We often hear from our customers that they evaluated various options before settling for CloudCockpit (as any business should!). This process can be strenuous for you and your business, and because of that CSPs struggle to settle on a Portal.
So, how do you choose which provisioning portal you should take on for your CSP business? Here are a few questions you should ask yourself before you start looking.
Billing is an important aspect of providing excellent customer support. In addition, a well-functioning billing system aids in the smooth operation of your business. Let us peek at what to look for in a Microsoft CSP billing provider.
For tech companies, subscriptions are the most popular pricing model. Subscriptions may be billed based on use, at a fixed rate, or per account. Any subscription model has advantages and disadvantages, but at the end of the day you should be able to automatically manage your subscriptions through a billing platform.
Automation can save you time and money by streamlining repetitive tasks (as covered in our previous blog post). Choose a solution that dynamically allows you to invoice your customers according to your pricing formula, rather than manually calculating margins and prices to invoice your customers individually by the end of each month. Not only does the best approach charge recurring paying clients, but it can also accommodate one-time billing.
Make sure to choose a platform that offers a variety of billing choices, including subscriptions, annual bills, pay-per-use, one-time payments, and more. It is important to ensure that your customers have all the possible varieties when it comes to billing.
Bundles and offers are also something that should be doable in a billing platform, which is a must have for many CSP businesses. Ensure that the platform can adapt and modify the various offers you want to create.
Regardless of where you operate, the platform should provide all relevant information in order to comply with local law regulations (such as taxes).
Having a good onboarding process is one of the most critical aspects of implementing a digital platform and is one of the most important aspects of providing excellent customer service.
Integration assistance is needed for a successful onboarding operation. With CloudCockpit for example, you have an integration architecture that allows you to seamlessly add your internal infrastructure (such as your ERP or CRM software) to your cloud operations.
If you are thinking of switching to a management platform, make sure it can handle the billing situations you will require. You can handle various pricing structures (such as one-time, perpetual, and pay-per-use fees and recurring) with CloudCockpit.
When an order is sent, the network immediately provisions the subscriptions, becoming ready to use with the click of one button, regardless of the type of billing situation you opt for. This makes managing your business a lot easier.
At the end of the day, the most important question you should be asking is: Will this platform help me grow my business? That is why you are looking at CSP billing platforms in the first place!
With a CSP platform you can easily (or should) order products and allocate them to the various clients, all with only a few clicks. Furthermore, the platform should be able to provide data which will help with decision making and other relevant business decisions.
So, if you’re still wondering why or how to decide, then let us help you out. Reach out to CloudCockpit and schedule a demo!