A business must boldly blaze a trail that others follow, striving to do what’s best for its customers, probing what the future will demand of them, and making innovative decisions that help move them forward. These are the attributes of a business leader.
When Gartner recognized BlackLine as one of only four “Leaders” in its new FCPM Magic Quadrant, the selection affirmed our longstanding customer-focused direction. The new Financial Corporate Performance Management category focuses exclusively on financial close software companies, providers of intercompany management, account reconciliations, journal entries, variance analyses, and financial controls testing products.
Previously, Gartner captured and categorized financial and accounting software providers in a single CPM Quadrant. This year, it split this category into two segments—FCPM and SCPM (Strategic Corporate Performance Management). The latter segment comprises providers of Financial Planning & Analysis tools for budgeting, planning, modeling and reporting.
The new FCPM category upholds our time-honored approach to designing financial close technology products from the ground up. From the beginning, our unified technology solution was built specifically to help accountants close the books more efficiently, without hybrid software/hardware, multiple sign-on procedures, and expensive middleware or upgrade costs that gum up the value proposition. Only a fully unified platform can deliver consistent processes, visibility, greater usability, and a holistic view of the organization.
In recognizing us as an FCPM Leader, Gartner has affirmed our distinctive approach to aligning solutions with customer needs. This is the new way forward and we are at the vanguard of this journey.
On the Magic Quadrant, the respected technology research firm plots major providers in four quarters across two axes—their “Ability to Execute” and their “Completeness of Vision.” is weighted on criteria such as marketing, sales, product, geographic and vertical/industry strategy; business model; and innovation. From my standpoint, I take pride in the fact that the ‘completeness of vision’ reflects our ability to serve our customers. With nearly 1,500 customers worldwide- we continue to be serve as the trusted partner for accounting and finance organizations around the world. This is something I’m proud of, along with all of BlackLine.
Gartner’s decision to separate planning and the financial close means that companies can now pursue continuous improvements in each of these areas with their chosen providers. Our continuous accounting model is predicated on constantly moving the needle for our customers, providing a balanced alternative to the madcap sprint to close the books by compressing these tasks into a few days at the end of the month, quarter, or year.
Obviously, we are greatly pleased by our selection as a leader in the new FCPM category. On behalf of our customers, we have always been an imaginative and enterprising organization. That’s the magic in our business leadership.
Therese Tucker
