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Home 5 B2B 5 Our CPQ Replatforming Decision – Part 3: The Choice

Our CPQ Replatforming Decision – Part 3: The Choice

by | Jul 23, 2019 | B2B, Blog, Customer Experience (CX)

Three coworkers sit at their desk on a computer. Two coworkers smile at each other.

This is the last post in a 3 part series: for the previous posts, please click here:

Part 1 Part 2

After careful deliberation, Glen and Kurt presented their findings to the group.

 

Salesforce CPQ
Pros
  • Tightest integration with SalesForce CRM
  • Familiar interface
  • Complete Lightning Integration
  • Known reporting system
  • Limited training needed to use reporting
Cons
  • Completely reliant on Salesforce – no flexibility to leave Salesforce CRM
  • Limits from Salesforce that are by extension limits in BMX are still there
  • Limits in product pricing remain (no API based pricing is possible)
  • Metrics may be improved, but expect limits will prevent as many options as we’d like
  • Appears to have very little improvement over the functionality of BMX configurators
  • Requires third-party app (Conga) to generate Proposals

 

Oracle CPQ
Pros
  • Works as an iFrame in SalesForce – can stand alone
  • Document Designer looks very intuitive for creating proposal templates
Cons
  • Configuration builder looks powerful but is not very user-friendly
  • Support is complicated by the large size of Oracle’s offerings

 

Verenia CPQ
Pros
  • Works as an iFrame in SalesForce so users will feel like they are in salesforce, but it can stand alone
  • Platform agnostic (can integrate with Salesforce or SAP for example)
  • Runs very quickly allowing you to use more hiding rules without causing delays for users
  • Price competitive
  • Allows us to have a lower minimum number of users.
  • Some very powerful configuration functionality include:

– can change field types at any time (most require building a new field)
– multi-dimensional rules (which makes rule creation much faster and avoids errors)
– can copy at any level (Tabs, Groups, Questions or Actions) which will make configuration building faster and more consistent

  • A smaller company focused on this product makes support simpler and less expensive
  • May have the ability to dynamically obtain API based public cloud pricing
Cons
  • Smaller company
  • Larger entities are less likely to support interfacing with them – may require custom coding
  • Everything is customized – all integrations must be custom coded except Netsuite

 

SAP CPQ
Pros
  • Works as an iFrame in SalesForce so users will feel like they are in SalesForce, but it can stand alone
  • Platform agnostic (can integrate with Salesforce or SAP for example)
  • Runs very quickly allowing you to use more hiding rules without causing delays for users
  • Proposal templates look strong and easily assembled by users checking off which sections they want to include
  • Supports Python for advanced programming in a common language
  • Ability to dynamically obtain API based public cloud pricing
Cons
  • Requires a higher number of minimum users (less of an impact as we grow)

 

 

Watch our webinar

This webinar covered:

  • The creation of their decision matrix for re-platforming to SAP CPQ
  • The evaluation of multiple platforms, including SAP CPQ, Salesforce CPQ, Verenia CPQ, and Oracle CPQ
  • Pivotree’s strategy for extending their re-platforming to include CRM with SAP Sales Cloud
  • Pivotree’s Strategic Operations’ strategy for re-platforming

Watch the recording now

 

In the end, SAP CQP was the strongest tool. From a feature point of view, it wins above all the other platforms, with Verenia in second place. However, this resulted in an interesting turn of events. We are now re-platforming from both BMX and Salesforce (our CRM)  to a completely SAP Sales Cloud setup, including CQP, CRM, CLM (Contract Lifecycle Management), and LMS (Learning Management System). We saw the strategic advantage of buying the entire stack in one and realized this will allow us to take full advantage of SAP’s utility. We will extend our customer service and sales teams’ abilities to better serve customers and prospects and improve our Customer-For-Life business philosophy.

I hope this information helps you in your search for your next sales platform. If you’re interested in talking to us about moving to SAP Sales Cloud, we’d be happy to sit with you and see if it makes sense for your particular business needs.

 

Want to talk to us about implementing SAP Sales Cloud?

 

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