Independent analysis of subscription management software rates technology providers across seven product and customer experience evaluation categories.

BEND, OR, April 18, 2023 /24-7PressRelease/ — Ventana Research today released its 2023 Subscription Management Value Index, a quantified, research-based index evaluating technology providers and products. The Value Index assesses 21 vendors’ products using the Ventana Research methodology and blueprint, evaluating software in seven key categories that are weighted to reflect buyers’ needs based on our expertise and research. Our purpose in conducting this research was to assess the maturity of software vendors and products and their value for enterprise use in subscription management. This Value Index report evaluates the following vendors that offer products that address key elements of subscription management as we define it: Aria Systems, BillingPlatform, Chargebee, CloudSense, Conga, FastSpring, FinancialForce, Gotransverse, LogiSense, Maxio, NetSuite, OneBill, Oracle, Ordway, Vindicia, Recurly, RecVue, Salesforce, SAP, Zoho, and Zuora.

The era of subscriptions has transformed the way businesses operate and consumers engage with services across every industry. Organizations are increasingly adopting a digital approach to selling goods and services, wherein customers have the option to purchase through periodic subscription pricing or based on consumption, rather than traditional one-time ownership. Add to this an increasing desire for customers to purchase when, how, and where they want, whether via digital commerce, self-service portals, and by voice and text, and the landscape looks very different from even just five years ago. 

Subscriptions themselves are not new. Newspapers and magazines were early in this process many decades ago, while Netflix started mailing DVDs for a flat monthly fee. Now, subscriptions are regularly used to pay for any number of products or services over a duration established by the provider. Digital products and services such as software as a service (SaaS) and mobile applications were at the forefront of the adoption of subscription pricing. HBO, Netflix, Spotify, and iTunes are examples of subscriptions in the business-to-consumer (B2C) market. 

This market report on the Subscription Management Value Index is the distillation of over a year of market and product research efforts by Ventana Research. It is an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings will address buyers’ requirements for subscription management software. The index is structured to replicate an RFI/RFP process by incorporating all criteria needed to evaluate, select, utilize, and maintain technology and relationships with vendors.

“More and more organizations are looking to complement their product ranges with new, subscription and usage-based products and services,” says Stephen Hurrell, VP & Research Director of the Office of Revenue at Ventana Research. “Rather than rip and replace existing systems, they are looking for ways to leverage their existing ERP and CRM systems with applications that enable them to add and manage new sources of revenue without interrupting or complicating the customer experience. The Subscription Management Value Index is the most comprehensive report of such application vendors.”

The Value Index for subscription management in 2023 finds BillingPlatform first on the list with Oracle in second place and FinancialForce in third. Companies that place in the top three in any category earn the designation Value Index Leader. Oracle and BillingPlatform have done so in five of the seven categories; Conga in four, FinancialForce in three, Salesforce in two, and SAP and Zuora in one category.

The Value Index, through the thorough analysis of product and customer experience, has categorized vendors into four classifications: Exemplary, Innovative, Assurance, and Merit. This Value Index representation classifies vendors’ weighted performance in Product Experience and Customer Experience. The vendors awarded Exemplary are BillingPlatform, Conga, FinancialForce, Gotransverse, Oracle, Salesforce, SAP, Zoho, and Zuora. The vendors awarded Innovative are Aria Systems and Chargebee. The vendor awarded Assurance is Recurly. The vendors awarded Merit are CloudSense, FastSpring, LogiSense, Maxio, NetSuite, OneBill, Ordway, RecVue, and Vindicia.

“The opportunity for organizations to monetize physical products and services through subscriptions and to ensure the best possible subscriber experiences of buyers to consumers and customers is a critical element for business leaders to prioritize improvement and investments,” said Mark Smith, CEO and Chief Research Officer at Ventana Research. “The Subscription Management Value Index provides a guide for organizations to assess existing vendors and evaluate new vendors using the knowledge of our thorough analysis and RFI-based methodology.”

Ventana Research designed the Value Index to provide a balanced perspective of vendors and products rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. This approach not only reduces cost and time but also minimizes the risk of making poor decisions for the business. Using the Value Index will enable your organization to use subscription management to achieve the level of organizational efficiency and effectiveness needed for engaging digital experiences to meet your buyer, consumer, customer, and partner needs.

The Subscription Management Value Index is neither sponsored nor influenced by technology vendors and is conducted solely in pursuit of Ventana Research’s mission to provide value to businesses and IT through advisory services, benchmark assessments, and workshops. Ventana Research’s goal is to help guide organizations to optimal efficiency in the use of technology investments for business and IT. To learn more and to read the market report of the 2023 Subscription Management Value Index, please click here.

About Ventana Research

Ventana Research is the most authoritative and respected market research and technology advisory services firm. We provide insight and expert guidance on mainstream and disruptive technologies through a unique set of research-based offerings including benchmark research and technology evaluation assessments, education workshops, and our research and advisory services, Ventana On-Demand. Our unparalleled understanding of the role of technology in optimizing business processes and performance and our best practices guidance are rooted in our rigorous research-based benchmarking of people, processes, information, and technology across business and IT functions in every industry. This benchmark research, plus our market coverage and in-depth knowledge of hundreds of technology providers, means we can deliver education and expertise to our clients to increase the value they derive from technology investments while reducing time, cost, and risk.

Ventana Research provides the most comprehensive analyst and market coverage in the industry; business and IT professionals worldwide are members of our community and benefit from Ventana Research’s insights, as do highly regarded media and association partners around the globe. Our views and analyses are distributed daily through blogs and social media channels including Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn. To learn how Ventana Research advances the maturity of organizations’ use of information and technology through benchmark research, education, and advisory services, visit www.ventanaresearch.com.

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