Why PerformancePoint Server is going to change the game in the CPM Market
Thursday, August 3rd, 2006
For years it seemed specialist vendors of point solutions for planning, budgeting or statutory consolidation had found the ideal habitat to grow endlessly. Their strongest competitors were enormous Excel sheets that travelled the world via mail and none of the global software giants seemed able or willing to enter this market. Microsoft’s determination to change this fact for the business intelligence arena has shown in earlier developments around the BI platform of SQL Server and Analysis Services. Real corporate performance management however with all the bells and whistles such as feedback loops, process support for budgeting, forecasting or consolidation were really hard to implement on the Microsoft platform unless you chose a third party product based on SQL Server from vendors such as Outlooksoft, Panorama or Winterheller (strong in Germany and Austria). With PerformancePoint Server 2007, which should be available for public beta by November this year and is expected to be released in Q2 2007, Microsoft will once again change the shape of the whole marketplace in CPM. Microsoft Partners such as Outlooksoft, Panorama, MIS/Infor or Winterheller who have depended on Microsofts platform are now facing Microsoft as a powerful competitor.
Here are some reasons why I think PerformancePoint server will have such a big impact on the market:
- Microsoft Excel 2007 is tightly integrated as a front-end
- As is Sharepoint Portal
- SQL Server and Analysis Services serve as the backend infrastructure and thus become the core of the Microsoft CPM architecture
The business functionality covered include and can be expanded by VAR’s or MSP’s
- Budgeting
- Financial Planning
- Forecasing
- Management Consolidation
- Analysis (ProClarity product set)
- Scorecarding (Business Scorecard Manager)
The most important reason of all are the thousands of Microsoft Dynamics Partner globally who have lots of business and finance knowledge and sure are waiting to expand their business towards CPM. CPM is mainstream now!
Technorati tags:
Business Intelligence
Corporate Performance Management
Microsoft