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BILLmanager is a software with a long history. It has been seven years since its release. At a traditional MeetUP with clients and partners, the Product Owner Maria Kuzmina talked about how the platform has changed in the recent years and what our development plans are.
Retrospective and plans
BILLmanager 5 was released in 2014. It replaced its predecessor BILLmanager 4. Active development of the product began immediately. First, we increased the platform’s functionality, added integrations with external platforms, our own solutions, and payment modules.
BILLmanager 5 inherited its interface from BILLmanager 4. At that time, the world around was rapidly evolving in terms of UX and UI. Requirements for the visual appeal and usability of IT products were on the rise. We also began to act in this direction – we decided to radically revise the interface of the product and start with the client side.
In 2016, the design and development of BILLmanager 6 - the new client area - began. BILLmanager 6 was released in 2018.
BILLmanager 6 has a new UX/UI design. Along the course of development, the old interface became gradually replaced by the new one. At present, 92% of end users choose BILLmanager 6 with the default interface.
By 2020, BILLmanager has become a mature product that has accumulated many features. It moved from the stage of active development to one of active support and stabilization.
I will elaborate on what we did in the previous year in the product.
Saved payment methods
The end user can save his or her card details in the client area to make repeat purchases and renew services. You no longer need to additionally replenish the balance of the personal account or re-enter the details. The user needs to select the saved card and the payment will be made automatically.
Improved security and integration with third-party software
We have been working on tightening our password storage and change policy. Allow me to highlight two improvements:
- the ability to hide passwords in the interface. Previously, they were specifically displayed in the platform in some places;
- the ability to force employees and end users to change their passwords after a specified period of time.
Also, we added integration with DCImanager 6, VMmanager 6 and vCloud Director 10.
BILLmanager 6 improvements
Extended filters
Client verification before payment
Before paying for the order, the customer is required to confirm his or her phone number. The system will send the code to be entered in BILLmanager. Verification can be set for individual product types or tariff rates.
Domain selection function became 5 times faster
Stabilization of modules
We paid considerable attention to stabilizing the integration modules:
- payment systems;
- domain registrars;
- SSL certification centers.
Total of about 500 corrections and small improvements have been made.
Present
A new tariff plan: BILLmanager Enterprise
We often receive requests for individual modification of the product: to provide personal branding or integration with internal systems (for example, with help desk or CRM). Other requests include the ability to build unique business reports.
Previously, BILLmanager was developed as an out-of-the-box solution. Therefore, requests for customization were often handled individually and sometimes left unattended.
We have created the BILLmanager Enterprise tariff plan. It includes the ability to customize the product. The solution is implemented on project basis. This means that we discuss the customer's wishes regarding the billing system. Then we analyze them, offer a solution, upgrade the product, install and configure it ourselves. The customer receives a ready-made solution that meets the objectives of the business. No need to study the product and configure it yourself. BILLmanager Enterprise has an enhanced SLA for technical support.
New tariff rates and changes in the distribution model
The following changes apply to BILLmanager and BILLmanager Corporate tariff plans:
- the new license fee is in effect as of May 1;
- dynamic discount on annual turnover is canceled;
- New licenses for BILLmanager and BILLmanager Corporate are purchased and maintained by our partner ISPlicense. ISPlicense has been our technology partner since 2007. All this time our colleagues have been selling our licenses, providing technical support, developing modules and plugins. We are confident in the competence of our colleagues – it is time-tested. All current licenses for BILLmanager and BILLmanager Corporate plans that were purchased directly from ISPsystem will continue to have the same terms and conditions. Licenses are renewed and maintained by us through our client area.
Development plans
We are planning to actively support and stabilize functionality, as well as improve integration modules.
Integration with payment systems
We will continue to develop saved payment methods: next in line is adding support for Adyen and the ability to link a card for payments.
UX/UI improvements
Earlier we were actively improving the client interface. Now it is time to take care of the administrators. We will add the "Dragon" theme to BILLmanager and the compact view of tables in BILLmanager 6 to make working with large amounts of data easier.
Q&A
What will be the enhanced support SLA for BILLmanager Enterprise like?
The SLA will be up to two hours until the first reaction.
The billing ordering process is 10 years out of date. Are there plans to do something about it?
We can suggest two ways:
The first way is to switch to BILLmanager Enterprise. Almost everything can be solved within this tariff plan.
The second way is to use BILLmanager only as the backend. You can fully manage the platform via API and make your own frontend with any design.