Midmarket CIO Briefing

Corporate performance management software strategies for the midmarket

SearchCIO-Midmarket.com Staff

Corporate performance management (CPM) software has improved significantly and can now offer midmarket organizations the tools to monitor, measure and manage the business. However, corporate performance management is not just about the tools -- it's also about improving the metrics and processes within the business.

But how does corporate performance management software differ from business intelligence (BI)? And how do you ensure a successful CPM software integration? This guide on corporate performance management software includes expert advice, case studies and best practices.

For free advice and resources on more IT and business topics, visit our list of Midmarket CIO Briefings.

Table of contents

  What's the difference between BI and CPM?
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Business intelligence has become the term describing the technology used to access, analyze and report on data relevant to an enterprise. It encompasses a wide spectrum of software including ad hoc queries, reporting, online analytical processing, dashboards, scorecards, search, visualization and more. These software products started as standalone tools, but BI software vendors have incorporated them into their BI suites. BI software is always part of an overall CPM solution.

Learn more about business intelligence vs. corporate performance management:

  What are the latest CPM software offerings?
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Corporate performance management grew out of business intelligence and is one of the fastest-growing segments of the BI market. In 2007, corporate performance management adoption grew by 19%, according to Stamford, Conn-based Gartner Inc.

That growth is expected to continue, given the current economic conditions, according to Gartner analyst Nigel Rayner. Companies of all sizes are putting more stock in performance management applications such as CPM software that offers not only a consolidated view of a company's financial performance, but, more importantly, also a means by which users across an organization can forecast and analyze data to make immediate changes and plan for the future.

Get more information on the latest CPM software offerings available:

  What are the best strategies for a CPM software integration and/or implementation?
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Successful corporate performance management programs have "common DNA," according to Bob Paladino, author and founder of CPM services firm Bob Paladino & Associates LLC. For his book, Five Key Principles of Corporate Performance Management, Paladino worked with more than 50 companies to research and unlock secrets of successful performance management initiatives and supporting software deployments.

While overall CPM strategy is ideally driven from the very top of an organization, IT and BI professionals are often tasked with the challenging, high-profile task of evaluating and implementing CPM software.

Learn more from Palladino in "Performance management expert shares CPM trends and software implementation advice." Also:

  Can MDM improve your CPM efforts?
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While master data management (MDM) has historically been enterprise turf, that's changing, industry sources agree. A lot of midmarket companies suffer from the same data redundancy and inconsistency problems as Fortune 500 firms, albeit on a smaller scale, noted Aaron Zornes, chief research officer at The MDM Institute in Burlingame, Calif.

Midmarket firms are also increasingly taking advantage of the data-cleansing capabilities and other master data management features that ERP and business intelligence vendors are incorporating into their software.

Learn more about how MDM can improve your CPM efforts:

  More resources
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This was first published in February 2009

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