Choosing Subscription Technology

This week we focused on everyone’s favorite thing to do in a subscription, membership or recurring-revenue business: choosing technology.

Not.

Choosing or replacing technology is one of the biggest pain points I hear from subscription operators. No one wants to choose poorly. No one wants to discover after the decision is made that the platform works differently than they thought, an important capability sits somewhere else, or changing direction is going to be harder than expected.

The stakes can be high, and the process can be stressful.

So this week, we went deep on helping members make better-informed technology decisions.

START WITH TECHNOLOGY DUE DILIGENCE

• Why Vendor History Matters When Choosing Subscription Technology

Subscription technology vendors can show you long lists of capabilities: recurring billing, usage pricing, payments, invoicing, subscription management, retention, analytics and more.

Those capabilities may all be real. But the list leaves out an important question:

What was this product originally built to do, how has that shaped the way the platform developed, and what does that tell you about the businesses and operating needs it may fit best today?

That belongs in your technology due diligence.

Most software starts by solving a particular problem for a particular kind of business. That starting point can shape how the product organizes information, the language it uses, the capabilities it develops and the situations it learned to handle first.

Successful vendors evolve. They add capabilities, enter new markets and acquire companies. Over time, competing products can start to look remarkably similar on a feature checklist.

That is when history gets useful.

Understanding where a product started, how it developed, what was added later, what came through acquisition and how the company itself has changed can give you a clearer picture of the platform you are evaluating today.

THEN WE PUT THAT THINKING TO WORK

We analyzed nine subscription management and monetization platforms used by subscription, membership and recurring-revenue businesses.

Our Subscription Technology Vendor Briefs are business-focused analyses for executives and operators who need to understand the technology without wading through technical jargon or vendor marketing language.

We do not rank vendors or tell you what to buy. We help you understand what you may actually be buying.

What the Vendor Briefs help you understand

• Where the platform came from: what it was originally built to do, who it was built for, and how acquisitions, ownership changes and expansion shaped what it is today.
• Who it appears built to serve: the business models, company sizes and operating complexity the platform appears designed to handle.
• What it actually does and where it fits: which parts of the subscription operation it handles, what sits elsewhere, what it needs to work with and where important handoffs occur.
• What implementation may involve: data, payment credentials, integrations, internal workflows and issues to consider if you later need to move away.
• What may affect cost: implementation, usage, transactions, modules, services, support and other costs beyond the software price.
• What to ask next: if our research could not answer an important question we think business operators should understand, we say so. We also include questions to explore with the vendor based on your own business, technology stack and requirements.

The deeper we go, the more obvious it becomes that two companies using the same words, such as “subscription management” or “billing,” may be solving very different operating problems. That matters before you build a shortlist, write requirements or sit through a demo.

The goal is to help you understand those differences well enough to make a better decision for your business.

NINE VENDOR BRIEFS ARE NOW AVAILABLE

The first nine Subscription Technology Vendor Briefs are now available to members:

• Aria Systems: Subscription Technology Vendor Brief

• BillingPlatform: Subscription Technology Vendor Brief

• Chargebee: Subscription Technology Vendor Brief

• Gotransverse: Subscription Technology Vendor Brief

• Maxio: Subscription Technology Vendor Brief

• Piano: Subscription Technology Vendor Brief

• Recurly: Subscription Technology Vendor Brief

• Stripe Billing: Subscription Technology Vendor Brief

• Zuora: Subscription Technology Vendor Brief

These nine are the starting point. We will continue adding Vendor Briefs across the subscription technology market and updating the existing research as companies, products, ownership, capabilities and operating models change.

The aim is to build a growing body of independent, business-focused research you can use when you are evaluating, selecting or changing subscription technology.

Take a look at what is useful to you, and as always, let me know what would help you next.

Kathy

Kathy Greenler Sexton
CEO & Publisher
Subscription Insider®