The topic of paying per user for a billing or management platforms comes up every so often.\u00a0 I was able to sit down and talk with several vendors at WISPAPALOOZA this year about the value of their customers paying a per-user fee.<\/p>\n
The most prevalent thought is about innovation and new features.\u00a0 SaaS allows the billing vendor to invest development and testing time in rolling out new features to support new equipment, and other software.\u00a0 LTE platforms are the hot thing in billing integration. New additions to software\u00a0take people power and hours of testing and tweaking. Without monthly recurring revenue to drive such things billing vendors would have to develop this and then charge to the early adopters as an add-on.\u00a0 This can be a\u00a0double-edged sword. The early adopters have to pay a premium in order to get a partial solution because the vendor has to really prioritize how their development resources are used. The Vendor is always chasing the next big thing, which means other additions or fixes tend to get pushed back. They have to finish add-ons\u00a0they think more folks will want to buy first.<\/p>\n
The next thing is plain old hosting. Hosting a software application, whether in the cloud or on your own hardware costs money.\u00a0 Co-location, software patches on the OS, hardware lifecycles, etc.\u00a0 This cuts down on the end-user maintenance side of the hardware but pushes it back to the vendor. The peace of mind of knowing the thing that collects your money is running is backed up, and is available as part of the monthly fee you pay.<\/p>\n
SaaS also allows for quicker releases of bugs and new features.\u00a0 Vendors have more resources dedicated to development and changes. This allows for new add-ons to become available quicker.\u00a0 Take the traditional model where you get bug fixes, but major feature add-ons are either a full point upgrade or major version upgrade. This usually costs money and is a slower process.\u00a0 Not only does the vendor have to spend resources advertising, but they have to deal with support and other issues. With billing vendors who charge a monthly\u00a0fee fixes from companies such as Paypal or Authorize.net are almost always rolled out very quickly at no additional charge to the end user ISP.<\/p>\n
Some companies such as Basecamp, which is not a billing platform, have taken a hybrid approach\u00a0to SaaS. Every major revision that comes out is an upgrade. You can choose to upgrade or stay where you are and pay the same amount.\u00a0 This can leave customers behind but still allows them to use what they are paying for.\u00a0 They just don’t get new features or bug fixes.<\/p>\n
So the next time you are figuring out why you should pay for a billing platform on a monthly, customer, or subscription basis take all of this into account.<\/p>\n
For those looking for xISP\u00a0billing, and mainly WISP billing, here is a partial list:<\/p>\n
www.azotel.com<\/a> If you have more please add them in the comments.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The topic of paying per user for a billing or management platforms comes up every so often.\u00a0 I was able to sit down and talk with several vendors at WISPAPALOOZA this year about the value of their customers paying a per-user fee. The most prevalent thought is about innovation and new features.\u00a0 SaaS allows the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[1],"tags":[12,4,495,6,494,493,496,492,5],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6VLMf-up","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6,"url":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/xisp-billing-software\/","url_meta":{"origin":1885,"position":0},"title":"xISP billing software","author":"j2sw","date":"February 21, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Azotel\u00a0http:\/\/www.azotel.com\/ Billmax\u00a0http:\/\/www.billmax.com\/ Freeside http:\/\/www.freeside.biz\/freeside\/ Platypus\u00a0http:\/\/www.ispbilling.com\/ PowerCode\u00a0http:\/\/www.powercode.com\/ Wispmon\u00a0http:\/\/www.wispmon.com\/","rel":"","context":"In "xISP"","block_context":{"text":"xISP","link":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/xisp\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2854,"url":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/mtin-flash-briefing-febray-19-2019-900-mhz-antennas\/","url_meta":{"origin":1885,"position":1},"title":"MTIN Flash Briefing Febray 19, 2019. 900 Mhz Antennas","author":"j2sw","date":"February 15, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"In this Briefing: KP Performance announces a new 900 mhz\u00a0antenna https:\/\/www.kpperformance.com\/900mhz-10dbi-dual-pol-45-slant-omni-antenna-kp-900-dpoma-45 Looking for billing help? I have a colleague who is exploring getting back into doing Billing work for ISPs.\u00a0 If you need help let's have a conversation. MidWest-IX will be exhibiting at WispAmerica 2019.","rel":"","context":"In "podcast"","block_context":{"text":"podcast","link":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/podcast\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/session-clipart-CLIPART_OF_18552_SM_2.jpg?fit=640%2C480&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2529,"url":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wispapalooza-2018-ponderings-and-musings\/","url_meta":{"origin":1885,"position":2},"title":"WISPAPALOOZA 2018 ponderings and musings","author":"j2sw","date":"October 15, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Another WISPAPALOOZA has come and gone to Las Vegas.\u00a0 If you are not familiar with WISPAPALOOZA it is one of the two major trade shows Wispa\u00a0puts on each year.\u00a0 The Las Vegas show is the larger of the two. If you are a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP), doing outdoor\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "WISPA"","block_context":{"text":"WISPA","link":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/wispa\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_0253.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_0253.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_0253.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/img_0253.jpg?fit=1200%2C900&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":2300,"url":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/splynx-2-1-released\/","url_meta":{"origin":1885,"position":3},"title":"Splynx 2.1 released","author":"j2sw","date":"June 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"https:\/\/splynx.com\/changelog\/ \u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "WISPA"","block_context":{"text":"WISPA","link":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/wispa\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2123,"url":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/form-477-and-mapping\/","url_meta":{"origin":1885,"position":4},"title":"Form 477 and Mapping","author":"j2sw","date":"March 3, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Recently the FCC has put out a press release about updating the national broadband map. If you are a WISP and wondering why you aren't on there ask\u00a0your self this question: Have you been filing your form 477? If not, then that is why.\u00a0 If you are an ISP you\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "WISP"","block_context":{"text":"WISP","link":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/wisp\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/Screen-Shot-2018-03-03-at-6.25.56-PM-3.png?fit=677%2C452&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":2173,"url":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/mtin-announces-updated-indianapolis-bandwidth-pricing\/","url_meta":{"origin":1885,"position":5},"title":"MTIN announces updated Indianapolis bandwidth pricing","author":"j2sw","date":"March 28, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"MTIN\u00a0would like to announce updated bandwidth pricing for connectivity at the following locations in Indianapolis Indiana 733 West Henry Street 401 North Shadeland 701 West Henry * 731 West Henry* Single Carrier Bandwidth as low as $.17 per meg Blended BGP Multi-carrier\u00a0blend + CDNS + IX routes As low as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "News"","block_context":{"text":"News","link":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/category\/news-2\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/03\/bandwidth-600x400.jpg?fit=600%2C400&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1885"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1892,"href":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1885\/revisions\/1892"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1885"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1885"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.mtin.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1885"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nwww.visp.net<\/a>
\nwww.powercode.com<\/a>
\nwww.sonar.software<\/a>
\nwww.splynx.com
\n<\/a>www.ispbilling.com (Platypus)<\/a>
\nwww.freeside.biz<\/a>
\nwww.quickbooks.com<\/a><\/p>\n