Toolmaker, hunter/butcher, storyteller, artist…these activities are some of the world’s oldest professions. And if we had to guess, billing (regardless of how rudimentary) wasn’t far behind. Fast forward to present day and billing touches nearly every aspect of our lives. Virtually everyone pays and/or generates bills, however, what has changed since ancient civilizations are the complexities surrounding billing. The digital disruption in every industry is causing companies to search for enterprise billing solutions at an accelerated pace.
The Effects of Digital Disruption on Enterprise Billing Solutions
Digital disruption has forever changed the face of billing, as well as the processes and technologies behind it. For instance, peer-to-peer commerce like Airbnb or ride-share companies like Uber have both caused disruption in their respective industries, as well as how billing and monetization takes place. In the case of Uber, they use a payment platform that is based on the idea of double-entry bookkeeping. When you dig a bit deeper, you discover that the payment platform collects microservices organized in a stream-processing architecture.
Digital disruption continues to pave the way for new and innovative monetization strategies; however, they are not without challenges. For example, let’s say a chip provider wants to monetize their offering based on chip processes. If a chip can support 15 processes, theoretically, they can initially enable 5 of the processes and when more processes are needed, charge customers for each additional process. In this example, not only does the chip provider need to determine the best way to technically accomplish their goal but how their enterprise billing solutions will handle this new and more complex billing model.
Enterprise Billing Solutions Versus Enterprise Billing Platforms: What’s the Difference?
As an increasing number of enterprises search for additional monetization agility, the gap between enterprise billing solutions and enterprise billing platforms is widening. This is especially true for Saas companies trying to capitalize on monetization trends. The terms enterprise billing solutions and enterprise billing platforms are typically used interchangeably, but there are differences. And they’re becoming more pronounced as the new digital technologies, services, capabilities, and business models that define digital disruption continue to change the value of an enterprise’s products and services.
Billing software, at its most basic description, allows you to track billable products and services, generate and send invoices, and receive payments. Basic enterprise billing solutions focus on the billing aspect of the order-to-cash (O2C) process and automates the generation and sending of invoices, collecting payments, and tracking of expenses. Additionally, some billing systems – depending on their complexity – handle approvals and provisioning, as well as rating, dunning, and collections.
An enterprise billing platform takes billing automation to the next level. It not only supports core billing functions like configure-price-quote (QPC), mediation, rating, billing, invoicing, collections, and revenue recognition, but also functions that are outside of core billing processes like inventory management, credit checks, and more.
Yes, digital disruption can be challenging, and it is spurring enterprises to incorporate new technologies and business models into existing products and services. For many, that means revisiting their monetization strategies, and through trial and error finding ones that align value with price, meet intensifying customer expectations, and deliver long-term profitability.
Create Profitable Monetization Strategies with the Right Enterprise Billing Platform
Billing is complex. Determining how your products and services are measured isn’t easy! While you may not choose the right monetization strategy the first time (or even the second or third time), a flexible enterprise billing platform provides the agility needed to experiment with pricing models quickly and efficiently.
From the very beginning, BillingPlatform’s goal was not to solve a specific billing problem but to create a solution that would enable enterprises to overcome any monetization challenge. With a holistic view, BillingPlatform developed the foundational architecture and technology that enables enterprises to look at monetization from a variety of viewpoints. Our advanced, enterprise-grade, all-in-one billing platform provides everything you need to adapt to digital disruption changes and make monetization strategy decisions for a competitive edge.
Unlike other billing platforms, we easily adapt to a limitless variety of business models, fulfill 100% of your business requirements, provide a highly configurable and agile platform, and allow you to easily extend the platform. If you’re ready to have full quote-to-cash lifecycle support of the billing and monetization process no matter how your business grows, contact us today to learn more.
