About This Constellation ShortList™
Configure, price, quote (CPQ) software automates the quote-to-close process while providing an optimized experience to customers. These tools make it possible to configure products and offerings, help improve the accuracy of quotes, assure compliance with discounting and margin policies, accelerate internal deal review and provide customers with detailed quotes far more quickly than manual processes allow. Increasingly, these solutions once thought only part of a sales or revenue cycle are considered to be a collaborative and interactive experience with the customer, attracting the interest of other customer experience (CX) centric functions like customer service and marketing to better understand where and how CPQ solutions can be integrated and even utilized by these front line teams.
The biggest shift in CPQ has been the accelerated application of AI, including the creative power of generativeAI capabilities to better centralize and analyze data, generate more personalized and contextual configuration recommendations and identify trends in everything from consumption of products to pricing and availability trends.
CPQ solutions connect finance, product and sales departments, linking product information and pricing policies with sales processes to generate and manage proposals. CPQ tools lighten the workload for salespeople and give customers better information faster. They also help to ensure pricing consistency and compliance with discount guidelines. CPQ tools can increase revenue through guided selling suggestions for complementary services or products. Some tools manage the contract process as well. CPQ has also emerged as a critical source of data and understanding about the customer, delivering high-fidelity signal on need, intent and specific product needs.
Many CPQ vendors focus on specific industry sectors, such as manufacturing, telecoms, retail, IT resellers and insurance. For the purposes of this list, we’ve focused on the vendors that provide CPQ capabilities across a broad range of industry sectors.
Threshold Criteria
Constellation considers the following criteria for these solutions:
- Ease of use, user interface
- Deal optimization/profitability modeling capabilities
- Product catalog with accurate search and real-time product updates
- Integration into CRM and ERP systems
- Broad geographical reach for multilanguage/currency support
- Workflow management and automation
- AI-powered recommendations for both seller and customer
- Seamless integration with e-signature solutions
- Brand controls and document management
- Discount and pricing management and compliance tools
- Guided selling and AI-driven recommendations
- Mobile access
- Analytics and role-based reporting
- Post-sales support and community
The Constellation ShortList™
Constellation evaluates more than 20 solutions categorized in this market. This Constellation ShortList is determined by client inquiries, partner conversations, customer references, vendor selection projects, market share and internal research. Other considerations include whether a vendor has the broad geographical reach to support multicurrency/language considerations and manage the complexity around multiple lines of business to support growth.
- CONGA CPQ
- DEALHUB.IO
- INFOR CPQ
- ORACLE CPQ
- PROS SMART CPQ
- SALESFORCE CPQ
- SAP CPQ
- ZUORA CPQ
Frequency of Evaluation
Each Constellation ShortList is updated at least once per year. Updates may occur after six months if deemed necessary.
Evaluation Services
Constellation clients can work with the analyst and the research team to conduct a more thorough discussion of this ShortList. Constellation can also provide guidance in vendor selection and contract negotiation.
