ClearPoint Strategy

Pros

The software is very intuitive and extremely flexible, as it caters to our needs as the customer. We appreciate the many resources that are available to support us in getting used to the product so that it is not intimidating or overwhelming. We don't feel limited in any way regarding how we will use the product as we make plans to move from our initial use (strategic management) to other possibilities (i.e., project management). We are also pleased with the layout and format options we have for our reports.

Cons

At this point, I don't have any cons, other than wishing I had the product sooner.

Pros

Top benefits include ease of use as well as report customization.
Additionally, customer support is exceptional! Highly responsive and solution oriented.

Cons

Although almost any type of report can be generated, the visual design of these reports is mostly unchangeable.

Pros

Clearpoint Strategy has thought of everything. This system has provided our organization with a solution for managing our strategic plan in an organization that touches dozens of different industries. The setup and customization options are key for flexibility in building exactly what works for the organization.

Cons

I would like to have better summary report functionality and export options that retain sorts and also condense spacing to reduce the number of pages in a briefing book or summary report. I would also like to have better workload and capacity management options for owners and their assigned initiatives. It’s currently a manual count line by line as needed to ensure we have appropriate workload management.

Pros

The software is pretty user-friendly and offers a number of custom layouts and fields that are really helpful for my organization. The customer support has been fantastic.

Cons

It does take a while to set up, so there may be something to having support for setup. There are a handful of small features that are missing that would have made the software more useful to my organization--more flexible reports, more granular permission-granting, ability to add run charts.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to ClearPoint Strategy

Pros

Ease of use, ease of setup, flexibility, strategic plan tracking (we previously housed our plan in a word document)

Cons

There are a couple of features that are only available within the highest level package and there are fewer user licenses available in the package that we have, but it's what suits our organization best at this time.

Alternatives Considered

Reasons for Switching to ClearPoint Strategy

Pros

ClearPoint Strategy's customer service is unmatched. They are highly responsive and solutions-driven. They work hard to provide answers to users. From customizable reports to various custom layouts, organizations can benefit depending on their unique needs.

Cons

ClearPoint Strategy can be very time consuming in terms of the setup process. The customer service team is there for guidance and they may be needed in the picture regularly.

Pros

The support from the representatives when I need help

Cons

Although, shorter than expected. It's always the initial learning curve.

Pros

Ease of Use, centralized place to keep track of performance measures and initiatives, inexpensive. [sensitive content hidden] has been a great help and provide awesome after service support.

Cons

Lack of features on doing bulk admin work such as setting reporting frequencies, mass delete accounts etc.

Pros

Data all in one place. Can run reports with simple clicks and do calculations. It has saved time for admin staff.

Cons

Reports have limited customization. Have had to alter data approach a few times becuase this was new to us.

Pros

Provides structure and a common language that makes it easy to explain to stakeholders.

Cons

Switching between Departments isn't easy. That won't matter for most users.

Pros

Ease of use and the ability to adapt to any plans

Cons

Still working on some data features like time stamps that is not available for some of my KPIs

Pros

ClearPoint has a great team behind them. I can't say enough good things about their implementation team and the process. Our Implementation Specialist, Marisa, made the process simple and easy. She was extremely knowledgeable and a pleasure to work with. Her dedication to a successful implementation was unmatched.

Cons

The software isn't the easiest to navigate. I'm sure it will get better with practice, but I had to keep my training guide handy in the beginning to help me along.

Alternatives Considered

Switched From

Pros

I'm able to put all of our company goals and objectives in one place so I can work towards meeting them, instead of having piles of paper or ideas in my head that never get done.

Cons

It's a little clunky at the beginning but easy once you get the hang of it.

Pros

Clearpoint templates are detailed,informative and easy to use.

Cons

There are no cons based on my needs. Future use cases may yield something

Pros

The impact it has made on time management for collecting and reporting KPIs has been a huge success for us. Once implemented to the other plants. It will be saving countless hours and will help in communicating key data from one plant to another.

Cons

I wish there were more customization features in regards to graph creation and reporting.

Pros

I like how simple it is to create reports, add charts and customize dashboards!

Cons

Support overall is good but the customer service chat option over the past few months has been slow to respond. Our account has experience several issues with our milestone evaluations over the past year. At this time things seem to be working okay.

Pros

Each version is becoming more user-friendly and it continually becomes more efficient with editing and graphing the measures. I like the way you can edit and add data to the measure from one screen. Also, the graphing software is versatile and meets your needs. I like that you can add hyperlinks into the different input categories. Like being able to input GIS maps into the analysis section of the measure.

Cons

I Do not like that you cannot expand the columns widths in the measure data tables. I would like to size each column differently based on the need and would like to have wrap text capability so the row height can accommodate different verbiage without cutting off the words.

Pros

The transition to ClearPoint from our previous excel-based scorecard, which included a significant amount of data to migrate and users to train, was simple and very well supported by the ClearPoint team. The ClearPoint team consistently provide responsive, helpful and knowledgeable support, which has enabled us to create scorecards at various levels within our organization. The alignment of the tool with the Balanced Scorecard methodology and structure, that includes elements like goals, objectives measures and initiatives, allowed us to implement a standardized framework for cascading scorecards.
The tool is very intuitive and easy to use with functionalities such as, drag and drop, customizing and linking elements. As an administrator, management of scorecards and users is very easy.
Also, the regular webinars, annual summit and periodic regional customer meetings are great ways in which ClearPoint enables and promotes the sharing of knowledge and learnings among its clients.

Cons

None, any new requirements we have or new functionality we need (e.g. customized charts, etc.) is very willingly supported by the ClearPoint team.

Pros

Clearpoint allows you to easily build your balanced scorecard and align your measures to appropriate goals and initiatives. Set appropriate threshholds for your measures and automatically set a visual status of progress which can be rolled up to track overall progress toward goals. All this can be easily done by automatically loading your data from a variety of sources whether excel files or a SQL compliant ODBC data source. Informative dashboards and reports that can illustrate the alignment of Intitiatives, measures and goals while giving a clear visual indication of progress in charts and graphs. The support team is one of the best with which I have ever dealt, very knowledgeable and responsive.

Cons

None, I've used Clearpoint for a number of years and it does exactly what it is supposed to and they continually improve the product.

Pros

ClearPoint Strategy is super customizable and easy to use. You can tailor the software to match the look and needs of your organization. It's easy to collaborate on ideas with a group and make updates in real time. The look and feel of the software is very polished. You can customize your measures and data visualization and then reuse that work repeatedly which cuts down on rework or micromanaging the software. It allows for benchmarking with other ClearPoint users and you can use the measure library to spark your own ideas. The software is well supported with webinars, seamless updates, and excellent customer support.

Cons

There are so many options it can be a little daunting to get started. Luckily, ClearPoint was a great partner in helping us build out our system and providing advice from other customer's experiences.

Pros

What I have found most beneficial about the ClearPoint software is the ability to customize reports and layouts. It allows for conveying the "big picture" in an easy and understandable format. Being able to produce a report that contains graphics and verbiage appeals to different types of learning styles.

Cons

My least favorite feature about the ClearPoint software is the inability to edit the header, cell and table styles within the report. If you are unfamiliar with where to find the feature in the admin options settings, it becomes very frustrating.

Pros

We find it very reliable and the capacity to go back years on previous strategies are a plus for documenting learnings. The navigation is very user friendly. All resources available are very good and help in providing workshops. The Customer service is great, we sometimes struggle with creating some formulas and the team responds quickly.

Cons

The biggest challenge for our organization in maximizing Clearpoint is our technology capacity in terms of programming. Some features Look great but we can’t use them properly.

Pros

ClearPoint is easy to use - my role within my organization requires me to train new employees on the use of ClearPoint. It is always easily picked up by new users.

Cons

Occasionally the software does not allow us to customize the way we want - however, ClearPoint can always find us a work-around that meets our needs.

Pros

The capabilities and output of the software. There is nothing we have asked for that ClearPoint Strategy wasn't able to provide. The custom report capabilities was the solution to one of our biggest challenges with our Strategic Plan.

Cons

Although the online help library is a tremendous source of information, as a new user of the software, most of the tutorials are written for someone that is already familiar with the software. When I first started mapping our strategic plan into the software, I needed resources with basic information on getting it set up. I found most of the tutorials were written with the assumption that the user already knew when and why to use an option, and the cause and effect of using it. Now that I have a much better understanding of how options work together, the tutorials are much more useful.