deFacto launches challenge to surface planning pain points

deFacto Global has launched The deFacto Challenge, inviting organizations to submit difficult planning problems for a no-cost demonstration of how its integrated business planning platform would address them. The initiative targets finance, operations and strategy teams struggling with forecasting, scenario analysis and other planning tasks.

Why it matters: - Planning systems that cannot handle complex, fast-changing business conditions can slow decisions across finance, operations and strategy. - deFacto is using customer submissions to show how unified planning software can replace disconnected spreadsheets, manual reconciliation and rigid workflows. - The program also serves as a live proof point for deFacto Integrated Business Planning in front of prospective customers.

What happened: - deFacto Global launched The deFacto Challenge on July 16, 2026. - The initiative asks organizations to submit their toughest planning problems for review at the challenge page. - deFacto will select high-impact submissions and demonstrate, at no cost, how its platform would solve those specific issues. - CEO Bob Bedard said the goal is to show what becomes possible when finance and operations work from a unified planning model.

The details: - The challenge is open to problems in forecasting, financial reporting, demand planning, profitability analysis, complex calculations, business modeling and scenario analysis. - deFacto says selected submissions will be published as practical examples of the platform in use. - Example scenarios include high-volume financial and operational modeling, human capital planning, cross-functional forecasting, supply chain and workforce planning, margin optimization, multi-entity planning, and strategic modeling tied to acquisitions, expansion or restructuring. - The company says the platform is a Microsoft-native planning environment that connects finance and operations in real time. - deFacto says users can extend planning through familiar Excel, Power BI, Azure and Fabric experiences. - The company says the platform supports complex calculations at scale, real-time scenario analysis and broader planning participation without relying on IT-heavy implementations. - deFacto said the platform is designed to help reduce dependence on disconnected spreadsheets and manual reconciliation. - The company points to BPM Partners research that says planning processes remain labor-intensive, slow and hard to adapt to changing business conditions. - deFacto also said its recognition in the BPM Partners Vendor Landscape Matrix reflects strengths in financial and operational planning, scalability, flexibility, usability, self-service and customer satisfaction.

Between the lines: - The challenge is as much a marketing and sales tool as a product initiative. - By asking companies to submit real problems, deFacto can tailor demos to pain points buyers already feel. - The focus on finance and operations alignment suggests the company is positioning against legacy planning tools that separate teams and delay decisions.

What's next: - deFacto will review submissions and choose the challenges it wants to showcase. - The company plans to publish selected scenarios to illustrate how the platform handles real-world planning use cases. - Organizations can continue submitting challenges through the company’s challenge page.

The bottom line: - deFacto is turning customer pain points into a public demonstration of its planning platform, betting that proof on real business problems will resonate more than product claims alone.