雲端服務的發展已邁入第20個年頭，隨著技術與市場的成熟，普及率逐年攀升。國際調研機構表示，雲端軟體即服務（Software as a Service，SaaS）解決方案正持續成長，越來越多軟體廠商以SaaS方式提供服務，而企業也同意選擇以雲端方式進行軟體採購。就雲端服務供需雙方，服務提供者必須瞭解產品核心優勢，進而制訂適當的服務定價模式與策略；同樣地使用者必須先了解各種定價模式的差異，以便找出切合實際需求的計費方案。然而，目前對於雲端軟體服務定價之研究著重於定價模型的分類、定義以及理論型定價模型推導，缺乏以供應商定價策略與使用者需求決策角度進行之深入研究。
為補足以此學術研究缺口，本研究以雲端商業智慧服務為例，進行雲端軟體服務定價與需求歷程決策模式之研究。經由蒐集10個Cloud BI服務定價資料進行分析後，將SaaS定價歸納為訂閱、按需付費、免費增值與客製化定價四大類模式；進一步分析發現訂閱與按需付費是市場主流的定價模式，前者具備長期效益，後者則占有短期優勢。免費增值則適用於小型專案或部門，在無須支付任何費用的前提下使用雲端軟體服務，客製化定價是服務提供者與使用者之間的議價協商，也是與使用者建立長期合作關係的手段，因此沒有統一的定價基準。
此外，本研究以Cloud BI服務主流之訂閱模式深入分析SaaS可採行之定價策略。經分析市場滲透、使用者區隔與產品綑綁三種定價策略各有其優缺點，服務提供者應視自身實力與競爭條件，選擇符合企業目標的定價策略。最後，本研究基於採購決策漏斗理論發展出雲端軟體服務需求歷程決策模式，進一步分析出使用者於評估期、實驗期、少量應用期與大量導入期四個階段之需求歷程特徵與各階段建議選用之定價模式，依序為訂閱、按需付費、免費增值及客製化定價。

Cloud computing has entered its second decade and its prevalence is increasing year by year with the maturity of market and technology. According to the survey from global research firms, SaaS solution has continued to grow and more and more software companies provide cloud-based services and IT buyers spend on software license through cloudified pricing models. In order to find the right pricing solution, both service providers and users must understand the differences between various pricing models. Most of the past SaaS pricing researches only focus on model definition, classification, theoretical pricing model development and lack of the studies on cloud provider's pricing strategy and user's requirement process decision model.
In order to contribute to the research gap, this study attempted to deeply study the SaaS pricing and requirement process decision model for the cloud business intelligence service. After analyzing the pricing data collecting from 10 Cloud BI service providers, we classified the SaaS pricing into four categories: subscription, pay-as-you-go, freemium, and full custom pricing. Further analysis revealed that subscription and pay-as-you-go are the mainstream pricing models, the former has long-term benefits while the latter has short-term advantages. Freemium is applicable to small projects or groups that use cloud software services without paying any fees. Full custom pricing is a pricing negotiation between service providers and users, it is also a way to keep long-term relationships with users, so there is no standard rule for pricing.
Moreover, this study provides detailed adoption analysis for the pricing strategies of cloud software services that based on the mainstream subscription model of Cloud BI market. Each of market penetration, user segmentation and product bundling strategy has its own advantages and disadvantages. Service providers should choose the best pricing strategy that meets the business goals according to their own strength and competition conditions. Finally, this study extends the buying funnel theory by proposing cloud software service demand process decision model. This model includes four requirement process characteristics stages for users including initial evaluation, pilot project, implementation of focus-group, enterprise-wide implementation and recommended pricing model for each stage, such as subscription, pay-as-you-go, freemium and full custom pricing.

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