The Smart Forklift: How to switch to Hive CPQ

The Smart Forklift principle

We have designed the Smart Forklift method for companies that fear changing software systems due to the high migration costs and efforts. Lots of businesses have invested a lot of time and money in their current CPQ, and even though it’s no longer the right fit, switching systems seems like an impossible thing to do.

This is where Hive’s Smart Forklift comes into play. The Smart Forklift is a safe and structured way to implement a new CPQ solution. It reuses and optimizes the work that’s been done in the past to create configurators.

How? The forklift will pick up your existing configurators and place them in Hive. Moving data like this allows us to reuse the master data and configuration rules your teams had previously set up. The process will be partly automated, partly manual. Depending on your current CPQ solution and the data structure.

The Hive forklift is also smart: this means that while we’re moving the data to a new platform, we will study the configurators and see what can be optimized. Outdated information will be removed, configuration rules will be updated and tested, and the CPQ logic will be optimized. We will be challenging your team so we can create an improved, futureproof solution together.

"We wanted to implement an e-commerce solution for our dealers as soon as possible. Together with the Hive team, we were able to go live with over 12 product configurators in the span of just 6 months."

- Carline Van der Hulst, Inside Sales Manager at Royal de Boer Stalinrichtingen B.V.

The Smart Forklift in 6 steps

What can you expect from the Smart Forklift method? Here’s what will happen in 6 steps.

1. Hive will perform an analysis of your current product configurators, their logic, and the way they have been integrated into the system architecture.

2. Our team will create an integration plan on how Hive will become part of your technological environment.

3. We will pick one of the product configurators and move and rebuild it with the Hive CPQ technology.

4. Together with your team, we will discuss the results and possible optimizations.

5. Hive will provide an estimation and planning on the migration of all configurators.

6. Once we have the final approval, we will migrate all product configurators with their logic, configuration rules, and master data into Hive CPQ.

Why Hive Smart Forklift?

Why should you use the Hive Smart Forklift principle?

• We reuse the configuration models, so previous work is not in vain.
• Configuration and product rules are analyzed and optimized.
• Efficient migration methodology, avoiding project fatigue and the need to keep two systems up to date.
• We have a dedicated Smart Forklift team of CPQ Solution Engineers that assists with or performs the migration.