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Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
SIX QUESTIONS TO ASK ANY
VENDOR BEFORE SIGNING A
SaaS E-COMMERCE CONTRACT
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
When evaluating software-as-a-service, particularly e-commerce SaaS solutions, companies often
focus on comparing product features and functions. The
marketplace today is flush with SaaS providers and by its very
nature rapidly evolving. Like your business needs, e-commerce
platforms are evolving as well.
Finding a viable long term partner requires not only evaluating the
bells and whistles but also asking some more strategic questions.
Our hope is that by asking the
right questions you can settle on a long term partner that has a vision
for e-commerce consistent with your business needs.
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#1
Chances are, the e-commerce functionality you require today will not be the same as what you need in five years. If you’re successful you’ll have more transactions, more products, more competitors and higher expectations from your customers. As your business grows, will your e-commerce platform be able to keep up? Many mid-sized businesses are sold a solution to address their current needs rather than one that supports their future growth. To put it another way, is your SaaS provider as aggressive with their solution strategy and roadmap for the future as you are with yours?
WILL WE GROW INTO OR OUT
OF THIS PLATFORM?
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#1
CONSIDERATIONS:
1. What features does this solution have that I can grow into?
2. Do I see any areas where I might outgrow the application or the vendor?
3. Is the application easy to learn for a novice? Powerful enough for a expert?
WILL WE GROW INTO OR OUT
OF THIS PLATFORM?
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#2
How often a vendor rolls out incremental functionality is an important factor to consider. By signing with a SaaS vendor, you
are implicitly trusting they’ll continue to provide meaningful innovations that will allow you to attract, convert and retain
more buyers in the future.
The ability to establish interconnectivity between commerce and other applications (marketing, service, BI, etc.) is also an important issue to consider. Gradual adoption of additional services is to be expected as your company grows. Don’t let
your SaaS provider make you bite off more than you can chew. But also make sure they have offerings that you can easily
integrate with for technical, functional and financial growth.
WHAT IS YOUR ROADMAP
TO SUPPORT MY GROWTH PLAN?
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#2
CONSIDERATIONS:
1. Are there other services this vendor can provide? 2. How often and how substantial are the upgrades this vendor
is going to provide? 3. Do they have a compelling vision for e-commerce and its
interconnectivity with other solutions like call center, PoS, marketing, or social applications?
WHAT IS YOUR ROADMAP
TO SUPPORT MY GROWTH PLAN?
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#3
Right now you are sized for some particular volume – probably your current volume plus a little wiggle room for near-term
growth. What happens when you grow beyond that volume? What happens when you double it?
The big concern here is that you fully understand the financial model for licensing and operating the platform. The price tag
might be affordable today, but what if you dream a little bigger and then succeed? Revenue sharing or “shared success” models are a cost-efficient way to start, but they will lose their appeal at
a certain revenue point.
Consider the financial cost of success and look for flexibility in pricing models that help accommodate growth in the short and
long term.
WHAT IS THE BOTTOM LINE
EFFECT OF MY TOP LINE GROWTH?
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#3 WHAT IS THE BOTTOM LINE
EFFECT OF MY TOP LINE GROWTH?
CONSIDERATIONS:
1. Are you getting good value for the cost of this solution? 2. Are there alternative pricing models more suitable for my
expected sales and site traffic? 3. Do I have flexibility to change pricing models as my situation
changes?
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#4
It’s great to know that your SaaS vendor has helped make other companies successful, but what happens when your multi-
tenant neighbor has the next great cat video and goes viral one day? Will your site performance be protected? How?
Along the same lines, the size of your solution provider’s top
accounts matters a great deal if they offer a pure multi-tenant architecture. Because there is no room for customization for
individual customers, the vendor’s road map typically skews to support their top priorities, not yours.
HOW DO YOU PLAN TO SUPPORT MY
SITE SUCCESS AS YOUR OTHER CLIENTS GROW?
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#4 HOW DO YOU PLAN TO SUPPORT MY
SITE SUCCESS AS YOUR OTHER CLIENTS GROW?
CONSIDERATIONS:
1. How do I compare to this vendor’s other clients for this solution?
2. What percentage of this vendor’s revenue for this solution comes from its top few accounts?
3. After I sign a contract, will I get the same kind of service I got during the evaluation phase? Will I have the same level of access to the product team and other expert resources?
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#5
The benefits of SaaS based software are well documented. The core value proposition of any cloud based solution
typically includes economies of scale, infrastructure free solution benefits, and automatic upgrades.
Many companies don’t fully explore the tradeoffs that give multi-tenant SaaS those benefits. How ridged will your site
experience have to be to realize those benefits? Just because the “default” experience a vendor provides is
better than what you currently have doesn’t mean it will always be better than your competition.
Don’t sacrifice future flexibility. Unique and engaging
customer experiences are the only way to differentiate your self online.
HOW MUCH CONTROL WILL I HAVE
OVER MY BRAND EXPERIENCE?
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#5
CONSIDERATIONS
1. How much control to differentiate my storefront and shopping experience will I have?
2. How easy is it to extend my site? Do I need to learn a new technology?
3. Can I customize my experience without compromising my ability to take upgrades?
HOW MUCH CONTROL WILL I HAVE
OVER MY BRAND EXPERIENCE?
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#6
A successful vendor will have enough experience and industry insight to have a clearly articulated point of view on any given issue that affects the e-commerce industry. Make a list of the top industry trends or issues that are driving your business decisions, and ask your selected e-commerce vendor for their opinion. If they don’t have a point of view on the issues important to you, then their development plan probably isn’t taking your issues into consideration.
WHAT IS YOUR POINT OF VIEW ON THE
ISSUES IMPORTANT TO ME?
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
#6
CONSIDERATIONS
1. Does the solution provider have a proven track record of success they can draw from to help you think through certain issues?
2. Is e-commerce a point of strategic value for your long term success or just necessary channel?
3. What is the process this vendor uses to create a road map?
WHAT IS YOUR POINT OF VIEW ON THE
ISSUES IMPORTANT TO ME?
Copyright © 2015, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.
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