Market Perspectives

We are happy to share some insights about Xactly 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 Xactly 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 Xactly as a vendor of Assurance, placing fifth overall with an 83.5%. Xactly’s best performance came in Customer Experience at 86.6%, ranking second, due in part to its first-place ranking in Validation. In Product Experience, Xactly placed sixth at 82.7% due to low performance in Adaptability, Manageability and Reliability, ranking sixth in all three categories. Xactly was designated a Leader in Validation.  

Xactly’s Product Experience was impacted by its performance in Usability where it could improve its ability to match functionality with persona and surface data-led insights linked to action. Customer Experience was impacted by its performance in TCO/ROI, where it could improve the communication of its value proposition to customers by using stronger business cases and more refined ROI tools.   

Xactly performed best in Customer Experience, notably in Validation, due to its commitment to customer support, in which Xactly continues to excel. Its use of informative case studies and product roadmaps also contributed to Xactly’s high performance in the Validation category.  

This assessment was based on Xactly Incent, Forecasting, AlignStar & Territories, Sales Planning, Operational Sales Management, Objectives, Commission Expense Accounting, Insights & Benchmarking, Extend, Connect, Show Me, v. 2023 - 03.0.0 and was available in February of 2023. 

Xactly, 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.