Unit4 named a Major Player in IDC MarketScape report

We’re delighted to announce that we have been named as a Major Player in their recent IDC MarketScape: Worldwide Cloud Enterprise Performance Management Software for Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting 2020 Vendor Assessment.

This is the first time IDC MarketScape has conducted research in this market since 2018, and the first time Unit4 has been evaluated. We couldn’t be happier with the result.

The assessment studies the planning, budgeting, and forecasting functions of EPM software products, including applications to support operational budgeting processes, corporate budget consolidation and adjustment processes, and planning and forecasting processes.

Vendors were included based on 4 criteria:

• Must have a multitenant cloud offering; but can have additional deployment models
• Must have capabilities beyond budgeting, planning and forecasting
• Must have a horizontal offering in addition to any vertical solutions
• Must have an overall North American presence of more than $25M (not just EPM)

Nine providers met these conditions and were included in the report. And to get a full perspective on their capabilities, strengths, shortcomings, and potential, they interviewed over 50 customer and partner references supplied by each vendor.

In citing our strengths, IDC MarketScape noted:

“Customers cited that the integrated platform helps them plan across different business functions.  End Users liked the product for its ease of use and ease of access through a web browser.  Interviewed customers implemented Unit4 FP&A in the cloud and like the performance, and they also reported that post implementation, the product runs quite effectively without issues.

“Customers also felt that Unit4 FP&A’s functionality and the investment in embedding machine learning into the platform, are indicators that the company continues to invest and develop the product.”

The overall purpose of the research behind the assessment is to gather and present provider intelligence which buyers can use as a guide for vendor evaluation/inclusion.  We feel it is for that reason that it was very important for Unit4 to be included.

The IDC MarketScape suggests that Unit4 be considered for the following reasons and under the following circumstances:

“Given its history in Europe, Unit4 FP&A has a long and proven record in that region, and customers that want to work with a provider with strong ties in Europe should consider this product.  The company has examples of enterprises with large transaction volumes or many dimensions, and can scale well.

“The company offers different deployment models such as on premise or hosted in the cloud, and customers that require that flexibility should consider Unit4.”

But the report also highlights some challenges:

“Although Unit4 FP&A offers a spreadsheet add-in to users that want to continue to use Excel as a frontend, most of their customers use the Unit4 UI. Customers also cited that they would like more flexibility with pricing for different user roles as it becomes quite costly to purchase full licenses for casual or occasional users.

Unit4 FP&A has a strong presence in Europe but does not have the same mindshare in other geographies. The company is trying to grow its presence in other areas such as North America but will face stiff competition from established players.”

We’re always looking to overcome challenges like this, and our roadmap looks to address many of them. And as the report notes, we already have a strategy in place to expand our presence in markets we haven’t historically served.

Given the maturity of the market and wide geographical reach, we feel that our performance can only improve in the future as we expand our presence into new markets and apply our strategic roadmap to continue serving our customers and our reach.