In today’s ultra-competitive marketplace, organizations need to be increasingly flexible in order to drive value for their customers with every interaction. To make that happen, they need systems that can support delivering the best-possible performance.

While it may have taken grand ideas and more than a little ingenuity to build some of today’s most well-known companies (e.g., Amazon, Apple, Disney, Google, HP and Microsoft started in their founders’ garages), the long-term success of businesses these days is built on the backs of customer relationships.

With the term “digital transformation” splashed across business pages for some years now, it’s far too easy to think of it as a “Big Bang” occurrence—a once-in-a-lifetime experience that alters the universe forever. Technology is constantly evolving and the digital transformations we’re witnessing today have their origins in long-progressing industry shifts. The seeds of these shifts were planted many seasons ago.

We’re very excited to announce that the Ordway billing and revenue automation platform is a 2020 TiE50 Winner in the prestigious TiE50 Awards Program. This ten-year old awards competition is a program of TiEcon, the world's largest conference for tech entrepreneurs.

Energy is big business. This spotlight features a Canadian company that’s working to change the energy game. As one of the first social enterprises in Canada, Bullfrog Power uses business as a catalyst for social and environmental change. It embraces the principles of the performance economy by adhering to performance, transparency and accountability all while moving the needle on social and environmental outcomes.

Read these spotlights for more Performance Economy inspiration:

• M32 Connect – Uses a proprietary, machine learning–driven SaaS “platform of platforms” to help digital publishers maximize the revenue they earn from their advertising assets
• Indigo Ag – Uses data-driven technological innovations to rethink farming from seed to soil to sale

As if the global marketplace wasn’t volatile enough, factors like the COVID-19 pandemic and a technical skills shortage are making it even more difficult for companies to make ends meet each month. 

As we discuss elsewhere, productivity is a big issue for today’s resource-constrained teams. This is especially the case with distractions brought about by the “new normal” of widespread work from home (WFH). Some employees are contending with getting their jobs done while also caring for family members and keeping households running smoothly (here's a list of 32 tips for working from home). As a result, more lean organizations around the world are finding it increasingly challenging to accomplish the many administrative tasks that consume so many hours of their days such as inputting contract details, setting billing schedules, sending reminders, and so on. Carving out time in the day to focus on strategic activities that can actually grow the business is an afterthought for upwards of 50% of an employee's time.

We love it when we get to witness the performance economy in action. Why? We believe that, now and in the future, sustainable business success is dependent on delivering greater value with every transaction. But, not just any value... it must be demonstrable to the customer. 

This demonstrability—or “transparency,” as the model calls it—is woven through every fiber of the modern-day performance economy, especially in the way that businesses measure and optimize success for their customers. And digital technology is a key tool in making that transparency possible.

This next performance economy spotlight features a company—Indigo Agriculture—that’s using technology to embed value in every level of their business. What’s more, they’re working to support the environment while doing so.

Following on previous spotlights on businesses that are using automation and other digital innovations to deliver greater customer value, we’re excited to feature M32 Connect—an AdTech and analytics company that helps publishers maximize the revenue they get from their digital ad assets using a proprietary, machine learning–driven SaaS platform.

Tiered pricing can be a real boon for companies that are looking to generate new revenue, particularly in ultra-competitive or crowded sectors. Yet, flexible pricing often introduces a level of complexity that can slow you down come month- and quarter-end. The solution: Utilize a unified SaaS automation solution that’s capable of streamlining all types of billing plans.

Financial services may be a bit slower to the automation game than other sectors, but many organizations are now recognizing significant advantages from the integration of billing, revenue, and subscription management software into their IT systems.