The ICM buyer's checklist

Evaluating incentive compensation platforms? These are the questions that separate a tool from a system.

Beyond the demo

Every ICM platform demos well on a clean plan. The real question is how it behaves under enterprise conditions: multiple business units, mid-cycle changes, and an auditor asking how a number was derived.

Build your evaluation around governance, not features.

Questions that matter

Can every payout be traced to its source? Is there a complete audit trail on plan and quota changes? How does the platform handle disputes, and does that workflow leave a record?

Finally: does it live inside your enterprise platform, or beside it? Where compensation data lives determines how much trust it can earn.