Navigating the rising costs of Software as a Service (SaaS), aka "Cloud" solutions is a significant challenge for small businesses and nonprofit organizations operating on very tight budgets. As these costs continue to climb, these organizations are under increasing pressure to make every dollar count. The financial strain of maintaining multiple subscriptions can be daunting, often leading to a constant struggle to balance necessary technology investments with limited financial resources. This scenario is pushing many to rethink how they can maximize the value of their current SaaS platforms, looking for innovative ways to leverage existing subscriptions more effectively. One approach gaining traction is the deeper exploration of additional applications within existing SaaS collaboration platforms. For example, organizations already subscribed to Microsoft 365 are discovering new uses for tools like Microsoft Loop, Planner, and Teams, which enhances collaboration without add

In the rapidly evolving digital landscape, nonprofit organizations and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) face significant challenges in managing the cost of technology, particularly when it comes to cloud software subscriptions. A vivid example of this challenge was recently seen in the experience of a client who was confronted with an 11% price increase for their donor management platform subscription, following a 13% increase the previous year.  These increases were justified by the technology vendor due to additional features that our client had no intention to use now or in the future, but were being forced to pay for as "part of the new package".  This situation underscores a common predicament: technology costs can escalate quickly, eating into the budgets of organizations that can least afford it.  Failing to plan and manage them from a value-focused perspective leaves organizations at the whims of vendors that are tasked to grow their revenues at the unfortunate

The vast majority of cloud technology pricing models are typically based on metrics like the number of users, the number of units consumed, or the different modules required etc.  Why?  Because these are easily quantifiable metrics that fall in line with the cloud technology vendors model to predict revenue over time (i.e. year after year).  This makes sense, but primarily for the provider.  If you (customer) are investing in a solution to achieve a certain set of predefined and, ideally, mutually agreed to key performance indicators (KPI's), the model of pricing proposed may not align with the reason you subscribed to the solution in the first place.   As the focus on value for money increases, alongside the functionality to generate reports that help articulate that value achieved over time, both customers and cloud technology providers need to reconsider how contracts and pricing should be structured to focus on measurable desired outcomes as opposed to just usage.  One would ho

I don’t know a cloud technology Customer Success Manager (aka CSM) and/or Account Executive (aka AE) that hasn’t been part of at least one difficult discussion about the cost of their clients cloud software renewal, and what options exist to bring it down.  It's almost inevitable that these conversations will take place as customers question increasing yearly costs in relation to their achieved (or underachieved) return on investment (aka ROI). In some cases, this can result in a leadership level escalation in which the you (the customer) wants to speak to someone higher up about the product, the pricing, and your overall relationship with your technology partner.  While these requests for escalation in and of themselves are 100% fair, customers need to be mindful of how they talk about that relationship component in terms of their interactions with their assigned CSM. Why?  Well, if the goal is to simply reduce the cost of software which is providing positive value/ROI, and the CS

In the ever-changing landscape of nonprofit organizations, the development of a comprehensive strategic plan is a cornerstone for success. These plans, often spanning anywhere from three to five years, lay the groundwork for achieving an organization's mission and goals.   However, despite the increase in "Digital Transformation" projects at nonprofits of all sizes, a common oversight in many strategic planning processes is the lack of depth needed to highlight technology's impact on the nonprofit's mission.  This is especially true of smaller nonprofit organizations that may not have the technical expertise needed to help facilitate these discussions.  As technology continues to shape and redefine how nonprofits operate, it is imperative to engage in meaningful conversations about the implications and benefits of technology on the strategic planning process. Nonprofit leaders often craft high-level strategies without diving into the specifics of how technology ca

It continues to amaze us that statistics showing the failure rate of IT implementation projects remains consistently high.  There have been numerous studies that show the failure rate for CRM, ERP and other digital transformation initiatives.  Simply googling “ IT Project Failure Rate ”, as I did, and you’ll see numbers from reputable sources that show the 2023 trend isn’t looking good.   While a few positions/reasons are given as to why this is the case (talent, executive alignment, culture etc), we’d wager that there’s one other glaring reason why implementation projects, even those that DO make it to go-live, are still considered failures.  It has to do with the disconnect between technical requirements in the Request for Proposal (RFP) vs the business case that set the project in motion in the first place.   Typically, especially with line-of-business (LOB) applications, a need is uncovered to solve a series of latent or very overt pain.  It’s in and around this time that the busin

It’s becoming increasingly important to ensure you have connected/spoken with the post-sales team prior to signing your new cloud software subscription.  Why? The answer is simple, especially for more complex enterprise systems.  The model of how cloud software is sold motivates sales reps to “Sell the Vision” (this is actually what it is referred to) or show the “Art of the Possible” (another common phrase). Ideally, by juuuuust about any means necessary in order to hit their sales target for the quarter. However, both of these phrases aren’t grounded in the reality of what you are about to sign on the dotted line for.  Unless a specific time frame can be put around when you will realize said vision or possibility, I’d suggest getting a good idea of what things will actually look like once that sales rep has moved onto the next deal. Who better to have that conversation with than a member of the Customer Success (CS) team (assuming the cloud software provider has set up this critical