CPM Gartner 2016 – What’s New?

MeltOne has taken the time to analyze the 2016 Magic Quadrant for Corporate Performance Management solutions for you.

Breaking news! Gartner’s 2016 season for Corporate Financial Management solutions is starting… but what exactly are we talking about?
A brief breakdown: Gartner classifies software packages on the market into 4 categories—Niche Player / Challenger / Visionary / Leader—based on two criteria:

• Their ability to execute or provide the expected service (ability to execute),
• The completeness of vision and functional range (completeness of vision).

The acronym CPM (Corporate Performance Management) covers several business processes:

• Consolidation and closing processes,
• Financial reporting, management reporting, and financial communication,
• Budgeting, budget preparation, and forecasting,
• Strategic planning and management (what-if analysis, etc.),
• Profitability modeling and optimization.

The main innovation of this 2016 season? Two Quadrants instead of one!

For those who haven’t discovered it yet, the 2016 version of the Magic Quadrant for CPM solutions takes a real turn in its analysis and positioning. Indeed, in this new version, there is no longer one Magic Quadrant but two! One for FCPM (Financial Corporate Performance Management) solutions, and one for SCPM (Strategic Corporate Performance Management) solutions.

With this observation made, it is important to note that some of the solutions present in the 2015 Magic Quadrant are now positioned in a single Quadrant, while others remain present in both. Why this change? Gartner wanted to separate solutions for reporting and financial disclosure from solutions for planning and decision support.

Okay, but what does that mean in concrete terms? That from now on, we find FCPM solutions on one side, supporting financial or management closing processes as well as the production of associated reporting:

• Financial consolidation,
• Financial reporting,
• Reporting/cost/forecast management,
• Reconciliation/closing management,
• Inter-company transactions and financial publications (disclosure management).

And on the other side, SCPM solutions supporting strategic planning and performance management processes:

• Strategic planning
• Translating strategic objectives into operational targets
• Strategic / operational planning reconciliation
• Operational performance management (margin and activity monitoring)

From our point of view, this new classification brings more clarity to clients in the very crowded CPM solutions market and helps avoid penalizing “specialized” solutions compared to more “generalist” solutions in a tool selection process.

Our analysis of these two Quadrants.

• On the general vision

In addition to the dichotomy of the CPM offering presented previously, which remains the main innovation, we note that historical leaders are struggling and being caught up in terms of vision. However, they remain solid players, unlike former challengers or niche players who are leaving the Quadrant, notably Talentia. Darwin, you’ve got us!

Cloud solutions are clearly pushing harder and harder. Does this mean that non-cloud solutions no longer have a future? No, quite the contrary, especially for sensitive data where companies will often hesitate to turn to the cloud and prefer to opt for on-premise. Regarding the SCPM offering, it remains very congested with 16 players (compared to 10 for FCPM). MeltOne bets that the 2017 season will see fewer actors in the cast… Darwin, again and again.

• On positioning

Some solutions keep a foot in both camps: this is the case for TAGETIK, SAP (which is refreshing its offering with Cloud for Planning), Oracle, and Host Analytics, which continue to cover the entire CPM range – which will surely delight fans of all-in-one solutions!
Others are clearly positioned in only one of these camps (for example Anaplan, which appears only in SCPM but with very good positioning). Finally, new players are arriving in force: this is the case for Blackline in the FCPM section, driven by its reputation in Fast Close. Finally, there are the big “tumbles”: SAS and IBM are retreating, sometimes even becoming challengers.

MeltOne can help you make the right choice!

MeltOne can support you through all phases of your project, from the upstream scoping and tool selection phases to the implementation phases.

MeltOne today has satisfied clients and established partnerships with SAP, Anaplan, and TAGETIK solutions, all three of which are cited in the FCPM and SCPM Quadrants.
Do not hesitate to contact us: jsaconna@meltone.com