Like many products, Cognos Incentive Compensation Management (ICM) goes through regular updates. The most recent release was Cognos ICM 9.0 on May 5th, a follow-up to the version 8.1.3 release on February 13th. Both of these releases included some big changes. The majority of these changes affect model development – creating and modifying your system. Speaking as an implementer of ICM systems, I feel that the features rolled out this year will help me do my job easier and faster. Below are several examples to show you why. Read more
Tag Archive for: Sales Performance Management
On June 23rd Ironside hosted a High Impact Incentive Compensation Reporting and Dashboarding webinar, where we reimagined what can be done with incentive compensation reports using our expertise in and success with transforming business through an enhanced user experience. If you are a consumer or creator of reports for any level of the sales organization and beyond, then this webinar is for you. Read more
Employee compensation accounts for most of the expense base for service-oriented companies. The true ‘driver’ for this expense revolves around workforce planning. Creating a projection that matches the size of the workforce to the demands of the business can be a difficult exercise. Like most complex tasks, breaking it down into manageable components makes it easier to implement. This is the core principle behind driver-based compensation planning. Read more
On July 23rd, Ironside hosted a Transform Sales Performance Management with Dashboards webinar exploring how visualizations can inform and motivate sales organizations.
Topics covered include:
- Common sales performance management (SPM) concerns and problems
- Dashboard design best practices
- SPM dashboarding demonstration
Version 8.1.0 of IBM Cognos ICM, formerly Varicent, was released on Friday May 16th. It has become common practice to have approximately two major releases each year and several smaller releases between them. Updates roll out as needed between releases. The most important fact to remember is that the product is continuously improving to meet client needs. Enhancements start from two primary sources: implementers and business users requesting a product enhancement. Read more
IBM Vision 2014, the premier global conference for finance, risk management, and sales compensation professionals, took place in Orlando, Florida from May 18-21. There were over 1,500 Business Analytics users, clients, developers, and others in attendance. This was my first time at the conference, and there was excitement of all kinds in the atmosphere. Current and prospective clients learned how organizations and individuals solve their strategic and everyday problems using analytics. Technical sellers and implementers like me were excited to swap stories and learn what is in store for the amazing tools we use today and will use tomorrow. Sales people were glad to see their clients sharing their success stories and build new opportunities for customers. Read more
Award-winning IBM Partner celebrating 15 years re-launches as comprehensive business-focused analytics solution provider
Lexington, MA (May 16, 2014) – The Ironside Group, the award-winning North American business analytics consultancy founded in 1999, today re-launched their organization as simply Ironside. This change is both a reflection of their celebrated 15 year history, as well as a representation of their shift towards providing comprehensive solutions for organizations that are seeking to fundamentally improve performance by harnessing the power of information. The new Ironside will move toward being a one-stop shop for end-to-end analytics solutions, supporting clients from the planning phases all the way through full-scale implementations. Read more
Join us on The Road to IBM Vision as we prepare for IBM’s premier global conference for finance, risk management, and sales compensation professionals coming to Orlando, Florida from May 18-21! In preparation for Vision, we will be hosting two exciting webinars: TM1 Performance Modeler and Architect Comparison and Introduction to IBM Cognos Disclosure Management. Read more
While working as a Compensation Administrator, I used IBM Cognos ICM, a sales performance management software solution, to empower account executives to understand their compensation plan quickly, so they could get back to selling. The visualizations and rankings available in IBM Cognos ICM are excellent sales enablement tools for motivating individuals at all levels of a business. When leveraged correctly, these resources allow territory and channel managers to speed the production and delivery of scorecards and other reporting deliverables, leading to faster, more strategic decision making. Read more
On April 13, 2012, IBM announced the acquisition of Varicent, a leading provider of sales performance management (SPM) and incentive compensation (IC) analytics software. The Ironside Group loves this move as it further sets IBM business analytics solutions apart from the pack. This acquisition is continued proof of IBM delivering on its strategic growth objective of expanding its analytics portfolio to help enable a “smarter planet”. When reviewing this acquisition, it appears the most quantifiable value proposition marketed is heavily weighted towards improving back-end sales operations; “reduce sales operations administration by 40-50%, reduce commission calculation and erroneous payments by 90+%, etc.” This article is going to focus on what I believe to be the real value of a commercial IC and SPM solution. Read more
Ironside is a data, analytics, and AI consulting and technology implementation company. We work with clients to understand their business objectives and day-to-day challenges, then employ our deep expertise in data strategy, architecture and engineering, integration, business intelligence, AI, and generative AI. We create technical solutions and practical approaches designed to drive smarter, data-driven decisions across a company and help it move further and faster toward its business goals.