Demystifying BPM: a chief technology officer answers a series of key questions about Business Performance Management systems.

• Position: Technology

Q What are some of the biggest myths or misperceptions about Business Performance Management systems?

A very basic misperception is that Business Performance Management is simply another name for Business Intelligence. While Business Intelligence is a critical component of Business Performance Management, it is the inclusion of process, as well as information, that makes the crucial difference. Business Intelligence is about gaining understanding, whereas Business Performance Management is about using that information to generate coordinated action and drive the business to meet its strategic objectives.

Another misperception is that Business Performance Management is a methodology for reengineering the way businesses manage themselves. In fact, Business Performance Management allows organizations to express their own approach by offering a mechanism for businesses to quickly and efficiently adopt best practices if appropriate, which accelerates reengineering, if necessary.

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Q BPM is sometimes variously referred to as EPM (for enterprise) or CPM (for corporate). Are these synonyms, and are these various abbreviations a potential source of confusion for corporate buyers?

The terms really are interchangeable, though as with any emerging category, the analysts and vendors have aligned themselves with preferred acronyms. I expect that over time, they'll eventually merge into one common term. Hyperion chose to move forward with "Business Performance Management" because we believe the word "business" conveys a much stronger relationship with the business user and embraces the entire business community, including non-corporate and non-enterprise organizations.

Q How would you differentiate Business Intelligence systems from Business Performance Management?

As noted earlier, Business Intelligence and Business Performance Management are really two very different things. People continuously try to compare the two, but it's really not an apples-to-apples comparison.

Business intelligence is a technology defined by query and reporting tools. It's a set of technologies chosen by information technology (IT) departments to gather and analyze information--it's very data- and software application-centric. Business Performance Management, on the other hand, is a practice that includes people, processes and technologies that work together to provide a holistic view of the business at all times. It's not just raw data. It's real...