Vue Software

Tag Archive for 'RFP'

Anonymous Incentive Compensation Vendors Webinar

Published
by
admin
on October 9, 2008
in Industry News and Vendor / SPM Solution Review and Info
. 0 Comments
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (1 votes, average: 5 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

I try to make my blog as independent as possible from my job. I try to share some knowledge about the compensation management industry, various SPM vendors, best practices, etc. However, sometimes there is a fine line between both, since they are so closely related. This is one of those times I will cross the line and blur this distinction, to promote an event hosted by OpenSymmetry. Why am I promoting this event? Because the event is free, because it’s directly related to what I believe you care about, and because my boss said that if I didn’t…  I’m joking.

“We” are hosting a series of webinars where leading sales performance management solutions will be demonstrated in an anonymous setting.

Participants of the webinars will learn about:
– Which functionality are offered by each sales performance management solution
– What key characteristics distinguishes solutions from each other
– Under which conditions and requirements are the solutions expected to provided the best value
– How compensation plans can be configured and maintained within each solution
– Which other important features such as reporting and modeling are available with each tool
Convinced? If not, here are a few more reasons for participating:
  • If you don’t have a compensation system at the moment, but if your company could use one “some day”, that will give you the best possible overview of the solutions on the market.
  • Even if your company could not care less for an SPM solution, maybe you will end up in a role where the knowledge of these solutions will be important, and maybe give you a competitive edge.
  • Even if you don’t work in a role that is related to compensation, knowing about these systems could open up some doors, some day.
  • If you DO have a comp system, why not find out about the other solutions on the market. Maybe you will learn how things could be done differently, maybe its time to change to another system, maybe its just fun to compare the strengths and weaknesses of your current system compared to other solutions.
  • The demo is “anonymous”. I’m guessing you might get a friendly follow up call from OpenSymmetry, but no pressure selling from the vendors.
  • If some day you would like to work at OpenSymmetry, I imagine having some knowledge of various incentive compensation systems would be an asset.

Ok… So I *know* how many readers I get on this blog every day. I also *know* that many come to this blog to read what I have to say about the various solutions. And finally, I *know* that not even half of my readers signed up for these webinars. Maybe this is because I’m doing a too good job at reviewing the applications here, and that you feel you don’t need to see them, but I’m telling you, seeing the systems in action is what is really needed to truly appreciate what they can do.

Here are the dates of the webinars:
October 16th: Varicent
October 20th: Merced Systems
October 23rd: ZS Associates
October 27th: Xactly
October 30th: Versata
November 3rd: nGenera
November 6th: Callidus Software
The only thing you need to do to participate is to signup.  It’s free…

Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Related Posts:
How and Why Symantec overhauled their legacy recognition program
LeapComp Launches Incentive Compensation Event Calendar

ZS Associates’ Javelin Suite Additional Modules

Published
by
admin
on October 6, 2008
in Events, Industry News, Planning and Selection, Sales Performance Management and Vendor / SPM Solution Review and Info
. 0 Comments
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (3 votes, average: 4.67 out of 5)
Loading ... Loading ...

Before getting side-tracked by the Come on SPM Vendors… Grow Up! post and the very active discussion that followed, I described many of the key features of ZS Associates Javelin Incentive Manager.  This post is dedicated to the several modules that are part of the Javelin suite, which complement the incentive manager.

Javelin Territory Designer
Unlike Javelin Incentive Manager, Territory Designer is a desktop application.  It does not require any special hardware, offers several neat functionalities and is used by around 100 clients in the US.  I should make the disclaimer that I haven’t seen other commercial territory management solutions, so I don’t have anything against which I can compare this application.

The main screen of Territory Designer shows a map which can be zoomed in and out, and where each territory is shown in a different color.


Territories can be selected with a simple click and drag, which displays additional information about those territories.  It is also possible to search for a territory by zip code, territory name, city, product, or any other information defined.


What I have been told by the ZS team is that this territory manager distinguishes itself from other similar tools by being able to handle complicated and multiple sales forces, complicated relationships, and by being able to optimize territories for the most fair configuration by following fully customizable rules.
Another feature which I did not expect to see in this application was how the application supports different scenarios and tracks who makes changes.

Javelin Quota Designer
This is another desktop application, but it is being redesigned for the web in 2009.    Javelin Quota Designer facilitates the design and modeling of sales quotas.  It allows seeing the impact of new goals on variable compensation, based on historical data.   “Playing” with different variables and targets allows to model “what-if” scenarios.


Many advanced analytics reports are available to provide useful information about the territories.  Some of these reports, such as the correlation report, help ensuring that territories are shared in an equitable manner.

Javelin Quota Refiner
Anyone who has been through the process of obtaining input from the field to update quotas will appreciate the usefulness of this simple tool.  Javelin Quota Refiner allows managers to review and approve quotas online.  Some conditions can be setup such as a setting parameters for how much a quota can be modified.

Javelin MBO Manager
Javelin’s MBO Manager is a simple web-based interface to create, approve and rate performance on objective-based plan components.  As expected, MBO manager allows managers to add objectives for their reports, and supports the MBO lifecycle from objective setting, to gathering approvals, to finalizing the objectives.  It also allows setting payout targets based on the percent attainment of these objectives.

Javelin Communication Manager
This tool can be used to communicate anything, from reports to plan documents, etc.  Files can be organized in a folder format and can distribute files by email, FTP or by providing a link.  Communication Manager is very flexible in how files are organized and shared.  One feature which I expected to see but didn’t find in the communication manager was the ability to get an approval for plan documents and to handle dispute resolution, but this feature is part of another module called OnTrak, which is part of 3rd party application which integrates into Javelin’s interface.

That’s everything I have to say about the Javelin Suite for now!  Overall, a great product which I am very happy to have had the opportunity to see in action.  I will keep my eyes opened for any updates related to Javelin Suite and I’ll make sure to discuss them here.

To find out more about ZS Associates and Javelin Suite (of course you can visit their website), but you can also attend their anonymous demo on October 23.  Many other vendors are also presenting on different dates as listed in the banner at the top of this page.

Stay tuned, my next SPM vendor review will be for Merced Incentive Management solution (MIM), which as I discussed before purchased Practique Associates last summer.

Tags: , , , , , , , , , ,

Related Posts:
ZS Associates
ZS Associates… Who are those strangers?

Outsourcing and Offshoring your SPM Implementation

Published
by
Julien Dionne
on July 6, 2008
in Implementation
. 0 Comments
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

I’m planning to write several articles related to sales performance management outsourcing and offshoring. Let me first define what outsourcing and offshoring means.

Outsourcing: This is when you subcontract the design and implementation of your compensation plans.
Offshoring: This is when you subcontract (typically parts of the implementation) to another country. India and China are well known IT offshoring destinations, but there are many others.
One of my first post on the blog was about in-house development versus outsourcing. Most SPM implementations I see follow one of these patterns:
Pattern 1:
An implementation partner is selected - this can be a vendor agnostic implementer, or the product vendor. As part of their submission, they propose the use of an offshore team to reduce the cost of their bid, or to be able to “go-live” more quickly.
Pattern 2:
An implementation partner is also selected. There are no upfront discussions about offshoring any work. The concept of an offshore team is brought up if the project falls behind schedule.
Upcoming Topics
The reality is that most vendors and consulting companies use offshore teams. I will write about the pros and cons of offshoring, the associated risks, the challenges it will add, the importance of communication strategies, and a few personal stories of managing offshore teams.
I will also write about which aspects of the implementation can be “offshored” more easily. The good news is that with an SPM implementation, once the design phase is completed, there are different way to “break-out” work in different components which are not on a critical-path to each other.
Finally I will answer several questions I have received on this topic. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to send them to me.

Tags: , , , , , ,

Related Posts:
ICM Implementation Offshoring Pros and Cons
Offshore Outsourcing - Humor of the Week

The Moral to the ICM Saga

Published
by
Julien Dionne
on June 9, 2008
in Case Studies and Planning and Selection
. 0 Comments
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

Read Part 1 and Part 2 of this story first.

The blame cannot be put on one person. ABC Corp, the ICM vendor and the consultant all own some of the responsibility for the issue.

The entire situation could have been avoided if the requirements had been better designed. Requirements could have been better designed if the compensation plans had been completed with enough details. The vendor would probably have done a better job at scoping out the work initially or in certain situations may even have not submitted a proposal.

What can we take away from this story?

  • Requirements cannot be fully defined unless the compensation plans are finalized. Requirements may be inaccurate or incomplete unless compensation plans show sufficient details and examples.
  • An ICM solution cannot be selected unless the requirements are fully defined.
  • Not all ICM solutions can handle very complex compensation plans (no matter what the vendor’s rep says). Some solutions are better suited for certain situations.
  • Good requirements are the foundation for any IT project, mess up the requirements and the entire project will be shaky.
  • Using an experienced consultant to help out with the requirements design, RFP writing and solution selection could be a good idea to select the ideal solution.
  • Consultants and vendors alike cannot “always” guess client’s intentions.
  • Mentioning or emailing a requirement is not enough, this requirement must find its way to the requirement document to ensure it is met by the implementation and properly tested.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Related Posts:
The ICM Saga Continues…
Perspective on the Philosphy of Incentives and Can They Really Help you Achieve your Objectives

The ICM Saga Continues…

Published
by
Julien Dionne
on June 5, 2008
in Case Studies and Planning and Selection
. 0 Comments
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

It’s Thursday; meeting time. The vendor explains the requirements from the RFP did not accurately reflect what needed to be performed by the ICM solution. “Because the scope of the project did not include all this additional work, it will cost more and take more time to complete”, says the vendor calmly. “But your sales rep said it would not be a problem!”, exclaims the comp director of ABC Corp. “We specifically asked about this during the presentation and your rep said it you could do it!”.

The vendor finally agrees that because the relationship between their companies is valuable and because of their strong work ethics, they will honor the agreed cost and do everything they can to meet the deadlines.

However, problems keep piling up. The ICM solution is not intended to perform what would be required for the compensation plans to work how they are supposed to work. Data integration, workarounds and clever tweaking pushes the ICM solution to its limit. The client is asked to only include what is absolutely necessary in this release and push out the rest. The deadline is missed. The solution is finally implemented, but User Acceptance Testing keeps revealing new issues. The second pay-roll date is approaching but there is still no solution in sight.

Does this sound like a familiar situation?
Who should be blamed?
The vendor’s implementation team for not working harder, their sales rep for having mis-represented their solution or not asked for more detailed requirements, or the ICM solution for not being powerful enough? ABC Corp’s team or their consultant for not having defined the requirements properly?

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Related Posts:
The Saga of Purchasing an ICM System
The Moral to the ICM Saga

The Saga of Purchasing an ICM System

Published
by
Julien Dionne
on June 4, 2008
in Case Studies and Planning and Selection
. 0 Comments
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (No Ratings Yet)
Loading ... Loading ...

ABC Corp hired a consultant with extensive Incentive Compensation Management (ICM) experience to scope the requirements to be included in the Request for Proposal (RFP) for the purchase of a new ICM solution. The consultant diligently researched the latest industry trends, ICM best practices, client needs and leveraged his experience to create an outstanding requirement document. Weeks later the RFP is born, after having spent countless hours being sent back and forth between the sales, finance, contract and legal departments.

The RFP is finally posted and it takes a few more weeks before all the proposals are in. The consultant is called again to help out evaluating the best proposal. A few solutions are short-listed, and vendors are called in to demonstrate their product. The vendor’s sales reps all claim their solution is the only end-to-end ICM solution, that it is the “best-of-breed”, and that it has the best analytics and reporting capabilities.
After thoughtful consideration, a solution is chosen. It was a hard decision, but everyone at ABC Corp are happy that this long procurement process is finally over. ABC Corp’s management is particularly happy that according to the timelines illustrated in the selected proposal, the solution will be in place to process this quarter’s commissions and bonuses. After all, this was one of the major criteria in the evaluation process.
A kick-off meeting between the vendor’s implementation team and ABC Corp’s employees is scheduled. The vendor requests to see all the existing documentation about the plans to be implemented including the requirements document, to start working on the functional design documents and solution architecture. The next meeting is scheduled for Thursday.

Tags: , , , , , , , ,

Related Posts:
Incentive Compensation Meets HR at The Super Sexy HR Carnival
The Moral to the ICM Saga