The Forrester Wave™: Business Performance Solutions

November 19, 2009 The Forrester Wave™: Business Performance Solutions, Q4 2009 by Paul D. Hamerman for Business Process & Applications Professionals Making Leaders Successful Every Day For Business Process & Applications Professionals Includes a Forrester Wave™ November 19, 2009 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 with Connie Moore and Ralph Vitti Execut i v e S u m ma ry 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. SAP earned the highest current offering score, and IBM Cognos earned the highest strategy score, with Oracle having the best combination of both. Clarity Systems led the Strong Performers group with impressive planning and financial reporting capabilities. Infor was a solid Strong Performer as well, demonstrating very good functional capabilities for planning, consolidations, and performance measurement. Tagetik, a CFO-focused player from Italy, showed sophisticated financial modeling capabilities and an excellent consolidations solution. Host Analytics, the only software-as-a-service (SaaS) pure-play provider in the Forrester Wave™ peer group, had a well-rounded offering and a clear vision and strategy for BPS. Board International and Longview Solutions demonstrated the potential to play well in the BPS market as their latest releases gain maturity. tab l e o f Co ntents N OT E S & RE S OURC E S 2 BPS Addresses Mission-Critical Planning And In July 2009, Forrester conducted product Measurement Processes evaluations of the 10 vendors participating in BPS Vendors Come In All Shapes And Sizes the Forrester Wave: Board International, Clarity Systems, Host Analytics, IBM Cognos, Infor, BPS Maintains Good Market Traction Despite Longview Solutions, Oracle, SAP, SAS Institute, The Recession and Tagetik. 5 Business Performance Solutions Evaluation Overview Related Research Documents Evaluation Criteria Focus On Core Functionality, “TechRadar™ For BP&A Professionals: Financial Technology, Strategy, And Market Presence Management Applications, Q2 2009” Evaluated Vendors Include Software Titans As June 30, 2009 Well As BPS Specialists “Business Performance Solutions: Clash Of The 7 BPS Offerings Show Depth And Maturity In Titans” Most Areas January 20, 2009 10 Vendor Profiles “Measuring And Aligning Business Performance” Leaders Show Breadth And Market Presence April 2, 2008 Strong Performers Offer Functional Depth And Flexible Application Toolkits 12 Supplemental Material © 2009, Forrester Research, Inc. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is strictly prohibited. Information is based on best available resources. Opinions reflect judgment at the time and are subject to change. Forrester®, Technographics®, Forrester Wave, RoleView, TechRadar, and Total Economic Impact are trademarks of Forrester Research, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective companies. To purchase reprints of this document, please email clientsupport@forrester.com. For additional information, go to www.forrester.com. 2 The Forrester Wave™: Business Performance Solutions, Q4 2009 For Business Process & Applications Professionals BPS ADDRESSES Mission-Critical planning and Measurement processes Business performance management consists of a set of processes, frameworks, and systems for activities such as planning, measuring, communicating, and monitoring business results (see Figure 1). Enterprises typically link these activities to corporate strategies and objectives and might drive them down to many individuals within the organization to encourage accountability and control. Forrester defines business performance solutions as a category of purpose-built software applications that support these activities. The major BPS functional elements include the following: · Strategy and performance measurement address goals, objectives, and accountability. A strategy management application supports formal strategy management philosophies (e.g., the Balanced Scorecard) but might be adapted to a business’ specific needs. Applications often display the strategy definition in visual strategy maps. Scorecards measure progress against the goals and objectives set forth in the strategy framework. Performance dashboards display more detailed information and allow drilling down to root-cause detail. Dashboards typically include a variety of key performance indicators (KPIs) that might include strategic scorecards as well as relevant comparisons against plans, budgets, forecasts, prior performance, and industry benchmark data. · Planning, budgeting, and forecasting solutions support multiple forward-looking processes. Although used almost universally as a control on spending, budgeting regularly falls short in supporting performance initiatives — often the result of a rigorous and inflexible process, not due to a software shortcoming per se. Fortunately, in addition to budgeting, the planning solutions support a variety of scenario-based planning activities as well as forecasting processes that add value beyond that provided by traditional budgeting processes. · Cost and profitability management provides detailed analysis to improve margins. This complex modeling activity helps organizations analyze development, production, and operating costs against revenues by product, customers, and lines of business. Cost and profitability management applications often use activity-based costing as a methodology to develop sophisticated cost and profitability analytical models. · Financial reporting and consolidation produce financial statements. Financial reporting and consolidation applications produce reports focused on delivering financial statements based on accounting results for both external and internal audiences. Statutory consolidations support regulatory compliance and generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) requirements. As compliance requirements evolve, these applications are embracing International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and eXtensible Business Reporting Language (XBRL).1 November 19, 2009 © 2009, Forrester Research, Inc. Reproduction Prohibited The Forrester Wave™: Business Performance Solutions, Q4 2009 3 For Business Process & Applications Professionals Figure 1 Business Performance Solutions Footprint User experience Dashboards Scorecards Spreadsheets BPS application components Business intelligence Financial reporting Strategy and platforms and and consolidation performance measurement ERP systems integration tools Planning, budgeting, Cost and profitability and forecasting management Configuration tools for processes and business models 48391 Source: Forrester Research, Inc. Although the functional elements described above align primarily with finance processes, enterprises can use strategy and performance measurement, as well as forecasting, to support all areas of the business. Many BPS product portfolios often include purpose-built performance management applications for nonfinance areas including human resources (HR), operations, supply chain, sales, and IT. All types of businesses and government organizations use BPS products, although considerable extension and adaptation to business requirements is often necessary. BPS packages offer a level of configurability that puts control more squarely into the hands of the business stakeholders. Enterprises seeking BPS support should look for: · Compelling graphics and user interface features.