Today, hundreds of thousands of data centers around the world power everything from the hours of Netflix streaming on mobile devices to the cloud computing and IoT advancements reshaping the business community.
Ubiquitous internet access has created an insatiable demand for content and data, and, in many ways, data centers are the beating heart of the technology landscape, storing and distributing massive amounts of data.
However, their prominence doesn’t mean that they don’t have their share of problems, and the data landscape is rapidly changing, which necessitates efficiency and effectiveness.
The right billing solution can make a significant difference, impacting not only the actual billing process but also other components of the data center’s operation.
Here are four data center pain points that the right billing solution can address.
#1 Adaptability
Data centers are all about meeting customer needs, and those demands are rapidly changing as new technologies like the IoT, cloud computing, SaaS, artificial intelligence, and machine learning emerge at scale.
As markets change, data centers must keep up with the latest technologies. More specifically, the right billing solution must be able to accommodate rapid industry changes so that data centers can scale their businesses while still meeting customer needs.
This requires software to be flexible, customizable, and scalable so that it can grow and evolve along with the burgeoning needs of the digital age. It should feature easy integration with existing as well as with new systems—whether payment, accounting, fraud management, or others. A powerful API tool can also be leveraged for automatic deployment of services, generation of custom reports, and many other needs.
#2 Efficiency
Controlling costs and maximizing profits is a critical component of data center infrastructure, and a comprehensive, unified billing management solution is the right tool to maximize account efficiencies. By bringing billing, tracking, order fulfillment, and customer service into a single platform that streamlines operations..
In this regard, automation is the key to efficiency, and features like automated power and bandwidth billing increase effectiveness while ensuring that data centers are adequately and accurately compensated for their services.
For example, Green House Data, a data center provider with locations across the United States, instituted a comprehensive invoicing solution that automated and digitized billing. As a result, Greenhouse Data reduced their quote and order processing time by 50%.
As Thomas Burns, Vice President and Co-Founder of Green House Data, explains, “The most valuable aspect is the full integration of different areas…This allows us to deliver on our brand promise of efficiency and transparency, which is key to our company mission.”
Of course, data centers face other efficiency challenges as well. An Enterprise Storage Forum survey found that high operational costs, especially related to staffing and administrative overhead, represent one of the most significant obstacles to profitability.
Fortunately, integrated billing with automated processes save time, money, and resources, which helps companies maintain their margins even as they maximize new opportunities. This consolidated system – including subscription usage billing, sales quoting, provisioning, and support ticketing – guides employees through all stages of the customer lifecycle and allows them to focus on customer success while cutting costs.
Ultimately, greater efficiency and transparency improves customer satisfaction and reduces churn, ensuring that resources are spent on more pressing issues like scalability, security, and innovation. A comprehensive business management solution offers clients access to all account information, including data usage, orders, billing, and support tickets.
#3 Interoperability
Invoicing and payment processing is a convoluted process comprised of multiple standalone systems. Consequently, acquiring billing info is a laborious and inefficient task. Naturally, these systems frequently fail to synch, which only exacerbates this problem.
It’s not uncommon for data center providers to have large teams handling financial objectives and billing requirements. Generating cohesive reports across multiple team members using numerous software products can be difficult or impossible, something that makes data centers less prepared to be adaptable and less likely to operate efficiently.
Therefore, data center providers need a billing solution equipped with API capabilities that allow disparate platforms to communicate reliably. The best billing software will integrate with existing systems to create extensive documentation to produce usable data that can drive business decisions.
#4 Tracking
Location-based data center management is essential for data centers, and comprehensive business management software can accommodate this demand.
Tracking data center equipment with incredible precision makes it easier for IT staff to deal with unique issues related to specific hardware at an exact location, something that increases data center capacity while reducing costs and overhead related to tracking and maintaining equipment.
Moreover, with API integration, rack management, and capacity call ability, data center providers can best manage their infrastructure and have greater visibility into their operations.
With the forecasted growth of the data center industry, data centers of all sizes need every advantage to remain competitive, and a customized data center billing solution can help provide that edge.
Contact Ubersmith today to find out how our comprehensive and flexible business management solution can help your data center flourish now and in the future.
Awesome article! The right data center management systems have to lower down business risks and break-even points. Greater efficiency and transparency in payments to service providers, will ensure proper security and efficient handling of network productivity.