DATEV is moving its business model from an on-premise product to the cloud. That shift changes the drivers behind costs, prices and revenue. With driver-based scenario simulation, controlling now maps several perspectives onto the same data cube and makes the risks of the transformation calculable.
The Challenge: Flexible Management of Various Business Models
DATEV has to steer two business models at once: the established on-premise business and the growing cloud business. Each follows different drivers, and that has to be reflected in the controlling processes.
Like all industries, DATEV is subject to fluctuations. Growth is no longer as linear as it used to be, and digitalization has introduced uncertainties and increased pressure for change. In short, complex decisions need to be made.
Furthermore, there is the transformation of business models: moving from the on-premise dogma to the cloud. This implies different drivers, not only behind cost structures but also behind pricing calculations and revenue projections.
The Solution: Driver-Based Scenario Simulations
At the beginning there is the decision for different perspectives on the data cube:
- Product or business world structure as the classical perspective
- Mapping of the business models reflecting the technologies - added with the introduction of driver-based planning
- Target group perspective as the third view
These different perspectives create a harmony that ensures that the various business models can be mapped in interaction across transformation phases and can therefore also be managed more effectively.
“Valsight is a crucial part of our controlling tool stack. We can capture and manage the fluctuations of the VUCA world and the risks of transformation through driver-based scenario simulations.”
Gesa Merensky, Head of Pricing and Costing & BI, DATEV
The Result: Improved Representation and Management of Decision-Relevant Data
Where traditional methods reach their limits, driver-based scenario simulations allow for the necessary view on data to truly manage a business model transformation. Scenario simulations, running parallel and complementary to traditional controlling processes, offer different perspectives on the data, which becomes much more manageable at the same time. The driver-based planning provides a significant advantage: the highly consolidated data enables the simulation of complex scenarios in the first place.
Gesa Merensky, Head of Pricing and Costing & BI at DATEV, extensively shares in our interview series “Rollin’ FWD” how the company was able to optimize its corporate performance management using Valsight.
About DATEV
DATEV eG, headquartered in Nuremberg, is the third-largest provider of business software in Germany (according to IDC ranking 2023) and one of the major European IT service providers. Founded in 1966, the company provides software, cloud solutions and expertise that form the basis for digital collaboration between small and medium-sized businesses and the tax advisors who look after the business management needs of the companies. Through this community, DATEV supports a total of 2.8 million companies, self-employed individuals, municipalities, associations and institutions.