Ability to use ArcGIS Online Credits to Purchase Apps in the ArcGIS Marketplace

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07-07-2017 09:59 AM
Status: Open
NeillJobe
Occasional Contributor II

Premise

"Service credits are the "currency" used across ArcGIS", source - Understand credits—ArcGIS Online Help | ArcGIS 

This discussion started on twitter and was asked to be put on the GEOnet community for discussion. You can find the original tweet here

Scenario

The idea would be similar to purchasing plane tickets at Southwest Airlines.com. You can purchase a ticket using your credit card or you can purchase a ticket using southwest points (in this scenario we'll call them ArcGIS Online credits, not points). For example, an app on the Marketplace would cost $500/year with credit card or 5000 credits/year.

Benefits

  • Each organization account already comes with an allotment of pre-paid credits that could be used
  • Some organization accounts never use all their pre-paid credits
  • Smooth & Easy transaction within the ArcGIS Marketplace for clients
    • no extra procurement (red tape) for organizations to purchase apps
    • annual renewals and credit balances handles automatically
    • all things ArcGIS Online are handled through the same purchase/subscription etc.
  • Smoother Transaction for ArcGIS Marketplace providers
    • no need for vendor setup with each individual client (W9, Bank account, info, etc) 
    • seamless app provisioning based on credit balance
    • easy transaction, easier decision making
    • increased activity in the ArcGIS Marketplace
    • Marketplace providers could be reimbursed from Esri through check or partner related credits or a mix dependent upon actual revenue generated from a "credits" purchase.
  • Additional credits can be purchased from Esri through an organizations ArcGIS Online subscription.

I welcome more comments / thoughts / benefits etc. around this idea. Please feel free to discuss more amongst yourselves on this thread.