– The purpose of this paper is to investigate the development of software pricing, following the advent of cloud-based business intelligence & analytics (BI&A) Software. A value-based conceptual software model is developed to ignite and structure further research.
– A two-step research approach is applied. In step one, the available literature is screened and evaluated, and this is followed by ten semi-structured expert interviews. With that input, a conceptual software pricing model is designed. In step two, this model is validated and refined through discussions with representatives of the five leading business intelligence suites.
– The paper sheds light on the value perception of customers and suggests a clear focus on the interaction between customers and vendors, and less on technical issues. The developed customer-centric, value-based pricing framework helps to improve pricing techniques and strategies.
– The research is focused on the pricing strategy of software houses and excludes differentiations of technical specifications and functionalities.
– The research can support practitioners in the field of BI&A in rethinking their pricing methods. Placing the customer at center stage can lead to lower customer churn rates, higher customer satisfaction and more pricing flexibility.
– This empirical study reveals the importance of a customer-centric pricing approach in the specific case of BI&A. It can also be applied to other fast-developing sectors of the software industry.
