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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    Vena

    Score8.1 out of 10
    Mid-Size Companies (51-1,000 employees)
    Vena Solutions provides a financial process automation solution to automate Corporate Performance Management, accounting and budgeting, Regulatory & Compliance, and other finance-related processes. It is scaled for medium to large-sized organizations.N/A

    Zendesk Suite

    Score8.5 out of 10
    N/AZendesk is a customer support solution with built-in ticketing, conversational messaging, and live chat, designed to help businesses of all sizes and industries deliver personalized service at scale. Zendesk's AI agents are trained in CX to help Service teams resolve customer issues faster and more accurately while still providing a human-centered experience. Zendesk ultimately aims to help businesses improve time to value, reduce effort per ticket, and keep costs low.

    $69

    per month per agent

    Pricing
    VenaZendesk Suite
    Editions & Modules
    Professional
    N/A
    Complete
    N/A
    Suite Team
    $69
    per month per agent
    Suite Growth
    $115
    per month per agent
    Suite Professional
    $149
    per month per agent
    Suite Enterprise
    Contact Sales
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    VenaZendesk Suite
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalOptional
    Additional DetailsThe Professional Plan is the most flexible way to get started quickly and can be added onto as a company grows. The plan includes: Vena Platform, Customer Success Manager, Standard Support and Customer Portal. Complete Plan includes everything in Professional, plus: Vena Insights, Premium Support, Sandbox Environment, and Expert Managed Services. For a limited time, new customers who use Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central (Online) as their primary ERP can get a free year of Vena and 40% off implementation costs. Vena also offers special pricing for not for profit organizations. To learn more, speak to an expert.20% discount available with annual pricing.
    More Pricing Information
    Features
    VenaZendesk Suite
    BI Standard Reporting
    Comparison of BI Standard Reporting features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    7.9
    176 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Zendesk Suite
    -
    Ratings
    Pixel Perfect reports8.1110 Ratings00 Ratings
    Customizable dashboards8.1157 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Formatting Templates7.6167 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ad-hoc Reporting
    Comparison of Ad-hoc Reporting features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    8.0
    290 Ratings
    3% above category average
    Zendesk Suite
    -
    Ratings
    Drill-down analysis8.3277 Ratings00 Ratings
    Formatting capabilities8.3277 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration with R or other statistical packages7.4107 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report sharing and collaboration8.0247 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Output and Scheduling
    Comparison of Report Output and Scheduling features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    8.0
    232 Ratings
    1% above category average
    Zendesk Suite
    -
    Ratings
    Publish to Web7.6131 Ratings00 Ratings
    Publish to PDF8.1170 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Versioning8.1194 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report Delivery Scheduling8.1171 Ratings00 Ratings
    Data Discovery and Visualization
    Comparison of Data Discovery and Visualization features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    8.2
    160 Ratings
    11% above category average
    Zendesk Suite
    -
    Ratings
    Pre-built visualization formats (heatmaps, scatter plots etc.)8.7143 Ratings00 Ratings
    Location Analytics / Geographic Visualization8.6117 Ratings00 Ratings
    Predictive Analytics7.5133 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pattern Recognition and Data Mining8.071 Ratings00 Ratings
    Access Control and Security
    Comparison of Access Control and Security features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    8.4
    280 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Zendesk Suite
    -
    Ratings
    Multi-User Support (named login)8.1265 Ratings00 Ratings
    Role-Based Security Model8.4265 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple Access Permission Levels (Create, Read, Delete)8.4266 Ratings00 Ratings
    Report-Level Access Control8.5129 Ratings00 Ratings
    Single Sign-On (SSO)8.5205 Ratings00 Ratings
    Mobile Capabilities
    Comparison of Mobile Capabilities features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    7.2
    142 Ratings
    1% below category average
    Zendesk Suite
    -
    Ratings
    Responsive Design for Web Access6.9137 Ratings00 Ratings
    Dashboard / Report / Visualization Interactivity on Mobile7.5122 Ratings00 Ratings
    Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting
    Comparison of Budgeting, Planning, and Forecasting features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    8.4
    350 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Zendesk Suite
    -
    Ratings
    Long-term financial planning8.6317 Ratings00 Ratings
    Financial budgeting8.7336 Ratings00 Ratings
    Forecasting8.6324 Ratings00 Ratings
    Scenario modeling8.0290 Ratings00 Ratings
    Management reporting8.2326 Ratings00 Ratings
    Consolidation and Close
    Comparison of Consolidation and Close features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    7.2
    303 Ratings
    8% below category average
    Zendesk Suite
    -
    Ratings
    Financial data consolidation7.4263 Ratings00 Ratings
    Journal entries and reports6.9195 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multi-currency management6.8178 Ratings00 Ratings
    Intercompany Eliminations7.6175 Ratings00 Ratings
    Minority Ownership5.9125 Ratings00 Ratings
    Local and consolidated reporting7.3225 Ratings00 Ratings
    Detailed Audit Trails8.4265 Ratings00 Ratings
    Financial Reporting and Compliance
    Comparison of Financial Reporting and Compliance features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    8.3
    330 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Zendesk Suite
    -
    Ratings
    Financial Statement Reporting8.4296 Ratings00 Ratings
    Management Reporting8.4309 Ratings00 Ratings
    Excel-based Reporting9.0319 Ratings00 Ratings
    Automated board and financial reporting8.5249 Ratings00 Ratings
    XBRL support for regulatory filing7.199 Ratings00 Ratings
    Analytics and Reporting
    Comparison of Analytics and Reporting features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    8.3
    262 Ratings
    10% above category average
    Zendesk Suite
    -
    Ratings
    Personalized dashboards8.2223 Ratings00 Ratings
    Color-coded scorecards9.1169 Ratings00 Ratings
    KPIs8.5195 Ratings00 Ratings
    Cost and profitability analysis8.0209 Ratings00 Ratings
    Key Performance Indicator setting8.2191 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benchmarking with external data7.9147 Ratings00 Ratings
    Integration
    Comparison of Integration features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    8.1
    320 Ratings
    0% above category average
    Zendesk Suite
    -
    Ratings
    Flat file integration7.8260 Ratings00 Ratings
    Excel data integration8.9300 Ratings00 Ratings
    Direct links to 3rd-party data sources7.6237 Ratings00 Ratings
    Incident and problem management
    Comparison of Incident and problem management features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    -
    Ratings
    Zendesk Suite
    8.6
    187 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Organize and prioritize service tickets00 Ratings9.1186 Ratings
    Expert directory00 Ratings7.9127 Ratings
    Subscription-based notifications00 Ratings8.4130 Ratings
    ITSM collaboration and documentation00 Ratings7.8131 Ratings
    Ticket creation and submission00 Ratings9.3186 Ratings
    Ticket response00 Ratings9.0185 Ratings
    Self Help Community
    Comparison of Self Help Community features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    -
    Ratings
    Zendesk Suite
    8.5
    169 Ratings
    6% above category average
    External knowledge base00 Ratings8.5163 Ratings
    Internal knowledge base00 Ratings8.5156 Ratings
    Multi-Channel Help
    Comparison of Multi-Channel Help features of Vena and Zendesk Suite
    Feature
    Vena
    -
    Ratings
    Zendesk Suite
    8.4
    182 Ratings
    5% above category average
    Customer portal00 Ratings9.1150 Ratings
    IVR00 Ratings8.076 Ratings
    Social integration00 Ratings7.4119 Ratings
    Email support00 Ratings9.2178 Ratings
    Help Desk CRM integration00 Ratings8.4138 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    VenaZendesk Suite
    Small Businesses
    No answers on this topic
    Help Scout
    Score9.3 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    IBM Planning Analytics
    Score8.5 out of 10
    LiveAgent
    Score8.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    Oracle Fusion Cloud Enterprise Performance Management
    Score7.1 out of 10
    Front
    Score9.2 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    VenaZendesk Suite
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.6
    (347 ratings)
    8.7
    (225 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    8.9
    (26 ratings)
    10.0
    (43 ratings)
    Usability
    8.7
    (39 ratings)
    8.6
    (98 ratings)
    Availability
    8.7
    (10 ratings)
    9.1
    (14 ratings)
    Performance
    8.4
    (9 ratings)
    9.1
    (11 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.6
    (107 ratings)
    5.5
    (31 ratings)
    In-Person Training
    8.7
    (5 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.1
    (6 ratings)
    6.4
    (10 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.2
    (10 ratings)
    9.1
    (19 ratings)
    Configurability
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    8.4
    (5 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.5
    (9 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.1
    (6 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.0
    (6 ratings)
    9.1
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    VenaZendesk Suite
    Likelihood to Recommend
    Vena Solutions
    It is well suited for planning, budgeting, and forecasting. Using its capabilities also allows you to use it for reporting, whether it's month-end reporting or other reporting where you want to rely on data from a source that can be nicely presented and adjusted in Excel.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    Zendesk is good for small teams where work is not passed along to internal teams or situations where escalations lead to further customer interactions and no further oversight is needed. It is weak as a product for larger and medium-sized companies, where processes are in place that are not aligned with its workflow, as it is a very rigid tool.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Pros
    Vena Solutions
    • The Admin function of Vena, being able to set up the users in the user categories and the different groups and assigning the groups and the task bindings, is particularly easy and very helpful because as we have so many different departments and disciplines in our organization, we do need to establish pretty specific user access so this process works really well for us.
    • Running reports in Vena is fairly easy, and we do enjoy being able to just push a button and get some budget versus actuals.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    • Merging of the tickets with similar issues, it is easy to avoid confusion
    • Al global team somehow gets connected with different ways like Slack, with the Zendesk Suite which is so easier to highlight & the issue quickly
    • The best thing is that this tool gives you to send the message via chat-, email, call through the one single platform
    • Now AI has been added so it works good
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Cons
    Vena Solutions
    • Create an bottom-line functionality.
    • Have another license between power user and contributor that allows building reports that aren't ad hoc, but don't have all the admin rights of a power user.
    • Have a session on best in class Workforce Planning prior to implementation.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    • Is there a way for AEs and CSMs to be informed in a weekly summary of all their accounts and any tickets? Example: Disney submitted a ticket on XYZ. Google has an urgent issue on X still unresolved.
    • Is there a way for CSMs or AEs to have a Dashboard that's specific to their accounts instead of seeing all the tickets in the queue that are not relevant to them?
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    Vena Solutions
    Vena has become an integral part of finance and our daily process. Without it we would take longer to prepare results and decisions will be delayed. Vena has given the whole organization more visibility of results and budgets so that all departments participate more actively in managing their budgets rather than it being the sole responsibility of finance.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    Zendesk is an amazing tool for communicating with your customers easily. The communication tickets from sellers to us or from us to sellers are stored, and there are statuses used to make communication easy. We have internal conversations between departments, linked with useful software such as Zingtree, Talkdesk, and Webs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    Vena Solutions
    Vena is somehow easy to manipulate. If you want to map accounts, or change mapping. there are clear instructions and guidance. and also Vena AI is on the way, so i think we can leverage it more and let AI help us mapping and check errors. overall a very good product and easy to learn and set up.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    Pros: The agent interface is sleek, contemporary, and relatively easy to learn compared to many other enterprise tools. For common tasks, admins are given point-and-click options- adding fields, modifying workflows, constructing macros. The knowledge base (Guide) editor is easy to use for non-developers. Drawbacks: Once you move past the initial things - complex automations, reporting/analytics in Explore, and/or customizations integrating the API, it requires much more advanced training to use successfully. Navigating between the different modules (Support, Explore, Chat, Guide) can feel very disconnected; often you are reminded that it really is a "suite" of products brought together -not really one unified platform. If you're using multiple brands managing simultaneous support tickets, or heavily customizing workflows to meet your brand, you may run into a bit of struggle with usability. So: it's a lot more user friendly than the palaces (Salesforce Service Cloud, ServiceNow), but is not used as quickly or with as much streamlined flow as a product made for a small shop. So if you are looking for a great balance, this is a good option if you are a net new organization or an organization on their way to scaling from 15 - 50 employee. Expect some elbow grease from the admin team once learning, adapting, and working efficiently once you move past the basics with your support tickets and initial customizations.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Vena Solutions
    Vena is seemingly always available. They plan maintenance windows well in advance and always off hours (typically over a weekend) and communicate clearly throughout maintenance about what will be affected. Over 5 years of using the product, I can only remember one time when the platform was unavailable (I believe due to an underlying server hosting issue from their provider), and they resolved the issue and had everything up and running again within 8 hours.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    In the past year, I'd say I have only noticed maybe two hours total of downtime in my own usage. Very minimal.
    Read full review
    Performance
    Vena Solutions
    The performance is dependent on how much data and calculations are involved and how complex the security settings are. A simple template or report loads in seconds. A complex template or report can take a while. If there are many users with complex security settings, that will be a factor in the load time.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    There has been minor performance degradation on a very few days out of the two years I have been using the product.
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    Vena Solutions
    When I reach out to our support team, they are always able to fix any issues we are having in a timely manner. It is always resolved quickly which proves that customer support always helps out our support team with any issues so they can in turn help us quickly
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    We rarely need to contact their support team, but when we do they are responsive. However there have been notable times when communication between myself and the support rep was challenging despite me providing clear explanation of the issue, screenshots, and a thorough explanation of the goal we hope to achieve. It took several back and forth attempt, on a few occasions, to get resolution on an otherwise simple request
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    Vena Solutions
    This is the best way to learn and buy-in. The in person effect gives students both a hands on approach but an instruction to be there to customize assistance and understanding. In person also builds greater buy in with your future team on creators. However if your audience is better at on line learning this is another good option.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    Vena Solutions
    The training was structured as a group training to learn the basics of creating a data model and mapping a template. While we had nearly 10 participants, I was the only actual implementer so we probably didn't actually need the training and could have just learned the initial skills from the implementation consultant. Two years later, when we hired a new team member, they completed several modules in Vena Academy (a self paced learning course) which allowed them to get up to speed on the basics with just a bit of supplemental guidance from me as our existing admin.
    Incentivized
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    Zendesk
    Zendesk has tons of available material for training - videos, webinars, articles, etc. The only reason this is not a 10 is because it can be hard to figure out how to navigate to these things and find what you are looking for.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    Vena Solutions
    The Vena consultant had great knowledge of both the Vena solution and Excel and Excel functions. He was able to help suggest ways to build our templates that met our requirements using Excel functions we had not previously considered using. And we have been able to use the Excel information he provided in other ways outside of Vena. He was very patient and flexible as we learned the Vena tool and created templates
    Read full review
    Zendesk
    I was very satisfied. They have a free trial for 30 days and I recommend you do that and use it. It is very easy to get started with the basics and the build on over time.

    The only thing technically complex was single sign-on and integration to Salesforce.com required some tweaks – otherwise setting up system was very easy
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    Vena Solutions
    Previously used Synario for long-term forecasting. Ultimately moved to Vena for this to keep budgeting and forecasting together in a single solution. Vena's system is much easier to learn on the admin side since it is Excel-based so the transition was pretty simple. Previously used Jenzabar with JICS for budgeting. Vena's budget system is more user-friendly for end users and more flexible so it works better for our specific needs. Vena's reporting system is easier to use and customize.
    Incentivized
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    Zendesk
    At the time of evaluation, Dynamics had extremely limited knowledge and support capabilities. The UI is clunky, and reporting requires a deep understanding of the underlying data structure. Ongoing maintenance was costly and didn't provide a positive ROI in any sense of the term.
    Incentivized
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    Scalability
    Vena Solutions
    Vena solutios is a software that provides robust tools that help different departments in their statistics and we can visualize a lot of promising and visually attractive data. Vena Solutions' level of scalability is high and sustainable over time thanks to the fabulous technical support that is ready to help us at all times
    Incentivized
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    Zendesk
    WHY we will use Zendesk in HR and PD internally
    Incentivized
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    Return on Investment
    Vena Solutions
    • Vena has helped save time by reducing the manual work involved with budgeting, reporting, and variance analysis. Instead of spending as much time organizing data and reconciling spreadsheets, I can focus more on reviewing results and making informed decisions. It has improved collaboration between teams and provided better visibility into financial performance, creating more efficient processes overall.
    Incentivized
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    Zendesk
    • More than anything, provided a boost to our perceived professionalism. The portal is a massive improvement on email only support.
    • Workflow optimization via macros and automations has enhanced response times and raise our 'first call resolution' metric.
    • Speaking of metrics; having them at all! Before Zendesk Suite we were email only so had no insight into agent and vendor performance.
    Incentivized
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    ScreenShots

    Vena Screenshots

    Screenshot of Operation Expenses - Predictive AnalysisScreenshot of Allocations DashboardScreenshot of Vena Add InScreenshot of Power BI DashboardScreenshot of Operational Expenses - Drill through analysisScreenshot of Process Status Dashboard

    Zendesk Suite Screenshots

    Screenshot of the Zendesk Agent WorkspaceScreenshot of Omnichannel MessagingScreenshot of Zendesk TicketingScreenshot of Bots powered by Zendesk AIScreenshot of Tone shift with Zendesk AIScreenshot of Zendesk ticketing side conversations