Quantrix vs. Workday Adaptive Planning

Quantrix Modeler is one of the most appropriate software tools for developing dynamic financial planning models in small teams composed by skilled power users. There is an also Enterprise version supporting larger user bases and stronger integration with company backend systems. It's not advisable to put Quantrix desktop application in the hands of non-skilled staff since the learning curve is much steeper than what's the typical experience with spreadsheets. Adding a table with ad hoc simple calculations can be done by anyone in a spreadsheet, but requires knowledgeable design in a Quantrix model. On the positive side, experience with students in our classes shows that with focused training an user can be become productive in a relatively short time. There is a web version of Quantrix Modeler, Qloud, that is aimed to end users that only modify input data and consume model results, without the possibility of changing the model logic (structure and formulas)

Incentivized

In a previous company, I was hired based on my experience with Workday Adaptive Planning. After being hired and reviewing the company, I quickly determined they were not large of enough of a company to need the program. Instead, we made better Excel budget templates, utilized OneDrive and created a better experience without the cost. Left the job after 9 months because I worked my way out of the position. My next role I looked for bigger companies and had better success with implementation.

Incentivized

• Quantrix gathers info from numerous sources in a single click. Thereby making structure to process sustainable and scale-able. Once the logic is written the data refreshes and you are good to go with furture analysis and planning. There is no need for rework, copying down formulas, etc. In our latest product wheel build process we reduced our time from 3 weeks of time to 2 days to build out product wheels. There was a sharp contrast between Excel ( previous method) and Quantrix.
• Quantrix links perfectly to SQL Server which allows us to get actual data quickly, push out forecasts or other data for other systems to consume.
• Quantrix range based formula writing and common term formulas are a HUGE time saver. Debugging formulas is a breeze in Quantrix using what is called the dependency inspector. There is no need to copy down formulas; make sure cell ranges are locked etc. It is one formula controlling a multitude of cells that scales as the data set shrinks or grows. Also if there is an error in the formula you have 1 formula to fix not hundreds or even thousands. Common terms in your formulas helps immensely and reduces the amount of headache of debugging your formulas.
• Quantrix Scales with ease. Adding additional data or shrinking the data does not require (manual) structure updates to Quantrix. It accordions according to the data imported. Pivoting data and looking at it as well as filtering it and then building off of those filters and pivots is a joy to do in Quantrix!
• Complexity - Excel does not have it! Where the vlookup ends in Excel the Quantrix Select statement is just warming up. Functions like: Select, Selects, SelectList, SelectGreaterThan, SelectBetween, SelectLessThan, and one of my new favorites SelectLike in addition to CASE and Switch Logic make Quantrix a dominating force when it comes to writing complex logic in your business model. Quantrix does is beautifully.

• Version Management. Adaptive lets us manage many versions/scenarios all in one platform with the robust ability to compare them to each other.
• Processing Performance. With the Elastic Hypercube technology that was implemented a few years back, we can watch changes flow through a complex web of formulas and arrive at an answer within seconds.
• Audit Trail. Our administrators love the ability to see and report on who made what changes when, which leads to real accountability within the organization.

Incentivized

• Quantrix was able to free the definition of calculation rules from cells. It would be interesting to be able to separate the default template structure from changes when importing data.
• Just to be clear to prevent the import (example from a CSV or DB) the creation of new items in addition to those already existing.
• An import navigation by level would be interesting. Or to obtain a split of the number on a tree structure (I bring as an example that of Corporate Planning (https://www.corporate-planning.com/de/).
• As a further enhancement of the above, it would be interesting to be able to define reports like an explosion of a tree structure.

• Web reports and sheets are not great for in-depth reporting, and require the use of the OfficeConnect for Excel plugin and, therefore, the use of Excel for extensive reporting capabilities.
• It has limited formula functionality in some instances, requiring again the use of OfficeConnect for Excel for extensive calculations.
• I would like to see new planning sheet types or upgrades to existing sheet types; functionality has been the same for over 10 years.

Incentivized

For one we're in way too deep to not move forward with Adaptive. We're integrated with Workday, we do a ton of reporting with Adaptive, and it's working very well for planning and forecasting. No reason to look back or change course.

For a newbie it can be difficult until you get the hang of the system. Quantrix is a very logical system, once you understand its underlying ideas.

Workday Adaptive Planning has detailed online help with both articles and videos that are comprehensive. It has a lot of similarities to Excel, which most finance people are already familiar with, plus the user interface is intuitive and easy to pick up. The online support team is quick to respond and very knowledgeable.

There haven't been any lately. The only one issue I can think of is when there was an update in Adaptive that altered our reports. Before I realized there was an issue, Adaptive reached out to let me know, so that it could be fixed.

All aspects of Adaptive Insights perform well. One area that I wish was quicker was integration. When importing data from Intacct our accounting ERP platform, it can sometimes take 4 hours for the import to process. The earlier imports are done, the quicker they complete. My estimate for a quick upload is about two hours.

Whenever we have had any questions, issues, or concerns, the support has been quick and thorough. [This] allow[s] us to be able to fully resolve any issues, or be connected with the right group quickly to attain the result we were after; be it from simple formatting to adding new detailed reporting.

Incentivized

This was extremely helpful so that they could walk you through the model and teach you more about the complexity of various areas. It is most helpful when it is specific to your organization's model. The larger in-person trainings were helpful but they tended to be more generic and entry level. The trainings that are more tailored to your specific needs are the most helpful.

Incentivized

They often times tended to be way too generic or entry level. They would also become sales pitches to upgrade or get new Adaptive Planning products. The questions in the training would be very niche and specific to other organizations. They were rarely helpful to the group at large.

Incentivized

Trust the expertise of very strong 3rd party implementers. Having deployed Adaptive at a separate company before, I thought I knew it all (hubris, I know). Fortunately, I began to (very quickly) trust the judgment of our Carlson implementation team, and they provided invaluable insights and best-in-class processes that have benefitted me and my team greatly.

Incentivized

Microsoft Excel, Infor, Tagetik, Palantir Quantrix is not ready to use budgeting and planning tool, it is basically data modeling tool. That makes Quantrix different. You yourself or with help of consultant create model according to your specific business needs. You will get cost-effective, tailored solution. It is a modeling tool that allows the easy and quick creation of multiple scenarios, conducting “what-if” analysis to accommodate uncertainty associated with forecasts.

For best-in-class capabilities, you'll very likely need to split the various HR and financial systems into separate systems rather than using a consolidated platform like Workday. However, a consolidated platform provides benefits by being a single location for employees and a single system for IT developers to work with. This would need to be compared to employee efficiencies gained by working with better systems.

Incentivized

We went from 2 users to 70+ users over a 2 year period of time. The application scaled wonderfully. 65 of those users were non-finance users so they were able to quickly learn the software and prepare budgets quickly and efficiently. That is the power of Adaptive and its ability to scale

• Quantrix has boosted profitability and has proven its worth time and again. The platform has put us on the radar doing things even our biggest competitors could only dream of. We are still early in the development and deployment of our Quantrix Qloud based system to clients, but we already have early adopters coming over from competitor systems that cost exponentially more and do significantly less than what we provide. We feel it is only a matter of time for our Qloud driven analytics to become more mainstream in our space.

• it is easier to take critical business decisions in the organization and respond to stakeholder early
• migration of resources like cloud, servers or operating system or migrations does not lead to impact on platform
• helps calculates complex metrics requires for financial and resource planning

Incentivized