Mark Smith's Analyst Perspectives

Here are some insights on SAP drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides an analytic assessment of how well vendor offerings address buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research Value Index on Sales Performance Management 2019 is the distillation of a year of market and product research efforts by Ventana Research. We evaluated SAP and eight other vendors in seven categories, five product-related adaptability, capability, manageability, reliability and usability) and two concerning the vendor (TCO/ROI and vendor validation). To arrive at the Value Index rating for a given vendor, we weighted each of the seven categories to reflect its relative importance in an RFP process, with the weightings based on data derived from our benchmark research on sales performance management.

SAP ranks sixth overall in this Value Index evaluation. The vendor is a Value Index Leader in Capability, demonstrating strong support for the product line and longevity in the market.

Its product, SAP Sales Cloud, is a portfolio of applications that includes those acquired from CallidusCloud in 2018. The sales performance management focus of the offering reflects a very mature product line that is in use by a significant number of organizations today and well known for its balanced offering. This breadth is reflected not just in the Capability rating but also in the vendor’s performance in Reliability, Manageability and Adaptability.

Our assessment of SAP finds room for improvement in the product’s Usability and the accessibility of the offering for all roles. Online information and demonstrations would improve the user experience. The vendor also could improve the customization and integration of the platform and provide better online information about the services and tools to help an organization build a business case.

SAP’s acquisition of CallidusCloud was a smart move, bringing in a well-established offering in sales performance management. The vendor has an opportunity to ensure further investment and relevance in the broader SAP Sales Cloud offering and to continue to innovate and advance the product line.

This research-based index is the most comprehensive assessment of the value of sales performance management software in the industry. You can learn more about our Value Index as an effective vendor selection and RFI/RFP tool here. Participating vendors can learn more about how to use the Value Index here.