Cloud-Based Performance Management: Why the Digital Era Demands Agile Planning

Market Overview: Corporate Performance Management (CPM)

Cloud-Based Performance Management Is a Difference Maker in Disruptive Times 

These are disruptive times. Companies not busy innovating are likely doing their best to fend off new competitors. When they’re trying to innovate or respond to change, they need visibility into business conditions and solid planning and forecasting. They need what-if analysis to test new business models and gauge the impact of new products and services. 

In this environment, old-school spreadsheet-based financial planning and analysis just won’t cut it anymore. Yet that’s what many businesses are stuck with. CPM systems introduce powerful budgeting, planning and forecasting capabilities that bring consistency, traceability and more reliable data to budgeting, planning and forecasting. 

Unfortunately, the legacy, on-premises CPM systems that still dominate the market – from Oracle, SAP and IBM – never really succeeded in being broadly adopted. They’re largely stuck in the office of finance because, as customers widely report, they’re difficult and expensive to deploy, hard to use, and difficult to change as business needs change. 

Enter cloud-based CPM, which started seeing adoption by small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs) more than a decade ago. They’re now gaining adoption by large enterprises -- following in the footsteps of other software categories -- on the strength of rapid deployment, low initial cost and minimal IT overhead as compared to on-premises options. Cloud-based CPM systems also have a reputation for being easy to configure, change and administer, and are intuitive and easy to use for business users seeking budgeting, planning, forecasting, analysis and reporting capabilities. 

The three cloud-based systems in this report, Adaptive Insights, Anaplan and Host Analytics, are among the fastest-growing CPM products. But popularity does not mean they’re right for every company or use case. This report explores the features and functions of each system and their suitability for needs including budgeting, planning, forecasting, modeling, analysis, reporting, financial consolidation and regulatory reporting. Constellation also explores each vendor’s target customer, industry specialization, geographic reach and pricing models. Read on for an in-depth take on each of these vendors along with recommendations on other vendors to watch.