6 Ways to Sell Ignition Instantly

There are many great features in Ignition HMI / SCADA software, but there are six in particular that have proven to be the most effective for selling it. Whether you’re trying to sell Ignition to a prospective customer or to your boss, you can seal the deal almost instantly by remembering to use these six simple but powerful talking points.

Ignition: The 6 Buttons That Sell

1. Web-based deployment
2. Unlimited free tags and runtime clients, and unlimited licensing
3. Ridiculously simple to install and use
4. Free support
5. Database-centric and database-agnostic
6. Cross-platform including every version of Windows

What makes these selling points, or “buttons,” so effective? Let’s take a quick look at each one.

1. Web-based deployment

Inductive Automation founder and CEO Steve Hechtman once told a customer that the company was working on an experimental Web-based project. The customer instantly said, “That’s what I want.” When Hechtman replied that the project was experimental and wasn’t ready yet, the customer said, “I’ll wait.” Hechtman has had several other experiences with customers who emphatically stated their preference for Web-based solutions.

“Web-based” is an effective selling point because people tend to associate it with positive concepts like “easily distributed,” “easy to access,” “free and unlimited,” and “up-to-date.” It opens people’s minds and gets them talking about a subject that they understand and are comfortable with: the Web.

Technically speaking, Ignition is Web-launched rather than Web-based, because its runtime clients are launched from a browser but don’t usually run in a browser. But broadly speaking, this parallels the basic concept of “Web-based.”

2. Unlimited free tags and runtime clients, and unlimited licensing

“Web-based” can open a customer’s mind, and then “unlimited” seals the deal. It is a very powerful button to push.

The standard versions of Ignition are totally unlimited and sold by the server. The phrase “sold by the server” is key, but be sure to clarify it by also using “unlimited licensing” in the same sentence. This is important because almost all SCADA software companies sell servers but then require you to buy runtime clients in addition. It is also important to emphasize the word “free” because many other systems let you have unlimited clients and tags but charge you for them. Or you can get the point across by saying “unlimited licensing.”

The phrases “unlimited free tags and runtime clients” and “unlimited licensing” not only grab people’s attention but also convey our company’s belief in empowering customers and not limiting software just to make more money.

3. Ridiculously simple to install and use

If you’ve ever tried to install other types of SCADA software, you know what a time consuming process it can be. But installing Ignition only takes three minutes or less. This makes for another powerful selling point; after all, who has days or weeks to spend on installing a SCADA system? Also in Ignition, you can instantly launch client screens, and instantly update your clients or projects when you upgrade the server.

Ignition’s ease of use stems from the fact that it is a unified platform, and not another awkwardly mashed-together piece of SCADA software. One way to really drive this point home is to download, install and start using Ignition right on a prospective customer’s own computer. If they don’t believe your pitch, they can see for themselves just how quick it is to get Ignition up and running. This works like magic, and you’ll look like the magician.

4. Free support

Customers have described our tech support as “the absolute gold standard” and “outstanding.” And unlike any other company in our industry, we offer free support for integrators. Others charge integrators for support as a way of penalizing those who don’t sell their software exclusively, since paying support fees to a dozen different software companies is cost-prohibitive for most integrators.

Inductive Automation believes integrators shouldn’t have to pay for support, especially since they are the ones who usually promote and sell the software. For end users, we offer free pre-sales phone support, 90 days of free post-sales phone support, and free email and forum support always. Phone support after the 90-day period is about one-fifth of competitors’ prices.

5. Database-centric and database-agnostic

Usually, other SCADA software companies charge hefty additional fees if you want to communicate with other databases besides the specific type they endorse. Also, they usually don’t let you work with relational data without major hacks. However, Ignition works with any database, which is why we describe it as “database-agnostic.”

Ignition is powered by databases so you can easily connect it to any database, and to as many databases as you want.

When you tell customers that Ignition gathers all of their data into one place, saves data in a standard SQL database where it’s easily accessible, and can be used to develop or integrate database applications, they’re sure to pay close attention.

6. Cross-platform including every version of Windows

Because other SCADA software is Windows-based, users are negatively affected any time that Microsoft releases a new version or service pack and whenever they end support for an older version. Because Ignition is built on Java, it’s a cross-platform solution: It can run on any modern version of Windows, Linux or Mac OS X. This makes it much easier to upgrade the operating system when necessary. The user doesn’t need to feel tied down anymore, because Ignition frees them up to work on their projects from just about anywhere, on any platform.