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by Lauren Gibbons Paul, Contributing Editor   Choosing an enterprise performance management (EPM) tool can be a complex process. That's because EPM functionality emerged from different product areas, all coming at the problem from different angles. For example, traditional business intelligence vendors such as Cognos and Business Objects are addressing EPM from the perspective of reporting and query/analysis tools. Vendors such as Hyperion are taking a budgeting and activity-based costing slant, while enterprise application vendors such as Epicor, Oracle, and SAP are offering built-in analytics to help customers better understand the business-critical operational data that resides in their systems. The enterprise route can be a good option for mid-size manufacturers that don?t have the time or money to become enmeshed in a best-of-breed implementation, according to John Hagerty, vice president of performance management at AMR Research Inc. (Boston). No matter which approach they take, companies beginning an EPM journey pass through four distinct phases, according to Hagerty. The bad news is they often have to start at the lowest level and get through each before they have any hope of graduating to the next one -- no line-jumping. [Click to continue] |