Bespoke and off-the-shelf subscription billing systems both have their pros and cons and it pays to weigh your options before deciding which way to proceed, writes Carl Warwick, Regional Sales Director APAC and Japan at BillingPlatform.
Planning to adopt a subscription-based pricing model in your enterprise and realised you need a billing solution to support your new modus operandi?
You’re in good company. Across Australia, businesses of all shapes and sizes have twigged to the benefits that going down the subscription route can deliver – think more reliable revenue stream, broader market appeal and enhanced cross-selling opportunities, to name a few – and they’re commissioning the high-tech infrastructure they need to succeed.
Implementing a robust, scalable revenue management platform that enables them to manage the sales and billing cycles effectively is a high priority for most. It’s foundation technology that makes it possible for your business to roll out usage-based billing, navigate accounting and reporting challenges, and deliver a top-notch customer experience to subscribers.
To build or not to build?
Whether to build a revenue management platform in-house or buy one from an established application developer is the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, for many businesses.
Doing the former can promise compelling benefits, including the opportunity to customise your solution, ensure its compatibility with other critical applications and maintain control over the testing and implementation phases.
And it can have a significant downside. Developing a specialist revenue management platform can be a lengthy process, one that calls for high upfront investment and the sourcing of specialist developers to work on the project – no easy feat in Australia’s shortage-plagued ICT sector.
Taking a DIY approach may also see your organisation inadvertently overlook important requirements; forcing you to retrofit essential features and functionality after go-live. That can be disruptive and expensive and could compromise the chances of your newly re-engineered subscription-based business.
Weighing the options
Having spent several years in the sector, I’ve seen customers do well – and badly – with both bespoke and off-the-shelf revenue management solutions. There’s no right answer – but getting it wrong may cost your organisation dearly.
Here are four things to consider when deciding which way to jump.
1. Human resources
Enterprise software projects are only as good as the specialists that staff them. The pandemic has left many countries in the APAC region, Australia included, suffering from a dearth of skilled personnel. If you don’t already have a team of developers working in-house, you may struggle to secure one, or to retain their services in the current sellers’ market.
That’s a challenge that won’t necessarily abate when your revenue management solution is ready to roll. You’ll need experienced developers on hand to maintain, modify and enhance the system, or a watertight contract with a software consultancy that can supply those services, stat.
2. Good housekeeping: Hosting, backup and security
Billing information is critical to the operation of your enterprise. As such, it demands robust hosting, backup and security provisions.
If you have this detail sorted, you’re well placed to proceed with a bespoke solution. If not, having to invest in storage and delivery infrastructure to support your newly built application may increase the upfront cost of the project, and your ongoing maintenance and support spend.
3. Data security and compliance
Privacy and data security have long since ceased to be ‘nice to haves’. Billing systems are a rich repository of customer data and, here in Australia and around the world, there are strict regulations governing its collection, storage and use. There can be substantial penalties for organisations that fail to comply with those regulations, along with the dent to reputation and significant remediation costs that typically accompany a major data breach.
That’s why running your own revenue management platform calls for perpetual vigilance and a gun cybersecurity team. If your organisation lacks that capacity, it’s a prime target for cyber-compromise.
4. Room to grow
Software applications are rarely static affairs. Most are modified, expanded and enhanced, as the enterprises that rely on them refine and expand their offerings in response to changing market conditions. If you’re running on an internal platform, new developments will call for billing customisation from your ICT team, and any hold-ups in executing those changes could hold your company back.
Exploring other options
The alternative to building your own revenue management application is to work with a vendor that’s already done so, and is continuing to optimise and support its solution. If you decide it makes better sense for your enterprise to take this tack, it pays to choose a robust, scalable platform that integrates seamlessly with your ERP system and enables you to deliver a personalised, high quality experience to customers.
Partnering with a specialist that can supply this piece of the puzzle will allow your team to concentrate on what matters most – using your new subscription billing model to drive profitability and growth.
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