Basware drops Planview for Kantata PSA

In 2025, Basware, a global leader in financial process automation, reached a crisis point with its existing PSA solution. Several years ago, it selected Planview Portfolios and Planview ProjectPlace to help run its professional services organisation. That solution had helped, but it was now ageing; it offered little visibility and with rising costs and a renewal looming, it needed to identify and implement a solution fast.

After reviewing the market, it selected Kantata OX, not just because the PSA met its requirements, but because Kantata gave them confidence that the solution would be in place by the end of August. Considering that the project started in July, the implementation timescale of under two months is impressive. In fact, in the end, Kantata rolled out the solution early. It was implemented without disrupting billing or delivery.

The implementation included seamless integration with their SAP backend via middleware, though this currently uses an export-and-import process. It will be interesting to see whether Basware improves this by leveraging Kantata’s expertise in SAP integration.

Mark Johnston, Chief Customer Officer at Basware, tells the story in a case study and a short video published by Kantata.

Why replace a PSA solution

There are undoubtedly benefits from implementing a PSA solution from any vendor. Basware reaped the benefits by moving from spreadsheets and manual processes to the Planview platform.

It saw significant benefits, including reducing monthly revenue leakage by 75%/month while improving quality and accuracy, an increased delivery speed and improvements to internal efficiency.

However, as Johnston noted, “Our professional services team was struggling to use the solution because it had become antiquated, noting that teams were sometimes “slower to respond than we wanted to be.”

Immediate success

Within under two months, Kantata PSA was live within Basware. It was an achievement that Johnston reflected on, saying, “There was an email chain congratulating the team. People were excited not just that it was done, but that it was done right. Many projects don’t go this way.”

Achieving go-live in such a short time for a 200-person professional services team is impressive; these projects often take longer. Even more importantly, Basware is already seeing considerable benefits. These have included:

• Better billing accuracy with projects
• A better UI for time entry leads to more accurate data and faster downstream reporting
• It has improved the resource management, making better decisions about staffing and future demand
• Basware leverages Kantata Pulse, a project health feature that measures project sentiment

Looking forward

What has impressed Johnston is the way that Kantata has continued to develop its platform. He cited Pulse as an example of this. In September, Kantata also launched a new resourcing agent for OX customers. At its annual conference, Converge, it announced the Kantata Expertise Engine, an AI platform developed specifically for the professional services industry.

Johnston stated, “Kantata makes our day-to-day operations a lot smoother by helping give us visibility into our projects. Our team is getting used to and really enjoying the interface and the simplicity that we found with Kantata, and now we’re really starting to talk about the future. What additional features can we bring in? How can we grow our footprint even more, and how can Kantata help us become an even better professional services organisation?”

Enterprise Times: What does this mean

It is rare for customers to so quickly laud a project after implementation. Less than a year after selecting Kantata OX, Basware has implemented it and seen significant benefits, completely smashing Basware’s return on investment.

Basware is also excited to be on a journey with Kantata that has only just begun. It will be interesting to see how quickly Basware adopts the new functionality that Kantata is rolling out. Expect to hear more from this enthusiastic customer.

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