Lately, we've frequently been asked our opinion on the solution options that former LucidEra customers have, since we're one of the vendors who offer an alternative.
As believers in the value of SaaS BI, and also believers in the value that LucidEra was providing its customers, we'd like to offer some of our thoughts about how to approach finding a new solution that fits your unique needs. The vendors are fairly diverse and have different strengths and weaknesses. Here are the things that we would think about if we were considering our options:
1.
Salesforce.com AppExchange certified partners vs. non-certified? LucidEra was an AppExchange certified solution with very positive rankings (a strong testament to their product, marketing, sales, and support teams). What this means is that Salesforce.com had reviewed their solution, checked that it indeed provided the general services that it claimed, and gave it a throrough security review.
You can check very quickly if a solution is AppExchange certified.
Just click here and type the vendor name into the "Find Apps" search box. If the vendor has a posting, they're certified.
2. Ability to handle multiple data sources vs. Salesforce.com data only. Some vendors can connect your Salesforce data with information from other systems, like finance, operations, or marketing. This can be helpful, since it can provide you with a broader range of analysis that looks across your business. Other vendors have very specific applications that are geared only towards Salesforce.com data. The latter might be appropriate if you're confident that you only want Salesforce.com-specific analysis today and in the foreseeable future.
One note of caution - you might need multiple data sources and not quite realize it. For example, did you want to see pipeline lead to close with actual revenue generated? Then you're connecting sales automation data with finance data. So give this point careful consideration as you consider what reporting you really want to see.
3. Ability to handle custom objects in Salesforce - need it or not? Many companies have gone beyond standard Salesforce CRM functionality and have built custom areas within Salesforce to better serve their particular business. These are known as "custom objects." If you have custom objects, it is very likely that you want some analysis and reporting on them. If so, be sure that the vendors that you are considering can do this.
4. How much power and flexibility do you need? Some vendors are providing reporting applications - targeted solutions that can quickly provide a range of standard reports, mostly on standard information, like pipeline analysis. Others, like Birst, are providing that reporting plus the ability to create automatically updated dashboards, create custom reports on the fly (known as ad hoc reporting), and the ability to "drill into" reports and see greater underlying detail (known as data exploration). A vendor with this kind of capability is regarded as a general BI solution, not just an application.
Given the current economic climate, you probably have some concerns regarding vendor viability, as well. There are a few things you can ask about here, as well, such as:
1. What's your financial strength? Birst, for example, raised over $10mm in financing last fall and has no need to raise additional financing for the next few years, if ever.
2. How solid is your customer base? Birst has a diverse, solid customer base, including enterprise customers with large deployments, which ensures that the company has a strong revenue base and can continue to serve your needs in the future.
3. What is your renewal rate? SaaS BI companies are paid on subscription, which renew monthly or annually. So SaaS BI companies are generally invested in the long-term satisfaction of their customers. The higher the renewal rate, the more satisfied their customers are.
One thing that might surprise you about our criteria is that we don't consider cost of the solution to be a big differentiating factor. Total Cost of Ownership is certainly something to keep in mind and should be on the general consideration list. But one of the best things about SaaS BI is that it is generally significantly more affordable than traditional on-premise BI solutions. Going with *any* SaaS BI vendor is likely going to be a big TCO win on this front, so it doesn't make sense to simply evaluate on price. Finding a solution that meets your needs is most important.
If you're looking for more opinions on this topic, Aberdeen recently came out with a
Market Alert discussing LucidEra and future options.
