| | September 20168CIOReviewSubscription Services Make You Reconsider ERPBy Alvina Antar, CIO, ZuoraWhen you want mountaineering shoes, you won't settle for sneakers. They might still offer some protection for your feet but definitely not the kind you need high up on a mountaintop! Similarly, use products for what they are primarily built for and not extend their capabilities to areas outside of the its core competency.As your business transforms, so should your technology. You should take a hard look at your existing end-to-end architecture to determine if you are positioned to meet your business strategy. As your company pivots and transforms, so should you. You need to realize the capability gaps that prevent you from supporting your business' growth. When the existing quote to cash architecture isn't able to support new product (or service) launches, it's time to supplement your investments to align with your go-to-market strategy.High tech, Media & Telecom and IoT industries are shifting from traditional pay-per-product (or service) to subscription-based recurring revenue models. This shift isn't designed or supported by Oracle & SAP. With most ERP systems, the transaction ends with the sale - there's no relationship beyond the sale. Legacy ERP systems lack the ability to monetize ongoing customer relationships. Rigid ERPs are unable to manage complex use-cases like cross-sells, up-sells, timed promotions and constant price adjustments. The hard reality is that you need to design a new quote-to-cash architecture to join the `Subscription Economy'.You may receive pushback from your tenured architects and engineers who have built a career off of deep expertise in Oracle & SAP and business processes - none of which are IN MYOPINION
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