Board vs. Varicent

Board is a useful tool with a great set of features. We migrated from human apps to board and we find it relatively fast in search results and better-managed threads and forums. There are some areas, such as UI and interactions which could be improved but overall a great product. The learning section is also pretty good.

For the use cases we have at the bank, ICM is a perfect solution. For any bank or institution that has similar requirements, ICM would be a perfect solution. But I also think for any use case that has any sort of incentives based on Sales done, this would work amazing, as both Calculations and reports are handled by ICM very well; it's an all-in-one solution, I feel like.

Incentivized

• The user interface is intuitive and easy to navigate
• You don't need programming knowledge to create dashboards which is a great flex for non-technical users
• You can seamlessly convert large, raw, and complex data to meaningful reports to visualize better and plan to act accordingly
• The financial forecasting that Board provides post-analysis is truly reliable

• Flexibility - Varicent is not template based. You can implement the model specifically for your organisation.
• Scalability - Since it is not stick to templates you are able to expand the model for other domains as well.
• Reporting - Several ways of reporting are possible and each has their own benefit/purpose.
• Strong/Powerfull Calculation Engine delivering fast results/speed to insight
• User Interface is minimized to what you need and is not showing off all the functions it can "also" do
• Strong audittrail
• Appears to be almost unlimited in what you are able to create

• Board BI tool has a steep learning curve and can be challenging for a new user to reach to board's full capacity.
• We have to use a windows scheduler to schedule data import tasks; it would be great if Board could provide its own scheduler.

• As [the] model gets more and more transactional data, the calculation time increases. This should/can be handled internally with better model optimization.
• Migrating from one env to other sometimes is challenging. There can be better 'Alerts' or 'Explanation' provided to handle it or at least to give a hint of the error.
• For managers viewing their rep's report, the access part can be made easier. It should be linked to Payee hierarchy and access can be done automatically.

Incentivized

Board is a fantastic product for swift BI solution delivery when compared with its peers. Ease of use, support and integration with Microsoft Office Addin open a wide horizon of opportunities for further enhancements to solutions. Easy bespoke app development capabilities make it a winner for us. BOARD is just like a white canvas, it lets you explore your creative side while designing and delivering a solution

Incentivized

Customer support from IBM is impeccable. They are quick to respond and they don't nickel and dime you for every request you make. Their goal is to ensure your success and as a user, I really feel like they listen to my concerns. That's not to say there are no problems. All software has its issues, but I don't feel like those issues fall on deaf ears.

From a user perspective, Board is quite simple to use. You
can evaluate the presentation of the data, the navigation, the configuration of
the users, the selection of the data etc ... It would have a better rating if
it were even more intuitive as regards the construction of a project, starting
from the database, to the info-cubes, to entities, to data acquisition
procedures from other servers.

Incentivized

Any calculations can be implemented as there are hardly any limitations on complexity. However, online real-time usability is lacking - a simple user enters, and the system calculates work in a way that it is in the browser and hence still needs overnight to be properly reflected in the batch calculations and backend tables.

Incentivized

Never went down in last 3 years that I worked with it (every hour of the day basically). That is a 10 in my book.

very fast and no integration problems

Incentivized

All is fast, but with API's it is sometimes slower due to the application we are pulling data from. Reports are loaded directly or within seconds and our reports are very detailed with many columns and rows.

The only time I needed assistance was due to a problem in
the prints: the colors of the brochures as they were on the screen were not
reproduced in the print, but a series of standard colors were reproduced. This
fact made colored numbers on a colored background illegible. From the
assistance they confirmed that it was a problem of version 10.2 that occurred
when leaving the brochures with the default colors proposed by Board. To obtain
the desired colors, they had to be personalized ... I didn't like the solution
very much and the technician who recommended it didn't like me either, but they
would have solved the problem with the following versions. In any case, the
assistance was quick and effective even if not exactly efficient.

Incentivized

Giving a 10 would suggest there is no room for improvement. I don't feel like their support is perfect. However, I have never met another team that was more dedicated to making sure we get what we want and need.

Board is fairly simple and straight forward. Advance training on workflows and procedures is a good one but the training content only touches through the interesting areas. training content needs to cover a few areas more in-depth

Incentivized

The training was good in general with a nice trainer as well. But, the training could be better if it is more focussed on our process/data etc.

There is a learning portal with many videos about navigation, creating reports and managing your model.

The problem of user profiling in our context is certainly
quite complex. The complexity is given by the fact that the company is divided
territorially into logistic points of sale, but at the same time they are
virtually divided into divisions (or specific implementation areas) and points
of sale of competence. The same operator can have access to data at different
logistic sales points, sales points of competence and divisions.

Incentivized

Test test test. Make sure that the product is calculating everyone 100% correctly. DO NOT accept a 70% pass rate as some companies would like to have you believe is acceptable. This means conducting thorough testing by providing 100% of all expected results, but it will be worth it when you know that the compensation plans are working entirely as expected.

Board has been more complete when compared to Anaplan. Although I didn't participate in the buying decision of any of those products I have used both and by far Board just has more features. It's more than a CPM, it's BI and CPM put together. If I had to make a choice now it would be Board.

In 2015, we used a scorecard containing 80 attributes in our review of Oracle, Callidus, and Xactly & Varicent. Oracle did not have true self serve capabilities- programming was heavily required, not intuitive, out of the box functionality was limited. Callidus & Xactly could not provide us a demo using our data, statements could not be sent out in bulk form, difficulty in importing/exporting to CRM. Varicent excelled in most areas and was the clear winner.

It is very scalable and adaptable to changing complexities of calculations and business rules under a variety of different scenarios. It does not get full points because in large data loads the time needed to calculate and import the data increases exponentially and may cause issues related to timing potentially.

Incentivized

• Board facilitates proactive decision making - it gives all the insights of the company's needs, which includes predictive analytics and manipulation of data to make different types of reports.
• Easy to use for non-programmer and integration with other software is seamless. It has [the] ability to handle large amounts of data.
• It facilitates advanced decision-making.

Incentivized

• Compliance - with a central system used for calculation incentive payments and commissions, we are able to provide reports and data showing every detail of how payments are calculated and why they are justified. We can also identify anomalies and outliers.
• Integration with our payroll system is seamless. Except for regular pay, nothing goes to payroll without going through ICM. The process for paying incentives/bonuses/commissions is now very structured and efficient.

Incentivized