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If you did some research about potential sales performance management / enterprise incentive management solutions for your company already, you will have read about some of the top players in that space. However, there are dozens of SPM solutions that are not as easy to come across, because they are very focused on a specific industry, because they are new in the space, or simply because their web presence may not be what it should be.
I recently worked on a vendor’s guide for OpenSymmetry, profiling 15 leading solutions, many of which I have reviewed on this blog. These vendors were included based on their client base, corporate recognition, and their contribution to the field of SPM. They are:
- ACTEK: ACom3
- Callidus Software: Callidus Product Suite (TrueComp)
- Centive: Compel
- CSSI: Vue Software
- Enterprise Incentive Software: CATS
- Glow Teknologies: GloCent
- Merced Systems: Merced Incentive Management
- nGenera: nGen Comp
- Oracle: Oracle Incentive Compensation (OIC)
- SAP: HR Enterprise Compensation
- SunGard: iWorks EIM
- Varicent Software: Varicent SPM
- Versata Software: Versata Commission
- Xactly Corporation: Incent
- ZS Associates: Javelin
I mentioned before that the Sales Performance Management market is seeing an explosion of new solutions to satisfy everybody’s needs. I also listed 39 additional vendors offering a flavor of incentive compensation within their solution. With a total of 54 Incentive Compensation solutions, a number which I suspect will keep growing - especially if the economy recovers - it can be a real challenge to find the best solution for your needs.
I can’t share the guide on my blog, but since I put some effort into it, if you send me an email at julien.dionne@opensymmetry.com or call me at 713-819-3979, I will be glad to send you a copy.
How come Synygy is missing? They are one of the 4 companies receiving a positive rating in the latest Gartner report (http://leapcomp.com/2008/08/marketscope-for-sales-incentive-compensation-management-software-2008.html) and you don’t mention them.
Julien
Let me add one more to your list. http://www.globenettech.com/ I came across these guys many years ago. I have no clue as to how their product is doing today, it seems that their website hasn’t been updated since 2006.
Good luck
Stone Jin
Hi Stone,
They are one of the “39 other companies” I have in there, but I haven’t heard anything else besides what is on their site.
Thanks for sharing,
Julien
John Doe - They are listed in the additional 39 companies we have in the guide but they did not make the shortlist. We did not use the same inclusion criteria as Gartner.
JLD good piece brother, I like it. I’d be interested to see your findings.
What I’m interested in is not so much the providers but the viability. 15 sounds a lot like 3…the Big 3. That is too many firms chasing too few dollars to the detriment of all the chasers.
Was there some kind of viability rating included, mainly because I’m a P&L guy, but it could be valuable speculation for your clients, especially when planning for upgrades, service, et al.
If my clients buy, integrate and go to production, only to have the company go belly up the client is at risk, regardless of whatever contractual stipulations they have in place.
kt
Kerek,
With 15 “leading” companies and an additional 39 other companies with SPM solutions, you are right that there may be too many firms chasing only a relatively small market. I think that they are all banking on the market potential, and that’s huge! I’m sure there are far more CRM solutions out there. From a feature standpoint, having all those choices, many geared towards a certain implementation size, or industry, it’s fantastic for customers.
I couldn’t agree more with you that the viability of the companies is also very important, especially given the actual economic climate. For this reason, I included relevant data including the number of customers, last year’s revenues and the number of years in business which can help in determining if a company is viable or not; at least for a shortlist. During vendor selection, more complete financial data is usually made available to the client.
This being said, many companies included in the guide have solid revenues, have been in business for some time (the industry is fairly new), have many clients, and have solid investment backing. However, everything is relative considering that the largest SPM company - Callidus Software - is still fairly small in size with less than 500 employees and around 100M in revenues.
This is great information.
Out of those 15 which are the top 5 ??
Thanks
Juan
Hi Juan,
Good question, and one not easy to answer. Some are better suited for large corporations with a LOT of payees and a huge volume of transaction, others are better for smaller companies. Some are focused on a specific industry (often insurance), others are completely generic. Some are very expensive, others are cheaper. Some have been in the market for a long time, others are new. Each have various strengths and weaknesses… The reviews on this blog and the SPM vendors guide highlight some of these differences.
I strongly believe that there is no “top 5″ solution for every situation, and that’s why I recently stressed the importance of making the right decision, starting with shortlisting the best solutions for specific needs (and not just the solutions ranking the highest by some analyst).