The Link to Better BPM

Introducing the winners of the eighth annual Business Finance Vision Awards for Excellence in Business Performance Management.

What makes a business performance management (BPM) software initiative click? In a word, it's linkage. A BPM system can help a company strengthen the links between its strategic objectives and the metrics that support them; improve communication among its departments, for example by leveraging Web-based functionality; and tie individual employees' effort more tightly to the organization's overall goals. This heightening of corporate connectivity is a key characteristic of successful BPM implementations, and one that's amply demonstrated by the winners of the eighth annual Business Finance Vision Awards, sponsored by Cognos Inc.: IBM, Cadbury Schweppes Americas Beverages, Keane Inc. and Zarlink Semiconductor. "I look for a link between corporate strategy and business strategy at the business level and the individual level," says Vision Awards judge John Pancoast, a Westport, Conn.-based partner with performance and administrative process advisory firm Experient Consulting.

Vision Awards judge John Morrow agrees. He's vice president, the new finance, at the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA) in New York City. "When a company can bring the BPM effort down to the individual level and say 'This is where you fit in, and here's how we're going to measure you in relation to the company's overall goals,' that is ideal," he says.

In addition to a sharp focus on aligning their workforce with corporate goals, the winners share an ambitious vision. "It's to move beyond the status quo, establish an executive-level commitment to excellence and create a 360-degree view of their business on a real-time basis," says Vision Awards judge Rich Lanahan, vice president of the innovation center for performance management with business intelligence and performance planning software provider Cognos Inc. in Bloomington, Minn.

While the winners were clear standouts, the percentage of entrants whose BPM initiatives conformed to established best practices was higher this year than in any previous year, according to Vision Awards judge Cody Chenault, senior director and finance practice leader at business advisory firm The Hackett Group in Atlanta. "It's an indication of continuing advancement in the maturity of these BPM models," he says.

Here, then, are the best of the best.