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A Major New EPM Platform Has Just Launched

/in /by BPM Partners

Craig Schiff , President and CEO, BPM Partners

Overview

insightsoftware has officially launched the Lineos platform for the Office of the CFO.

Today, Lineos consists of five modules that can be purchased and run standalone or as part of one connected platform:
–         Financial Planning (based on technology acquired from JustPerform)
–         Reporting Intelligence (developed by insightsoftware)
–         Close & Consolidation (based on technology acquired from JustPerform)
–         Account Reconciliation (developed by insightsoftware)
–         Disclosure management (based on technology acquired from Certent)

Also launching are four module-specific AI agents: Reconciliation, XBRL Tagging, Analyst, and Variance Storyteller.

Details

We see this as a major development for two main reasons: it is coming from an established and successful financial software vendor (34,000+ customers, 1,800+ partners), and it addresses planning as well as close & consolidation, a rarity for new offerings in the space.

One of the challenges insightsoftware had was that they acquired numerous products over the years and several had overlapping capabilities. Lineos addresses this by bringing together and updating their flagship offerings in each key EPM area and uniting them on a single AI-enabled platform for planning through disclosure.

This will put them in direct competition with leading EPM suite vendors focused on the midmarket, as well as some vendors that target both the midmarket and large enterprises including Prophix, Vena Solutions, Jedox, and Pigment.

Outlook

While it is always challenging to enter the market with a new offering, the products that form the core foundation of Lineos are already proven: the Certent product has been recognized for many years as a leading disclosure management solution (along with its equity management capabilities), and our own research shows customers giving JustPerform high marks for both its planning and consolidation capabilities.

We are always happy to see a new choice for customers in the EPM suite market, and we believe Lineos should be considered by midmarket organizations, especially those looking for both planning and close & consolidation.

Learn More

To see the complete ratings, recommendation rates, and customer commentary for each vendor; as well as the latest information on their planning, consolidation, and AI capabilities: Vendor Landscape Matrix Report | BPM Partners

This post previously appeared in a condensed version on LinkedIn

Understanding insightsoftware’s Acquisition of JustPerform

/in /by BPM Partners

Craig Schiff , President and CEO, BPM Partners

Overview

Today insightsoftware announced its acquisition of JustPerform, a Singapore-based CPM vendor. This is a major event in the CPM world that will expand the list of viable vendor options to choose from for both midmarket organizations and large enterprises. Let’s look at the details to understand why we believe this deal makes good sense.

JustPerform

JustPerform is a relatively new software vendor that we named our ‘Best New Vendor of the Year’ in 2022, joining the ranks of prior selections such as OneStream Software, Vena Solutions, Fluence Technologies (now part of Anaplan), and more recently Pigment. What impressed us most was that they came to market with strong planning capabilities along with equally strong financial consolidation functionality. That’s a rare occurrence that we hadn’t seen from a new vendor since OneStream entered the market over 12 years ago. In addition, they have a small, but very experienced team. Prior to launching JustPerform they had been implementing SAP BPC for several years and learned what customers liked and where there was room for improvement. Leveraging that experience they set out to build their own CPM product. What also sets the product apart is its unique process-centric approach.

As a small company, JustPerform has faced challenges competing with the more established players. While they have a strong product, they lack the financial resources to add the sales and marketing staff they need, and are also unable to easily extend their geographic reach. Most of their sales so far have been in their home region of Asia, although this past year they started to show up in deals outside of Asia and won a sizeable deal in the UK competing against some of the better-known vendors. Still, there are companies that won’t even consider them because of their size, location, and the usual questions around the long-term viability of a newer vendor.

insightsoftware

insightsoftware is a large global software company targeting the office of the CFO with numerous successful products, but lacking a modern, comprehensive, CPM solution with global appeal to lead the charge. They tried to address this by acquiring Longview Solutions several years ago, and Tidemark came along for the ride as well (having previously been acquired by Longview along with arcplan), but while Longview Tax has been very successful, Longview Plan and Longview Close have not fared as well competing against more modern solutions, and the more modern Tidemark was still building out its offering when it was acquired. JustPerform on the other hand, is ready to fill this gap today.

insightsoftware can provide the financial and people resources that JustPerform needs, as well as the infrastructure and ecosystem to accelerate their growth. In addition, their large product portfolio includes several complementary solutions such as Longview Tax and Certent (disclosure management), that can extend JustPerform’s capabilities, while also providing additional entry points for sales.

The Result

We believe this is a near perfect combination of companies and products with a mutually beneficial outcome.  While integration always takes time, we think it can be relatively quick in this instance for a number of reasons. First and foremost, the existing JustPerform product can stand on its own and is ready to go as is. Secondly, insightsoftware is very experienced when it comes to software acquisitions and in this case there is only a relatively small team to merge into the organization.

So how does this impact you? insightsoftware plans to roll out JustPerform globally (in phases), targeting both midmarket and enterprise organizations. When the dust settles you will have an additional modern and very capable CPM solution to consider, that is sold and supported by a large well-funded global organization.

Learn More

End user organizations can get our detailed report on JustPerform, or if you prefer speak to one of our analysts.

Have a project? We are one of the few advisory firms with the depth of vendor-specific knowledge and experience to help you evaluate and compare solutions such as JustPerform/insightsoftware with OneStream Software, CCH Tagetik by Wolters Kluwer, Anaplan, Oracle, SAP, Vena, Prophix, Planful and many others. Get the details.