Datev eG

Case Studies

Transformation of business models with driver-based scenario simulations

Introduction of driver-based planning at DATEV eG

The challenge

Flexible control of different business models

We are in the middle of the much-cited VUCA world. Like all industries, DATEV is also subject to fluctuations. Growth is not as linear as it has been for a long time. Digitalization exposes the company to uncertainties and growing pressure to change. In short, there are complex decisions to be made. This must be reflected in controlling. Added to this is the Business model transformation: from on-premise dogma to the cloud. This means concretely: other drivers, both behind the cost blocks and behind the price calculations and thus also other drivers behind the sales calculation.

Gesa Merensky, Head of Pricing and Costing & BI at DATEV, reports in detail in our interview format Rollin’ FWD, how the company meets these challenges and how corporate management could be optimized.

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The solution

Driver-based scenario simulations

At the beginning there is the decision for different perspectives on the data cube: the classical perspective on the product or business world structure. In addition, the introduction of driver-based planning led to another perspective: mapping the business models that reflect the technologies. Thirdly, there is the target group view. This – i.e., these different perspectives – creates a harmony that ensures that the various business models can be mapped in interaction across transformation phases and can thus be managed more effectively.

Valsight is an important part of our controlling tool stack. We can map the fluctuations of the VUCA world and the risks of transformation through driver-based scenario simulations and make them manageable.

Gesa Merensky

Head of Pricing and Costing & BI, DATEV eG

The result

Better mapping and control of decision-relevant data

Where conventional methods reach their limits, it is driver-based scenario simulations that provide the view of the data needed to truly guide a business model transformation. Scenario simulations, in parallel and complementary to traditional controlling processes, offer different perspectives on the data, which at the same time become much more manageable. In this context, driver-based planning offers a major advantage: the highly consolidated data situation makes it possible to simulate complex scenarios in the first place.