For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Business Performance Solutions, Q4 2009

IBM Cognos, Oracle, SAP, And SAS Lead, With Clarity Systems In Close Pursuit

by Paul D. Hamerman, November 19, 2009

In Forrester's 89-criteria evaluation of business performance solutions (BPS) vendors, we found that IBM Cognos, Oracle, SAP, and SAS Institute led the pack because of their breadth of functionality and strength of their business intelligence (BI) foundations. . . .

For Vendor Strategy Professionals

Market Overview: The Business Intelligence Software Market

Advanced Analytics Will Drive Growth To $14 Billion By 2014

by Holger Kisker, Ph.D., October 23, 2009

Business intelligence (BI) software is the tip of the application software pyramid. Pure functionality, no matter how sophisticated, is no longer sufficient to successfully support the changing business requirements of today. BI provides business guidance . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Economic Insights For Process And Apps Pros

Plan For Inevitable Project Reprioritizations

by Elisse Gaynor, Sharyn Leaver, February 12, 2009

Given the gloomy economic climate, businesses large and small have difficult decisions ahead on the path to fiscal responsibility and stability. IT shops will be tempted and coerced to cut back in order to mitigate the effects of this downturn. However, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Microsoft Ditches PerformancePoint Product

Performance Monitoring Is A Bonus For SharePoint; Look Elsewhere For Planning

by Paul D. Hamerman, January 29, 2009

In a surprise move, Microsoft announced that it is changing its strategy with respect to the hotly contested business performance solutions (BPS) market. After investing in developing and launching Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 (PerformancePoint), . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Business Performance Solutions: Clash Of The Titans

The Market Remains Vibrant Following Vendor Consolidation

by Paul D. Hamerman, January 20, 2009

Business performance solutions (BPS) — a software category consisting of applications for budgeting, forecasting, financial reporting, profitability analysis, and performance measurement — has seen dramatic growth and vendor consolidation over the past . . .

For Security & Risk Professionals

Trends 2009: Governance, Risk, And Compliance Hit The Big Time

The Economic Crisis Of 2008 Makes GRC A Business Priority

by Chris McClean, December 23, 2008

Another bubble burst. The chain reaction stemming from the credit crisis caused an implosion of the global economy. Political, corporate, and economic leaders have argued ferociously about how we can reverse the damage, questioning business ethics, the . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Trends 2009: Financial Performance Management

Macroeconomic Conditions Present Challenges And Opportunities

by Paul D. Hamerman, Scott Tiazkun, November 21, 2008

Financial management professionals stand in the spotlight as the economic downturn continues and companies cope with weaker demand, price pressures, rising costs, and credit constraints. Amidst this bleak macroeconomic picture, executives will look to . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Topic Overview: Business Intelligence

by Boris Evelson, November 21, 2008

Business intelligence (BI) is a set of methodologies, processes, architectures, and technologies that transform raw data into meaningful and useful information. It allows business users to make informed business decisions with real-time data that can . . .

For B2B Market Research Professionals

The Global Information Management Services Forecast: 2007 To 2012

Business Intelligence Services Dominate A $7.3 Billion Market

by Tim Sheedy, July 31, 2008

Information management solutions are moving to the center of IT strategies as a way of driving IT and business alignment and delivering real and visible value to the business. And wherever there is a hot growth market in IT, there are plenty of IT consultants, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Measuring And Aligning Business Performance

Are You Ready To Take Business Results To The Next Level?

by Paul D. Hamerman, April 2, 2008

Today's concerns about a weakening economy might serve as a wake-up call for companies and government organizations to be more focused on monitoring business results and taking appropriate actions to keep the business on track. Despite a large body of . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Forrester's Business Performance Readiness Self-Assessment   (90 KB XLS)

by Paul D. Hamerman, April 2, 2008

Forrester¿s business performance readiness framework distills findings from our discussions with over a dozen vendor companies and over 70 business process and applications professionals to create a framework which will help businesses understand and . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

SAP Unveils Its Starting Lineup For Business Performance Solutions

by Paul D. Hamerman, April 1, 2008

SAP recently acquired Business Objects (BOBJ) and found significant overlaps in the newly combined sets of business performance solutions (BPS) products. The company has since worked through the overlaps and defined its starting lineup: a set of first-string . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Business Objects Assembles A Leading Product Set In Business Performance Solutions

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Paul D. Hamerman, October 10, 2007

Business Objects has demonstrated its commitment to be a leading player in business performance solutions (BPS) with two significant acquisitions within the past year, ALG Software and Cartesis. The current set of products features best-of-breed capabilities . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

SAS Institute Has Arrived As A Leader In Business Performance Solutions

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Paul D. Hamerman, October 10, 2007

Not a prominent player in business performance solutions (BPS) in the past, SAS Institute has, somewhat surprisingly, made a great deal of progress lately with a renewed focus on performance management applications. It now has a solid set of BPS offerings . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Infor Brings A Solid Track Record In Business Performance Solutions

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Paul D. Hamerman, October 10, 2007

Infor is looking to breathe new life into a well-integrated business performance solution that has a lineage tracing back to Geac and Comshare. Although Infor ranks third among enterprise resource planning (ERP) vendors, behind SAP and Oracle, its brand . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Applix Has Strong Appeal As A Flexible Business Performance Platform

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Paul D. Hamerman, October 10, 2007

Applix is a Strong Performer in Business Performance Solutions (BPS) on the strength of its modeling flexibility, integrated analytics platform, and customer reference ability. Over the past few years, Applix has made a transition from a platform provider . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Cognos Leads In Business Performance Solutions With Breadth And Maturity

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Paul D. Hamerman, October 10, 2007

Cognos is a leader in Business Performance Solutions (BPS) with a sophisticated vision and thought leadership programs as well as maturity and depth in scorecarding, planning, and consolidations. Cognos also offers a broad portfolio of planning and analytical . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Oracle Leads In Business Performance Solutions Following Its Hyperion Acquisition

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Paul D. Hamerman, October 10, 2007

Oracle is a Leader in our Business Performance Solutions (BPS) evaluation based primarily on its strength in the financial process solutions of planning and financial reporting. Its acquisition of Hyperion Solutions in April 2007 moved it to the front . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Clarity Systems Excels In Planning And Budgeting

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Paul D. Hamerman, October 10, 2007

Clarity Systems is a Strong Performer in business performance solutions (BPS) largely on the strength of its best-in-class planning and budgeting solution functionality. As a pure-play specialist, Clarity Systems does not match the breadth of its larger . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

The Forrester Wave™: Business Performance Solutions, Q4 2007

Oracle, Cognos, And SAS Institute Lead, Business Objects And SAP In Hot Pursuit

by Paul D. Hamerman, October 10, 2007

Forrester assessed 10 leading business performance solutions (BPS) vendors across 83 criteria in a product evaluation. Cognos, Oracle, and SAS Institute were found to lead the category with overall breadth of functionality and aggressive strategies for . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

SAP Is On A Roll In Business Performance Solutions

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Paul D. Hamerman, October 10, 2007

SAP narrowly missed the Leader classification in business performance solutions (BPS) as it works to integrate a strong set of acquired capabilities with its business intelligence (BI) middleware and market-leading enterprise resource planning (ERP) transactional . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Longview Solutions Is A Strong Performer In Business Performance Solutions

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Paul D. Hamerman, October 10, 2007

Longview Solutions is a relatively small, Canadian vendor that has a good track record among large customers with complex planning needs. Although below average in prepackaged content for strategy and profitability measurement, the solution has good out-of-the-box . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Microsoft Is Making Its Move In Business Performance Solutions

The Forrester Wave™ Vendor Summary, Q4 2007

by Paul D. Hamerman, October 10, 2007

Microsoft's visionary approach and massive market presence make the September 2007 launch of Microsoft Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 a significant event for the Business Performance Solutions (BPS) market. Microsoft is endeavoring to make business . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

SAP Acquires OutlookSoft: The Latest Move In A Consolidating Business Performance Market

by Paul D. Hamerman, May 25, 2007

While not exactly a surprise, SAP's acquisition of OutlookSoft was urgently needed following recent deals by key rivals, particularly Oracle's acquisition of Hyperion. Business performance solutions (BPS) is a growing market with a shrinking vendor landscape, . . .

For Business Process & Applications Professionals

Hyperion Acquisition Boosts Oracle's Position In Business Performance And BI

by Boris Evelson, Paul D. Hamerman, March 19, 2007

With the announcement of the Hyperion acquisition, Oracle did, again, what it does best — made a bold play to absorb a key competitor's technology and customer base. While this acquisition appears to be primarily focused on Hyperion's strong financial . . .