Archive for November, 2019

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Marketplaces are not all the same

November 22, 2019

One aspect of eCommerce being tipped as a huge growth area is Marketplaces.  Leading Technology Analyst Firm, Forrester¹, is predicting that small businesses and motivated enterprise buyers (especially those buying indirect goods) will flock to a place that offers choice, makes comparisons easy and pricing visible, features reviews, and has add-ons just a click away.

If you’re thinking, “This is something that I need to get into,” then one thing to consider is that the term Marketplace covers a diverse set of organizations; in the same way that “High Street” no longer means grocers and newsagents.

There is a high-level differentiation between a Marketplace and a Web Store.  A Marketplace attribute is one or more of the following:

  1. Must be multi-vendor (so the Fitbit Store is not a Marketplace).
  2. Must be multi-seller (so a traditional Reseller like eBuyer or Insight doesn’t qualify).
  3. Can allow the same product to be sold by more than one seller at a different price.
  4. Can be single platform (Apple, Google, Salesforce).
  5. Can be single product/service (Air BnB).

 

Marketplace operators face different challenges, largely depending on which of the “can” attributes they address. Air BnB solved the complexity of booking dates, property attributes, owner preferences once. Apple, and to a slightly lesser extent Google, introduced review procedures to ensure that apps available for their platforms conformed to a certain standard. Salesforce likewise.

Marketplaces that are true multi-vendor, face different challenges, as any complexity associated with the product or service, they are offering has to be solved for each product type and potentially each vendor. In our next Blog, Using Data to facilitate B2B Marketplaces, we look at how channelcentral seeks to solve some of those complexities.

¹”Think SKUs, Not SOWs: How Marketplaces Will Shake Up Tech Selling”, Forrester Research, Inc., November 12, 2019

Posted in Channel Business, channelcentral.net, CPQ, Marketing, Marketplace, Product Management, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

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CPQ user authentication for eCommerce plugins for the IT Channel

November 6, 2019

Facilitating secure business interactions

Hidden connections between a CPQ application and an eCommerce platform are now commonplace in the IT Channel, facilitating a vast number of transactions daily.  channelcentral has worked hard to create a seamless, yet ultimately secure, integration process for its customers and their users using SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language). SAML is fast becoming an industry standard for for communicating identities across the internet.

How does this work?

It’s complicated, but put simply – SAML handles authentication negotiations between three separate parties:

  • An Identity Provider, in this example a CPQ Host (e.g. a Distributor).
  • A SAML Service Provider, in this example a CPQ application plugin provider (i.e. channelcentral)
  • A User – an employee or customer of the Identity Provider (Distributor or Reseller).

The authentication process is as follows:

  1. The user is presented to the CPQ plugin provider (channelcentral in this case) when they click a link.
  2. Assuming the user request was valid, the plugin provider sends a token back to the user (invisibly).
  3. The token is routed automatically to the CPQ Host (Distributor) for confirmation of validity.
  4. The CPQ Host either declines (in which case the user is prevented from accessing the CPQ application e.g. iQuote, PowerQuote, Market Pro) or successfully authenticates the user and issues a new token.
  5. The new token is received by channelcentral and user is granted access.

Distributor control

So, what are the main benefits of introducing SAML authentication into the login process?

  • The CPQ Host, i.e. the Distributor, controls who accesses what. If the Distributor withdraws a service, access can be prevented, even if links still exist in their eCommerce store (or an old email that someone has found).
  • Importantly, it also prevents people/competitors spoofing the Distributor’s users to see their pricing/stock.
  • Improved deployment speed – being a widely-accepted standard, SAML allows interoperability between the highest possible range of back-end systems within the IT Channel.

Does your CPQ provider take user authentication as seriously as channelcentral, when plugging applications in to external eCommerce?  For more information on CPQ user authentication contact us at marketing@channelcentral.net

Watch the video summary here:

Posted in channelcentral.net, configurator, CPQ, CPQ Software, Marketing, Product Management, Quote Software | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »