New suite incorporates business intelligence, integration with SSA's ERP solutions
Orlando, FL September 25, 2003 SSA Global this week rolled out its Corporate Performance Management (CPM) suite, promising a single-source, enterprise-wide performance management solution with integration to the company's core enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications.
Based on technology from business intelligence (BI) specialist Cognos, SSA said that CPM allows companies to monitor and analyze performance, recalibrate plans and respond immediately to changing market conditions.
The solution provider asserted that CPM delivers a new blend of technology and processes that enable companies to actively monitor and measure performance. Components within CPM work together to communicate corporate and strategic goals throughout the enterprise as well as analyze performance against those goals, providing the understanding needed to continuously recalibrate plans, SSA said.
Key components of the CPM suite include Enterprise Planning, which includes Planning Manager and Financial Manager. Planning Manager is intended to provide insight into future operating performance for all levels of the organization, across all lines of business including sales, marketing, manufacturing, human resources and finance. Financial Manager provides integration between SSA ERP applications and Cognos.
Enterprise Scorecarding includes Metrics Manager, which provides an enterprise-wide performance management environment for the creation, management, presentation and delivery of critical metrics to the desktop; and Visualizer, which provides interactive multi-metrics dashboards based on Metrics Manager and other business data. Using various data sources, Visualizer creates charts, maps and other visualizations to communicate trends and relationships.
Enterprise BI includes Enterprise Analytics, which provides prepackaged, extensible applications to transform operational data into consistent information optimized for reporting and analysis. Seven enterprise analytics are available individually or in combinations to provide an integrated data warehouse, including Sales Analysis, General Ledger Analysis, Accounts Receivable Analysis, Accounts Payable Analysis, Inventory Analysis, Procurement Analysis and Asset Management Analysis. Enterprise BI also includes BI Jumpstarts, which provides pre-built catalogs and report templates for ad hoc query, report generation and analysis directly against SSA ERP applications.
"Due to the tough economic conditions and global competition, getting more out of less has become a business imperative, and customers are asking for solutions that deliver quick value," said Cory A. Eaves, vice president, solutions management and research for SSA. "CPM enables customers to closely monitor costs, identify additional revenue opportunities and further simplify management processes."
Eaves noted that the solution can be implemented in phases rather than all or nothing. "As such, end-users can identify the components that are needed most, delivering the highest value," he concluded.
