When people are searching for Business Intelligence software to purchase, they are more concerned about the price rather than the product value. Actually, most buyers would often base their decisions to purchase a product only on the cost, which should not be the case for intelligent consumers. Although, there is no single way of determining the value of software, you would still want to purchase the best product you can get.
If you dig deeper into the “total cost of ownership” when procuring a BI Software, you will find that there are more costs involved than the upfront price which you will pay for. To determine the overall cost of the software, it’s important that you take into account all these costs; which includes the costs of software license, software training, subscription, customization, hardware, maintenance, support and other services.
The Three BI Software Pricing Models
In determining the overall cost of BI Software, vendors use different pricing models that consumers can choose from. These pricing models include:
- Perpetual License
This model needs an upfront payment from customers to own the software and other intellectual property licenses for a fixed period of time. Perpetual License is a common pricing model for Traditional ERP Systems or on premise applications.
The upfront payment includes fees for installation, perpetual license, customization, and integration to the company’s system. It also includes the first payment for small recurring costs for updates, upgrades, maintenance and patches. Customers have an option to purchase premium support services for an extra cost.
- Software-As-A-Service (S-A-A-S)
Software-As-A-Service Pricing Model is a subscription type of ownership for some apps and software, where payment is made on subscription or per use basis. Subscribers of the apps can opt to pay for the recurring monthly fees, which cost more compared to Perpetual License, for a specific period of time. There is smaller upfront cost with this pricing model because only the fees for customization and integration are included. Premium support services can also be received with extra payment.
Another difference of S-A-A-S from Perpetual License is the manner of accessing the BI Software. With this model, businesses can access the software over the internet via web browsers or applications instead of installing it in the company’s computer system.
- Commercial Open Source
Commercial open sources are free software which consumers can access without any upfront license fees. However, since open sources are not managed by any vendor, customers are on their own when it comes to maintenance, customization, upgrades, and troubleshooting. There is no customer support or service. Users are in-charge of their own usage of the free software to meet their specific needs.
Choose S-A-A-S or Subscription Model
Among the three pricing models, many people would think that the free source is the best choice, but it’s not. In reality, there are many things that you can’t do with free software. In end, you will just shift to another model, wasting all your time and effort.
On the other hand, either Perpetual License or S-A-A-S can be a good choice. Both pricing models can be acquired for a period of seven to ten years. Also, both of them can have varying costs depending on the type of software. However, since the emergence of S-A-A-S model, more and more customers have opted for it instead of Perpetual License. This is because the subscription basis is a better solution to the ever changing needs of businesses. The demand for per-use subscription is increasing while software licensing is steadily decreasing.
The S-A-A-S Model has much lesser cost from the customers’ end because of the small upfront and ongoing monthly subscription fees. It also enables the businesses to spread the expenses over a number of years instead of giving an upfront lump-sum payment. Consumers are more willing to do monthly installments for subscription, which is more manageable financially compared to shelling out large amount of money at one go.
Customers are happy to pay small monthly installments for subscribing to ongoing support and maintenance services from vendors, without having to make large upfront payment which might financially burden businesses.
Subscribe Now to Acumatica ERP BI Software
One of the best Business Intelligence Software providers you can find in the market, which uses Subscription or Software-As-A-Service pricing model, is Acumatica ERP System Solutions. When it comes to Acumatica ERP Software implementation and maintenance, there is no better company to partner with than Advanced Solutions & Consulting located at San Diego, California. ASC has been integrating and installing Acumatica to different companies for more than 15 years. Contact ASC now and let our Acumatica expertise help you get the best Business Intelligence Software for your company.