Adaptive Discovery Software

Pros

Very useful product. Depending on business needs it provides the extent of capabilities to manage and govern your business both operationally and financially

Cons

The reporting side is a little light for my needs. I like flexibility in customizing my reports to my needs.

Extremely flexible planning and reporting tool. Requires good knowledgeable about (I) the business, (ii) company's finance and accounting practices and (iii) ERP and ancillary systems.

I've been using Adaptive for about 6 months now. I'm using a model that was created by my predecessor, so I had to learn how things were set up by them. Once you get the hang of it, it's not a bad tool to use, but it's not always intuitive. I think I would have a better time if I had implemented the original model myself, but I'm getting used to it. They recently moved away from Java based reporting, which has improved the reporting system interface.

Pros

Create as simple or as complex models as you desire.
Custom reporting
Roadmap with new features coming in 2017

Cons

Not excel based
Complicated variables and formulas

This tool enables the user easily develop (with minimal time) a nicely tailored template for what-if and Actual situational planning, forecasting and reporting of a variety of metrics. Project / performance management is assisted greatly through liberal use of intuitive dashboards and analytical tools.

Pros

> Strong, secure environment - clearly developed with an appreciation of how to treat company sensitive data.
> Appropriate security levels are easily established and maintained.
> Cloud-based connectivity is the only way to go - AI does a nice job of leveraging this platform.

Cons

> Some effort is required for setup as programming keys are built on a one-by-one basis and thus training is essential for the new user.
> From an international perspective, the consolidation of multiple currency / FX data needs additional development.
> MS Office connectivity is too limited and the user is tempted to use other sw apps where integration is superior to AI architecture.

Advice to Others

Don't try to 'boil the ocean' initially. Suggest a slow build up as the user learns how the software strengths and limitations with a complex project.

There is nothing else out there that is even close to Adaptive Insights. Perfect solution for planning, consolidations, reporting and analysis. Nobody else is even close to it. Appropriate for multiple users, in multiple locations and security is of major concern as the security provided by them is amazing.

Pros

User Friendly.
Amazing user interface.
Simple and very poewrful.
Amazing customer support.
Data Integration.

Cons

Cost is high.

AI provides cost-effective consolidation of accounts across departments and even companies. It ensures that latest data is available across networks, which remains secure and is easy to manage and generate reports. The main advantage is that it develops continuously on a large user base and the backend support is always on their toes to improve the functionality of the system to better suit the business it is set up for. The time required to set it up initially is totally worth it as it offers unparalleled performance later. Another advantage is that it is really easy to track changes and thus makes it a viable tool for audit purposes. It has the capability to connect to multiple data sources and generate front end user reports.
Making changes in the system, later on, can be a little expensive so a proper analysis of the requirements initially is very important. Apart from that it is a must have software in your toolbox.

Pros

Great support

Cons

Changes in system are expensive

Advice to Others

Highly recommended for all types of industries.

Adaptive Insight is an amazing software which comes with a lot of features integrated to it. They do have an amazing customer support team which is always there to solve your problem. Though the price of the software is little high apart from that it is perfect, can't think of any other con.

Adaptive Insights is an excellent tool for maintaining data as it allows for entries in the system through just an internet connection without the need of a VPN. The administrator can set up different levels of security in order to protect the information, thus maintaining the confidentiality of data. It is definitely better than most of the other management software's available owing to its dynamic response to data and reporting capabilities.

Pros

1. Access to the sensitive information like employee salaries and the management criteria's are limited to authorized people.
2. Only needs an internet connection to access information on the system.
3. Minimal involvement of IT Department in setting up the system after the environment, so the system maintains the security of sensitive information.

Cons

1. There should be an improvement in the consolidation of data involving multiple currencies.
2. It takes some time to set up the environment as programming formulae have to be one by one and so it requires training at the initial level.
3. The connectivity of MS Office is still limited and there are some other software's which offer better integration.

Advice to Others

I believe the limitations of the software should not prevent the use of the software in any business setup. It still is one of the best tools which handles information very efficiently and can also be accessed remotely. Thumbs up from me.

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.

Pros

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.

Cons

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.

Advice to Others

I would recommend Adaptive to organizations which require a decent level of monthly forecasting and does not require high-level graphics in the results. It is an efficient tool for budgeting and is a much better tool than excel.

Adaptive provided the FP&A a great tool for planning and reporting purposes. Reporting is a breeze with Template and set up sheet. Collaboration is super easy when there are multiple people can work on the same version at the time. We really enjoy the flexibility and independence that this cloud based system provides. Not to mention the fact that you never have to worry or implement a new version, it's always maintained in the cloud.

The implementation is very quick and easy. We were up and running in a matter of weeks. The system is easy to use and change. Great connectivity with our accounting system. This is a great tool for handling the budgets for multiple companies. We really enjoy the flexibility and independence that this cloud based system provides.

Best part about this that you don't need to maintain finances anymore (it is automatic). I love that it can be completely customized for the unique details of our company.

Pros

Cloud based.
Easy to change functionality.
Easy to use and update and many more.

Cons

Product is very costly as compared to others.

Adaptive Insights is very scalable and very easy to use. Customization is very easy and easy to build reports. You can design whatever you imagine and without IT help. The what-if scenarios capability is one of its major strengths.

Pros

Very easy to use and update.
The flexibility is amazing

Cons

The multi-currency functionality needs some improvement.

Significant upgrade from spreadsheets. Improved budgeting process and provided useful reports.

Pros

Fairly intuitive

Cons

Generating reports required some training.

Advice to Others

For larger organizations it is worth the cost.

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.

Pros

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.

Cons

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.

Advice to Others

Buy it without thinking. You will never regret your decision. Dedicate a resource to the product to learn it. I'm obviously a fan and so would you be if you didn't have to work long nights and weekends spinning excel spreadsheets and chasing broken links.

Likes Best

Very knowledgable and showed us numerious demos. The sales staff did an excellent job.

Likes Least

Little more expensive then we thought. There are other products out there that are cheaper, but we felt this was the best product for what we are trying to get done.

Recommendations

This should help your budgeting process. There is a night and day difference in this product than just using Excel.

Likes Best

It is easy-to-use so we don't need any expensive technical people to maintain it. Our management and finance team own the entire solution. It is also very scalable from small organisations to large multinational multi-billion dollar revenue organisations. Scalable in the context of - price, performance, functionality and integration.

Likes Least

A few months ago I would have said the reliance on Java, but that has now been removed. It's happy days for us Adaptive customers.

Recommendations

Look at the heritage of the company to determine the guiding principles and future direction of the company. Also ask to see the solution administration functions. Some companies will offer a free POC or Trial using customer data. They go away set it up, play it back to you. This is done deliberately to hide the complexity and difficulty in setting it up. Customers are then left with a solution that is set up but they are reliant on technical people to maintain it going forward.

Likes Best

The product is easy to use and easy to adapt to new demands. As we continue to learn more about how we can use this product, the work I do compiling data has been decreasing and the time I can spend actually analyzing the data increases!

Likes Least

I would like the reporting of this product to be more robust. It can take a long time to build a report the way you would like it to look and the options for formatting it quickly are limited.

Recommendations

Before you can give a fair recommendation of this product you need to work with someone who can explain its full potential. My company was using it at first for just budgeting, but now I am using it for some monthly analysis and reporting and it works great.

Likes Best

Simplicity, ease of use. It is easy to navigate. The feel is more like Excel. The reports are also easy to build.

Likes Least

Speed seems slow at times. I also would like to have a dedicated representative from AI to our account.

Recommendations

Make the model as simple as possible. The application doesn't seem to handle a large quantity of data very well.

Likes Best

AI allows for you to build a highly customized model for real-time scenario planning, forecasting and analysis of not only financial metrics, but on the overall operation as well. Through intuitive dashboards with visual analytics that provide drill down capabilities, users can easily participate in complete performance management. The software has allowed finance to become a strategic partner with the rest of the operation.

Likes Least

I have not found anything negative about this solution.

Recommendations

Be organized with your implementation. While your model can (and will) change over time, being organized upfront will allow for an easy transition.