Market Perspectives

We are happy to share insights about SAP, drawn from our latest research, the Revenue Performance Management Value Index, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

In all our Value Indexes, we utilize a structured research methodology that includes evaluation categories designed to reflect real-world criteria incorporated in a request for proposal and vendor selection process for analytics and business intelligence. We evaluated SAP and 11 other vendors in seven categories, five relevant to the product (Adaptability, Capability, Manageability, Reliability and Usability) and two related to the vendor (Total Cost of Ownership/Return on Investment and Vendor Validation). To arrive at the Value Index rating for a given vendor, we weighted each category to reflect its relative importance in an RFP process, with the weightings based on our experience and on data derived from our Benchmark Research on Revenue Performance Management.

SAP was categorized as an Innovative Vendor, ranking seventh overall in this Value Index assessment. It ranked sixth in Product Experience, where it was designated as a Value Index Leader in Capability. It ranked seventh in Customer Experience, where it ranked best in Validation. Its overall performance was impacted by its lower rankings in Adaptability and TCO/ROI, which represent 20% of the weighting in the overall Value Index.

Our assessment finds that SAP could perform better in many evaluation categories, especially in Accessibility as its revenue applications are spread across multiple products and operating groups and do not appear to work seamlessly together. Consequently, the company ranks eighth in Manageability, requiring add-on products to perform tasks that are standard for other vendors. Organizations evaluating SAP should examine the vendor’s disparate application approach in its software for sales that enable RPM.

SAP did not actively participate in the evaluation process and request for information for this Value Index. This assessment was based on SAP’s products supporting RPM and were available at the end of 2021, and through publicly available information.

Prospective customers should look at their organization’s evolution in moving from a sales focus to a revenue focus and better understand whether existing processes and technology are a strong enough foundation for where the organization is today as well as where it is going. The added complexity of adopting multiple selling channels and a broader number of roles directly linked to revenue prompts a reassessment of whether existing processes and technology support the necessary balance of resources, incentives, and performance tracking to align all the teams involved.

This research-based index is the most comprehensive assessment of the value of Revenue Performance Management software in the industry. Technology buyers can learn more about how to use our Value Index by clicking here, and included vendors that wish to learn more can click here. Read the report here.