When looking to make a switch from a legacy on-premise to cloud-based CCM solutions, Smart Communications stresses the importance of asking certain questions before signing a new vendor contract.
Smart Communications, which helps companies engage in meaningful customer conversations, highlighted key questions to ask a CCM vendor when planning to migrate to help companies streamline the planning process and ensure a justifiable investment.
According to Brad McGeown, vice president of Strategy, Financial Services at Smart Communications, making the most out of every customers interaction is an essential part of any enterprise and having the right SaaS Customer Communications Management (CCM) software in place makes a big difference to organisations across all industries.
One key question to ask, McGeown said, is to ask a CCM vendor if subscription-based is more expensive than licensed.
With a license, you pay a large purchase fee upfront to buy the software, then usually pay perpetual maintenance fees that are a percentage of the purchase price. With a subscription, the upfront software license cost is typically lower, and then annual license fees are typically broken out evenly across the life of the subscription agreement.
However, McGeown said that license also gives you the benefit of software upgrades, without having to spend money on new licenses and IT resources to implement the changes, so total costs may end up lower.
It is also important to ask if maintenance costs have to be paid. McGeown said that answer to this is no. All hardware and software purchases and maintenance of the software are part of the subscription fee. The software provider/vendor maintains the environment and keeps it patched to the latest versions and standards in alignment with terms of purchase. This minimizes IT involvement.
McGeown said that ultimately, the vendor chosen when switching from legacy to cloud CCM software should have rigorous standards for security and data privacy. Find the full list of questions to ask here.
Earlier this year, Smart Communications named Anthony Bennett as its new chief information officer.
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