I’m very excited to announce to my network as well as the ever-expanding Ventana Research community that I’m now directing Ventana Research’s Office of Sales practice. The focus is to guide and educate sales and business professionals on the selling applications and technology including digital commerce, price and revenue management, product information management, sales enablement, sales performance management and subscription management. While these are the main topics of our Office of Sales practice, my decades of experience in analytics, artificial intelligence (AI) and planning are part of what I bring to the firm to help advance the science of selling.
Why I Joined Ventana Research to Lead Office of Sales
Posted by
Stephen Hurrell on Aug 21, 2020 3:00:00 AM
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Sales, embedded analytics, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Collaboration, Data, Product Information Management, Sales Performance Management, Price and Revenue Management, Digital Technology, Work and Resource Management, Conversational Computing, AI and Machine Learning, collaborative computing, mobile computing, intelligent sales, sales enablement
OneStream Wins Our Innovation Award in Office of Finance with Analytic Blend
Posted by
Robert Kugel on Aug 13, 2020 3:00:00 AM
One of the challenges of being a practically minded technology analyst is squaring the importance of “the next big thing” with the reality of what most organizations are doing. For decades it’s been the case that “the next big thing” in the world of information technology is easily several years ahead of where most organizations are in their use of technology. And before most organizations can realize the benefit of some whiz-bang technology, they frequently need to address a range of more mundane issues, such as data availability and accuracy, employee training and corporate culture, among other impediments. Sometimes, though, advanced technology works to uncomplicate things for organizations.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Human Capital Management, Marketing, Office of Finance, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Sales Performance Management, Financial Performance Management, Price and Revenue Management, Digital Marketing, Work and Resource Management, Digital Commerce, Operations & Supply Chain, Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP and Continuous Accounting, robotic finance, Predictive Planning, AI and Machine Learning, revenue and lease accounting, Subscription Management, intelligent sales
I like Louis Pasteur’s observation that “fortune favors the prepared mind.” So-called black swan events happen regularly and can have a very negative effect on a business. Of course, risk is inherent in any commercial undertaking; organizations don’t succeed by being overly cautious and reckless ones usually fail after awhile. Those that are consistently successful are ones that manage risk intelligently. That is, they correctly identify vulnerabilities, avoid the decisions and situations where risks outweigh the benefits, insure the risks that are economically insurable and quickly mitigate the impact of negative events. They are resilient in the face of change because they are adaptable.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Human Capital Management, Office of Finance, Continuous Planning, Workforce Management, Financial Performance Management, Work and Resource Management, Predictive Planning
Ventana Research has awarded IBM its 2019 Digital Innovation Award. This award recognizes the vendor’s support for identity management using blockchain technology through IBM Verify Credentials. The application is a first, small step in establishing a blockchain-enabled system for decentralized identity management, a technology that ultimately will enable point-to-point exchange of information about people, organizations or things. This form of identity management has considerable potential in the following areas:
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Human Capital Management, Collaboration, Workforce Management, Work and Resource Management, blockchain
Pursuing the Win-Win with Personalized Learning Experience
Posted by
Ventana Research on Nov 19, 2018 7:00:00 AM
Learning management technology, either as part of a larger HCM software suite or as a standalone niche solution, has evolved from its classroom-based, instructor-led origins. Modern systems deliver information the way many employees learn best, through informal social learning that is personalized and engaging. Some of these new, often mobile-enabled approaches deliver education via short (three to five minute) on-demand videos that are tailored to an individual’s specific job responsibilities or interests and increasingly involve artificial intelligence (AI) technology. AI’s role in this context is to better personalize learning content, modality and the pace of learning. In short, this is all about delivering learning the way each person learns best.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Human Capital Management, Learning Management, HRMS, Workforce Management, Digital Technology, Work and Resource Management, Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing, Artificial intelligence, employee experience, Chatbots, Personalization, Predictive HCM
A recent analysis of our sales and operations planning (S&OP) dynamic insight research provides perspective on the current state of this core business process. Using concise web-based surveys, Ventana Research’s Dynamic Insights provide research participants with an immediate assessment of their company’s efforts as well as research- and experience-based advice on potential next steps to improve. For those who wish to do a quick assessment of their own company’s sales and operations planning, the Dynamic Insight can be found here.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Continuous Planning, Product Information Management, Inventory Optimization, Work and Resource Management, Operations & Supply Chain, Enterprise Resource Planning, Sales and Operations Planning, Sales Planning and Analytics
Today’s Payroll Management Software: Strategic Value Abounds
Posted by
Ventana Research on Oct 24, 2018 6:00:00 AM
The early days of my career were spent in HR and payroll systems inside brokerage houses and investment banks. The first CHRO I reported to thought the best way to develop a plan for automating payroll management was for me to run the function’s day-to-day operations. I had no previous experience in payroll but it was a good call, as the trenches of any operations area typically reveal a cornucopia of automation opportunities. Then again, it was a different time; back then the words strategy, decision support and employee experience were rarely heard in a payroll department.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Human Capital Management, HRMS, Workforce Management, Digital Technology, Work and Resource Management, Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing, Payroll Optimization, Artificial intelligence, Total Compensation Management, RPA, employee experience, Chatbots, Personalization, Predictive HCM
Modern Digital Workforce Management Systems Are All the Rage
Posted by
Ventana Research on Sep 28, 2018 1:08:17 AM
Recent advances in workforce management (WFM) software are rewriting the way organizations tackle hourly workforce management and related administrative challenges. This is largely due to improvements in the design of business processes and a focus on enabling more hassle-free user experiences. The result is fundamental changes in how workers account for their time and request PTO, as well as how they access information on payroll, benefits and other company policies. These advances are also enabling managers to more readily consider workers’ as well as the organization’s needs when they forecast and schedule shifts. Scheduling that minimizes worker burnout from too many double shifts, for example, only makes management sense and should be a common interest.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Human Capital Management, HRMS, Workforce Management, Work and Resource Management, Payroll Optimization
AI Energizing HCM for Better Employee Experience
Posted by
Ventana Research on Jul 30, 2018 9:25:27 AM
Over the last two years, investments in digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) by nearly every major provider of HCM systems and tools have transformed the HR technology landscape. Many of the investments have gone into developing distinctive product capabilities, particularly capabilities that rely on machine learning technology.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Human Capital Management, Learning Management, HRMS, Workforce Management, Digital Technology, Work and Resource Management, Machine Learning and Cognitive Computing, Payroll Optimization, Total Compensation Management, employee experience
Prophix – Financial Performance Management for Midsize Organizations
Posted by
Robert Kugel on Dec 12, 2017 5:47:08 AM
Prophix is an established provider of financial performance management (FPM) software for planning and budgeting, forecasting, analysis and reporting, and managing the financial close and consolidation process. Its eponymous software is designed specifically for midsize companies or midsize divisions of larger corporations. These organizations are a distinctive segment of the market in that they have almost all the functional requirements of large enterprises but have fewer resources to apply to these critical tasks. Fortunately, the evolution of information technology over the past decade has been especially beneficial to midsize customers, bringing them expanded capabilities, substantially better performance and greater automation of routine tasks at an affordable total cost of ownership.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Planning, Office of Finance, Reporting, Budgeting, Consolidation, Continuous Planning, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Collaboration, Financial Performance Management, Integrated Business Planning, accounting close, Price and Revenue Management, Work and Resource Management, Sales Planning and Analytics
Unit4 Prevero Provides a Practical Alternative to Spreadsheets
Posted by
Robert Kugel on Sep 22, 2017 8:15:14 AM
In 2016 Unit4 acquired Prevero, a financial performance management software company. The acquisition reflects a trend toward the convergence of transactional and analytical business applications. ERP and financial management software vendors increasingly are adding analytic capabilities – especially in financial performance management (FPM) – to the core functions of transaction processing and accounting in order to broaden the scope of their offerings. The integration of transaction processing and analytical software is especially valuable to Unit4’s core customer base of midsize organizations, which we define as those with 100 to 1,000 employees. Midsize entities have almost the same systems requirements as larger ones but lack the resources the latter enjoy.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Marketing, Office of Finance, Continuous Planning, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Collaboration, Workforce Management, Financial Performance Management, FPM, Work and Resource Management, Operations & Supply Chain, Sales Planning and Analytics
Compensation Management Software Vendors Evaluated in Value Index
Posted by
Mark Smith on May 22, 2017 8:22:23 AM
Compensation and the processes and systems to support it are at the center of success in every organization, as I have noted recently. In our view, an investment in total compensation management software is a strategic step toward advancing human capital management. Our benchmark research on this topic found some progress in attitudes about modernizing compensation practices. Almost three-fourths (72%) of organizations said that it is important or very important to have a total compensation management system rather than a piecemeal approach. Moreover, nearly half (49%) told us they are confident or very confident that their organization currently manages its compensation processes effectively.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Human Capital Management, Office of Finance, Learning Management, HRMS, Workforce Management, Work and Resource Management, ERP and Continuous Accounting, Payroll Optimization
Effective Compensation Systems Transforms Human Capital Management
Posted by
Mark Smith on May 2, 2017 1:52:01 AM
Compensation management is essential for any organization that values engaging and retaining its employees. It is a fundamental component of a range of personnel-related activities – recruiting and hiring, assessing performance, and career and succession planning. Determining and providing appropriate compensation, which may involve base pay, merit pay, variable pay and incentives or bonuses, is equally important for all members of the workforce – full- or part-time employees, contingent or on-demand workers and contractors. Incentives are an important part of compensation. Business areas such as call centers, sales forces and field service frequently tie incentive compensation to performance objectives. Whatever the particulars, the effectiveness of compensation directly relates to the core challenge faced by human resources departments: keeping employees productive, satisfied and motivated.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Human Capital Management, Office of Finance, Learning Management, HRMS, Workforce Management, Work and Resource Management, ERP and Continuous Accounting, Payroll Optimization
Anaplan Enables Connected Planning across Business
Posted by
Robert Kugel on Apr 27, 2017 11:04:51 AM
Anaplan recently held Anaplan Hub, its annual user group meeting. The company offers a cloud-based business planning platform that incorporates a modeling and calculation engine. The tool makes it relatively easy to add or expand the scope of plans that can be connected and monitored as a central source. Companies typically use Anaplan software for financial planning or budgeting, sales, workforce, marketing and IT planning. These are the types of plans in which companies often need to create models that incorporate their specific requirements, their strategy and their business systems.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Customer Analytics, Human Capital Management, Marketing, Marketing Performance Management, Office of Finance, Recurring Revenue, Continuous Planning, Analytics, Business Intelligence, Cloud Computing, Collaboration, HRMS, Sales Performance Management, Workforce Management, Financial Performance Management, Price and Revenue Management, Work and Resource Management, Operations & Supply Chain, Sales Enablement and Execution, ERP and Continuous Accounting, Sales Planning and Analytics
Ventana Research recently announced the results of its latest Benchmark Research, Next-Generation ERP. The enterprise resource planning (ERP) system is at the core of nearly every company’s record-keeping and management of business processes. Its smooth and uninterrupted functioning is essential to an organization’s accounting and finance functions. In manufacturing and distribution, ERP manages inventory and logistics. Some companies use it to handle human resources functions like tracking employees, payroll and related costs.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Big Data, Mobile, Human Capital Management, Office of Finance, Cloud Computing, Collaboration, Inventory Optimization, Work and Resource Management, Enterprise Resource Planning, ERP and Continuous Accounting
Workforce management is a key topic of expertise for Ventana Research. We define workforce management as the set of activities and processes organizations use to manage their hourly and salaried workforce for maximum productivity. It involves not only scheduling, tracking and paying for time worked but also aligning that work to the tasks and objectives of the organization. Workforce management is a critical component of every company’s operations, human resources and overall human capital management processes, as I recently pointed out. It helps organizations manage their workforces efficiently in such areas as scheduling, time and attendance, absence tracking and clocking work time, and ensures compliance with regulations and efficient payroll processing. Thus effective support of workers, managers, management and the operations and administration of the total workforce is at the heart of workforce management.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Human Capital Management, Office of Finance, Learning Management, HRMS, Workforce Management, Work and Resource Management, ERP and Continuous Accounting, Payroll Optimization
Human capital management (HCM) offers a prime opportunity for organizations and their human resource professionals to make employee-related processes effective in engaging and retaining the workforce. Manual administrative processes often hampered HR in focusing on the workplace experience and employee satisfaction. Modern HCM applications can help them manage members of the workforce as critical assets and make continuous investment in people-related processes, deriving insights on issue such as health and benefits through analytics applied to HR information. This year we will examine attitudes and changes in how organizations approach HCM through a new research endeavor using our latest research product. We will further deepen the knowledge across six essential aspects of HCM as discussed below and outlined in our HCM agenda for 2017.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Human Capital Management, Office of Finance, Learning Management, HRMS, Workforce Management, Work and Resource Management, ERP and Continuous Accounting
Oracle and NetSuite have completed their merger. The combination is likely to be positive for customers because NetSuite will have access to “more,” a word repeated many times over the course of Oracle’s post-acquisition webcast. Existing NetSuite customers will benefit from increased investment as well as economies of scale that Oracle can bring to R&D and sales and marketing. Oracle has stated that there’s little overlap between its target customer base and NetSuite’s. However, there is substantial overlap with NetSuite’s application partner network because of Oracle’s own broad application portfolio. As such, many of these partners are likely to shift their attention to NetSuite’s cloud-only competitors (for example, FinancialForce and Intacct), which will benefit those rivals’ sales and marketing efforts.
0 Comments Click here to read/write comments
Topics: Sales, Customer Experience, Human Capital Management, Marketing, Office of Finance, Continuous Planning, Customer Service, HRMS, Price and Revenue Management, Work and Resource Management, Digital Commerce, Operations & Supply Chain, Enterprise Resource Planning, Sales and Operations Planning
Content not found
