There has been a lot said in 2005 about the need to contain the cost of owning software. And there was nearly as much written about the possible solutions to the TCO challenge. Software as a service was but one of several strategies all about driving down the cost of basic business information requirements. Utility computing and spend management have been gone over pretty thoroughly this year. In the service area there is the constant drumbeat about India, the Ukraine and other low cost development sites. But the fact is that the bulk of software implementation, and even software integration services, for US companies are performed in the US. This is certainly true in the Small and Medium Business (SMB) market. So how can SMBs make sure that their implementer is part of the TCO Solution and not part of the TCO problem? Simply looking for the low cost provider can be a risky venture. Are they experienced? Are they going to cut corners? Are they going to pass over important functionality? Some buyers have tried the Fixed Cost project, but in my experience the fixed cost project really means fixed functionality and lots of contract and project management wrangling. Just because we sign a contract that fixes the cost and scope of the project doesn't mean that the variability, surprise and the unknown that mark all human endeavors are not going to rear their ugly heads. They will on the first day and every day thereafter and the fixed cost project, unable to adapt or flex, will break. On the other hand the open Time and Material project, with its promise of the never ending scope change is also not a good choice, especially in the SMB market. The last thing that you want is a software implementation that drags on, killing budget and preventing you from reaping the benefits of the new system. So what is the answer? We have devised a Flexible Modular pricing model that enables us to work with the client on the specific modules that they want to implement and offer a fixed price on each module based on the total number of hours and an 'effective rate'. When we start the implementation and new needs and requirements arise we can work with the client to add, drop or change module pricing. Most importantly we have not prohibited project flexibility while giving the client a straightforward project cost that they can budget and depend on. It is not enough to ask software vendors to bear the entire burden of reduced Total Cost of Ownership. Integrators and implementers have to do their part as well. But what's our motivation? Simple, in the NetSuite, software as a service model, we are not just playing for the current implementation. We have adjusted our delivery model, and our attitudes, for that matter, to stay in the game with long term relationships with our client base. This is one of the benefits of the Software as a service model that does not register much notice but for the customer its huge. Implementers become long term partners who share in the value of the customer's success. | 
