Zuora encourages subscription businesses to break down the traditional organizational silos that permeate 20th-century product-centric companies. As an alternative, Zuora promotes its PADRE (Pipeline, Acquire, Deploy, Run, Expand) operating model. Instead of marketing and sales, Zuora encourages companies think about pipeline and acquisition. Instead of customer support and operations, Zuora recommends companies think about deployment, running, and expanding customers. Although not included in the PADRE acronym, the supporting functions of Product, People and Money are important as well. Zuora uses the PPM acronym for Product (think R&D and product management), People (think HR), and Money (think finance, operations, and legal).
Zuora provides a number of venues for subscription economy believers to congregate both face-to-face and online. These forums provide an alternative to the big ERP user conferences which continue to promote the traditional, product-centric view of business.
- Subscribed Events – Zuora sponsors a series of conferences to share case studies and best practices for success in the Subscription Economy. Each event features tracks for sales and operations, billing and finance, product and strategy teams. Recent Subscribed conference locations included San Francisco, New York, London, Paris, Tokyo, and Sydney.
- Subscribed Institute Membership – Executives at leading subscription businesses can request to become members of the Subscribed Institute. Members get early access to industry benchmarks and research, as well as exclusive networking opportunities to meet with academics, analysts, and other industry experts.
Zuora also offers a number of programs and forums for users of its product to pursue career development, training, and networking opportunities.
- Online User Groups – Regional user groups in Asia-Pacific, Europe, and North America. Other groups for Advisory Board members, Early Adopters, and SuperUser “Guru Lounge.”
- Zuora University – One-time, classroom-style training and subscription-based, online learning programs for end users, administrators, consultants, and implementers.
