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. Serviceware Performance is used by approximately 400 customers.
Serviceware Performance PM 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 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 and project performance management. Customers can completely adapt and extend the models and logic to meet their specific requirements.
Performance AL extends PM’s range of functions with 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, IBM or Microsoft) and relational databases (Oracle or Microsoft). 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
63 percent of Serviceware Performance users are planning users – just around the survey average of 64 percent – reflecting the fact that it is essentially a planning and CPM tool with complementary analytics functionality. This is also reflected in the area of planning use cases and other use cases. Customers leverage Serviceware Performance for financial planning (75 percent) and operational planning (53 percent). Here, planning takes place at different aggregation levels. Serviceware Performance is particularly used for budgeting (88 percent) and forecasting (61 percent). Besides planning, customers mainly use Serviceware Performance for ad hoc query (84 percent), standard/enterprise reporting (79 percent) and data analysis (69 percent). Many respondents plan to use it for strategic planning (37 percent) and dashboards/scorecards (36 percent) in the future.
Serviceware Performance targets mid-sized and large companies across all industries. 56 percent of our sample of Serviceware Performance customers come from mid-sized companies (100-2,500 employees) with a median of 95 users (including 45 using planning functionality), but the mean of 201 users (116 for planning) indicates there are also some larger implementations.
Current vs. planned use (planning use cases)
N=34
Current vs. planned use (besides planning)
N=33
Percentage of employees using Serviceware Performance
N=34
Planning users (as a percentage of all users)
N=34
Total number of users per company
N=34
Planning users per company
N=34
Company size (number of employees)
N=34
Summary of Serviceware Performance highlights
With 34 top ranks and 30 leading positions across four peer groups, Serviceware Performance once again achieves an outstanding set of results in this year’s Planning Survey. Convincing ratings in several important KPIs help to consolidate its position as an effective planning and CPM platform in the DACH region. Companies can benefit from using Serviceware Performance in terms of increased transparency of planning, improved integration of planning with reporting/analysis and more precise/detailed planning. In turn, these benefits lead to a better quality of planning results for many customers. 97 percent of Serviceware Performance users say they would “definitely” or “probably” recommend their planning product to other organizations – a great indicator of customer satisfaction.
Customer Experience – Top-ranked
Peer group: Operational Planning-Focused Products
Self-Service – Top-ranked
Peer group: Operational Planning-Focused Products
Planning Functionality – Top-ranked
Peer group: Operational Planning-Focused Products
Customer Satisfaction – Top-ranked
Peer group: BI & Analytics-Focused Products
Vendor Support – Top-ranked
Peer group: BI & Analytics-Focused Products
Want to see the whole picture?
BARC’s Vendor Performance Summary contains an overview of The Planning Survey results based on feedback from Serviceware Performance users, accompanied by expert analyst commentary.
Contact us to purchase the Vendor Performance Summary- Register for a free sample Vendor Performance Summary download
- If you have any questions, feel free to contact us
