation between the companies that make software, those that deliver and support it, and those who buy and use it. It is a time for innovation and change – not just in technology, but in the way it is delivered.
Let us know what you think. Get in touch: Elliot@catapulterp.com
Read the Full Series at MSDynamicsWorld
This post is based on a series that was originally published at MSDynamicsWorld.com:
Rethinking IT Services for SaaS ERP and CRM, Part 1: Saying goodbye to old models
Rethinking IT Services for SaaS ERP and CRM, Part 2: A vision for the future
or
Listen to the podcast which features an insightful conversation between Jason Gumpert and our two founders, Jeff Bacon and Elliot Fishman.
