Overview
The purpose of this article is to provide additional information related to what is included in a CIMcloud Software & Connector Package Quote. This document provides more details on the CIMcloud offering, key assumptions and constraints, ordering information, and typical delivery schedules.
About Your Quote – Summary
CIMcloud quotes provide pricing and details for
- The CIMcloud Software
- This includes base platform w/ ERP sync tool and optional software bundles
- More details on How Pricing Works can be found below
- A Connect Package, which includes
- Deployment labor (to deploy the platform and ERP sync tool)
- Access to self-service orientation & onboarding guides
- Access to self-service implementation guides
- See below for more details.
- [Optional] An ad-hoc professional services allowance with the CIM Professional Services group
- The CIM Professional Services group is a separate operating division from CIMcloud software
- This can be used to buy expert help to support 1) non-standard deployment efforts that may be need, and/or 2) planning / scoping support for your implementation efforts, and/or 3) small levels of consulting to supplement your self-service onboarding, implementation, and live roll-out efforts.
- See below for more details.
CIMcloud quotes do NOT include any managed implementation project or customization services. If required, you will need to talk to a CIMcloud Implementation Partner (like CIM Professional Services group, a full services implementation partner). Any professional services, beyond the 15 hour allowance mentioned above (if it is included in your quote) would be estimated, scoped, and sold through a separate Statement of Work (SOW) provided by the CIM Professional Services group.
About Your Quote – Details
The following is a more exhaustive list of details and clarifications surrounding your quote. Our goal is always to help our customers succeed. We hope this section will provide clarification on exactly what you are getting (and not getting) with the CIMcloud quote.
CIMcloud Platform Overview
An overview of the CIMcloud platform can be found at https://info.cimcloud.com/product/cimcloud-platform.
Current Software Pricing
Current prices can be found on our public website at https://info.cimcloud.com/product/pricing-plans. We publish actual pricing and any ongoing promotional offers so you can make informed buying decisions without having to haggle with a sales rep.
How Software Pricing Works
The following includes a general discussion on how our overall pricing model works.
Pricing Tiers
The CIMcloud Platform is organized into four (4) pricing Tiers (Small Business Edition, Standard Edition, Pro Edition, Enterprise Edition). You are free to move between Tiers. Each Tier includes:
- The Base platform & ERP integration
- Additional features included with each Tier (see the Tier description)
- Access to optional, a-la-carte add-on software bundles (available for additional pricing)
- An included quantity of worker user login licenses
- An included transaction Service Level (see below for an explanation of Service Levels)
Optional Software Bundles
Each pricing Tier includes the ability to purchase optional add-on software bundles. Some bundles are not available on lower-level pricing tiers (like Small Business or Standard Edition). See the pricing information for more details.
Worker User Logins Included
Each pricing Tier includes a quantity of named worker user logins licenses. Additional logins can be purchased for a per-user monthly fee.
Customer Sites (fka “Snap Sites”) Included
The CIMcloud base platform now natively supports multiple customer sites, including 1) B2B customer portals, and/or 2) public facing catalogs / web stores. All base pricing tiers include your first customer site. The Retail Store bundle includes an additional customer site, and allows you to make any customer site a B2B portal or a public-facing web store. Additional customer sites can be added in the Settings Workspace for a per-customer site monthly fee.
ERP Company Files Included
Note: The vast majority of CIMcloud customers only use one ERP company file.
The CIMclould platform comes with and integration to one (1) ERP company (also called an ERP company file or data file). Our platform does support integration to multiple ERP company files. This requires the purchase of the optional software bundle “Multiple ERP Company Files: 2nd Company Included”. That bundle includes you second ERP company file integration. All additional company file integrations can be purchase for an additional connect charge and monthly fee per file.
Service Levels
CIMCloud measures and charges for the amount of resources (including infrastructure, low-level software licensing, associated support labor, etc.) needed to run your instance of the CIMcloud platform and ERP sync using what we call “Service Levels”. We do this through stair-stepped pricing based on monthly transactions thresholds.
Click here for more details on Service Levels and associated pricing.
How Connect Package Pricing Works
One of these two “Connect” packages is included with your CIMcloud Quote.
- Option #1: Starter Connector
- Option #2: Select Connector
Reference your specific quote to see which package is included with your pricing. Click here for more details on what is included with your Connect Package.
How Ad-Hoc Professional Services Labor Allowance Pricing Works
Your quote may include a small allowance with the CIM Professional Services group to use towards hourly professional services labor. The CIM Professional Services group is a separate operating division from CIMcloud software. It’s only revenue source (product) is selling time for hourly fees.
The allowances are only included if they are explicitly listed in the “CIM Professional Services” section of your Quote.
- An ad-hoc professional services allowance with the CIM Professional Services group
- This can be used to buy expert help to support 1) non-standard deployment efforts that may be needed, and/or 2) planning / scoping support for your implementation efforts, and/or 3) small levels of consulting to supplement your self-service onboarding, implementation, and live roll-out efforts.
- See below for more details.
Allowances, if included, are typically labeled as “Solution Architect Allowance” and may be for one of the following:
- Expert Help with Tricky / Complex / Non-Typical Areas – This is typically provided through a Solution Architect Allowance and is intended to support your efforts in resolving particularly tricky or complex requirements. These may include:
- Figuring out the best way to implement a complex software feature.
- Determining if and what level of custom modifications you may need (and providing a rough estimate of hours needed).
- Providing more tailored-to-you training & consulting to help with your CIMcloud implementation.
- Helping with a non-standard or customized deployment of your ERP sync.
- Project Planning – This is typically provided through a Solution Architect Allowance and is intended to provide requirements gathering and planning assistance in designing, scoping, and estimating a “Managed” or “Guided” implementation project (and/or associated customizations).
All professional services are executed by the CIM Pro Services group and are billed hourly for actual hours. Professional services labor, once expended, is nonrefundable.
Key Assumptions & Constraints
Unless explicitly listed otherwise, the following includes some of the key assumptions and constraints associated with your quote.
Labor | Assumptions associated with labor provided by CIMcloud:
- The only labor included with your quote is that which is explicitly listed in your quote, which may include:
- A connector (installation & orientation) package (for the deployment of the platform, installation of the ERP sync, and standard orientation)
- An ad-hoc professional services allowance for Solution Architecting
- No project design, project management, or customization services of any kind are included in this quote.
- Any additional professional services provided will be handled by the CIM Professional Services group and will be scoped and quoted through an official Statement of Work and authorizations to proceed. The professional services are billed separately, and are independent of the CIMcloud product and installation labor offering addressed in this quote.
- The ERP integration will occur on the live Sage 100 company file and server. Setting up a test integration to a test copy of the Sage 100 company file and server will require additional services and fees.
- There are no custom scripts or modifications to the ERP that will adversely impact that integration, including, but not limited to any that may impact order entry, customers, products, inventory levels, and product pricing.
Software | Assumptions associated with the standard deployment of the CIMcloud software:
- The sync tool supports syncing data to/from a single ERP company file.
- The CIMcloud application is configured for a single language, which is English.
- The CIMcloud application is configured for a single currency, which is US Dollars.
- The ability to support customizations is restricted by pricing tier as follows:
- No customizations are permitted in the Small Business Edition
- Very limited customizations are permitted in the Standard Edition (customization labor is scoped and sold separately by the CIM Pro Services group)
- Some payment features assume the use of one of CIMcloud’s supported credit card payment gateways:
- Paya (formerly Sage Payments)
- American Payment Solutions (APS)
- Century Business Solutions (CBS)
Client Responsibilities | Assumptions associated with Client responsibilities:
- Client will appoint a lead contact for coordination of the ERP sync tool install and standard orientation in accordance with CIMcloud’s standard processes.
- Client is responsible for purchasing, renewing, and managing settings on any domain name (website URL) they want to use for their end-customer facing B2B portals or web stores.
- Client is responsible for generating and managing all content not synced from the ERP (i.e. content pages, MSDS sheets, additional images, long descriptions, etc.)
- Client is responsible for negotiating, approving, and paying any fees associated with 3rd party vendors or services related to supporting the efforts of your project. This includes any ecommerce implementation services like project management, solution architect and planning, consulting, design, content development, customizations, and SEO / search engine or marketing. It also included services provided by Client’s ERP reseller or IT vendors, services related to any custom 3rd party integrations Client may request, etc.
- Client is responsible for all requirements related to transferring, maintaining, and obtaining search engine optimizations associated page rankings including, but not limited to:
- Maintaining search engine friendly content on and off the CIMcloud platform
- Maintaining metadata on products, pages, content, etc
- Identifying the need for and maintaining 301 redirects to route traffic from old page names / URLs to new page names / URL
- Verifying that the implementation of the CIMcloud standard platform, Client’s data, content, images, etc., and any customizations in design or development are optimized in accordance with Client’s marketing goals
Ordering Information
Order Date
The Order Date is the date that all four (4) of these conditions have been met:
- CIMcloud receipt of the signed order form
- CIMcloud receipt of the initial deposit
- CIMcloud receipt of a credit card to charge the monthly fee to
- CIMcloud acceptance of the order
What To Expect:
You can find valuable information on what to expect as a CIMcloud customer in
- The Help Center (you are using it right now) located at https://help.cimcloud.com.
- The Help Workspace (inside the CIMcloud application)
Here are some additional articles that may be helpful while you are evaluating CIMcloud.
- General (New Customer) Orientation
- The Implementation Process
- Welcome & First Steps
- Note: These are the first steps you will take after you place an order. These steps links to a series of additional articles (you can dig in as deep as you want).
Client Agreement (Terms & Conditions)
The agreement and terms & conditions for CIMcloud products and services can be viewed at https://www.cimcloud.com/legal/client-agreement.
Typical Delivery Schedule
Because the CIMcloud package assumes a self-service implementation, you should consult your Lead Project Manager and Lead Project Planners for your specific delivery schedule on the project.
With that said, CIMcloud does provide deployment services (deploying the standard platfrom and ERP sync) with our Connect Package. You can see typical lead-times in this overall article on the Implementation Process.
Support (During & After Implementation)
Implementation Support
After your complete Stage 1 (Getting Connected), “Connected”, CIMcloud will continue to support your implementation team on platform-related questions via our online ticketing / helpdesk system.
Stage 2 (Implementation) includes things like: 1) content and product data preparation and loading, 2) settings configurations for things like shipping, sales tax, and payment methods, 3) end-to-end testing of work flows including ordering and invoice payments through cash received, and 4) preparing for your go live.
Stage 2 is typically the longest part of the overall implementation process.
At any time during the 3 stages of your implementation project, you can:
- Post a ticket for onboarding support via CIMcloud’s online ticketing system
- Request a call with a CIMcloud Customer Success Manager (for any needs), and/or
- Request a call with a CIM Professional Services Group Client Partner (if implementation or customization services are needed)
Live Support
After the Client goes “Live” (by completing the onboarding process), CIMcloud’s live support remains available via our online ticketing / helpdesk system.
At Any Time (We Are Always Available)
At any time, you can:
- Get platform support via CIMcloud’s online ticketing / helpdesk system
- Request a call with a CIMcloud Customer Success Manager (for any needs), and/or
- Request a call with a CIM Professional Services Group Client Partner (if implementation or customization services are needed)