What are the costs for maintenance and expansion of my product configurator?
Author: Walter Burgstaller
Anyone who has a product configurator will notice that a certain amount of maintenance is necessary. Maybe not in the first year, but at some point it's like a website. It is never finished. There is always something to do. Because your product is also subject to the change of time. Sometimes the price changes, sometimes new models are added or a material is taken out of the program.
But not only changes to the product are affected by maintenance. The regular review and update of security aspects, updates,... must be considered.
If we consider the topic of costs, we speak in this context of:
- system maintenance
- data maintenance and
- changes or extensions
Costs for system maintenance
By this we mean everything that concerns the platform. So everything that is not directly related to your product or programmed specifically for your product. This includes hosting in the cloud, monitoring system performance and availability, database maintenance, regular backups, browser support maintenance and much more. The further development of functions is also covered here.
Your advantage? As a customer, you do not have to worry about annoying security updates, and regular backups are also performed automatically. All this is done directly by the platform manufacturer - in our case by Combeenation. There are no direct costs for customers or they are included in the monthly service fee.
Costs for data maintenance
In the area of data maintenance, we are talking about all data concerning the product or the existing product scope. These are mostly prices and texts in different languages and currencies.
How can this data be maintained and does it cost anything? To efficiently update the configurator, it is recommended to automatically import data that changes regularly and is already stored in your database such as ERP or PIM into the configurator via workflows. Manual updating via Excel is also a possible and very simple option. In both cases, no costs are incurred.
Configurator checklist
Avoid stumbling blocks.
Costs for changes and extensions
If it goes beyond data maintenance and new product materials or additional variants and accessories are to be added to the configurator, then a little more effort is required here.
If appropriate precautions have already been taken in advance, colors or materials can also be easily updated via workflows, depending on the product.
However, if completely new variants and options are stored, which also require new image material in 2D/3D, then these must first be created and entered accordingly in the configurator. But even this effort is typically limited. With the 3D service of Combeenation [link] you get your new 3D model at a reasonable price. We are also happy to create a 3D model for you if you order the configurator from another manufacturer. Depending on your technical know-how, the implementation of the new options can be done by yourself, by Combeenation or by your digital agency. Only if massive innovations - i.e. options and possibilities that have not been foreseen so far - are desired, the effort and costs may be higher. For this, you need an individual offer from your agency.
Conclusion: Costs for maintenance and extension of my product configurator
- System maintenance: If you choose Combeenation, the system maintenance is done by us and there are no direct costs or they are included in the subscription.
- Data maintenance: Data maintenance is automated with Combeenation - no costs are incurred here.
- Changes and extensions:
- Simple changes and extensions are partly automated or can be done by your digital agency or by Combeenation.
- Larger changes / extensions - are done by your agency according to effort.
Do you still have open questions? Please feel free to arrange a non-binding meeting.
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