Cloud7 offers comprehensive Funds Management capabilities, encompassing Credit Limits, Free Credits, and Wallet Credits. These features are designed to manage financial aspects effectively, ensuring both operational efficiency and risk mitigation.

Credit Limit Settings #

Cloud7’s Credit Limit functionality is designed to manage and control customer spending on Pay-As-You-Go (PAYG) resources effectively. The primary purpose of setting a Credit Limit is to mitigate the risk of non-payment. Since PAYG bills are generated at the end of the month, there is a risk that customers might consume a significant amount of resources and then fail to pay their bill. The Credit Limit acts as a safeguard by capping the allowable spending, thereby reducing the potential financial exposure.

Here’s an in-depth look at how it works:

• Monthly Expense Threshold: Each customer is assigned a Credit Limit, which serves as a monthly spending cap. This limit ensures that customers cannot exceed a specified amount of expenditure within a billing cycle, helping to manage their resource consumption.
• Resource Subscriptions: Credit Limits are linked to Resource Subscriptions. Each subscription has its own designated Credit Limit and Wallet, allowing for granular control over different types of resources and subscriptions.
• Operational Control: Administrators can monitor and adjust Credit Limits as needed, based on the customer’s usage patterns, payment history, and risk assessment. This flexibility ensures that the Credit Limits remain appropriate and effective over time.
• Proactive Management: Cloud7 provides tools to monitor Credit Limit usage in real-time. Alerts can be set up to notify customers and administrators when the spending approaches the limit, allowing for proactive management and adjustments to prevent over-expenditure.

By implementing Credit Limits, Cloud7 ensures a balanced approach to managing customer usage of resources and financial risk, enhancing both operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.

Free Credit Settings #

Free Credits within Cloud7 provide customers with promotional or complimentary credits that can be applied towards their resource usage without impacting their actual billing. Following are some of the use-cases where Free Credits might be effective:

• Promotional Benefits: You can allocate Free Credits to customers as part of promotional campaigns or incentives to encourage usage and engagement with your Cloud services.
• Usage Flexibility: Customers can utilize Free Credits to access and test various services offered by you without incurring charges against their regular billing account.
• Promotion Management: You have the ability to manage and allocate Free Credits to specific customers, promoting targeted usage and adoption of new services.
• Enhanced Customer Experience: Offering Free Credits enhances the overall customer experience by allowing them to explore and utilize your services with reduced financial commitment, fostering confidence and satisfaction.
• Compensation Mechanism: When an SLA breach occurs, you may offer Free Credits to affected customers as compensation. These credits act as a gesture of goodwill and acknowledgment of the service disruption experienced by the customer.

Cloud7 offers transparent guidelines regarding the eligibility criteria and usage conditions for Free Credits, ensuring clarity and facilitating effective utilization by customers. You can set monthly caps on Free Credits, define their expiry dates, and specify which products from the catalog are eligible to be covered under these credits. This approach provides customers with clear parameters for maximizing the benefits of Free Credits while aligning usage with organizational goals and policies.

Wallet Dashboard #

Wallet Credits in Cloud7 provide customers with flexible financial resources that they can manage to adjust their monthly bills and optimize resource usage. Wallet Credits are funds that customers top up through online or offline payments. These credits are under the direct control of the customer, offering flexibility in managing expenses and resource consumption.

Following are some of the use-cases for Wallet Credits:

• Mid-Month Credit Limit Adjustments: If a customer reaches their Credit Limit mid-month, they have the option to top up their Wallet against the specific Resource Subscription affected. This extension allows them to continue using resources without interruption, aligning with their operational needs.
• Pre-Paid Billing for PAYG Model: In a Pre-Paid billing model, setting the Credit Limit to zero requires customers to top up their Wallet Credits every month before they can provision or consume any resources. The customer will be able to consume resources up to the limit of the amount available in the Wallet. This approach ensures proactive management of financial commitments and resource usage.

Wallet Credits can be transferred between different Resource Subscriptions within Cloud7, supporting customers with strategic fund management and helping in optimizing Credit Limit caps across various services.

By offering Wallet Credits, Cloud7 empowers customers with financial autonomy and operational flexibility, enabling them to effectively manage their budgets, optimize resource utilization, and maintain continuous service availability without disruptions. This financial tool enhances customer satisfaction and supports robust financial management practices within the Cloud7 ecosystem.