What Palisade does

Palisade, operating commercially as Lumivero, is a private software company founded in 1984 that builds specialized analytics and decision-science software for risk modeling, qualitative research, and higher-education operations. The portfolio is organized into three solution groups: Risk and Decision software (DecisionTools Suite, @RISK, Predict!, SharpCloud) which delivers Monte Carlo simulation, project-portfolio risk management, and decision visualization, primarily as native add-ins to Microsoft Excel; Research and Qualitative Data Analysis software (NVivo, ATLAS.ti, XLSTAT, Citavi) which supports qualitative coding, mixed-methods analysis, statistical analysis, and reference management across academic, healthcare, and market-research users; and Experiential Learning Cloud, which manages student field placements, assessment, and accreditation reporting for higher-education institutions.

The technology stack combines proven scientific methods (Monte Carlo simulation, decision trees, sensitivity analysis) with embedded AI capabilities for qualitative coding, literature summarization, sentiment analysis, and predictive risk forecasting. AI is positioned as governed, auditable, and aligned with researcher and analyst workflows rather than as a standalone foundation model. Products are sold through a tri-channel GTM: direct enterprise sales with quoted annual or multi-year contracts, a self-serve e-commerce shop for individual and SMB buyers, and a global network of certified trainers and international partners for regional delivery and training.

Revenue is generated primarily through software licenses and subscriptions, including perpetual licenses with annual maintenance alongside subscription plans. The company reports more than 27,000 customers worldwide and states that 90% of Fortune 100 companies use its products. End customers span construction and engineering, energy and utilities, defense, financial services, government, manufacturing, healthcare, pharmaceuticals, consumer goods, research organizations, and higher education. The company is now headquartered in Denver, Colorado, and operates under founder Sam McLafferty and chairman Phil Sandy, with Mark Osborne as CTO.

Name

Palisade

Legal name

Palisociety

Website

https://palisade.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Palisade, operating as Lumivero, develops specialized analytics and decision-science software — including Monte Carlo risk modeling, qualitative-research tools, and higher-education placement management — selling to enterprises, research institutions, and Fortune 100 companies via enterprise sales, e-commerce, and a global certified-trainer network.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Risk Analysis & Decision Science Software

NAICS

Software Publishers (513210)

SIC

Services-Prepackaged Software (7372)

akta.pro primary industry

Model Deployment, Serving & Inference Platforms (HDAAABAF)

Keywords

• Risk analysis software
• Monte Carlo simulation
• Qualitative data analysis
• Decision analysis tools
• Research software

Headquarters

HQ city

West Drayton

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Software Licenses and Subscriptions: The company generates revenue primarily through software licenses and subscriptions for its decision analysis and research software products. Products like @RISK, DecisionTools Suite, NVivo, and ATLAS.ti are sold as perpetual licenses with annual maintenance or as subscription plans.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Palisade (Lumivero) develops and sells a portfolio of software products for risk analysis, decision science, qualitative data analysis, statistical analysis, and experiential learning management. Offerings include Monte Carlo simulation tools (@RISK, DecisionTools Suite), portfolio risk management (Predict!), decision visualization (SharpCloud), qualitative research software (NVivo, ATLAS.ti), an Excel-based statistical add-in (XLSTAT), AI-powered reference management (Citavi), and a cloud-based student placement platform (Experiential Learning Cloud). Most products integrate natively with Microsoft Excel and embed AI capabilities for coding, summarization, and risk prediction.

Product overview

Lumivero is a unified software platform for research, decision-making, and experiential learning, combining specialized products with embedded AI capabilities. The portfolio includes: Risk and Decision solutions (DecisionTools Suite, @RISK, Predict!, SharpCloud) for Monte Carlo simulation, risk management, and decision visualization; Research and QDA tools (NVivo, ATLAS.ti, XLSTAT, Citavi) for qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods analysis; and Experiential Learning Cloud for student placement and assessment management. AI is embedded across products for qualitative coding, risk prediction, and knowledge retrieval, serving over 27,000 customers including 90% of Fortune 100 companies.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• DecisionTools Suite

Quantifiable outcome

• 2% increase in gross margins for Babcock International using Predict! for project risk management
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability9 records

Feature9 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• International PartnerscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLumivero maintains a global network of international partners providing regional sales, support, and training services. Partners connect with customers around the world through the company's partner ecosystem.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Stata: Statistical software for researchers across academia, government, and industry, directly comparable to XLSTAT's positioning for quantitative research and publications.
• Dedoose: Web-based qualitative and mixed-methods analysis tool used by social and behavioral researchers, directly comparable to NVivo and ATLAS.ti for academic and applied research workflows.
• Posit (RStudio): Open-source-based statistical computing environment (R and Python) with commercial IDE, comparable to XLSTAT and the quantitative research workflow Lumivero supports, especially for academic and data-science users.
• MAXQDA: Qualitative data analysis software for academic and mixed-methods research, directly competing with NVivo and ATLAS.ti in the same persona and use cases.
• IBM SPSS Statistics: Statistical analysis software widely used by researchers and enterprises, directly comparable to XLSTAT and the quantitative side of NVivo/ATLAS.ti, with similar academic and enterprise customer profiles.

Broad incumbents

• SAS Institute: Long-standing analytics and statistical software vendor, with comparable enterprise risk analytics and statistical modeling products (e.g., SAS/STAT, SAS Enterprise Miner) sold to Fortune 100-style customers. Comparable as a broad analytics platform rather than a single-product specialist.
• Qlik: Analytics and business intelligence platform with overlapping enterprise risk and decision-support use cases, sold to similar Fortune 100-style customers though with broader BI focus.
• Tableau: Enterprise data visualization and analytics platform sold to large organizations, comparable to SharpCloud and the broader decision-visualization use case, with broader BI scope.
• Microsoft Power BI: Microsoft's first-party BI and analytics platform with native Excel integration, directly comparable to the Excel-native integration strategy Lumivero's @RISK, DecisionTools Suite, and XLSTAT rely on.

Emerging players

• Quirkos: Lightweight qualitative data analysis tool targeting academic and market researchers, an emerging competitor in the same niche as NVivo and ATLAS.ti with a focus on ease-of-use for non-technical users.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/palisadecorp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Palisade