BPM: A window into business performance

Corporate executives have a habit of wanting to know, at a glance, how their companies are performing in various areas. In today's competitive environment, Excel spreadsheets don't do the trick anymore--they are far too simplistic and don't provide information in real-time. For many companies, the answer is business performance management (BPM). This software, from companies like Business Objects, Hyperion, Cognos, Oracle and SAP, makes sense of relevant data about customers, competitors, internal operations and the marketplace--providing executives with the information they need to make the right decisions. Core processes include modeling, analysis and monitoring of key performance indicators, and links to organizational strategy. To drive BPM across your organization, it's important to work from the top down as well as the bottom up, and be able to guarantee all stakeholders that the integrity of the data and reporting systems will be preserved.

Learn more about BPM:
- read the article [1] at CIO Decisions

ALSO:
- read this [2] about focusing on neglected areas using BPM
- and this [3] on why IT must lead the BPM charge