Workday Adaptive Planning Erfahrungen

Great Product

Kommentare: We are going into our third budget cycle using Adaptive and it has made our process much more efficient. Prior to using Adaptive we played budget ping pong, bouncing spreadsheets back and forth and then once we landed on a final version the Finance team consolidated the numbers. Adaptive is great because you can see the impact of a change to the consolidated budget in real time. This is a great software for the Finance team as well as the budget / business managers.

Vorteile:

There are many great features including: audit trails, notes, role permissions and security, the ability to quickly create versions, great technical support, and it’s cloud based.

Nachteile:

There is a report builder in Adaptive and it’s easy to use. However, I do feel like they have focused on making improvements in other areas and the reporting hasn’t made as much progress. I do think this is one area that could use some improvements.

An FP&A Dream Tool

Kommentare: I will always recommend Adaptive to FP&A professionals. Once you use it and truly understand it, I'm sure you will do the same. There is little wonder why they are a leader in the SaaS space.

Vorteile:

A cloud-based tool that enables you to forecast and budget different scenarios. OfficeConnect (an add-on feature) allows you to create reports directly in Excel and increases overall team efficiency.

Nachteile:

Setting up Adaptive Insights is a crucial, timely, and difficult process. However, the time you put into building your instance initially saves time and pays dividends in the future.

Great tool for budgeting

Kommentare: An excellent tool for budgeting once you have put in the time to learn to use it, you always have the feeling there is more to the software than you know how to use.

Vorteile:

It is super flexible, allowing the user to enter costs by category, department/dimension/cost centre and easily switch between views. You can write little formula to budget by run rate, uplift by a percentage or similar to prior year phasing. You just need to learn a few rules.

Nachteile:

It does not interface well with Workday itself, there was no way I could import staff basic salary into AP from Workday by department and employee for instance.

Sophisticated, but slow software

Kommentare: The actual forecast model is very nice, but I wish the software could be more user-friendly, and faster.

Vorteile:

Adaptive Planning is very sophisticated. There are so many ways models can be created, and it supports so many different versions which I love. I can create a forecast for every single GL account for every different department of the company.

Nachteile:

First, the software is very slow for a company at around 1000 size. If you make even a slight forecast/formula update, it can take 30mins to an hour before you can start using it again. Also, the formulas are very difficult to learn. The formula assistant feature definitely helps, but the way the formula is structured, it's almost impossible to use without the assistant.

Reliable service

Kommentare: I feel that the software is bright and easy to use. I like how the widgets and the placements overall of the dashboard makes it easy to find what your looking for.

Vorteile:

Workday is aesthetically appealing and easy to navigate. As someone who is not tech savvy I appreciate when things are straight forward and not complicated. On a random note, the very unique logo makes it easy to find on a clutter computer dashboard.

Nachteile:

I have been using this software for almost a year and have no complains to share at this time. I truly recommend this product.

Adaptive User

Kommentare: excellent tool for forecasting, budgeting and reporting

Vorteile:

Very easy to use and set up as well, also easy to able to be deployed across the business and user training required is minimal.

Nachteile:

to start with it is cloud based and very easy to begin with

Outstanding Planning and Reporting Platform

Kommentare: We plan at a very granular level, and Adaptive's formulas and overall approach to modeling has made this tool a pleasure to work with. Like any new tool, it took our team a little bit of time (~3 months) of getting used to it, but this is simply a tool we can't live without now. In addition to the feature set, the customer support is outstanding. Very responsive to questions and highly knowledgeable on a variety of topics.

Vorteile:

Feature set is very strong. Customer support is among the best in the industry. Highly responsive to detailed technical questions.

Nachteile:

Like any new platform, it took our team a few months after go-live to really utilize the power of the tool, but now it simply a resource that we can't live without.

Adaptive is great for small to medium sized enterprises

Kommentare: I use adaptive for 5 year planning, strategic modelling & scenario planning

Vorteile:

The ability to build a bottoms up budget/forecast is an attractive component on this software. It is an assumption based model that is easy to follow and update in the backend

Nachteile:

There is some functionality that it lacks for assumption sheet creation.

Reliable and easy to use tool for data business planning

Vorteile:

It has easy-to-use features that are good for reporting, planning, and data visualization.

Nachteile:

The only that I don't like with this software is that it freezes and crashes on my computer. But I think I need upgrades on my computer. Overall, the software is good.

Review

Kommentare: My experience of using Workday Adaptive Planning is very good since my work is related to analyzing data's of financial planning's etc.

Vorteile:

Workday Adaptive Planning is very convenient to use especially when it comes to financial planning solutions and enterprise planning, they really provide it.

Nachteile:

I don't see any downside or lack of this product and that is why I rated it 10.

Adaptive has created a tool that is easy to use and provides value almost instantly.

Vorteile:

I love the ease of creating a budget and the ability to quickly create a new forecast. Adaptive has created a formula wizard that is similar to excel, which makes it easy for excel based planners to easily adapt. Adaptive also has an excel interface for reporting, OfficeConnect which makes reporting even easier. They have also created an upload feature to easily maintain your hierarchy, dimensions and attributes. For a company as large as ours it makes the maintenance of the system easier. Since Adaptive is Cloud based there is no sharing excel files. I can work with anyone in my organization from anywhere and we are all able to access the same file. Since everything is housed in Adaptive we are able to collaborate easier and make better decisions.

Nachteile:

There is always room for improvement and Adaptive is always listening to its customers. There are some features that make reporting a little clunky, rollups. They recently updated the reporting tool within Adaptive, but it doesn't seem as user friendly as the older version. Hopefully over time it will be easier to use.

Consistency and savings through use of Adaptive Planning

Kommentare: When I started in my role as Manager of FP&A with an agricultural inputs company, one of my first tasks was to move our planning and forecasting processes away from Excel workbooks. Trying to manage P&L's for 200+ retail locations and departments, combined with nearly 2,000 employees, during a high-growth period proved to be challenging, to say the least. Adaptive Planning has streamlined our planning and forecasting cycles and helped us to standardize metrics, reporting and analysis. Through the use of multiple versions, we have the ability to compare plans, forecasts and actuals across the organization. My only regret related to Adaptive Planning was the timing of our implementation. We started our implementation in late-July and finished in October, which coincided with our annual planning cycle. We survived, but I would not recommend this timeline! Pros:
1) Implementation was relatively quick (even though we implemented during our annual planning cycle).
2) Affordability compared to other SAAS and on-site alternatives.
3) Flexibility allows us to mold portions of the product to our needs.
4) Customer support is excellent and timely.
5) Tool can be maintained by Finance; IT involvement is not required for installation or maintenance.
6) Ongoing product enhancements continue to improve this product.
7) Office Connect allows for creation of templates in Excel, Word and PowerPoint. Updating with current results is a simple refresh button-click.
8) Attributes and dimensions allow for unlimited slicing/dicing of organizational data. Cons:
1) Only a single organization structure is currently available in a single-instance installation. This has caused some headaches, especially in the window of year-end close and progressing into a different organization structure in the new year. We have worked around this issue by utilizing level attributes to view our data in multiple structures.
2) The reporting side of the tool could be improved, including automating linkage to standard distribution/reporting platforms. For example, we use SharePoint for distribution of standard reports, but publishing reports from Adaptive to SharePoint is currently a manual process.

The software will change you life...Seriously!

Vorteile:

This suite of products have changed the way we inform our leadership of the state of our operations each month. We no longer spend days and days preparing dry financials. Now, we are generating useful statements in seconds along with instantaneously seeing that same financial and operational data visualized in Adaptive Discovery in our interactive scorecard. The ease of use, and the level of support are the two greatest things about Adaptive.

Nachteile:

The tools do everything we ask of them, and more. The monthly load of data from our GL and the operational data from other source systems being a manual process is my ultimate least favorite thing. We are implementing the Adaptive Discovery connector so that the data will be loaded in the future at the push of a button. That should take care of it, though. I think if I had to identify my next least favorite thing it's probably the high bar that it sets for all of our other reporting from other systems.

Time Saver

Kommentare: Although it takes some dedicated time and experience to set this product up I would say it is the top time saving piece of software I have ever used. I was able to setup our company plan with limited assistance from Adaptive. The assistance I did receive was top notch and always available with short advance notice. I opted to use a Adaptive consultant and deal with her on the phone.
The product has been nothing but a time saver. It pays for itself many times over on a monthly basis. Being a startup I am constantly running new spins and versions of the budget and there is no way I could run as many scenarios using just excel. Days worth of work are reduced to hours. Like I said, it pays for itself many times over. I currently run a static budget and forecast on a monthly basis. I also run a one year rolling forecast that I will easily roll into my 2017 budget at year end. I would not hesitate to recommend this product to any of my fellow finance professionals.

Vorteile:

Easy to run scenarios. Copy the forecast and make changes as necessary. Reporting is a breeze and no problems to do all kinds of variance analysis.

Nachteile:

It's complicated to get up and running. You need a dedicated resource to take the time to learn the product. I would say my biggest issue is the weak help manuals.

Quick results with an intuitive design

Kommentare: This is a very robust software, that allows a strong look into the performance of your Company. The software has changed the way we are able to analyze our business.

Vorteile:

I love the adaptability and ability to gain access to various information. It has allowed much greater access to analyzing our Key Performance Indicators.

Nachteile:

For items that are not uniformly put into our accounting system, there are some workarounds needed to figure out how to display the correct data.

flow and transparency for FP&A

Kommentare: I've been using Adaptive since 2011, and I am fully satisfied with the Adaptive suit. Every year they are improving and developing the suit of services and product. I might be biased but the ease of use of the platform is really what's important for me. The flow and transparency of the data is equally important. I don't think I could be as good as I am when it comes to FP&A and reporting if it wasn't for using Adaptive.

Vorteile:

everything- ease of use

Nachteile:

none

Proactivity over Reactivity

Kommentare: Our initial implementation was rough. Our 3rd party consultant tried to fit our unique companies into their cookie-cutter implementation package and it didn't work out. Since rebuilding on our own, we have a model that works well for our family of companies and we are able to continually improve in conjunction with frequent Adaptive Suite upgrades and continued learning.

Vorteile:

Ease of use, customer service.

Nachteile:

Web reporting

My experience with Adaptive

Kommentare: Adaptive is a great business platform for budgeting, collaboration, and report generation. In my company it is my job to provide managers with useful tools to help with different aspects of business unique to their functional area. The pros of Adaptive:
1) Brings departments together by providing one platform to easily manage and control budgets.
2) Allows for a quicker budgeting process.
3) Different access levels allow top managers to control what different departments can see.
4) Can store years and years of data all of which can be easily accessed.
5) Can be accessed from anywhere in the world with internet connection.
6) Reports can easily be created. Depending on the complexity and type of report, reports can be customized and suited to the needs of the user. Some report types are interactive, different scenarios/results can be presented depending on the user's selections. The cons of Adaptive:
1) It takes a little long to get used to.
2) Creating formulas and rolling them out can be very challenging. (A lot of trial and error)
3) Reading through the tutorials can be time consuming. I wish they had more practice videos. Overall, Adaptive is an awesome business platform. Once you get the hang of it you really begin to enjoy it. It allows you to create so much, the amount of reports that can be generated is endless. Furthermore, you can easily upload data and track budgets. This is a great tool for managers especially those with large budgets and variable costs.

Planning and forecasting made easy.

Vorteile:

The ease of creating forecast versions provides a quick way to develop multiple scenarios during the forecasting process.

Nachteile:

The performance, in terms of responsiveness, in rendering of the sheets and reports, is quite slow. Also, setting up model account calculations, is not as easy.

Adaptive Insights: Forecasting tool true to its name

Kommentare: Adaptive is a much better tool than Excel in handling data as time is not wasted in linking different spreadsheets and validating versions. It is easier to implement throughout the organization so that managers and employees can log in to check the status. It makes the process of monthly forecasting easy and this we can focus on analyzing the results rather than spending time in gathering data in Excel.

Vorteile:

1. Adaptive can link to Office Connect and users can remotely connect to the system without the need of a VPN. 2. What-if scenarios help the managers to design systems which give it a strong forecasting ability. 3. It offers a dynamic interface and offers a cloud access by means of which people can enter data from anywhere and trends are visible dynamically.

Nachteile:

1. It requires quite a bit of practice to be proficient in the use of Adaptive. So, it takes some time to be an efficient user of the software. 2. The graphics are not that great, so you might an additional software to get presentable results. 3. Monthly forecasting is the lowest level of forecasting that we can see which limits its use to an extent if businesses want to see more detailed forecasting.

Flexible, User Friendly Software

Kommentare: Our Finance team switched to Adaptive Planning from another software that was very inflexible and required both outside consultants and house IT staff on a regular basis. Adaptive Planning was a very smooth implementation. It allows great flexibility in your planning models without the heavy reliance on consultants and IT. The ad hoc reporting and additional benefit of Office Connect have been very valuable in our planning processes.

Vorteile:

Flexible, cloud based, user friendly

Adaptive Insights

Kommentare: I use adaptive planning for corporate budgeting and long term forecasting. It is a great tool that is very flexible. Being able to build the financial model in a collaborative, team based manner instead of in numerous different excel models is a much better process.

Vorteile:

[1] Version comparison is easy for variance analysis [2] Adaptive office connect is a very useful excel based reporting tool [3] Flexible system based planning and scenario analysis accelerates planning cycles and reduces data integrity issues

Nachteile:

The biggest issue that i have run into is the way actuals flow into locked plan versions. If you have a formula in a locled plan version that references actuals and you change the actuals data, then it will change you plan numbers even though the period is locked.

Decent software tool, but could use greater reporting capabilities.

Vorteile:

Easy to navigate and use. Process for uploading and downloading are nice and simple.

Nachteile:

Very basic reporting features, lacks more robust reporting capabilities. Would be nice if they added a screen freeze feature to lock the initial view when scrolling.

Very Flexible

Kommentare: We love the many options and flexibility that we have with Adaptive. Everyone that we have worked with has been awesome!

Vorteile:

Flexibility

The fastest updating planning software available

Vorteile:

I love how quickly one single change flows through all our financial statements and reports and views.

Nachteile:

Our customer service has been a little spotty, but the software is awesome enough that I would still recommend it.