The acquisition of Acterys by Vena Solutions marks a definitive shift toward what is being termed Orchestrated Planning. This model unifies financial foresight, operational planning, and real-time execution within a single, Microsoft-native environment. By integrating Acterys’s AI-driven forecasting and smart write-back with Vena’s agentic-powered platform, they are addressing the critical gap between enterprise strategy and departmental action.
"Vena and Acterys bring together the best of both worlds—Excel for Finance and Power BI for IT—to deliver a unified planning and analytics experience. It's the solution enterprises have been waiting for to align strategy, systems and execution across the Microsoft stack."
— Mike Zack, CEO, Acterys
Defining the Ecosystem: Acterys and Vena Solutions
To understand why this acquisition is category-defining, we must look at the specific strengths of both platforms. Vena Solutions has long been the leader in Excel-native Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A). It allows finance teams to keep the familiar interface of Excel while backing it with a centralized, enterprise-grade database and automated workflows. Recently, Vena has led the charge in Agentic AI, deploying autonomous agents that don't just summarize data but proactively drive forecasting and variance analysis (Vena Solutions).
Acterys, on the other hand, is a powerhouse for IT-enabled operational planning. It is best known for its proprietary "write-back" engine, which allows users to input data directly into Power BI dashboards and have it sync instantly across Microsoft Fabric and Azure SQL. This turns static business intelligence into an interactive planning environment where HR, sales, and operations can adjust models in real time without leaving their primary analytics tools (Acterys).
"Seeing Acterys join forces with Vena Solutions' leading agentic-powered Complete Planning platform is game-changing. Together, we're creating the first truly Microsoft-native environment for Orchestrated Planning, unifying financial foresight, operational planning, and real-time execution in the tools organizations already love and use every day."
— Eric Reyhle, Senior Vice President, Acterys
From Integrated to Orchestrated
In my previous analysis of the Acterys ecosystem for Info-Tech Research Group, I noted that their ability to provide governed, auditable write-back within the Microsoft stack was a critical differentiator for organizations needing real-time data management (Bellamkonda). By combining this with Vena's financial rigor, the new "Orchestrated Planning" model ensures that when Finance updates a budget in Excel, the impact is immediately visible and actionable for an Operations manager in Power BI. This is the end of disconnected spreadsheets and the beginning of synchronized enterprise execution.
Citations
Acterys. "Vena to Acquire Acterys: Creating a New Category of Enterprise Performance Management – Orchestrated Planning." Acterys Blog, 5 Feb. 2025, https://www.acterys.com/blog/vena-to-acquire-acterys-creating-a-new-category-of-enterprise-performance-management-orchestrated-planning/
Bellamkonda, Shashi. "Acterys: How Writeback and Data Management Enhance Power BI and Excel for Business Analytics and Planning." Info-Tech Research Group, 10 Sept. 2024, https://www.infotech.com/software-reviews/research/acterys-how-writeback-and-data-management-enhance-power-bi-and-excel-for-business-analytics-and-planning
Reyhle, Eric. "Incredibly exciting news!" LinkedIn, 4 Feb. 2025, https://www.linkedin.com/feed/update/urn:li:activity:7292900000000000000/
Vena Solutions. "Vena to Acquire Acterys, Creating a New Category of Enterprise Performance Management: Orchestrated Planning." Business Wire, 3 Feb. 2026, https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260203721401/en/
Zack, Mike. "Vena Moves into Orchestrated Financial Planning with Acterys Acquisition." BetaKit, 4 Feb. 2026, https://betakit.com/vena-moves-into-orchestrated-financial-planning-with-acterys-acquisition/
Disclaimer: This blog post reflects my personal views only. AI tools may have been used for brevity, structure, or research support. Please independently verify any information before relying on it. This content does not represent the views of my employer, Infotech.com.
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