Product releases come as a cadence that we consider reasonable and worthy of a long term investment

Description

The vendor has a strong track record of regularity and predictability of product releases or updates. A company should consider whether the software vendor releases product updates at a cadence that will add additional value over the course of the buyer's contract.

Example Use Case

Scenario: Acme Inc., a global anvil and dynamite manufacturer, is considering the purchase of new planning software. They bought their current ERP 5 years ago - since then they have seen just two major feature updates - one of which only seemed to change the colors of the application.

Solution: Knowing what they know now, they ask for a detailed multi-year product roadmap. They eliminate the vendors who are unwilling or unable to provide one. They ask for history of roadmap deliverables over the past 2 years to determine if the roadmap cadence has a predictable history.

Considerations

The cadence of roadmap deliverables can only be assessed by seeing historical releases. Ask for release notes from the past 2 years - those will tell you what was actually released, not what was promised. This is a much better gauge of the vendors capabilities than the hopes and dreams of the product management team.

When you are doing the math on your investment, let's say 3 years, you should be expecting that the value you get today with $X in ARR should increase over the term. In other words, you should be expecting almost a discount on the value of the product over time as it improves (becomes more valuable), yet you're paying the same price as you did in the first year.

Confirm with the vendor if they plan to charge extra for projected releases. That will affect how you perceive the current value / price ratio.

Questions to Ask a Vendor

Release Schedule: What is your standard cadence for product releases? Are they regular and predictable?

Support During Upgrades: What kind of support do you provide during the upgrade process? Is there comprehensive documentation and training available?

Long-term Plans: What is your roadmap for product development over the next two to three years? Can we expect continued updates and improvements to meet evolving business needs?