By integrating every part of a go-to-market engine into a governed, cohesive system, companies are able to scale with confidence. In the fast‑moving world of global SaaS, shifting targets and fast growth quickly expose the weaknesses of fragmented processes. Keith Vere Fenner, Chief Revenue Officer at Morae, argues that predictable enterprise revenue only emerges when organizations replace disconnected commercial processes with a truly unified operational backbone.
“What we are really talking about is data‑led operations,” says Fenner. “It could be sales ops, rev ops, deal desk or compliance. It is all operations.” He has watched countless companies attempt to scale using siloed tools and isolated teams, only to find themselves unable to forecast accurately, maintain margin discipline or build predictable momentum. His insights land at a time when leaders are looking for something steady to hold onto, making his operational model feel less like an optimization and more like a practical path to real stability.
From Fragmented Processes to True Operational Governance
Keith Vere Fenner witnessed the shift from traditional software to SaaS at a time when entire commercial engines were being re‑imagined. In those earlier years, revenue governance lived mostly within finance and legal teams, and sales often operated as a lone frontier, making decisions without real visibility into how margins or delivery capacity would be affected. Sales operated independently, often unaware of how their decisions impacted the gross margin line.
That changed dramatically as companies moved to recurring revenue models. It crystallised for him during his time at Microsoft. “You would go away and do the deal, and then hand it over to the deal desk. They checked pricing, statements of work, capacity and delivery. It drove sales velocity and speed to revenue, all in a highly compliant way,” he recalls.
Having witnessed such a shift made it clear to him that predictable growth depends on removing operational burden from the front line so salespeople can focus on winning deals while operations ensures feasibility, profitability and compliance.
Why Predictable Revenue Is Still Hard to Achieve
Still, even with more sophisticated tools at their disposal, many companies remain hamstrung by silos. Separate systems for CRM, marketing automation, delivery, finance and customer success often operate with different data structures and reporting logic.
“The challenge is that organizations and technology architectures are siloed,” he says. “Your Salesforce opportunity management, marketing engine, delivery capacity, margins, finance and product data all need to work together. When those are not connected, accuracy disappears.” This fragmentation is especially common in mid-market and early stage companies that begin with lightweight, inexpensive tools before rapidly outgrowing them. While no company begins with its end‑state architecture, they can still lay the groundwork early by putting the right operational governance in place to guide future scale.
Three Practical Steps for Data-Led Revenue Engines
Keith Vere Fenner distils his approach into three practical steps that companies can adopt at any stage of growth.
1. Build unified commercial execution supported by real data: Strategy cannot exist without technology, and technology cannot be effective without clear commercial intent. “There is no point having the technology without the strategy and execution,” he says. “And if you try to run strategy without technology, how do you know what you are running it on?” Companies must first align their commercial processes and then determine the data structures, integrations and trade-offs that support them.
2. Create continuous feedback loops: Once systems begin working together, organizations need a weekly operational rhythm. Business intelligence must clarify whether the pipeline is healthy, aligned to strategic product areas, converting at the expected velocity and supporting next-quarter targets. “These feedback loops give you the insights of what to do next,” Fenner says. “They show whether you need more digital marketing, more leads or more activity from reps, and how quickly those actions will influence outcomes.”
3. Optimize revenue quality, not just volume: The ultimate goal is improving annual contract values, margins, win rates and renewal performance. He points out that renewal books often represent the largest share of enterprise value, especially in private equity-backed companies. “Predictability comes from quality information,” he says. “It tells you why you win, why you lose and how to improve margins at every stage of the customer lifecycle.”
The Future of Revenue Operations
As AI accelerates, many leaders are quick to hope for instant clarity and easy answers. When this happens, Fenner likes to bring the discussion back to his central thesis: predictability only emerges when the foundation beneath the technology is solid. “AI needs good data for six months, not data for six months,” he says.
Once that foundation is in place, AI becomes a powerful accelerant rather than a shortcut. It can sharpen deal insight, automate time‑heavy tasks and give teams clearer signals about where to focus next—all reinforcing the very operational discipline that makes predictable growth possible.
To learn more or connect with Keith Vere Fenner, visit hisLinkedIn and website.