Before choosing a services delivery tool for your PS business
Selecting the right Professional Services Automation (PSA) platform is a strategic decision that can significantly impact how your organization manages projects, resources, and client interactions. The right PSA solution empowers delivery teams to:
Drive operational efficiency
- Optimize resource utilization
- Maintain healthy profit margins
- Deliver consistent project outcomes
Today, PSA platforms like Kantata and Certinia offer distinct approaches to professional services automation. Each platform offers unique strengths, but choosing the right one depends on your priorities—be it automation, resource management, collaboration, or actionable insights.
This comparison guide examines Kantata and Certinia in detail, analyzing their strengths, limitations, and ideal use cases to help you make an informed decision for your professional services business.
About Kantata and Certinia: Company overview
Kantata
Kantata emerged from the 2022 merger of two established PSA providers: Mavenlink and Kimble. With over a decade of experience in the professional services automation space, the company serves thousands of organizations globally. Following the merger, Kantata has maintained two distinct product lines:
- Kantata OX (Operations Excellence): Their enterprise-focused solution
- Kantata SX (Service Excellence): Their mid-market offering
Kantata primarily serves professional services organizations across technology, consulting, marketing, and other knowledge-based industries.
Certinia
Formerly known as FinancialForce, Certinia rebranded in 2023 after establishing itself as a leading Salesforce-native PSA provider since 2009. The company has built its foundation on deep integration with the Salesforce platform, serving organizations that are heavily invested in the Salesforce ecosystem.
As a prominent player in the Salesforce AppExchange marketplace, Certinia has developed a strong presence among Salesforce-centric organizations, particularly in professional services, technology consulting, and business services sectors.
Please note: This comparison guide will focus primarily on Kantata OX and Certinia's PSA offering, examining how each platform addresses the needs of professional services organizations.
G2 comparison ratings: Kanatata vs. Certinia
Product overview of Kantata and Certinia
Kantata and Certinia are professional services automation (PSA) platforms designed to help organizations manage projects, resources, and operational workflows. While they share similar goals, each of them focuses on providing different benefits to its users.
Kantata vs. Certinia: Detailed feature comparison
Pros and Cons of using Kanata vs. Certinia
Kantata and Certinia are professional services automation (PSA) platforms designed to help organizations manage projects, resources, and operational workflows. While they share similar goals, each of them focuses on providing different benefits to its users.
Kanata OX
Pros:
- Strong resource management capabilities with advanced resource planning and forecasting tools
- Robust business intelligence and reporting functionality
- Deep integration with Salesforce ecosystem
- Well-established mobile app for on-the-go access
- Strong time and expense tracking capabilities
Cons:
- Steep learning curve due to complex interface
- Configuration and setup process can be time-consuming
- Rigid project management features and lack of process governance, often forcing teams to manage projects using spreadsheets or similar tools.
- Higher price point compared to some competitors
- Some users report occasional performance issues with larger datasets
- Customization may require technical expertise
- Configuring reports often requires a dedicated person with technical skills to extract the right data.
Certinia
Pros:
- Native Salesforce platform integration providing seamless CRM connectivity
- Strong financial management and accounting capabilities
- Real-time project visibility and reporting
- Effective revenue recognition and billing automation
- Comprehensive professional services cloud solution
- Built-in compliance and governance features
Cons:
- Requires Salesforce licenses which adds to the total cost
- Complex implementation process
- Some users report limitations in resource management functionality
- UI/UX can feel outdated compared to modern alternatives
- Limited flexibility for organizations not fully invested in Salesforce ecosystem
Looking for a platform to support your end-to-end services delivery? Here’s Rocketlane
While Kantata and Certinia aim to address specific PSA needs for businesses, customers often end up using multiple platforms for their projects, resources, and finances. These gaps between systems force teams into manual workarounds and inefficiencies. This is where an end-to-end solution, like Rocketlane, becomes essential to streamline operations and drive seamless collaboration.
What is Rocketlane?
Rocketlane is a next-generation service delivery platform that goes beyond traditional PSA tools. It unifies your entire delivery ecosystem—from internal operations to client and partner engagement. It connects all your workflows in one platform, so you can unleash the full potential of AI and automation, shift from reactive firefighting to proactive governance, and gain real-time insights across your entire business.
Key features of the platform include:
- Unified platform for project management, resource planning, and client collaboration
- Customizable client portals for transparency and engagement
- AI-driven reporting insights for intelligent resource allocation and risk management
- Robust project governance to ensure control, risk management, and seamless stakeholder alignment throughout the project lifecycle
Here's a glimpse of how Rocketlane approaches the post-sales delivery workflow
Rocketlane reimagines the entire post-sales journey as a seamless, interconnected flow that begins the moment a deal closes.
Intelligent automated workflows
It automates the crucial handoff from sales to delivery through intelligent scoping and customizable templates, ensuring no requirements are lost in transition. As projects move into the execution phase, AI-powered resource management takes center stage, matching the right talent with the right projects based on both availability and expertise.
End-to-end project management
Project execution becomes more dynamic with built-in collaboration spaces where teams can adapt their methodology—whether Agile or Waterfall—to suit each client's needs. This flexibility is supported by robust project governance features that keep stakeholders informed through automated updates while providing early warning systems to prevent potential delays or issues.
Client-centric capabilities
At the heart of the platform is a dedicated customer portal that serves as a central hub for client engagement, offering transparency and fostering accountability throughout the delivery process. What’s more? It is as easy as building legos and the portal can be customized to reflect your brand’s personality - from colors to fonts and themes to logos.
Comprehensive performance insights
Time tracking also becomes a breeze as it seamlessly integrates with team calendars, while financial management functions automate everything from revenue recognition to invoice generation.
The journey culminates in comprehensive business intelligence that offers portfolio-level insights, helping organizations prevent revenue leaks, monitor budgets, and track real-time progress through intuitive analytics.
The business impact of choosing a modern PSA
Organizations implementing Rocketlane typically see improvements in:
- Project delivery timelines
- Resource utilization rates
- Client satisfaction scores
- Team productivity
- Financial visibility
- Operational efficiency
What lies ahead for PSA?
PSA platforms have traditionally focused on two main aspects of services delivery: project management and resource management. While these backend operations are important, they represent only one side of the services delivery spectrum. What's often missing is attention to the frontend - client experience.
Tools like Kantata and Certinia excel in these backend functionalities, built upon conventional project management frameworks. However, they often lack the foundational blocks needed for effective scaling and seamless integration across the entire service delivery lifecycle.
This limitation compels organizations to adopt multiple disconnected systems to bridge functionality gaps, creating inefficiencies in client collaboration, project governance, services delivery, and data-driven insights. The resulting fragmentation not only complicates workflows but also hinders organizations from achieving true operational excellence and delivering exceptional client experiences.
As the industry evolves, PSA platforms must adapt to meet the growing demands of modern services delivery. The future points toward solutions that seamlessly integrate robust project capabilities with client-facing features. Organizations are increasingly seeking platforms that can provide comprehensive visibility, streamline operations, and enable data-driven decision-making while maintaining operational excellence. This shift reflects a broader industry trend toward holistic solutions that can effectively bridge the gap between internal efficiency and external services delivery impact.
