Creating Competitive Advantage by Rethinking B2B Software Pricing

123 Pages·2016·1.79 MB·English

Creating Competitive Advantage by
Rethinking B2B Software Pricing
CARL ADELSTRAND
EMIL BROSTEDT
Master of Science Thesis
Stockholm, Sweden 2016
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Creating Competitive Advantage by Rethinking
B2B Software Pricing
”Innovation in pricing may be a company’s most powerful—and, in many cases, least
explored—source of competitive advantage”
(Hinterhuber & Liozu 2014, p.1)
Carl Adelstrand, Emil Brostedt
Stockholm, Sweden, June 02, 2016
Industrial Engineering and Management
ITM
Royal Institute of Technology
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Master of Science Thesis
INDEK 2016:12
CreatingCompetitive Advantage
by Rethinking B2B
Software Pricing
Carl Adelstrand
Emil Brostedt
Approved Examiner Supervisor
2016-06-02 Esmail Salehi-Sangari Henrik Blomgren
Commissioner Contactperson
N/A N/A
Abstract
The choice of pricing model for software products is a complex procedure
duetothedi↵erentcharacteristicscomparedtophysicalproducts. Thisthesis
Examensarbete
investigates and compares software pricing modIeNlsDiEnKa 2B021B6:1s2e tting, and de-
Skapa konkurrensfördel genom att
scribes how KAM plays a role in executing a pricing model. The research has
utvärdera B2B-prissättning
been conducted as an opportunist case study onaAvd mebjurok,vaaratechnology com-
pany in the B2B sector. The thesis have come to the following conclusions,
Carl Adelstrand
with data from interviews and literature: Emil Brostedt
Godkänt Examinator Handledare
20•16P-0e6rp-0e2tuallicenseiEs,smanadilwSialllechoin-StainnugeartiobeH,eannriakttBrlaocmtigvreenpricingmodel
Uppdragsgivare Kontaktperson
for Adebro. However, a subscription-based usage independent pricing
N/A N/A
model is also attractive for the future.
• Implicationsofswitchingpricingmodelwouldbelargestwhenchanging
between a perpetual and subscription model, where revenue will have
the most visual impact.
• The most important task for KAM is to communicate the change to
current and new customers. KAM and the pricing model must also be
structured to support each other to be successful.
The thesis contributes to science by providing research on pricing models for
manufacturingrelatedsoftware. However,studiesconcerningtheweightingof
importancefordi↵erentpricingparameterswouldbeofinterestforthefuture.
Key Words: Pricing Models, Pricing, Software, Key Account Management,
Perpetual license, Subscription, SaaS, CAM, GD&T, SPC, Metrology
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Master of Science Thesis
INDEK 2016:12
CreatingCompetitive Advantage
by Rethinking B2B
Software Pricing
Carl Adelstrand
Emil Brostedt
Approved Examiner Supervisor
2016-06-02 Esmail Salehi-Sangari Henrik Blomgren
Commissioner Contactperson
N/A N/A
Examensarbete
INDEK 2016:12
Skapa konkurrensfördel genom att
utvärdera B2B-prissättning
av mjukvara
Carl Adelstrand
Emil Brostedt
Godkänt Examinator Handledare
2016-06-02 Esmail Salehi-Sangari Henrik Blomgren
Uppdragsgivare Kontaktperson
N/A N/A
Sammanfattning
Valet av prismodell f¨or mjukvaror ¨ar en komplex procedur p˚a grund av
dess olika egenskaper j¨amf¨ort med fysiska produkter. Detta examensarbete
unders¨oker och j¨amf¨or prismodeller f¨or mjukvara i B2B sammanhang, och
beskriver vilken roll KAM har i genomf¨orandet av en prismodell. Studien
genomf¨ordes som en opportunistisk case studie p˚a Adebro, ett teknikf¨oretag
inom B2B sektorn. Uppsatsen har kommit till f¨oljande slutsatser, baserat p˚a
data fr˚an intervjuer och litteratur:
• Perpetual-licenser ¨ar, och kommer forts¨atta att vara, en attraktiv pris-
modell f¨or Adebro. Dock ¨ar prenumerationsbaserade prismodeller, med
pris oberoende av anv¨andande, attraktiva f¨or framtiden.
• De st¨orsta e↵ekterna fr˚an ett prismodellsbyte kommer n¨ar man byter
mellan perpetual-licenser och prenumerationslicenser, d¨ar det kommer
bli mest synligt p˚a int¨akterna.
• Den viktigaste uppgiften f¨or KAM ¨ar att kommunicera prismodellen
till kunderna. KAM och prismodellen m˚aste ocks˚a vara strukturerade
p˚a ett s˚adant s¨att att de st¨odjer varandra f¨or att n˚a h¨ogst potential.
Uppsatsen bidrar till vetenskapen genom att bist˚a med forskning om pris-
modeller f¨or tillverkningsrelaterade mjukvaror. Fram¨over vore det intressant
att se vidare forskning som utreder vikten av de olika parametrarna av en
prismodell.
Nyckelord: Prismodeller, Priss¨attning, Mjukvara, Key Account Manage-
ment,Perpetual-licens,Prenumeration,SaaS,CAM,GD&T,SPC,M¨atteknik
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Declaration
’We declare that all material in this thesis is entirely our own work and
hasnotbeenpreviouslysubmittedtothisoranyotherinstitution. Allmaterial
in this thesis that is not our own work has been acknowledged and we have
stored all material used in this research, including research data, preliminary
analysis, notes, interviews, and drafts, and can produce them on request.’
Carl Adelstrand Emil Brostedt
Signature Signature
June 02, 2016 June 02, 2016
Date Date
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