Unit4 Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A)
Author: Unit4 Communications August 25, 2025 4 min read

Dresner’s 2025 EPM Market Study rates Unit4 FP&A as a leading high-value low TCO solution

The 18th annual Dresner Advisory Services 2025 “Wisdom of Crowds” market study for Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) surveys global users of EPM and FP&A systems to provide prospective users with a vendor comparison.

The survey of direct users is perfect for those evaluating EPM or FP&A vendors. Respondents represent several geographies and teams, with North America (57%), Europe, Middle East Africa (25%) and Finance teams (61%), then Information technology (18%) being the main respondents.

We’re pleased to report that Unit4 has yet again ranked strongly against the competition as an ‘Overall Experience Leader’ in the ‘Customer Experience Model’ and a ‘Trust Leader’ in the ‘Vendor Credibility Model’. 

Unit4 is also best in class for consulting professionalism and is positively rated in the Value / TCO Model (high value, low TCO) and maintains a perfect recommend score

To learn more about EPM and FP&A systems, Unit4’s ranking compared to other vendors, and hear what real users think of our platform, just keep reading!

What is an EPM system?

Dresner writes, an EPM system “allows an organization to plan for the impact of various internal and external factors on its future performance and business outcomes. This includes strategic, operational, and financial planning and forecasting.

EPM systems also include reporting and analytics capabilities that allow organizations to set goals and objectives and monitor performance against those objectives, as well as satisfy many regulatory and statutory reporting requirements

EPM systems can vary significantly in complexity and automation capabilities, from relatively straightforward spreadsheet replacements to sophisticated multi-user systems that support collaborative planning and provide a wide range of analytics and reporting capabilities.”

Naturally, Unit4 FP&A fits this definition, while EPM and FP&A systems are slightly different – the former being an umbrella term for all kinds of performance analysis, while the latter focuses solely on financial performance analysis.

 

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Unit4 FP&A Earns Top Rankings for Customer Experience, Trust, High Value and Low TCO

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The EPM Market – Dresner’s key findings

There has been a stable usage of enterprise performance management solutions, at 72% for 2025, compared to 71% in 2024, and 62% in 2023– this shows that the organizations using these systems to optimize performance are creating a precedent for those looking to keep up with the competition.

Particularly, we can observe much higher usage across mid-sized organizations (71% in 2025 compared to 62% in 2024). It’s clear that these systems help mid-sized organizations optimize their performance and gain competitive ground against the growth of large enterprises.

Performance-based analysis and planning is clearly a growth-defining process as evidenced by Dresner in the report. 89% of the organizations using EPM/FP&A systems rate it as ‘critical’, ‘very important’, or ‘important’, to success.

2025 marks yet another chapter in the EPM/FP&A market, as Cloud now dominates the preferred deployment of EPM systems, increasing to 63% in 2025, compared to 59% in 2024 and 44% in 2023.

Dresner notes: “Cloud is the preferred deployment model for EPM software, while our respondents are minimizing the use of on-premises deployments. The few remaining on-premises EPM deployments are likely longer established and could be candidates for replacement in the future.”

Organizations report extremely high levels of success with EPM, with nearly all respondents (over 99%) indicating they are extremely, very, or somewhat successful. No respondents state they are unsuccessful. 

Respondents rate annual financial budgets as the most important planning capability, consistent with all of our previous studies. Rolling forecasts jumped from fourth to second place and revenue/demand planning rose from seventh to fifth place. This could reflect organizations’ uncertainty around future economic conditions.

Attitudes about the impact of AI and ML on EPM remain somewhat divided. Roughly 60% of respondents have a favorable opinion on AI’s impact on EPM while 40% remain skeptical. 

Attitudes have flipped from 2024, when 39% were positive and 61% were skeptical. The larger the organization, the more likely it is to believe that AI will have a significant impact on EPM deployments  

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How does Unit4 FP&A rank in the market?

Out of 15 vendors, Unit4 FP&A was considered an ‘Overall Experience Leader’ in the ‘Customer Experience Model’, and a ‘Trust Leader’ in the ‘Vendor Credibility Model’, with strong ratings for overall value, product, technical support, consulting, and integrity.  100% of customers surveyed would recommend Unit4 FP&A for a 5th year running.  Unit4 also maintains a perfect recommend score.

Unit4 also again ranked positively for in newer model – the EPM value or TCO (Total Cost of Ownership Model) based solely upon input from users of each EPM vendor and demonstrated the high value and lowest perceived TCO.

Unit4 remains at the forefront of the AI shift, using it to enhance user experiences and drive efficiency not just through automation of admin but through Ava, Unit4’s Advanced Virtual Agent. Moreover, our data storytelling capabilities use AI to generate narrative reports, a feature that over 80% of users recognize as beneficial. 

Learn more about Unit4’s leading FP&A solution

Dresner’s EPM Market study is based directly on user feedback and is an ideal way to compare vendors. We’re delighted Unit4 is ranked as an ‘Overall Leader’ in the ‘Customer Experience Model’ and a ‘Trust Leader’ in the ‘Vendor Credibility Model’.

To read more, download the full EPM Market Study for 2025, visit our dedicated product page, read more Unit4 FP&A customer stories, or talk to sales. Want to experience Unit4’s FP&A solution first hand? Get a tailored demo of the solution today.

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