To create and sustain growth, companies can’t just have a great product. They’ve also got to get the subscription billing and contract management processes right. That means managing complex recurring billing cycles and delivering exceptional customer experiences while remaining agile enough to adapt to emerging market trends. That’s a big lift in an increasingly competitive landscape, but getting it right ensures organizations have a secure, stable way to collect payment, build customer loyalty and facilitate scaling for growth.
Unfortunately, getting these processes wrong can also have significant consequences: poorly implemented security measures could compromise customer data, for example. A confusing bill may drive loyal customers away. Working with traditional billing systems can slow the rollout of new services, bundles or pricing models.
Remaining competitive means having a billing and payments provider that can help your company scale quickly, streamline billing processes and create robust customer relationship management protocols. The right partner should be both stable and agile, secure and nimble. And while the right billing partner can solidify a brand’s success, many companies underestimate its potential as a key strategic component in their digital operations.
Complex Service Delivery Challenges
As organizations explore digital transformation, they’re discovering the benefits of moving support to the cloud. However, the complexity and regulatory demands of cloud-native software highlight the importance of choosing a payments and billing platform provider that ensures proven service continuity and security.
Subscription and billing management requires that companies administer multi-cluster environments and ensure regulatory compliance while also considering:
- Network and operational complexity: The rise of 5G and IoT has complicated the digital landscape, making it difficult for traditional billing systems to handle the diversity of services and contracts.
- Scalability and agility: Businesses need scalable and agile solutions to keep up with the rapid pace of technological advancements and customer demands.
- Customer loyalty: Creating personalized, convenient experiences and delivering them on an easy-to-navigate platform helps keep customers coming back again and again.
Difficulty monetizing new services and business models: Traditional billing systems often lack the flexibility and integration capabilities needed to monetize new services and business models effectively.
CSG helps address these and many other complexities that businesses face today.
CSG Ascendon: Delivering Scale with a Cloud-Native SaaS Monetization Platform
As a leading provider of cloud-native solutions, CSG is pleased to have been recognized among 16 other billing software providers in the 2024 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Recurring Billing Applications Report. The report explains that “a recurring billing application enables organizations to bill customers for one-time, subscription-based and usage-based fees for goods and services. It consumes orders and/or service contracts documenting the goods and services the customer has purchased, periodically generates fixed recurring fees, and ingests and rates product usage data.”
We believe that this recognition underscores CSG’s commitment to delivering innovative and reliable solutions that meet businesses’ evolving needs.
CSG Ascendon is a cloud-native SaaS monetization platform designed to help businesses manage their subscription contracts. Built on AWS, Ascendon provides unparalleled scalability, flexibility and security, and CSG offers decades of experience enabling businesses to launch new digital services and thrive in the digital economy. Ascendon’s recurring billing management capabilities allow organizations to get to market 85% faster than traditional systems. It’s been proven to increase average revenue per user by as much as 15% and boost conversion rates by up to 30%. Ascendon helps businesses grow new revenue streams and elevate the customer experience with:
- Support for any business model: Ascendon supports a wide range of complex business models—including subscription-based, usage-based and hybrid—across B2B, B2C and B2B2X, allowing businesses to tailor their offerings to meet customer demands.
- Bundling digital and traditional services: Ascendon enables businesses to bundle digital and traditional services, providing a seamless and integrated experience for customers.
- Omnichannel, personalized experiences: Ascendon delivers seamless experiences, ensuring that customers can interact with businesses through their preferred channels.
- Flexible payment options: Ascendon offers flexible payment options, making it easy for customers to manage their subscriptions and payments.
Future Trends in Subscription Billing
Why is it so important to embrace a cloud-native SaaS solution? Because it will help organizations keep up with the emerging trends in subscription billing, which will be key to their sustainability and growth. The ongoing shift to subscription-based business models reflects a broader change in customer behavior, where the demand for ongoing, value-driven relationships is paramount to loyalty. Among the many emerging changes in subscription billing are:
- Growing competition from digital-native players: Digital-native businesses are disrupting traditional markets with innovative billing models and superior customer experiences. The continued adoption of 5G and IoT devices will drive demand for more sophisticated billing and contract management solutions. Established companies will need to invest in modern subscription billing solutions to stay relevant and competitive.
- AI and machine learning (ML): These technologies are poised to transform subscription billing by enabling advanced analytics, fraud detection and even predictive pricing models.
- Shift to usage-based and hybrid billing models: As customers demand more flexibility and control over their subscriptions, companies can expect to see a rise in usage-based and hybrid billing models that combine recurring fees with usage-based charges.
Simplify Subscription Billing Using CSG Ascendon
CSG is equipped to help businesses navigate market challenges with a solution that’s designed to maximize revenues while providing an agile environment that can swiftly scale to meet the needs of any business model—B2B, B2C and B2B2X.
By adopting a full monetization platform, organizations can eliminate silos, streamline their integration and accelerate their path to revenue. Businesses that deploy CSG Ascendon can confidently address the complexities of delivering digital services, facilitating partner ecosystems while delivering an experience that exceeds customer expectations. Ascendon simplifies subscription management with a cloud-native SaaS monetization platform that enables businesses to:
- Scale with confidence: Ascendon’s cloud-native design ensures that businesses can scale their operations without compromising performance or security.
- Optimize costs: Ascendon helps businesses optimize costs by minimizing downtime and employing industry-leading security measures.
- Onboard quickly: As a full monetization platform, Ascendon allows businesses to convert customers, manage merchandising and organize offers with an integrated agile platform that supports B2B, B2C and B2B2X.
- Maintain relevancy: This agile environment leverages AI-driven experiences to tailor interactions to adjust to the customers’ personal preferences.
We view our inclusion in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Recurring Billing Applications 2024 report as highlighting CSG’s strengths and capabilities as a leading provider of cloud-native solutions like Ascendon.
Is your BSS future-ready?
Learn more about CSG Ascendon and how it can benefit your business.
Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Recurring Billing Applications, By Mark Lewis, Robert Anderson, 6 August 2024.
GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally, and MAGIC QUADRANT is a registered trademark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
