Integration with Source Systems

Best Practices

I N T E G R AT I O N W I T H S O U R C E S Y S T E M S

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Types of integration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

* The three points of integration

* The three types of integration

* What is Meta Data?

Typical steps followed by organizations that use

MS-Excel today to calculate variable compensation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

How Varicent works . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Other data considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

* Conclusion

BEST PRACTICES - INTEGRATION WITH SOURCE SYSTEMS 2

INTRODUCTION

In moving compensation management from a spreadsheet environment to being

application based, Varicent SPM seeks to provide a faster, more effective method of turning

information collected into processed compensation payments available for review, dispute

resolution and payment. At the same time, Varicent SPM provides the analytics necessary to

help organizations evaluate, simulate and make informed decisions that will maximize profit.

For example, Varicent can help evaluate which types of incentives will properly compensate

our top producers, push sales of our most profitable product lines, and maximize our

channel revenue.

In many cases, Varicent SPM must collect information from two or more source systems to

assist in these objectives. Systems might include:

1. General Ledger

2. Payroll System and or Human Resources Information Systems (HRIS)

3. Customer Relationship Management System (CRM)

4. Order Entry System

5. Accounts Receivable

6. Accounts Payable

7. Unstructured data sources such as MS-Excel

Access to all of this information in a timely manner amounts to one of the most valuable

assets your company possesses. When access to data by the people who need it is both

timely and efficient, it leads to an evolution from the monthly financial reports delivered

5-20 days after the end of the period, to real-time management reporting. Unfortunately,

in those cases where the organization cannot provide the desired information, your

employees end up keeping their own records (shadow accounting), leading to an

environment where more than one individual has his or her own version of what should

be the same information set.

Technology that can extract, transform and load (ETL) information into a centrally accessible

presentation layer has made the goal of "One version of the truth" achievable. ETL

provides organizations with the ability to make their information available to a wide range

of individuals both inside and outside the organization allowing them to identify new

opportunities, act on these opportunities sooner by making properly informed decisions,

and measure their own performance and the performance of those who report directly or

indirectly into them.

BEST PRACTICES - INTEGRATION WITH SOURCE SYSTEMS 3

TYPES OF INTEGRATION

Varicent provides three points of data integration and two types of data integration.

The three points of integration are:

1. Support for loading and continual updating of Meta Data

2. Support for loading and continual refreshing of Data

3. Drill-through capability to transaction level detail

The two types of integration are:

1. Scheduled, and

2. On-demand

Furthermore, unlike most business applications, Varicent supports more than a single data

table for imported data, for the purpose of handling data that is updated at different

intervals, originates from different systems, or laid out in a different format. In fact, by

providing a data table equipped with the user-defined fields you require, Varicent can act

as a source system for information that is not currently warehoused in any other structured

data source.

What is Meta Data?

Meta Data is data that describes data. On a given line of data the Meta Data could be the

location/office the data is from, could describe whether it is sales or cost of sales or often

the case with variable compensation, to which Rep the deal belongs.

BEST PRACTICES - INTEGRATION WITH SOURCE SYSTEMS 4

TYPICAL STEPS FOLLOWED BY ORGANIZATIONS

THAT USE MS-EXCEL TODAY TO CALCULATE

VARIABLE