Delivery upon request requires a provider of management services

Among much of the intrigues tends in applications of company in 2006, one of ahead was not nonreturn conscience and greater adoption of on request, or software as a service (SaaS), businesses and models of deployment (see the software while a service gains ground). What 's more, 2006 was also the year of the conscience and the growth increased for the encouraging management of new company still (EIM) - the encouraging category of software of the management of the services (missile to the improved performances) (see classifying the encouraging management of company Occasion-And the challenges ahead).

It is interesting to note that EIM and relative applications of compensation and management of the output were not only favorable to the multi-tenanted modes and subscription-based, on request for deployment, but they also comprise the functionality on request which, at the very least, matches the possibilities of the counterparts of on-places (see the software as a functional correction of service 'of S). Such applications are discutablement parts of the human category of management of capital (HCM) (see the thousand Shalt to better control the human capital), but they are also narrowly affiliated with the plans of financial management and accountant, as well as of the systems of the management of report/ratio of customer (CRM). Probably the best example of this concept is the case of a supplier who recently decided to once become only one supplier of SaaS demolishing sound offers famous and traditional EIM.

Genesis of Centive

Centive, Burlington, Massachusetts company based and into private behaviour (of the USA) -, in the beginning were founded like Incentive Systems, Inc. in 1997. The company was initial early in the EIM and the arenas on request for software of compensation of sales. In 1999, the encouraging systems embarked its product of flagship, the INCENTIVE, which narrowly coincided with the appearance of new category EIM-ICM of application of company. A little later the majority of the industrial analysts adopted this new name of category of software, published reports determining its importance of the market, and started to support EIM-ICM like critical component of any company 'strategy of success of S.

Of its beginnings, Centive was identified for its vision to bring automation, the orders financial, exactitude, and the full possibilities of audit to the encouraging compensation process-all with the idea of helping user of the companies to lead their execution and incomes. Centive 's EIM and solutions of the management of the output of sales (SPM) since had authorized companies of user to motivate and align employees, associates, and channels with goals of corporation, leading of this fact the increased execution, the income, and profitability.

For the decade spent, the automation of the missile to the improved performances was, and continuous to be, the supplier 'the competence of core of S. This vision, combined with the supplier �attention of S with the market needs of meeting, had as consequence Centive success appreciates today in terms of stores of industry � of the rewards and the accodances, satisfaction of the customer, and financial stability. For this purpose, in 2001, the encouraging systems received the first reward of product of EIM of the store of solutions of interaction of customer, whereas in 2002, the company was called in the hot list of 100 companies of prestigious upper part.

In the mid-2002, the encouraging systems launched Centive/EIM (later retitr� CompCentral) - probably industry 'platform of S first EIM to be deployed on an architecture Internet-based true. The edition of company described by solution of Java 2 (J2EE) and slightly customer-based, architecture (on several levels) of N-line (to learn more, see the evolution of architecture please: Central processing units with orientated architecture towards the services). As an element of this launching, the company then changed its mark of the encouraging systems into Centive.

In 2004, Centive achieved what is always the greatest deployment of a commercial system of EIM with AIG Sun America, more than 78.000 recipients commissionable (mainly independent insurance agents). CompCentral is a sophisticated and flexible solution of EIM with an installed base which includes approximately 30 of the companies of fortune 100, such as Computer Associates (CA) and mutual freedom.

Also in 2004, in the respect of the need for management of the services automated of sales in the semi-market and of the growth of the model of the delivery of SaaS, Centive began the development of a very new system of compensation of sales. This system was conceived to fulfill the budget and the functional requirements of the semi-market, that the supplier considers as these companies with 50 associated sales to1,500. This new, more accessible solution, subscription-based, on request, and of multi-tenant, Centive oblige, were launched like generally - available (GA) in May of 2005.

Like its product of counterparts of on-places, Centive oblige makes it possible at organizations of user to increase the compensation of sales as strategic tool to the execution of sales of drive while the supply of the financial orders was to meet initiatives of conformity. Although and not as extensible infinitely configurable as CompCentral, Centive obliges offers a range of model accessible from evaluation of subscription of devices-a, of a framework best-practice of plan of compensation, good possibilities Web-service-based of integration, full to that detecting, and the report and the possibilities of analysis necessary to lead sales execution-all conditions of conformity of meeting of moment for the payments of the Law of the USA Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX).

As examples in the way in which the solution helps with the conformity of SOX (see the important mandates of act of Sarbanes-Oxley and what mean they for the management of chain of provisioning), the product will provide precise calculations of commission and premium; call the course of operation and controls of the process of cycle which one can repeat and programmable; in maintain a full disc of audit and all the changes in the plans, configurable structures (i.e., territories, quotas, and hierarchy of organization) and documents of plan, as well as the management and approvals of recipient; provide the full report on transactions and results; and maintain model of has temporal given to support the versioning plan above time-all in inside a blocked environment accomodated with a line one, standard center of SAS 70 of reception II-in conformity.

Oblige is not simply a tool to calculate commissions on the sales. It is also a solution of execution of businesses which should motivate representatives of sales, and provides sales and finances executives with the access of real-time close to the data and the analysis of the indicator to principal execution (KPI) to help them to direct their organizations towards the optimal levels of the performances. This can be carried out by the capacity of the financial executives to establish real plans of sales, to change these plans like necessary, to create structures of organization with roll rises, and to handle slits of commission, incentives special, former adjustments of period, etc

The product requires far less formation than the products of on-places EIM make, and can be entirely deployed in less than sixty days, often ensuring an execution more without clash and a faster return on investment (KING). Oblige the limits of subscription are prolonged for one, two, or three years, while the evaluation by seat, with discounts is offered for pay in advance, volume, and subscriptions multiannual.

The launching of GA product came after beta launching from programme of obligation in the fourth quarters of 2004. It was shortly after that Centive was supposedly pilot of an answer primordially of the small and average organizations seeking complete, however solution of easy-with-instrument to automate the management of the services of sales. Oblige 's GA also followed the successful achievement of beta programs in April 2005 and of the advertisement of Centive 'of alliance of S with the computer firm (CSC) to provide host centres of application. The new acquisition of customer has significantly advanced under Centive early oblige the program of adoptor, who at the beginning included of the customers in a range of the vertical markets, including technology, telecommunications, manufacture, and the life sciences.

Deprivation of on-places offering in favour of has obligation of solution of SaaS

Since approximately 2005, Centive gradually decided to concentrate only on the market appropriateness of SaaS. For this purpose, in September 2006, the supplier announced that the possessions of Berggruen, an investment company in transferable securities deprived with more than $1 billion the value (USD) the capital, as well as an executive team of senior software of company, had acquired the unit of company of CompCentral and had transformed it into Incentive Technology Corporation recently formed (ITC). The acquisition of the businesses of CompCentral included the intellectual property related to the application of CompCentral, as well as of the dozen approximately the Centive sales, services, and resources of technology assigned with this unit of company. ITC then pawned further to develop and launch the application of CompCentral and to continue on the market required to the existing customers moreover high level of the care of customer.

The strategic decision to sell the unit of company of CompCentral came because of Centive 'success initial of S from large and the dash of the market with its system on request for management of the services of sales, Centive oblige, since up to now, more representatives of sales subscribe to oblige than any other equivalent and competing system. With the sale of the unit of company of CompCentral, Centive was since concentrate on maintaining its position of leadership on the market on request, of sales of compensation, and on increasing its solution regulated to include other solutions of high value and on request.

While CompCentral provided to Centive a strong financial position to support the development of its business on request, the sale of CompCentral also provided to its thirty approximately customers of legacy the hearth and the care which they deserve, and which they should now receive from the ITC. The infusion of the money cash of the sale of CompCentral will be probably employed towards raising the company and exploring scenarios of purchase or construction to increase Centive 'continuation on request for solution of S, raising the channels of overall associated, and increasing the sales and the personnel of sale.

Centive is a company into private behaviour and company-constant which received the placement of some specialists in the well respected venture capital (VCs), like associates of pole star company, associates of strategy of company, and associates of company of key. The company was completely preserving in its expenditure, uniformly achieved its financial goals, and remains financially stable. Before the sale of CompCentral, $10 million the investment (USD) in mid-2005 was employed to lead more innovation and of adoption of Centive of 'solutions of S. Men� by the most recent investor, the senior partners of companies, and jointed by the investors of Centive, the associates of pole star company and the existing associates of strategy of company, this round of the placement showed confidence in Centive the 'strategy of long run of S following several strong quarters of corporation continuous, of customer, and growth of technology.

It is the part one of the delivery on request for series obliges a supplier of management of the services. In the next part of this series, a more detailed glance will be thrown of Centive 'of continuation of product of S.

Irresistible possibilities of a supplier of management of the services of 'solution

Centive, an early entrant in the enterprise incentive management (EIM) and on demand sales compensation software arenas, is focused solely on the software as a service (SaaS) business model. With its product suite Centive Compel, the company maintains its leadership position in the on demand-sales compensation market. Centive also plans to expand its solution set to include other high-value on demand solutions in support of its vision for the sales operations center. For more background information, please see On Demand Delivery Compels a Compensation Management Vendor.

Zooming in on the Centive Compel on demand-sales compensation management solution, the product aims at automating the entire sales compensation management process, including plan creation, testing and management, commission and bonus calculation and approvals, posting and reporting, modeling and analysis, plan document distribution and approvals, and dispute resolution. In other words, the solution was designed to go well beyond simply calculating sales compensation; it helps users to align their sales organizations with their corporate strategies by rolling out more effective and timely sales compensation plans.

Indeed, Compel's real-time visibility into sales performance metrics and analysis should sanction executives and managers to identify issues and trends, take proactive measures, and track and communicate interim individual and team results—all in time to make a difference. Because the solution is an automated, secure, and auditable system, it should foster tighter cost control and greater financial integrity and compliance in the commission accounting process.

In terms of sales plan execution, Compel delivers the flexibility needed by users to easily create, manage, and modify plans without much (if any) dependence on the information technology (IT) department, where day-to-day management is automated with full audit capability, adjustment processing, and process controls. Executives, managers, and compensation analysts thereby gain mid-cycle visibility into more accurate performance data and metrics to motivate performance, analyze plan success, and model for the future. Last but not least, with Centive Compel, organizations are equipped to motivate not only sales representatives, but also partners and channels, to efficiently achieve specific performance goals.

The strategic angle to sales compensation management includes modeling and forecasting capabilities (that is, of new plans, new data, new plans and data, actual versus planned or modeled analysis, etc.), payee modeling (that is, ascertaining potential commissions), and management and adjustment capabilities of compensation strategies to achieve better sales performance and revenue. Pivotal here is the actionable information via interactive (dynamic) drilldown dashboards and graphical analytics for all involved parties, since long gone are the days of waiting weeks, or even months, to receive hardcopy reports on the organization's sales and performance metrics.

Centive Compel's on demand technology strives to allow sales representatives, managers, and executives to access and, where appropriate, share key performance and earnings indicators in near real time. New what-if scenarios can be built on the fly, and the results can then be stored, compared, and securely shared, which precludes the need for traditional spreadsheet formula changes, macro manipulations, or updates to a series of pesky, interrelated spreadsheets. Consequently, there are no inherent risks of making macro errors, forgetting to change formulas (and to apply them across the board), or committing calculation logic errors.

To that end, Compel offers four different reporting options, each a native part of the solution, and delivered on demand. Users can access information via

1. Compel's interactive dashboards for ad hoc queries (that is, a sales dashboard with transaction details or an executive dashboard with actual versus modeled results);

2. creating and publishing custom reports (that is, a Subordinate payout by manager report) in Compel's Custom Report Builder;

3. viewing a plethora of canned reports (that is, employees' commission statements); and

4. creating custom data exports to Microsoft Excel for further manipulation and analysis.

Centive is quite proud of its reporting paradigm, which provides interactive drilldown dashboards for sales and executive staff. That is, instead of viewing static reports in paper or Web format, Compel users access live dashboards with intelligent summary views linked to well-organized detail views. The information is dynamic and vital, pertinent to the user type, neatly presented, and easily navigated, with drilldown access to transaction level detail. For instance, central to the product is a dashboard where sales personnel can always check their alerts, correspondence, participation and attainment in special programs like spiffs or the president's club, and their commissions and due compensation, which all customarily lead to more immediate satisfaction.

Sales staff, for example, can quickly get the "big picture" from a summary view displaying their sales, attainment, and commissions earned. From this summary dashboard, representatives can then drill down to the transactions related to a specific plan measure, and then summarize, group, or sort these transactions to quickly find specific transactions and to examine related earnings. Sales representatives can even view how their commissions were calculated. Moreover, it is not a static system for checking commissions, since salespeople are able to interact with the system and momentarily obtain answers to the questions such as "How many sales calls, and within which prospects, must I make to achieve my quota?" or "How many orders do I need to close and deliver to win that trip to Fiji?"

On the other hand, managers and executives have access to the key information they need to measure and manage their teams. To that end, they can see virtually, in real time, how their teams are performing in terms of both sales and incentive pay; they can rank individual performance by various attributes and drill down to individual-level information. The executive summary view includes key performance indicators (KPIs) such as percent of total sales, cumulative percent, and percent of pay based on a specific measure. Empowered with such vital information, managers can then use Compel as an influential coaching tool in one-on-one meetings, as they should then know what people, territories, and products outperform and under-perform, and what the impact on individual earnings is.

Last but not least, as a strategic tool, Compel does not stop with reporting. The solution also presents executives with graphical analytics to compare and contrast performance across multiple dimensions. The ability to compare actual versus expected results allows managers and executives to monitor and adjust the effectiveness of compensation plans in a timely manner. They can even link back to the particular plan model to review incentive costs at the macro- and micro-levels, as well as obtain a snapshot of their teams' attainment distribution curves to easily assess the effectiveness of sales quotas. For more information on the enterprise incentive management-incentive compensation management (EIM-ICM) constituencies and their particular needs, please see Enter Enterprise Incentive Management and Incentive Compensation Management.

As Compel is a Web-based solution delivered in the SaaS model, it does not require an additional software development kit (SDK) to install or maintain it. Furthermore, no additional hardware or software is required to use the system, which has a completely configured user interface (UI) and an access point through a Web browser. The product also has the ability to support subsidiaries and affiliates of the user company, as these potential future businesses can be built into the Compel database, or they can be designed as completely separate units, depending on organizational roll up and reporting needs. Finally, the product supports multicurrency and dynamic currency conversion requirements for companies with operations that extend internationally.

In summary, Compel contains all the necessary tools to help users design, model, test, roll out, calculate, track, communicate, manage, and pay on the most effective sales plans for their organizations. The product was awarded the 2006 CODiE award for Best Financial Software, the 2006 CRM Excellence award from Customer Interaction Solutions, and the 2007 WizKids CRM award. The CODiE award, presented by the Software and Information Industry Association (SIIA), represents the highest honor in the software and information industry, and is the only peer-recognition program of its kind.

Centive's Compel(ling) Roadmap

Despite the product's notable functional scope, Centive is committed to maintaining leadership in on demand sales compensation management, and the vendor believes it now has sufficient resources (including the cash received from the recent CompCentral sale) to fund product research and development (R&D) and business initiatives for some time to come. Compel is supported by an expert professional services team that has years of experience in sales incentive compensation, as Centive currently employs nearly sixty well-versed individuals. Two years ago, the vendor proclaimed its commitment to at least two major releases of Compel per year. The vendor maintains a detailed internal product roadmap, along with a detailed feature list having precise enhancement specifications that are targeted for each release.

With the upcoming spring 2007 release, Centive will have successfully achieved the stated release cycle for five consecutive releases. The scope of each release is locked down incrementally as the prior release is introduced to the market, which incorporates the most requested enhancements and new features. It is Centive's goal that each release of Compel delivers a solution that is aligned with market needs and that supports an evermore rapid return on investment (ROI).

Compel's product strategy and release plans are driven by feedback from Centive's Customer Advisory Panel (CAP) and prospective users. Such feedback enables Centive to consistently maintain perfect subscriber loyalty. The CAP includes key customers and partners, all of whom are committed to successfully managing sales compensation with Compel. CAP attendees meet periodically with Centive executives and prereview the forthcoming release. They discuss role-based customer experience, IT strategy, and data integration, as well as professional services and customer support. Attendees also share their sales operations goals, and provide feedback for the next release and overall product vision.

The CAP program, along with ongoing customer visits and market research studies, is vital to keeping Compel focused on customer and market needs. Centive claims that one of the key reasons for Compel's success is that each product release is driven by and prioritized based on customer and market input. Therefore, it is no coincidence that over 90 percent of Compel customers serve as references for the vendor and its product.