How to Build a Compelling Business Case for Kantata
A powerful business case requires a before-and-after storyA return on investment (ROI) analysis is an expected exercise when considering investing in software, as it is a significant business decision with financial implications. However, presenting ROI in isolation doesn't work
Before decision-makers can assess the value of a new solution, they need to understand your business’s current situation and the problems you are trying to solve by adopting the tool.
Therefore, to make an effective business case for Kantata, it’s best to present decision-makers with the following “before-and-after story.”
Therefore, to make an effective business case for Kantata, it’s best to present decision-makers with the following “before-and-after story.”
01 The Current State
Before you suggest the future, describe what’s happening today
The opening of your before-and-after story needs to set the scene for what is happening today. Focus on the existing systems, tools, and processes currently used to manage your services organization. You’ll describe the challenges and issues later, but the first priority is ensuring your decision-makers understand what systems are under consideration for replacement or upgrade.
What to Include
Systems and tools that are used by sales and scoping teams to collaborate on project proposals
Methods used to assess deal margin
Methods used to staff projects and track utilization
Process for assessing the financial impact of change orders and associated approval processes
Tools used for capturing billable time and expenses against projects
Description of the period close process and what controls exist to ensure billing accuracy and completeness
Access to and availability of accurate, actionable data
Forecasting methods used to assess future services demand
02 The Impact of Doing Nothing
Describe the consequences of no change
In the next section — The Impact of Doing Nothing — you can drill-down into the operational issues, challenges, and inefficiencies caused by your current systems. Give decision-makers your assessment of the likely outcomes should the business decide to defer the decision to implement Kantata and make no changes. Provide quantitative examples of the impact of retaining existing systems without any alterations.
What to Include
Delays in the sales cycle
Missed customer expectations resulting from projects that start late
Unacceptable levels of unbillable hours
Recurring panic at month end as deals are unexpectedly pushed into future periods
Revenue leakage due to late time cards and out-of-policy expenses
In addition, emphasize the larger scale impacts of deciding to forego investment in Kantata and how it would impact the overall business. For example, without new technology, back office and operations headcount will have to grow to support growth in the services business. There may be holdups in investment decisions due to unreliable services forecasting, or a pronounced competitive disadvantage without an ability to provide self-service portals for your customers and vendors.
03 The Benefits of Adopting Kantata
Provide a narrative of how your business will change for the better
Having covered the before state, it's now time to focus on the future and how you plan to make improvements after successful implementation. Describe the processes you are looking to improve and the Kantata features that will help you achieve key goals, improve productivity, increase profitability, boost customer satisfaction, and ultimately drive revenue and the greater success of the business.
What to include
Confidence in data
Kantata provides a single, trusted platform and source of truth for all project data, from the sales to billing phase.
Kantata houses accurate project, resource and financial data that can be trusted, accessible to the entire time. If everyone has access to the same information, strategic, impactful and revenue-generating decisions can be made with confidence. See how Kantata helped IT services provider Logicalis streamline staffing data and operate with confidence.
Confidence in forecast accuracy
Kantata gives leaders confidence that forecasts are accurate and rooted in comprehensive, up-to-date data
Kantata gives leaders confidence that forecasts are accurate and rooted in comprehensive, up-to-date data. Accurate forecasting allows leaders to confidently look to the future and make key decisions that will drive profitability, employee engagement, client satisfaction, scalability and success. See how Kantata helped HR software provider Cornerstone improve revenue forecasting accuracy by 20%.
Improve utilization rates
Kantata provides resource management and planning tools that provide clarity on availability and utilization rates of all resources across practices, geographies and skills.
Kantata flags both over and underutilized resources when they hit a certain threshold and guides resource managers to balance utilization by assigning a resource with available capacity. Kantata tracks utilization trends over time, revealing major opportunities to boost profits. See how Kantata helped software provider TeleTracking improve billable utilization by 37%.
Connect sales & resourcing teams
Giving all teams visibility into the sales process and resource availability, utilization rates and available skills reduces the changes of surprises after a contract is signed.
If sales, resourcing and delivery teams have access to the same data and communicate proactively they can start softbooking resources to the project early. They have time to assemble the best resource team for the project and are available to start the project once the contract is signed. Visibility across the entire sales and resourcing process means managers can proactively assign resources to projects, and sales can focus on closing deals that can be assigned to available resources. See how Kantata has helped video solutions provider Accedo improve margin by increasing global visiblity of supply and demand.
KEEP PROJECTS ON BUDGET
Kantata will provide visibility into project status, projected margin, and progress against planned milestones throughout the project lifecycle.
Managers will receive timely alerts to tackle issues on their projects as they arise, and the impact of this guidance will be seen not only on those specific projects but also across the whole project portfolio. See how Kantata helped marketing software provider Emarsys increase projects delivered on budget by 12.5%.
INCREASE CASH FLOW
Automated invoice preparation will improve cash flow by reducing the number of customer disputes.
Systematic automated invoice preparation will improve cash flow by reducing the number of customer disputes.Systematic application of company policies in engagement scoping, change order management and monitoring of drawdown against purchase orders will help the business achieve margin targets and reduce the risk of payment delays. See how Kantata helped marketing agency Boncom reduce billing rate errors by 100%.
STREAMLINE FINANCIAL PROCESSES
Kantata supports organizations in streamlining their financial processes.
It provides clear visibility into the status of period closing activities and will guide the operations team on the priority actions required to consistently close periods accurately and on time. Establishing a repeatable cadence at period close provides the foundation to streamline financials and drive revenues and satisfied clients. See how Kantata has helped Acquis Consulting Group send accurate invoices within hours of month-end.
SCALE WITH EASE
As a services business grows, so does the complexity of operation.
It gets more complicated to capture the time people work and the expenses they incur, send out bills promptly, forecast demand, manage resources, recruit people with the right skills at the right time, and deliver projects on time and on budget. Kantata automates key workflows and processes, eliminating common roadblocks that stand in the way of growth and enabling your organization to scale predictably, easily, and efficiently. See how Kantata helps IT services provider CloudStratex scale with ease using one source of truth.
REDUCE OVERHEADS
Kantata will enable your organization to scale without a corresponding increase in administrative overhead through automation of previously manual activities such as billing and invoicing, revenue recognition, and reconciliations.
The back office will be able to manage higher volumes of clients serviced, project delivery resources, and number of invoices generated without adding headcount. See how Kantata helped Mansion House Consulting grow its global business without increasing back office costs.
MANAGE NEW BUSINESS MODELS
Kantata can provide the tools required to enable adoption.
This includes adopting packaged offerings, manage time and materials and fixed priced contracts, and support both waterfall and agile implementation methodologies. See how FDM Group uses Kantata to automate and streamline a growing international business.
Document expected results
Use ROI metrics to support your argument
Now that your decision-makers understand how you intend to improve the operation and performance of your professional services organization, you can use traditional ROI metrics to give guidance on the expected financial impact of your recommended solution.
All of the benefits of Kantata outlined above come with financial improvements that have the potential to deliver a significant return on investment for your business. To see an example of how an increase in billable utilization rate could impact professional services profitability, try Kantata’s Resource Utilization and Revenue Calculator.
Assess the financial implications of improvements Kantata would drive compared to the cost of adopting the solution, and use this ROI analysis to provide relevant financial metrics to support the benefits you’ve described.
To give you an idea of sample outcomes you might build your business case around, download The Total Economic Impact of Kantata, an assessment of cost savings and business benefits of using the Kantata Professional Services CloudTM conducted by Forrester Consulting. This study, based on interviews with Kantata customers, determined that businesses that use The Kantata Professional Services Cloud experienced a myriad of benefits.
Assess the financial implications of improvements Kantata would drive compared to the cost of adopting the solution, and use this ROI analysis to provide relevant financial metrics to support the benefits you’ve described.
To give you an idea of sample outcomes you might build your business case around, download The Total Economic Impact of Kantata, an assessment of cost savings and business benefits of using the Kantata Professional Services CloudTM conducted by Forrester Consulting. This study, based on interviews with Kantata customers, determined that businesses that use The Kantata Professional Services Cloud experienced a myriad of benefits.
Benefits for Customers Using The Kantata Professional Services Cloud
Source: The Total Economic Impact of Kantata, Forrester Consulting
Improved utilization of billable resources by 10%
Increased overall project margin by 8%
Improved financial cycle closing efficiency by 50%
Improved consultant admin efficiency by 75%
Over $1.8 million in saved costs from decommissioned systems and admin resources
Achieved 489% return on investment (ROI)
These are just some examples of how professional services organizations are experiencing transformational savings and benefits with Kantata. The key to building a successful business case for The Kantata Professional Services Cloud is working with your buying team and your partners at Kantata to propose a set of achievable benefits and financial outcomes that make sense for your organization.
Conclusion
Without an understanding of the current state, any presentation of ROI metrics is likely to fall on deaf ears, so the key to presenting an effective business case is to provide a narrative that describes the current challenges, outlines the likely impact of doing nothing, and explains what life will be like following the successful implementation of a new solution. By providing that context, your ROI analysis supplies the supporting metrics for the expected impact of your recommended solution, and decision-makers have the understanding they need to make the right choice.