Difference between "Adoption" and "Consumption".

I get asked really great questions by my students ALL THE TIME! Sometimes they really make me think. Here is an example of one such question and my response

Hi XXXXX,

Thank you for your enquiry. You wrote:

Difference between Adoption & Consumption:

Some software companies use both terminologies namely Adoption and Consumption. What would be the actual difference between both? I find usage of both confusing as it is difficult to distinguish one from the other.

You make a great point – often companies do indeed use multiple words to mean the same thing, and I agree with you that this can be confusing for the customers, for the employees – for everyone! Also there are times when in my opinion companies quite simply get it wrong and end up using the wrong word – a word which does not really mean what they intend it to mean.

One of the jobs of a CSM is to be a great listener. A truly great listener has to go beyond the words themselves to get at the true intent behind the words being used – even if the words being used are quite frankly not really the best ones for the purpose! So the first thing to point out is that we may need to go even beyond whichever word is actually used to think about what the person talking actually means.

So now to the difference between “Adoption” and “Consumption”.

Let’s take them in reverse order, since “Consumption” is more simple to understand. In business terms, the word consume simply means “to make use of”. So consumption is the process of making use of something. It is particularly used where there is a finite resource of something that is being used, and the “consumer” is paying for that finite resource. So for example if I turn on a light or an electric heater I am “consuming” electricity, and the more lights and heaters I turn on the faster that electricity gets consumed.

In SaaS (software as a service) consumption refers specifically to a user in a customer organization making use of that software (for example they log in and perform a task). In performing the task they are said to be “consuming” the software. In this instance the software itself is not the finite resource but the licence (typically monthly or annual) is finite in duration, so consumption can be said to take place over the course of the contract period.

“Adoption” conveys a very similar meaning, but with a slight twist. The word adopt means “to select or take to be your own by choice”. So for example if you “adopt a kitten” you decide to choose that kitten over all other kittens and make it your kitten.

In a business sense, companies have a free choice as to whose products and services to purchase for their users to use. If a company selects a specific product – for example a software product called “MySoftwareProduct” – rather than any of its competitors then that decision has repercussions for the company’s users. They now need to “use” “MySoftwareProduct and not the alternatives.

However – specifically in the fields of change management and customer success management, the term “adoption” has come to mean more than this general meaning described above. It has in fact come to include all of the process of change management needed to prepare an organization and its users for using a particular product. This might typically include identifying which users will be impacted, communicating information to them, training them beforehand, and providing ongoing support for them afterwards. This wider sense of the word “Adoption” view adoption as a process whereby the company and its users start off in a state of not being ready to consume to product and the go through an “adoption process” to ready them for consumption.

So in short, you need to adopt first, so that you can then consume!

I bet you are glad you asked!

Here are two alternative definitions for your consideration, and more can be found through further research online:

https://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/consumption.html

https://www.businessdictionary.com/definition/product-adoption-process.html