Serviceware Performance

[The BI & Analytics Survey 23 results, not included in The BI & Analytics Survey 24] Serviceware offers a portfolio of software solutions for digitalizing and automating service processes (Enterprise Service Management (ESM)). In 2019, Serviceware acquired cubus, a German CPM and analytics specialist to complement its portfolio. Within Serviceware, cubus’ former solutions are now called Serviceware Performance (for performance management) and Serviceware Performance AL (for analytics). Both are available as standalone applications or integrated in Serviceware’s ESM platform. Overall, Serviceware serves more than 1,400 customers with 500 employees in 14 European offices. Serviceware Performance itself is used by approximately 400 customers.

Serviceware Performance PM (previously known as cubus outperform) is a software tool for planning, analyzing and monitoring business financial performance. It is an integrated CPM solution with functionality for planning, simulation, project portfolio management and strategy implementation. For analytics, Serviceware Performance AL (formerly cubus EV Analytics and IBM Cognos Executive Viewer) is integrated in Performance. Aimed at business power users, Performance PM has a web-based user interface resembling Excel as well as a Microsoft Windows-based desktop app.
Performance PM provides a flexible platform for building individual, complex business logic for CPM and controlling applications. The solution has no specific market or industry focus and is used by companies of various sizes and industries. Performance PM, however, does have prebuilt business content, data models and logic for integrated financial planning, operational planning, budgeting and forecasting, various controlling topics (e.g., HR, costs, IT) and project performance management (e.g., project scoring, portfolio management, capacity management). Customers can completely adapt and extend the models and logic to meet their specific requirements. Following initial implementation, business power users can develop Performance PM applications in a self-service manner without specific programming skills.
Performance AL extends PM’s range of functions with comprehensive functionality for web-based, dynamic OLAP analyses, ad hoc reporting and data visualization. Furthermore, for customers with extended dashboarding and reporting needs, third-party integration with solutions such as Oracle Analytics and Microsoft Power BI is provided. Performance AL’s web client can be integrated as a custom visual in Power BI. Customers can enrich existing Power BI dashboards with data (views) from multidimensional sources and integrated OLAP analyses.
For data storage, Performance PM and AL use multidimensional (Oracle Essbase, IBM TM1 or Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services) and relational databases (Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server). The largest implementations in terms of concurrent users run on Oracle Essbase, but the majority of customers use Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services. IBM TM1 is the newest database option, which is particularly important within the large existing international customer base of Performance AL customers.

User & Use Cases

Customers mainly use Serviceware Performance for budgeting/planning (93 percent), ad hoc query (79 percent), standard/enterprise reporting (72 percent) and analysis (69 percent). 34 percent of respondents plan to use it for advanced analytics in the future.
Serviceware Performance targets mid-sized companies and large corporations across all industries. 48 percent of our sample of Serviceware Performance customers come from mid-sized companies (100-2,500 employees) with a median of 100 users, but the mean of 183 users indicates there are also several larger implementations.
Serviceware Performance is geared to business power users with functionality for various analytics and CPM tasks. Typical tasks carried out with Serviceware Performance by business users include viewing reports/navigating dashboards (97 percent), analyzing/exploring data (79 percent) and creating reports/dashboards (72 percent), which demonstrates the feature-richness of the product.
Customers achieve an average of 11 percent usage penetration among all employees, which is below the survey average of 21 percent. This indicates that the product is focused more on trained business power users than the majority of employees.

Current vs. planned use

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5 products most often evaluated in competition with Serviceware Performance

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Percentage of employees using Serviceware Performance

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Number of users using Serviceware Performance

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Tasks carried out with Serviceware Performance by business users

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Company size (number of employees)

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Serviceware Performance

Peer Groups
VendorServiceware SE
Number of responses29
ProductServiceware Performance
Offices14 European offices in Germany (HQ), Austria, Switzerland, United Kingdom, Netherlands, Spain, Bulgaria and Sweden
Employees500 (Serviceware)
Customers400 (Serviceware Performance)
Websitewww.serviceware-se.com/