Have you counted lately how many different Configure, Price and Quoting (CPQ) Software Vendors are out there? Here are some examples of SaaS CPQ and on premises CPQ solutions:
1. Oracle CPQ Cloud (BigMachines)
2. Apttus (for Salesforce)
3. Steelbrick (for Salesforce)
4. PROS (former Cameleon)
5. FPX
6. Quosal
7. Model N
8. Tacton
9. Cincom CPQ
10. Blueprint CPQ
11. Oracle Configurator
12. SAP Variant configuration / Solution Sales Configuration
13. IBM Sterling
14. Experlogix (for Microsoft Dynamics or Netsuite)
15. ConfigureOne (for SAP R/3 ECC, Netsuite and many more)
16. Selectica (for Salesforce, Netsuite)
17. CallidusCloud (for Salesforce, Oracle CRM on Demand)
18. QuoteWerks (for Quickbooks, Outlook and more)

You can find many more CPQ Vendors at www.SalesConfiguration.org or by searching on Google. The targeted solutions are very similar across all these CPQ tools (e.g. sell your products faster, allow more users to setup your complex product offerings correctly, simplify collaboration between teams, increase deal size). Many companies that plan to use a CPQ tool or that plan to improve their existing CPQ tool will need some help at some point to get the most out of these tools. Question is: “Who can provide the best advise for them?” Do CPQ Vendors provide the best resources and solutions? Are big Consulting Companies in the best position to provide a solution? Should you consider working with a boutique CPQ Consulting Company?

I suggest that for many tasks it is beneficial to use a boutique CPQ Consulting Company that is not affiliated with one specific vendor.

Here are four reasons:
1. A boutique CPQ Consulting Company can provide you unbiased feedback concerning your CPQ needs. This is because dependencies between large professional services firms and CPQ Vendors will not always encourage unbiased feedback.
2. A boutique CPQ Consulting Company attracts more experienced CPQ Consultants because they offer more specialized work. Large professional services firms usually work with large clients on larger projects. Some of them will be related to CPQ but chances are high that they are not focusing on the CPQ niche but on a wider area (e.g. Quote-to-Cash Business Transformation). The skill set required for these Projects is different than for CPQ Projects.
3. Every customer is very important for the boutique CPQ Consulting Company. This may or may not be true for a CPQ Vendor or a large Management Consulting Company.
– A boutique CPQ Consulting Company needs to really listen to your specific problem and help you solve it in a manner that is best for you and not one which was used for another client that almost fits.
– A boutique CPQ Consulting Company will have less customers than a big company or a CPQ Vendor and the customer success of every single customer is truly critical!
4. A boutique CPQ Consulting Company needs to be more knowledgeable about a wider area of CPQ topics in order to be seen as an expert. As a CPQ Vendor Consultant or Consultant for a bigger Management Consulting Firm you enjoy the benefit of your companies reputation while with a boutique CPQ Consulting Company you need to earn it. This ensures that the boutique CPQ Consulting Company stays either on top of their topics or they will close shop.

In general there is a tendency in large US Firms to use large professional service firms because they have many smart people available and represent less of a risk in case something goes wrong. But is this really true? Do CPQ specialists join large management consulting firms that don’t necessarily focus on CPQ projects?

To be very clear there are tasks that CPQ Vendors and large Consulting Firms are much better suited for than boutique CPQ Consulting Companies but boutique CPQ Consulting Companies can add more value than you think.