| Business Performance Management Software Defies | | | | to survive and thrive in the current downturn. |
| Recession with 4% Revenue Growth, But is it a Wise | | | | The long term return on investment of such solutions is |
| Investment? | | | | also hampered by their rigidity. Most organisation wide |
| 4% growth in business performance management | | | | systems require all relevant data to be collected and |
| (BPM) software during a downturn is attention | | | | collated in a single system, in a specified manner, this is |
| grabbing, but it is made more impressive when you | | | | obviously extremely costly. The rigidity of such |
| consider that, according to Gartner; IT budgets fell by | | | | systems also means that they are prone to requiring |
| an average of 4.7% during the same period. So why is | | | | substantial extra investments if there are any changes |
| BPM and business intelligence (BI) such a high priority | | | | to the business' configuration. If the business acquires |
| investment? | | | | another division, or data source, it will all have to be |
| The obvious explanation for the increased demand for | | | | migrated, causing more upheaval and substantially |
| BPM software is the desire to reduce overall costs. | | | | reducing any returns. |
| Quality BPM software allows decision makers to | | | | So do the limited and uncertain returns of many large |
| closely monitor all aspects of performance in an | | | | BPM solutions justify the substantial outlay at a time |
| attempt to reduce wastage and improve efficiency; | | | | when businesses are so cash poor? Many would |
| quickly highlighting problem areas and excess capacity. | | | | argue that they do not, however that is not to say that |
| Another possible explanation is the rise in business | | | | the lucrative benefits cannot be obtained in other, more |
| reorganisation that accompanies any economic | | | | cost effective ways. Smaller BPM software vendors |
| downturn; as companies seek to centralise their | | | | appear to have provided very effective, but often |
| efforts in an attempt to reap economies of scale. In | | | | overlooked, solutions which deliver all the benefits of |
| order to fully capitalise on the benefits of centralisation, | | | | organisation wide business performance management |
| decision makers recognise the need to invest in | | | | solutions without the rigidity and extra costs that come |
| business performance management systems that | | | | from forcing data into a single format or location. Other |
| enable them to monitor and manage organisations as | | | | vendors achieve this by creating Business intelligence |
| single entities, rather than multiple disparate units. | | | | solutions that work with multiple data sources such as |
| Although worthy BPM software will deliver the above | | | | ODBC, OLEBD, OLAP and CUBE, allowing automatic |
| benefits, and more, it must be asked whether there is | | | | collation of all historic and current data without the |
| any real return on investment at the rates charged by | | | | need to manually transfer. This not only reduces time |
| some vendors. In the past year there have been | | | | and inefficiencies, it also reduces future costs as any |
| numerous, well documented cases of organisations | | | | new divisions or data systems can simply be |
| offering consultants blank cheques to consolidate and | | | | connected to the system in their current form and |
| implement an organisation wide business performance | | | | instantly collated and compared with other company |
| management system. The vastly improved efficiency | | | | data. The relatively low purchase and implementation |
| BPM solutions provide mean that even at these very | | | | costs of these kinds of solutions means they do |
| high rates there is usually still a return of investment in | | | | provide a substantial return on investment in time to |
| the long term; but they certainly do not offer the quick | | | | justify purchase in today's climate. |
| wins that resource stretched companies need in order | | | | |