Centive recently completed an American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) Statement on Auditing Standards No. 70 (SAS 70) Type II audit by Ernst & Young. Centive is now the first and only on-demand sales compensation / sales performance management vendor to be recognized as a SAS-70 Type II service provider.

In a recent entry on his "THINK IT Services" blog, Jeffrey Kaplan, Managing Director at THINKstrategies, predicts that one of the reasons on-demand services will soar in 2008 is because a growing number of software-as-a-service (SaaS) companies like Centive are able to offer the security and process controls needed to fully support SOX compliance initiatives for their customers.

“A year ago, most publicly traded companies and other large-scale enterprises rejected the idea of SaaS because they thought they needed to take greater responsibility for their own compliance requirements. Now, they view the process controls, auditability and offsite hosting features available in SaaS applications like Centive Compel as a perfect solution for their Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) needs.”
Jeff Kaplan, THINKstrategies

The SAS 70 Type II report is internationally recognized as the authoritative benchmark of the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants against which service providers report control activities and processes to customers and their auditors. The Type II form of SAS 70 examination is the most stringent form; it not only includes the service organization's description of controls related to information technology and security processes, but also includes detailed testing of these controls over a minimum six-month period.

As the leading on-demand sales performance management solution, Compel offers real-time performance visibility and performance analytics. Compel provides strategic value by enabling customers to run in-depth analysis, model and forecast sales compensation expense, optimize plan effectiveness, and drive sales performance and top-line revenue growth.

To learn how Compel can help you achieve your financial compliance needs in sales compensation management, follow the links below.

As the pioneer SaaS service provider in sales compensation management, Centive shares its insight and expertise at Softletter's Marketing and Selling SaaS Seminar 2008. Bob Conlin, CMO at Centive, will discuss the topic "SaaS Sales Compensation Models: The Most Effective Compensation Models to Incent Your Sales Personnel" scheduled for January 30th, 2008 at 10AM.

The premier event for companies who need to succeed in SaaS takes place in Atlanta, GA, on January 30th and 31st 2008. The seminar features some of the software industry's leading companies and experts on the SaaS business model. The keynote speech by Merrill R. (Rick) Chapman will analyze the latest results from Softletter's SaaS Survey, the most comprehensive look at SaaS from the viewpoint of technology providers available in the market. Seminar sessions focus on providing hard data and practical strategies and tactics for ensuring success for SaaS companies.

The seminar agenda covers:

• Critical data on the growth of SaaS, pricing, growth by market segments, and sector penetration information
• Successful SaaS business and pricing models
• Compensating the sales force in a SaaS environment
• Professional services and SaaS
• Case studies on successful and unsuccessful SaaS implementations
• The role of channels in a SaaS sales world, etc.

To learn more about the advantages of on-demand sales compensation management, follow the links below.

Aberdeen Group's benchmark report "Sales Compensation Management: Coin-Operated Productivity" proves the business value companies gain by automating the design and administration processes involved in sales compensation management. In December 2007, Aberdeen Group surveyed over 130 companies to identify the strategies, capabilities and enablers that “best-in-class” firms are using to improve sales productivity and effectively manage compensation plan design and administration. The benchmark report indicates that "best-in-class" companies deploy automated solutions for sales compensation and recognize tangible benefits related to:

• Improving alignment of performance targets with business objectives;
• Establishing a formal, centralized process for plan design and administration;
• Providing accurate, actionable reporting to all constituents, from field sales to executive management.

The findings of the Aberdeen report, especially those related to best-in-class organizations, are corroborated by the success Centive's customers experience after deploying Compel. Our customers have shared with us results that indicate substantial, measurable improvements in designing, modeling and deploying sales plans, in operational efficiency related to day-to-day plan management, in providing timely access to reports and performance analytics, and perhaps most importantly, in sales performance and related increases in revenue and profitability."
Michael Torto, president and CEO, Centive

Additional findings in the Sales Compensation Management report indicate that within those companies leveraging best-n-class sales compensation processes, 90% improved plan alignment with strategic goals, 70% improved payment accuracy, 45% improved sales force annual turnover, and 41% improved sales force non-selling time.

"Best-in-class companies have adopted technology and implemented business strategies to develop plans and automate calculation and reporting, and for those companies, success has followed."
Gretchen Duhaime, senior research analyst, Aberdeen Group

As the leading on-demand sales performance management solution, Compel offers real-time performance visibility and performance analytics. Compel provides strategic value by enabling customers to run in-depth analysis, model and forecast sales compensation expense, optimize plan effectiveness, and drive sales performance and top-line revenue growth. To learn how Compel can help you achieve best-in-class sales performance, follow the links below.