Whether your responsibilities are related to IT, ecommerce, or marketing, how you define and execute AMS can impact much more than you might think. We recently sat down with Rak Singh, Smith’s VP of Growth & Optimization, to get his feedback on the questions SAP Commerce clients should be asking their AMS provider. Here are Rak’s thoughts:

1. What KPIs matter most when it comes to measuring the impact of AMS?

“It’s not just about closing out tickets. It’s about driving growth. At Smith, we strive to truly understand our client’s end goals and then develop a roadmap to hit those goals. Whether the roadmap is short or long is entirely up to you, but a longer-term partnership will enable the team to execute on a roadmap that delivers sustained improvements with an efficiency that comes with knowing and understanding each other over time. We are also happy to engage with clients where we only get paid when they hit their numbers. Many agencies aren’t willing to take on that risk, but we are.”

2. What services should I expect from a SAP Commerce AMS provider? 

“In addition to fixing defects, rolling out enhancements, managing releases and upgrades, and ensuring maximum uptime, your AMS provider should be helping you move from maintenance mode to growth mode. Your AMS provider should be a true partner – a trusted advisor who is vested in your success.”

3. How much impact can expertise in the SAP Commerce platform itself have on the outcome?

“Expertise in the SAP Commerce platform, formerly known as Hybris, can greatly impact the outcomes of the AMS work. Although expertise in a specific platform isn’t needed for strategy setting or best practices for design, it can make a huge difference when it comes to effectively executing changes, as well as leveraging the existing capabilities of the platform to maximize the ROI on your technology investment.”

4. How can SAP Commerce AMS build efficiency into operations so that the company can scale effectively as it grows?

“There are many ways to achieve greater efficiency. For example, at Smith, we can develop your site to enable your internal team to work more independently in the creation of new content or new sites, reducing reliance on third party support. We can also develop automatically generated reports and dashboards that not only power faster reporting, but also support better decision-making. In addition, through site audits and processes analysis, we can identify bottlenecks in operations, and transition manual processes to automated digital processes. Configure, Price, Quote (CPQ) is one example of automation that can enable independence for sales and customer self-service. These are just a few of the ways we can build in efficiency to help reduce the costs of your sales process and running your business.”

5. How can SAP Commerce clients transition AMS from a cost center to a revenue-generating engine?

“Improving your site conversion rates can drive significant growth for your company. We help clients to move buyers seamlessly through the journey on their ecommerce site and reduce shopping cart abandonment. When AMS work remains focused on work that will drive the most impact, the sales driven by improvements in conversion rates often offset the total costs of AMS. For example, you may not need to upgrade unless there is a revenue-driving feature you’d like to implement that isn’t available in your current version. This is where strategy and partnership come into play. At Smith, we constantly question if the proposed changes will help drive revenue or improve experience, which, in turn, will drive revenue. We help to keep everyone on the team aligned and working toward that common target.”