Loading ...Varicent announced a new major release of their application – Varicent SPM 6.0 – at their user conference on Monday. The new features of this release include a new module called Presenter (a tool to build interactive sales reports), Model Manager (a tool to facilitate the management of multiple compensation models / lines of business), and CRM Integration (providing the ability to embed Varicent SPM into Microsoft Dynamics CRM). I spent the past 3 days training on this new release of Varicent SPM, and in particular on the Presenter module which I will review now.
Presenter allows to create and configure custom reports, and to publish them to the web. In the past, Varicent users had to use the “Web Forms” module to create similar reports, but web forms are more complex to build, and lack key features such as the ability to embed graphs. This new module is supposed to empower business users to design their own reports, directly from within the Varicent SPM application.
Reports consist of 4 key components storing data:
- Calculations
- Parameters (restrictions on the results being displayed)
- Scalars (variable returning single value)
- Sources (where the information is coming from)
As well as other building blocks: Images, Text, Controls, Scalars, Fixed Grid, Data Grids and Charts. Creating a report only consists of adding these elements to the empty report page.
The positioning of the objects on the report is fairly straightforward and consists of creating tables and inserting the objects in their own cell. In order to position everything perfectly, tables can be embedded into each other (a new table created within the cell of another table), etc. The positioning of the objects can be fine tuned by adjusting the cell’s alignment settings, borders and cell spacing. In other words, positioning objects in Presenter’s reports feels exactly like designing a web page a few years ago before CSS became a standard.
Presenter also includes many other formatting features which should be familiar from Excel. For example, borders and cell shading can be adjusted in a very similar way, and it is even easy to setup some conditional formatting (such as a cell being highlighted in yellow if a commission is over a certain amount). Reports can also include links to other reports which allows to “drill down” on specific results. Presenter reports can be made very “dynamic” by including dropdown menus (called pick lists by Varicent) to filter results for certain people, product lines, etc.
Once the objects are inserted into the report, clicking on the “Preview” tab shows how the report would look like on the web once it is published, using actual calculation results.
So can “business users” really create their own reports? Presenter seems to be much easier to use than other BI/reporting applications such as Actuate and Business Objects and does not require any reporting experience. Furthermore, simple reports can be created fairly rapidly. This being said, the ‘complexity’ lies in figuring out which sources or calculations need to be used, and also to be able to create these objects when required. For someone with Varicent implementation experience, the learning curve should be very quick.
I cannot see how business users would use this- can you imagine them trying to figure out the layout and terms like “scalar” etc. This appears to be a souped up report writer
Hi Andy,
You are right that there is some new terminology and a learning curve involved. I’m not saying that a person who has never used Varicent or created a report can jump right in and create something easily… But in my opinion, if someone - with no IT or reporting background - participate actively to the implementation, learning how to use this new tool should not be too difficult. By contrast, I think that this same person would find it much more difficult to write a similar report with a ‘pixel perfect’ reporting program such as Actuate, which typically requires a far greater understanding of the relational database schema and SQL.
Julien
As a user all I can say is it needs major work.
I think varicent should stick to their strong point of Comp Caclulation - since the data is in relational format why not give the freedom to the client/users to create their own reports in whatever format they wish - excel, crystal reports or any other BI tool. Custome Report writer is not the place they should be focusing on.
Same goes for the input side of things - to be blunt Webforms SUCK. Allow users to input data into the relational tables in whatever way they say fit. Throw webforms out the window.
Jerry
Jerry,
I would argue that a reporting module such as Presenter is a core competency to an SPM solution since they represent one of the major ROI/selling point to such a solution.
Secondly, when most competing solutions offer reporting tools, it would be a hard sell to explain to a potential client why Varicent doesn’t have anything like it and that if the client wants to do their own reports, they will need to invest in an expensive reporting solution (or spend a lot of time in Excel). There are some pros and cons to this approach, as there are many pros and cons to Callidus approach of integrating OEM best-of-breed BI tools to TrueComp.
Also, since the Varicent DB has an open architecture, in theory it is possible to report from it using other BI tools. However, I believe that Varicent is usually quite opposed to the idea of anyone accessing the database and may go as far as voiding guarantee and support if one did - maybe a point that could be negotiated before signing the contract if it is a requirement.
Julien
I can see what Varicent is trying to do with this new tool. They are essentially trying to make reporting easier for the end user. The problem lies in the fundamental aspect of Varicent, that it is a completely customizable tool. This prevents them from being able to use “canned” reports that are inherent in other past and current ICM applications. To get to the more advanced reporting in Callidus and formerly Siebel ICM, one needed to get the assistance of a report writer with skills in one of the various reporting tools. This “tool” is no different. While you might be able to select fields/calculations on which to base your report, the setting up of those calculations and in Varicent’s case the surrounding database tables, takes someone with more than just basic comp knowledge. Again one of Varicent’s biggest advantages, is also a huge liability.
I don’t really see it as a liability. People need to get it through their heads that although the Varicent tool is meant to be used by the business users, it is not meant to be maintained and run by button pushers. If Varicent continues to gobble up more and more of the market, you can be sure that IC Analysts will need more exposure to the Varicent tool to get jobs.
I am intrigued by Varicent’s product offering but also a little nervous since about 80% of their executive management team are salespeople. Sales compensation is a difficult problem to solve so I imagine they must have a deep bench of rocket scientists hidden somewhere.
6.0 is light-years ahead of the previous release. I actually spoke with a sales rep earlier this year and he mentioned some of the future upgrades. VERY solid. Varicent is an industry leader.
-Michael
http://www.oneclickcommissions.com/sales-compensation.html