SAS Data Management vs. Varicent vs. Xactly

When data is in a system that needs a complex transformation to be usable for an average user. Such tasks as data residing in systems that have very different connection speeds. It can be integrated and used together after passing through the SAS Data Integration Studio removing timing issues from the users' worries. A part that is perhaps less appropriate is getting users who are not familiar with the source data to set up the load processes.

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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.

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The software is well-suited when it comes to tracking and monitoring your commission estimates. It's an easy, user-friendly way to understand what sales went through, and what sales disappeared. I think it could also be improved by showing what changed. So if I log in one day and I have a sale and the next day that's gone. I think an updated running log on what changed is important, even what's been added, like if I log in, show me like plus, you know, 5,000 in sales or something like that.

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• SAS/Access is great for manipulating large and complex databases.
• SAS/Access makes it easy to format reports and graphics from your data.
• Data Management and data storage using the Hadoop environment in SAS/Access allows for rapid analysis and simple programming language for all your data needs.

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• 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

• Xactly Incent allows quick feed changes with Connect.
• Xactly Incent allows intuitive plan design so that quick changes can be made with plan changes.
• Document Management allows quick disbursement of plans to reps as well as record management of the plans.
• Xactly Incent allows visibility to the reps at any time so that they do not have to wonder what their commissions are.

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• Requires third-party drivers to connect to common data sources like SFDC, MS SQL, Postgres.
• Debugging errors from the logs is a complicated process.
• E-mail alert system is very primitive and needs customization to make it more modern,
• Cannot send SMS alerts for jobs.

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• 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.

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• Giving more than one manager access to view a participant's data. For dual reporting employees.
• Would like more flexibility with the Standard Incentive Statement.
• Easier process for setting up the new year.
• The drill down function to get to the detailed data is limited to 20 standard columns. Would like it to be customizable by component.

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We are happy with the software and its functionality. As a SAS-shop, DataFlux is a logical choice for complex data integration.

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.

We have been using Xactly as a primary application to calculate the commissions payout on a daily basis and would continue the same as Xactly Incent meets our requirement. It keeps the process automated and reduces the manual effort to calculate commissions.

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The main negative point is the use of a non-standard language for customizations, as well as the poor integration with non-SAS systems. However, there is no doubt that it is a high-performance and powerful product capable of responding optimally to certain requirements.

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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.

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From an admin perspective, the software's usability is high. The different components are organized in a way that is easy to figure out, for example, all elements of a plan are under the Plan Design section. There are some areas where searching within the system is a bit cumbersome because after clicking into a result and back out it clears your filter. I found the software easy to navigate when I first started and the amount of documentation and helpful videos they have on the community and within the University make the system even easier to learn.

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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.

In general the system is nearly always available. But the daily achievement calculation takes a hugh amount of time. therefore it was in the past month sometimes only from midday onwards completely updated and usable for Sales employees. Xactly support was and still is working hard to get it available early mornings. Availablility time has increased a lot. It's now down to around 10 am in the moring

It worked as expected.

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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.

Xactly Incent performs extremely well. I have not experienced it "slowing down" when usage is heavy. This is particularly true when it comes to the regular recalculation of credits and commissions. It is not uncommon for Xactly to be dealing with hundreds of thousands of orders/credits in a pay period, but the system handles it well. Xactly recently changed their calculation engine and the speed for regular refreshes increased significantly.

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With SAS, you pay a license fee annually to use this product. Support is incredible. You get what you pay for, whether it's SAS forums on the SAS support site, technical support tickets via email or phone calls, or example documentation. It's not open source. It's documented thoroughly, and it works.

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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.

They take the time to understand the system. They keep us updated on the status of our cases. Finally, their continued follow up ensuring the initial issue was resolved is very nice. They will not close the case out until they have confirmed that our issue has been completely resolved and fixed.

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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.

Awesome product, easy to use during daily activities. Reporting and user experience are very well organised. The sales team also likes this tool for reviewing their commissions at any time, which provides real-time updates. For new hires or mid-hires, the commission calculation is working very efficiently. Every sales-side organisation must have this tool.Awesome product, easy to use during daily activities. Reporting and user experience are very well organised. The sales team also likes this tool for reviewing their commissions at any time, which provides real-time updates. For new hires or mid-hires, the commission calculation is working very efficiently. Every sales-side organisation must have this tool.

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

Xactly offers training on new releases on a monthly basis and training on basic principles regularly via registration. My experience with both is that they do not provide the in-depth knowledge necessary to truly master the system and advanced courses still do not go to the level needed to autonomously manage the system and plans. Professional services are a large part of any cloud based service such as Xactly and I feel a reliance on such paid consulting services is a great money-maker for Xactly.

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.

Go into implementation knowing how you will handle churn, if there are claw backs, treatment for every type of commission payment (i.e. new business, renewals, etc.) and know your average customer life. You'll also want details by customer for as far back as you can go (within reason).

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Because of ease of using SAS DI and data processing speed. There were lots of issues with AWS Redshift on cloud environment in terms of making connections with the data sources and while fetching the data we need to write complex queries.

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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.

Ignoring the contractual issues that we had, Optymyze is very different from Xactly Incent. I would say that both offer high degrees of flexibility, but Xactly requires greater technical knowledge to customize. Optymyze allows administrators to manipulate data in a way similar to Domo or Tableau, allowing someone who is less technical to customize it. Xactly's connect module, on the other hand, requires strong knowledge of SQL to be able to manipulate data. I've been looking to take the training for Connect, so I can't comment on the limitations or flexibility beyond that.

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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.

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It's very flexible. In most cases it can be adapted to your needs by programming which may cost extra money. We have a lot of different complans and close to 1.000 employees using Xactly in EMEA. It's mainly used by Sales and Finance

• We have more users who can connect to the many different data sources.
• Our users do have existing SAS programming knowledge and that can carry over.
• Business functions are starting to rely on SAS Data Integration Studio work product shortly after introduction.

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• 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.

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• I am not aware of the company investment, but the overall result is fantastic. Employees visibility to commissions and components of their commissions is great. They have much more accessibility to their numbers and better understanding of how commissions are calculated. They can also review commissions at their convince on the application.
• There seems to be more employee engagement and satisfaction with the overall commission process and reporting with Xactly Incent.

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A de minimis incentive was given to thank the reviewer for their time. The incentive was not used to bias or drive a particular response, nor was the incentive contingent on a positive endorsement. More Info