Times have changed and current customer expectations established by other industries are pushing water utilities to re-evaluate their customers’ experience. Providing a one-stop shop for customers to view and track water consumption, and take additional self-service actions is quickly becoming table stakes for water utilities of all sizes. Bluefield Research predicts a 17.1% compound annual growth rate for investment in customer engagement software platforms in the coming years. As utilities consider deploying said solution, a myriad of team members from varying departments will likely want specific features or functionalities included with the project. Before long, the list of requirements can begin to feel overwhelmingly long and incredibly unique to the utility’s particular needs.
A natural reaction for some may be to assume their needs are so unique that custom solution must be developed in-house in order to adequately meet their needs. While utilities may have the resources, skills, and capacity available to internally build a solution, there is much more to consider before venturing down the long path of development. We have identified 5 key factors to consider when evaluating whether to out-source a software-as-a-service platform or to build an application in-house.
The platforms currently available in the marketplace should be extensively evaluated to fully comprehend how each option maps to the needs of the utility. A utility should list out their desired functionality and determine whether a platform misses, meets, or exceeds each item. By completing this mapping exercise the utility will likely find that they are able to get close to 100% of what they are looking for. Nevertheless, a singular utility will not be able to have complete control over the platform’s future product roadmap. However this shouldn’t discourage any utility since the best software providers will elicit regular feedback and input from their user-base in order to guide development.
When it comes to software-as-a-service (SaaS), the software provider takes on all burdens associated with building and maintaining the solution both financially and non-financially. In turn, the utility is charged a subscription fee for ongoing access to the solution. These costs are generally distributed across a large customer base and thus a SaaS provider is often able to charge a lower amount than would be required to support a one-off application.
As mentioned above, SaaS vendors handle all maintenance of their software platforms behind the scenes and effectively bundle this cost into the subscription cost passed along to the utility. Vendors recruit, train, and maintain top-notch teams specifically skilled in implementing, maintaining, and continually upgrading software. And, their experience is unmatched. A SaaS company takes on these responsibilities not just one-off but hundreds of times for the many utilities in their customer base. With that experience comes extensive best practices and efficiencies.
To frame the evaluation around the time to value, utilities need to ponder the goals they want to reach with the solution. A utility should then think of how long it will be before they are able to even begin making any headway towards these goals. Now, a SaaS platform isn’t necessarily turn key or live with the simple flip of a switch once a contract has been signed. But, an experienced vendor will have a clear and structured path to launch. Rapid solution deployment is critical to demonstrating value to VertexOne’s utility partners. As such, we have designed a comprehensive implementation process that allows our utilities to see the benefits of our platform as quickly as possible.
Choosing a SaaS platform not only gives a utility access to the software and the associated customer support, it also welcomes them to a community of other utilities across the country. A unique benefit of selecting VertexOne as a provider is joining a network of over 150 utilities on our platform. While each utility is unique and special in their own way, many share common challenges and this can become a great source of insights for others in the community. To connect our community, VertexOne hosts periodic Regional User Forums for groups of current customers in a geographic region to gather in person. These forums provide a wonderful opportunity for customers to learn from and connect with neighbors, discuss local issues, and share best practices and practical advice for optimizing the VertexOne WaterSmart platform.
“As I have transitioned to working remotely, I’m finding that the VertexOne WaterSmart Platform is imperative to my capability to do my job. I don’t have easy access to other utility systems at this time. I feel so very fortunate!” Karn Boyce, Conservation Manager at Oro Valley, AZ
The community also expands the software’s functionality far beyond what may have been on the utility’s initial wish-list. The collective lessons and experience of all VertexOne Utility Partners go toward improving the platform continuously. And, the more data we have, the more we can iterate on our platform. Our predictive disaggregation models and targeted messaging are able to be refined, and a utility will be able to continuously delight their customers.
The decision can be fairly complex; however, these five factors should assist utilities in effectively evaluating whether building an in-house solution or investing in a well-established software-as-a-service platform is the right choice for them. At VertexOne, our number one priority is investing time, resources, and passion into building and maintaining a customer engagement and data analytics platform exclusively focused on meeting the needs of water utilities. After ten years in business, we have learned a number of important lessons along the way, uniquely positioning us to continually innovate, measure, and re-evaluate our platform to provide additional value to utilities and their end-users. Just look to our recent article on driving successful technology change for a taste of what a utility could expect from selecting a SaaS platform like ours.