Ensure the metrics in your business case line up with what can be reported on in the SaaS/Cloud Application.
With so many different "Software as a Service" (aka SaaS or Cloud) vendors vying for your hard-earned dollar, it’s encouraging to see the ongoing shift in mentality from one of features/functions to value/ROI. The creation of the “Customer Success Manager” role at SaaS companies in the past decade or so is evidence of this. Think about the various productivity, marketing automation, contract management, identity management and hundreds of other SaaS solutions that are out there. More than likely in your search to automate key processes/functions, you’ve had to make a choice between one and "X" number of these providers.
Interestingly though, the focus on value realization doesn’t always equate to what can actually be reported on within the application. This is especially important when it comes to quantifying your ROI and other key metrics that influence the price you paid for the solution in the first place. Great that you were shown a customer success story during the sales cycle that said you would generate 30% more sales leads with the implementation of "SaaSMarketingAppX", but what happens after the deal is closed and the implementation is finished? As a customer, if you don’t have a quick/easy way to draw a straight line from the original business case to the promises made at the time of sale, you (and the SaaS vendor at renewal time) have a problem. While SaaS vendors need to be 100% transparent in what their solution can functionally do, they also need to be 100% transparent on how those functions (including reporting) relate to your business case metrics. Misalignment of the vision (pre-sale) and reality (post-sale) leave a bitter taste in the mouth of customers that went in hoping for one outcome only to realize that what is currently available doesn’t quite match up with what they need/sought to measure.
My advice; when building a business case and going through the RFP process, make sure that you clearly state what your success metrics and KPI’s are, then have the vendor show you how to create and/or run the required reports that will give you what you need in terms of measurement (i.e. sales, leads, SLA’s, usage etc.). If there's not a perfectly straight line, talk candidly/openly about what will need to be done on both sides to achieve your desired metrics (i.e. custom report development, additional system integrations, professional services/consulting etc.). Agree on and document these KPI’s and how they will be tracked before you buy. This puts the onus on both you, the customer, and the SaaS service provider to drive a successful outcome. It also makes renewal conversations very clear and meaningful as they can always be tied back to value realization and not just value expectation.
