Software products may be a commodity (although I'd argue this point to an extent), but the companies that run them are not.
Price is one variable in the purchasing-decision process, but beyond some point, it really falls down the priority list for large businesses. This is why the phrase "Nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM" is so telling. Companies like stability and are willing to pay a premium for it.
To that end, if you find that adjusting price alone allows you to steal signficant market share, then you are competing for the least-desirable customers (ie, those that can't afford the product).
Companies that are deciding between Cognos and Microstrategy will compare prices, but there are many other factors that contribute to the final decision as much or more than cost. If I come in and offer a BI tool built on my laptop that I charge $10k a year for, I don't think I'd get the time of day from their customer bases.
Price is one variable in the purchasing-decision process, but beyond some point, it really falls down the priority list for large businesses. This is why the phrase "Nobody ever got fired for hiring IBM" is so telling. Companies like stability and are willing to pay a premium for it.
To that end, if you find that adjusting price alone allows you to steal signficant market share, then you are competing for the least-desirable customers (ie, those that can't afford the product).
Companies that are deciding between Cognos and Microstrategy will compare prices, but there are many other factors that contribute to the final decision as much or more than cost. If I come in and offer a BI tool built on my laptop that I charge $10k a year for, I don't think I'd get the time of day from their customer bases.