The flexible payment plans afforded to us by cloud software are tangible and immediate. They empower many SMB companies to get network security-protecting, enterprise-level software that was previously out-of-reach due to prohibitively expensive upfront costs and on-going service level agreements. This has all changed however with the (relatively) new flexibility of cloud software payment plans.
When it comes to ‘renting’ your software via payment plans you have a wide variety of options, suited to your company’s cash injection schedules. Here are a few examples of the flexibility now available—while ensuring your overall network security:
Payment Spreading
Payment plans now offer you the ability to pay monthly, quarterly, or semi-annually. This offers SMB companies the ability to time their IT software spend with their revenue model. If you prefer to pay monthly to help amortize the costs and avoid expensive upfront expenditures, perfect. If your company tends to have larger sums of cash available quarterly, done.
Deferred Payment Structures
In order to entice new clients over to their software, many cloud-service providers are offering deferred initial payments for up to six months from the install date. This can help you deploy much-needed software immediately, even if you won’t have a cash injection for a few months.
Ramping Payments
Paying a large amount for software that you haven’t begun seeing ROI on can be difficult. This is where ramping payment plans come in. By investing a small amount upfront and then ramping up your payments as you begin seeing ROI on the software, you can pay for the software with returns.
The Benefits of Flexible Payment Plans
In addition to being able to structure your payment plans in any of the above structures, there are a number of benefits to leveraging these types of payment plans:
- Flexibility—customized payment plans give you the flexibility to deploy badly-needed software on the payment plan that works for you.
- User licenses—instead of licensing devices you can now license users, which helps the 43% of SMB employees who work at more than one location or on more than one device.
- Technical support—there is often exceptional customer support included in flexible payment plan programs.
- Automatic updates—when software is hosted in the cloud it doesn’t need to be updated or patched, easing a major pain point for many IT departments.
- Easier IT admin—by hosting the software on the provider’s server it reduces your need for backups and disaster recovery… offering more simplified IT management.
- Convenience—there’s no need to apply for loans or other credit, these service agreements are simple contracts, and amendments can be made on an as-needed basis.
- Security—with no patches, upgrades or on-site hosting you can decrease your chances of being victim of a cyber attack or network security data breach.
- Resource conservation—with service agreements there’s no need for loans or credit, so you don’t usurp your company’s credit. This resource conservation can help you fund other projects alongside a software rollout.
For more information on flexible payment plans for cloud software, like Microsoft’s Office 365, contact us today. We can help you get the business-intelligence software you need to out-compete your competition—at a price structure that works for you.
