Solver, Inc.: Enabling Express Decisioning Through a Culture of Creativity and Problem-solving

Solver, Inc. is redefining the category of cloud-based reporting and planning. The company's cloud-based Corporate Performance Management (CPM) solution is built to help accounting and finance managers enable faster and better business decisions across the entire organization. Solver combines financial and other key data into a single cloud-based solution, powered by the most flexible report- and planning form designer on the market.

Organizations use this solution to automate and streamline financial and operational reports, consolidations, and budgeting and forecasting processes. The company empowers users with complete insight that drives intelligent decisions and competitive advantages. Solver's vision is to empower a global community of customers and partners around business decisions through its innovative solutions.

Based in the United States, the company has more than a dozen offices and hundreds of partners globally that provide local and industry expertise.

A Persistent Leadership

CEO Nils Rasmussen founded Solver, Inc. in Los Angeles, California, in 1996. He, along with the company's executive team, is responsible for the development of both overall company strategy as well as continuous process improvement for software & services delivery.

He is passionate about helping organizations around the world improve their performance and reduce wasted time and resources, by creating software and related cloud services that enable managers and information workers with better and faster decisions.

Nils has a deep interest in Corporate Performance Management and Business Intelligence. He is the co-author of numerous books, including technology and performance management books – "Enabling World-class Decisions", "Budgeting", "Process Improvement", "Business Intelligence" and "Business Dashboards".

Moreover, he is a member of the World Future Society and authored the science fiction novel "Lessons from the Future". His specialties are BI, Collaborative Decision-making, Corporate Futuring, and Future Studies.

Empowering Customers with Innovative Solutions

Solver gives mid-market organizations complete insight into their most important data by creating innovative solutions and being the global leader in corporate performance management through a culture of creativity and problem-solving. The company's solutions' key product features that empower customers include:

1. Modern cloud architecture with automated, monthly updates

2. Automation for Month End close, Budgeting and other key processes

3. Automated budget and consolidations workflow

4. Modern Excel add-in for powerful yet familiar report/form design

5. A flexible cloud data warehouse that can combine all of the company's important data

6. Pre-built connectors to most popular mid-market ERP systems

7. Support for dozens to hundreds of users

Prized Validations Across Industry

Solver has won many awards, including from global partners like Microsoft and SAP, but first and foremost, the company has been fortunate to work with many of the leading ERP resellers and ERP vendors since early on in its history. Executives and team members from many of these organizations have helped shape Solver's journey and strategy. Nils believes in strong networks, a high standard of ethics and long term partnerships with organizations and individuals with the same vision. The company wants to prioritize to "do the right thing" ahead of profit and revenue when it comes to critical decisions. This is especially valuable for companies like Solver, that strives to be a leader and that plans to be around a long time.

Strategically Evolving Through Challenges

In the early days of Solver, starting from a one-room apartment in Los Angeles in 1996, it was all about surviving and carving out a tiny foothold. Now, more than two decades later, the company's values and goals are much more evolved. Things like corporate culture, long term strategic direction and a strong desire to help the corporate world become more efficient by evolving the way reporting, planning and analysis are done are very important to Solver.

The Hallmark of Modern Leaders

Nils believes things like a high degree of ethics, transparency, strategy, and execution abilities are very important to a leader. He says, "I also think leaders need to challenge the status quo in their industry and ask themselves how their organization can innovate not only to drive revenue and profit growth but to improve the lives and businesses of their customers, partners, and team members." Furthermore, these days, with growing global climate concerns, leaders also need to challenge their organizations to find ways their service or product can help improve the environment. "In modern business, the old mantra of 'increasing shareholder value' is no longer the only objective and leaders need to take this as a challenge and help us all evolve," he adds.

Strategy, Goals & Execution: Key to Innovation

Solver is increasingly focused on strategy, goals, and execution, and one of the ways it is continuously striving to improve in this area is by investing in leadership training for its managers and strategy coaching using outside consultants with deep experience in this area. The company is also a part of several industry network organizations to get new ideas and share its experiences.

Leveraging Cutting-Edge Technology for Better Future

Talking about the future of the Analytics industry, Nils said, "To me, the 2020s represents the most exciting decade so far for the analytics industry. We have incredible technology enablers like cloud and AI that the industry can take advantage of to drive innovation and process improvement for customers."

Advice to Drive Exemplary Success

For new and emerging leaders, Nils says he would definitely challenge them to keep their focus on what their business can do best to drive success for the customer and to use innovation to do it better than the other industry players. Elon Musk and his work with Tesla and SpaceX are living examples of how a new player can enter old, established industries dominated by giant companies and make a huge impact by challenging the status quo and by driving innovation that excites customers and global citizens alike, and where positive global change is a key driver as well as company growth.