IBM Sterling Configure, Price, Quote vs. PROS Smart CPQ

Were it not for the fact that IBM CPQ lacks mobile and tablet applications, I would have recommended it 100%. However, I still have that 99% recommendation rate since this solution has saved us a lot by allowing us to close more sales within a short period by creating a channel where we collaborate with customers by offering coupons, sending price lists and orders.

Incentivized

Is my IT team ready to handle the challenges with data integration ? Are all the features offered by my current quoting tool being offered by Cameleon? Do I need a SaaS based quoting tool? Would it be easy and intuitive for my sales team (who,quite frankly, worship MS Excel) to use Cameleon ? Do I need a real-time/near-real-time quoting tool or would delays in data refreshes be acceptable

• Firstly, IBM CPQ makes it easy for customers to make rapid products purchases through configuration, pricing and ordering processes.
• Centralizing selling procedure in one platform by communicating products pricing to clients.
• Improving ROI by attracting customers when discounts are introduced on products as well as offering coupons.

• Salesforce.com integration via a plugin that lets end users access Cameleon CPQ systems.
• Quoting made easier with complex business rules.
• Good support from the Cameleon team with fixes and enhancements.

• Unfortunately, IBM CPQ does not have on-premises applications to use while not connected to the internet. This is no more a challenge since we have a robust WIFI connection in our organization premises.

Incentivized

• Integration with other onsite systems such as Oracle databases require the expertise of knowledgeable developers. Manual upload of flat files are always an option , but not necessarily the cleanest.
• Better Cameleon CPQ Designer UI would go a long way. Currently UI is a stark contrast to the intuitive UI of SalesForce.com or similar SaaS based tools. Not too much to ask for , considering the fact that we work in the era of Facebook and Twitter.
• Real time data availability is a long way to go for Cameleon CPQ. Updates to data pushed over as batches to Cameleon are reflected at Salesforce.com only after a 'versioning' process is launched. Current recommended frequency for this process is once a day (an upgrade to make it twice a day is in the works).

There are a few features that we expected from the tool but Cameleon's CPQ has fallen short on these. Possible enhancements and product fixes should be made as soon as possible to change the perspective. Unexpected bugs in the tool have come up during the roll-out that has caught the implementation team off-guard

Timely and courteous response time from IBM Support any time there was a request that needed to be made.

Incentivized

There are tons of Configure, Price and Quote software, but I have not used a lot of them. However, unlike IBM CPQ, HubSpot Sales Hub isn’t operated in compliance with any ISO standards and secured in a data center making it easy to leak customer sensitive data such as payment details.

Incentivized

SaaS based tool. Better quoting rules.

• Reporting analytics help us to transform static data into real-time insights that enable us to determine company financial standing.
• Data recovery and backup have maintained and governed vital organization data from catastrophes.
• Pricing, configuration, and quotation procedures enables us to automate selling channel that help customers make rapid informed decisions.

Incentivized

• A salesforce.com -esque approach to CRM has a whole gamut of advantages. Cameleon CPQ complements this approach.
• Expect down times , feature problems or general disagreement about Cameleon's capabilities initially. This is true for adopting any new tool or technology. Hold on and it will tide over.
• As a person who has used Cameleon purely as a developer standpoint , I do not have anything more to add-on.