Market Perspectives

We are happy to share some insights about SAP drawn from our latest market research, Ventana Research Buyers Guide: Revenue Performance Management, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.  

In all of our Buyers Guides we utilize a structured research methodology called the Value Index that includes evaluation categories designed to reflect real-world criteria incorporated in a request for proposal (RFP) and vendor selection process for revenue performance management. We evaluated SAP and six other vendors in seven categories, five relevant to the product (adaptability, capability, manageability, reliability and usability) and two related to the vendor (TCO/ROI 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. 

Our analysis classified SAP as a vendor of Merit, placing seventh overall with a 70.0%. SAP’s best performance came in Product Experience at 72.8%, ranking seventh, due in part to its third-place ranking in Adaptability. In Customer Experience, SAP placed eighth at 59.5% due to low performance in TCO/ROI and Validation. SAP was designated a Leader in Adaptability.  

SAP’s Product Experience was impacted by its performance in Manageability, where the customer experience is affected by SAP splitting RPM functionality across two product groups. Customer Experience was impacted by its performance in Validation because its use cases are fragmented and do not present a unified view of benefits. Based on its rankings across Manageability and Validation, SAP should look to unify their product lines and present a cohesive revenue storyline rather than its current separated approach.  

SAP performed best in Product Experience, notably in Adaptability, due to its comprehensive support for integration with other data sources and customization. In addition, SAP’s ranking in Usability contributed to its overall Product Experience performance.  

This assessment was based on SAP Sales Cloud, SAP SuccessFactors, v. 2305 and was available in May of 2023. 

SAP, like all revenue performance management vendors, should continue to move away from the traditional focus on new sales in a way that ensures the product fully supports the ability to plan and optimize across all potential sales and revenue channels. By making this central to their application, it provides not just a set of "what to do" tools, but also guidance on "how to" as buyers look to plan for all channels and types of revenue.  

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 Buyers Guide by clicking here and included vendors that wish to learn more can click here. Read the report here.