Zuora,
Inc. (NYSE: ZUO), the leading cloud-based subscription management
platform provider, today at Subscribed®
San Francisco, announced its Summer ‘19 product release featuring
enhancements to Zuora’s suite of applications and the introduction of
the new Zuora
Central Developer Platform™.
“The Summer ‘19 release is our biggest yet,” said Zuora SVP of
Product Tom Krackeler. “We want to give technology leaders the tools
and power to enable subscription growth for their companies. Rather than
hard coding everything and living in a world of customizations, Zuora
serves as that platform for developers and IT teams to build on.”
The Summer ‘19 release features the launch of the new Zuora Central
Developer Platform, which includes a new Workflow Builder, Data Query
Tools, and other capabilities. The Central Developer Platform gives more
control to developers and IT professionals to extend, integrate, and
orchestrate subscription services in Zuora along with the financial
operations that Zuora’s industry-leading applications enable today.
Other enhancements across Zuora’s suite of applications included
international capabilities in Zuora Billing, enhanced usability for
collections agents in Zuora Collect, and a new Subscriber Portal to
enable self-serve account management and payments.
The newest upgrades to Zuora’s suite of applications includes:
The Zuora
Central Developer Platform adds a Workflow Builder™,
new Data Query Tools, and Enhancements to Serve as Central Hub for
Subscription Businesses
Companies offering a subscription service need a central hub for
subscription management, connecting their business processes in Zuora
with the other solutions in their technology stack.
-
Orchestrate business processes with the Workflow Builder: Leverage
a pre-built library of workflows or design new flows around customer
communications, provisioning, data syncs, and order-to-cash processes
using the new workflow builder. -
Access data faster with SQL-based data query: Perform
sophisticated queries using SQL to simplify reporting, integrations,
and data manipulation.
“Subscription management has matured significantly over the past 10
years, growing in features, capabilities, and integrated systems
(accounting, CPQ, eCommerce, CRM, provision, etc). This has resulted in
a corresponding rise in complexity which would normally require custom
scripts that programmers would have to maintain. However, Zuora solves
this complexity with an easy to use Workflow Builder that connects these
systems and orchestrates subscription operations,” said Mark
Thomason, Research Director for Digital Business Models and Monetization
at IDC.
New Subscriber Portal Reduces Call Volume and Enables Self-Service
Payments
Users of subscription services regularly need to manage and update their
account and payment information. By adopting the new Subscriber Portal
as a self-serve option for customers, IT and Engineering teams enable
the business to:
-
Reduce Call Volume: Reduce dependency on repetitive support
calls by giving customers the freedom to self-manage and have
visibility into their accounts through a portal. -
Capture Payments Fast: Allow customers to pay how they want by
letting them add, update, and manage all payment methods in a PCI
compliant manner. -
Create a Branded Experience: Configure the subscriber portal to
match company branding to provide customers with a cohesive experience.
“The Subscriber Portal has made a significant impact on our business,”
said Mario Espinoza, Revenue Operations Manager of Outreach.io.
“Our customer inquiries and involuntary churn has decreased, while our
customer experience has improved. Without the portal, we were straining
resources to manage our growing number of subscribers. We didn’t want to
build something ourselves; the portal was an easy solution.”
Zuora Collect Doubles Down On Customer Usability for Collection Agents
A seamless payment collection process is an integral part of retaining
customers in the Subscription Economy. McKinsey
recommends that adopting a digital collections strategy is key to
maintaining a long-term relationship with customers. Instead of using
spreadsheets and system customizations to solve digital collections, IT
and Engineering teams can enable collections with the newest Zuora
Collect features:
-
Manage Customer Disputes: Resolve disputes without manual
workarounds by giving collection agents the ability to handle and
process disputes for any charge on an invoice. -
Improve Payment Flexibility: Enable customers to assign
different payment gateways for each individual subscription to allow
for additional payment flexibility.
“Collecting payments is a great example of how subscription businesses
are so different,” said Tien Tzuo, CEO and Founder of Zuora, in a
recent interview on CNBC’s Mad Money with Jim Cramer. “In this new
model, you have an on-going relationship with your customer, so
collections becomes a sensitive dance to make sure you are able to
maintain a long-term relationship with your customer.”
Zuora Billing Enhancements Enable Companies to Expand Internationally
When companies look to expand into new geographies, they must comply
with regulations specific to each new country and region. Zuora’s
Billing enhancements enable businesses to:
-
Comply with New Visa Payment Standards: Meet the requirements
of Visa’s Stored Credential Framework to improve customer
transparency, increase payment success rates, and reduce financial
risk. -
Comply with Regional Audit Requirements: Ensure sequential
numbering of transaction documents to provide greater auditability and
comply with regional reporting requirements. -
Accurately Process Upcoming Rate Changes to Japanese Consumption
Tax: Ensure accurate invoicing treatments for the upcoming
increase in the Japanese Consumption Tax rate.
Watch the Subscribed® San Francisco keynote here.
About Zuora, Inc.
Zuora provides the leading cloud-based subscription management platform
that functions as a system of record for subscription businesses across
all industries. Powering the Subscription Economy®, the Zuora platform
was architected specifically for dynamic, recurring subscription
business models and acts as an intelligent subscription management hub
that automates and orchestrates the entire subscription order-to-cash
process, including billing and revenue recognition. Zuora serves more
than 1,000 companies around the world, including Box, Komatsu, Rogers,
Schneider Electric, Xplornet and Zendesk. Headquartered in the Silicon
Valley, Zuora also operates offices around the world in the U.S., EMEA
and APAC. To learn more about the Zuora platform, please visit www.zuora.com.
© 2019 Zuora, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Zuora, Subscription Economy,
Powering the Subscription Economy are trademarks or registered
trademarks of Zuora, Inc. Other names and brands may be claimed as the
property of others. Nothing in this press release should be construed to
the contrary, or as an approval, endorsement or sponsorship by any third
parties of Zuora, Inc. or any aspect of this press release.
SOURCE: Zuora Financial
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