It is exciting to realize what we have
accomplished by reducing complexity.
Creating and executing a vision is the pathway to success. Implementing an EPM application is an ideal opportunity to re-evaluate and transform your business processes to realize your company strategy.
Industry thought leaders are saying that agility through process innovation offers new opportunities to respond, adapt and expand revenues and productivity. Successful business process management is not just about technology. It requires a high-level vision and a collaboration between IT and business management. It demands effective metrics, actionable strategies and a commitment to organizational change.
Through our research and customer interactions we have identified the following information regarding current industry trends and predictions for the future of Performance Management, which we hope you find useful.
EPM Highlights
CFOs and CIOs: Can We talk?: Last summer, a joint survey by Gartner and the Financial Executives Research Foundation found that 42% of IT organizations report directly to the CFO. The percentage soars to 60% at smaller businesses with revenues between $50 million and $250 million. (Dec 2011) [Back to top]
CIO strategies to generate revenue and achieve business growth: Executives around the world have identified increasing economic and business growth as their highest priority. Since this will demand more from IT organizations than just cutting costs, it is time for CIOs to update their IT organization's mission for the rest of this decade and beyond. (Dec 2011) [Back to top]
Analytic Excellence: Transforming Decision Making: The value of BI lies ultimately in its ability to transform decision making. The best business outcomes arise from EPM programs that deliver what users need to make fact-based, analytic, collaborative decisions (not just by giving them better access to data). (Nov 2011) [Back to top]
Are you wasting time on poor performers: Is shareholder value maximized when the corporate office devotes a higher proportion of management time and/or capital to turning around poor-performing business units? Or would shareholders be better served by exiting losers and focusing executive effort on nurturing, investing in, and growing the value of the winners? (Nov 2011) [Back to top]
EPM Application deployment priority: A survey was done at the end of Q3 2011 to determine which applications were currently deployed using an EPM solution, and which applications were planned to be implemented in the coming year. Due to space constraints, only the top 6 applications have been shown. (Nov 2011) [Back to top]
Virtualization: In virtualization there are several factors to consider when deciding whether to deploy a server application or workload in a virtual machine. Virtualization is rapidly taking hold as the technology of choice for new server deployments. It enhances flexibility and agility by detaching workloads and data from the functional side of physical infrastructure. Although virtualization can make workloads more portable and increase the range of use of hardware, IT managers and planners need to know where its implementation will create problems. (Oct 2011) [Back to top]
Virtualization and Cloud computing: By YE2011, a tipping point will be reached: more than half of the workloads in our data centers will have been virtualized providing the foundation for Private Cloud computing capabilities. This transformation will profoundly transform the future of information security. Once we've decoupled security policy from workloads, security can become adaptive to simultaneously span private and public cloud computing scenarios.(Oct 2011) [Back to top]
Predictions for the year ahead: As users take more control of the devices they will use, business managers are taking more control of the budgets IT organizations have watched shift over the past few years. Moving forward, IT departments will find that they must coordinate activities in a much wider scope than they once controlled. Gartner addresses the continuing trend toward the reduction of control IT has over the forces that affect it. (Dec 2011) [Back to top]
Technology trends you can’t afford to ignore: A disruptive technology is one that drives major change in business processes or revenue streams, consumer behavior or spending, or IT industry dynamics. Virtualization, green IT, staff retention, social networks, unified communications, legacy migrations and cloud computing are among such disruptive trends that are reshaping the IT and business landscape. Companies must identify the disruptive technologies that will impact their users and their business and develop plans to address these disruptions. (Nov 2011) [Back to top]
Know your audience: Studies have shown that early technology adopters in workforce, typically between thirty something and younger, no longer use email as it is too slow. They prefer instant messaging or social media which gives immediate response and where disparate information can be gained from multiple conversations held simultaneously. (Oct 2011) [Back to top]
The trend of a closer relationship between the CFO and CIO is becoming more prevalent in the current economical climate. There seems to be a synergy between business and our changing lifestyles, where technology is becoming embedded in peoples personal and business lives. People seem to accept change if it’s beneficial, as witnessed through high demand for smart phones and social media. Understanding that change is evident, management must be willing to challenge the status quo. Utilizing relevant EPM technology to communicate clear strategies and unify your audience is necessary to effectively guide and manage change.
We believe that EPM is more than a technology, and more than automating existing business processes. It is bringing key stakeholders together to define how best to measure and grow the business. Appropriate technology is used to monitor and deliver information as efficiently as possible. Ultimately EPM is proactively determining and managing organizational change to achieve a strategic vision.
Having worked in the Performance Management industry for many years, we have developed innovative add-ons to enhance functionality to deliver superior EPM applications to our customers. Our innovations are created to augment ‘out of the box’ functionality. We discuss and share these ideas as part of our consulting services and will be highlighting some of these on this page from time to time. [Back to top]
