Introduction

Certinia, a leading professional services and cloud ERP provider, has launched its Winter release, introducing new AI-powered features and enhancements designed to streamline resource management, financial tracking, and project planning for services organizations. These updates focus on improving collaboration, providing greater visibility, and integrating essential functions within large enterprises. This article explores the key features of the Winter release and their impact on service organizations.

Enhancing Collaboration Between Project and Resource Managers

One of the standout features of the Winter release is the improved collaboration between Project Managers (PMs) and Resource Managers (RMs). Large global services organizations are increasingly seeking tools that allow PMs and RMs to work together using consistent, real-time data. By eliminating the need for outdated tools like spreadsheets, Certinia’s updates enable more efficient project and resource planning.

According to Yvan Marceau, Worldwide Services Operations Director at Siemens Digital Industries Software, the new tools will help teams collaborate more effectively. The integration of project planning directly into Certinia’s system helps align teams and eliminate the use of offline tools. This shift is expected to revolutionize project management workflows by enabling everyone to work from the same view and data.

New AI-Powered Resource Management and Scheduling

The Winter release introduces a new project work planner in Certinia’s Professional Services Cloud (PS Cloud). This feature allows teams to make schedule adjustments directly in the system, providing immediate insight into any changes and their impact on resources and budgets. The inclusion of AI-based rescheduling capabilities further enhances this feature, offering intelligent insights to help organizations quickly adapt to changes.

Additionally, Certinia introduces a smart feature that automatically presents relevant skills and competencies when a resource request is added. Through fuzzy matching, the platform can identify the best candidates for each project, ensuring that the right talent is deployed at the right time.

Supporting Subscription-Based Business Models

With the growing shift toward subscription-based services and Everything-as-a-Service (XaaS) models, Certinia’s Winter release addresses the need for services credits. These credits can be purchased in advance and applied to fixed-price or packaged services, offering greater flexibility in service delivery. For project managers and finance teams, the ability to track service credits and see their impact on overall revenue in one place ensures a smooth financial operation.

Raju Malhotra, Certinia’s Chief Product & Technology Officer, explains that the shift toward subscription services is reshaping the professional services business. By introducing services credits as a new currency, Certinia helps organizations stay ahead of this trend and streamline their financial management processes.

Financial Management and Automation Enhancements

The Winter release also brings improvements to Certinia’s financial management capabilities. Enhanced automation for bank reconciliation and fixed asset depreciation simplifies financial workflows and reduces manual work. These updates help organizations ensure accurate and efficient financial tracking, which is crucial for large enterprises managing complex projects.

Looking forward, Certinia plans to integrate generative AI capabilities to further automate tasks such as project summaries and invoice processing, making financial management even more efficient.

Comprehensive End-to-End Visibility

Another key enhancement in Certinia’s Winter release is the updated Health Score dashboard in CS Cloud. This feature provides a comprehensive overview of customer data and trends, making it easier to track key performance indicators (KPIs) that drive customer value throughout their lifecycle. The ability to share customers across teams of Customer Success Managers (CSMs) rather than assigning them to a specific individual offers greater flexibility and ensures that the best-fit team member is managing each account based on skills and capacity.

By leveraging capabilities from both PS Cloud and CS Cloud, Certinia enables end-to-end visibility, offering a unified view of both service delivery and customer success. This integration empowers organizations to focus on delivering continuous value to their customers, fostering long-term relationships rather than just transactional engagements.

Future Developments and AI-Driven Automation

Although not part of the Winter release, Certinia is working on AI agent capabilities built on the Salesforce platform. These AI-driven features could help with drafting customer success plans, identifying potential change requests during project delivery, and even predicting changes that could improve win rates during sales engagements.

The integration of AI agents promises to further automate the tasks that previously required human intervention, reducing administrative overhead and enabling organizations to focus more on strategic activities.

Conclusion

Certinia’s Winter release demonstrates the company’s commitment to enhancing resource management, financial tracking, and collaboration for professional services organizations. By integrating AI-powered features and offering greater visibility into project planning and customer success, Certinia is helping organizations stay ahead of the curve. As businesses continue to embrace subscription models and increasingly rely on automation, these capabilities lay the groundwork for more efficient operations and improved profitability.

With these updates, Certinia is setting the stage for even more advanced AI-driven capabilities in the future, positioning itself as a leader in the evolving landscape of professional services automation.