When measuring the true value of a BPM (Business Performance Management) system, most companies tend to look at several factors. How well does the system integrate with our current system(s)? How flexible is the reporting tool? How scalable is the underlying platform? How difficult is it to maintain? What is the cost to capture the information? What’s the return on that information?
How long does it take your competitors to report their numbers (public or not)? What’s the cost for your organization to produce your numbers? Who’s involved? What adjustments are required? What factors impact the delivery of data from underlying data owners? Does the sales system delivery data on the 5th day after close but the cost data isn’t delivered until the 15th day? Are your data owners enabled to make changes to improve the process? What roadblocks remain? The answers to these questions are enough to keep you up for many nights.
This concept of speed is key to any BPM system. Take a look at how many organizations compile and manage their data ownership. The following chart shows the relationships between types of data/owners and cross utilization.
Chart Owner across type Types of Data/relationship(s) and their consumers
A/P CFO vendor, payments, invoicing cycle, discounts received/earned
A/R CFO customer, payments received, typically payment time, discounts given, interest charged/paid
G/L CFO financials, key metrics, regulatory
Payroll CFO employees, salary, length of employment, function, value to the organization
Sales CFO customer, business given, repeat business, add-on sales
Email CIO communication
Files CIO source of data
Servers CIO source of data
If you’re a small organization, you may wear the ownership hat for all of these! And, when you’re looking at BPM systems, you need to have the vendor explain what integration points the system has. Next, you need to understand the standard business practices and functionality delivered. How do clients typically use the product? Can you use the BPM solution to eliminate roadblocks and increase speed to market? Can I use the produce for planning as well as reporting? If not, then you’re probably just buying another data entry package that has to be owned by someone. And, if you’re not looking to increase the speed by which you can respond and drive market conditions, you’re going to be left to managing by reaction and not by leadership.
This is where Strafford Technology, Inc. adds value. We help streamline this process. We help you ask the right questions, find the right answers, drive the assessment and increase your ‘response-ability’. We help clients make those assessments everyday. We know the value of your time and your information and can help deliver it faster and with greater value to a larger number of consumers.