With rapid adoption and migration to the Cloud, comes changes to how we run and manage our businesses.
In this post, we look at changes for Cloud Vendors, and Reseller Partners as it relates to Consulting and Implementation Engagements. The key comparative areas being:
**EDIT** As quite rightly pointed out by one particular reader, I should clarify that the points mentioned below refer more so to Multi-Tenant SaaS applications than general Cloud:
| Area | The Traditional On-Premise Model | What Changes with Cloud? |
|---|---|---|
| Fees | Projects are based on a one-time Time & Materials basis typically with unpredictable costs of implementation. | Projects can be delivered on a Fixed Fee basis – thereby significantly lowering and providing predictable services fees. Project Fees can also be billed on a recurring basis to cater for ongoing customer engagement and frequent innovation cycles. |
| Duration | Projects can last for years. | Cloud projects are measured in weeks, not months or years, providing a faster time-to-value. |
| Location | Onsite Consulting with associated additional expenses. | With no onsite hardware with installed software, an effective virtual approach can be taken to streamline project costs and bottlenecks. |
| Software Tailoring | Extensive application customisation and associated ongoing maintenance costs. | Focus on best practice, packaged Configuration versus customisation. |
| Requirements | Start with customer requirements and define a one-off solution. | Start with customer requirements and always leverage best practices for reusability |
| Resource Allocation | Large Implementation teams varied and unpredictable experience levels – all billing the client | Focused team with functional depth and experience |
| Utilisation | Consultants are incented to bill hours (and keep utilisation high) | Consultants focused on implementing efficiently with high quality and customer satisfaction, and multi-task on multiple-projects. |
The Cloud Subscription Renewal Model changes the game as far as Customer success is concerned. A customer centric approach is critical towards winning in the Cloud.
"68% of companies are more likely to have a marginal project or outright failure than a success due to the way they approach business requirements analysis"
This places further emphasis on ensuring best-in-class solution delivery in order to maximise Cloud customer retention.
Ultimately, the impact and knock-on effect of project implementation failure can be seen as one of the key reasons a company may choose not to renew their Cloud subscription.
Kunal Pandya is a Senior Director at SAP, responsible for the Global Cloud Solution Center, enabling and evangelising Cloud to SAP's Partner Ecosystem.
- SAP Managed Tags:
11 Comments
