Major Regarding 3scale subscription management, some additional features would be nice to have within the product in order to manage subscriptions better. Specifically, the following functionalities:
1. Start and End Dates of Subscriptions:
Having the ability to specify the start and end dates for subscriptions will allow to control the duration of access to the services.
2. Auto-Suspending of Subscriptions:
It would be beneficial to have an automated process in place that can suspend subscriptions if they are not renewed within a specified timeframe. This would help to manage the availability of the services and ensure that only active subscribers have access.
3. Subscription Renewal:
Be able to enable an automated renewal process for subscriptions, allowing subscribers to seamlessly continue their access without manual intervention.
Having all these 3 new features integrated within the 3Scale product (out of the box) would provide:
- Improved Customer Experience:
Effective subscription management features can enhance the overall customer experience by providing clear start and end dates for subscriptions. This transparency helps customers understand the duration of their access to your services, reducing any confusion or dissatisfaction.
- Enhanced Control and Flexibility:
By having the ability to set start and end dates for subscriptions, you gain greater control over the availability of your services. This can be particularly useful for time-limited offerings or promotions. Additionally, the feature of auto-suspending subscriptions ensures that only active subscribers have access, maintaining the integrity of your service offering.
- Streamlined Operations:
Automated subscription renewal simplifies the process for both you and your customers. It eliminates the need for manual intervention and ensures the continuity of service without any disruptions. This streamlining of operations reduces administrative overhead and improves efficiency.
- Revenue Optimization:
Subscription management features enable you to maximize your revenue by providing clear subscription terms and automated renewal options. With accurate start and end dates, you can align your pricing and billing cycles effectively. Additionally, the auto-suspension feature helps prevent revenue leakage by automatically suspending subscriptions that are not renewed.
- Scalability and Growth:
As your business scales and acquires more subscribers, efficient subscription management becomes critical. These features allow you to handle a larger subscriber base without burdening your resources, enabling you to focus on business growth and expansion.
[THREESCALE-10382] Enhance 3scale Subscription Management
Iceboxed. This is low in the long list of priorities in our backlog. We won't be able to do it within the next 12-18months.
Iceboxed items will be reviewed once complete the delivery of other higher priority features.
rhn-support-icaldero so then the customer is stating that a subscription can be valid and active even when no start & end dates have been specified. That's okay, I just wanted to make sure what the customer is asking for and the limitations around that are very clear here for when Product Management & Engineering need to review this.
Regarding those start and end dates it sounds like their preference would be to have a date picker so that the API provider can specify explicit dates. Of course the billing period will still run according to the existing billing periods and so start and end dates of subscriptions will therefore not have any impact on billing, it is purely maintaining the state of the application.
So in summary this is what we have regarding start and end dates for subscriptions:
- Billing periods remain the same as current implementation
- Applications' state upon creation or subscription to a new plan also remains the same as existing implementation
- Only *when* a start & end date that has been configured by an admin API Provider user, will new behaviour regarding the state of the application be introduced. Example: If Date.today is not within the range of the start & end dates specified *and* the application (parent account) does not trigger the automatic subscription renewal via the "payment details stored" check the application will be automatically suspended.
*Important note*: Because this RFE is not intending to change the billing cycles and charging it should be clear to the customer (via documentation) that billing will always be done monthly or yearly and so charges will be applied according to the fees configured per month. The only way to automate a synchronisation between offset start & end dates and the invoiced fees is by suspending the application and switching its subscription to a free plan so that it can be charged according to the days "used" in that month (this is already done in 3scale billing when switching plans).
I don't see any other way to implement that without modifying the billing behaviour which seems awfully complex. I also think that the behaviour in this RFE should only ever be enabled per application when the start and end dates are configured. As described in the summary above all other behaviour should remain the same when no dates are set.
Iceboxed. This has a low priority on our extensive backlog. Unfortunately, we won't be able to address it within the next 18 months. Iceboxed items may be considered for review once we have completed the delivery of other higher-priority features.