FSN: Will Microsoft PerformancePoint shake up business... -
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Published on: 1/15/2007
Last Visited: 6/13/2008
However, Dr Nigel Geary, founder and CEO of PrecisionPoint Software, a specialist provider of Business Intelligence targeting Microsoft Dynamics users, told FSN that he considers that mid-market companies need to understand what they are measuring, before they can embark on performance management.Speaking to FSN he said, "There is definitely a need for performance management in the mid-market but the priority is to distinguish "measurement" from "management".The first task for the mid-market is to get a grip on where they are - i.e. measure what they already have.Once they have daily control of knowing where they are they can then start ‘managing' performance by using better planning tools such as budgeting and forecasting applications to optimise inventory, manage resources and cash flow."
Geary agrees with O'Reilly's analysis of the mid-market.
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"In coming from the Enterprise space to the mid-market 5 years ago I was amazed at how difficult it is to get the information that the users need for decision making out of mid-market ERP systems," adds Geary
This is why Geary's business is focussed on getting mid-market customers doing business performance measurement right away.For example, PrecisionPoint Business Warehouse is designed to automatically leverage the metadata (structures) of the Microsoft Dynamics range of mid-market ERP solutions, shielding companies with little in the way of IT skills from some of the complexity of set up so that they can do business performance measurement right away."It has virtually no set up time or learning curve to speak of," he told FSN.
Geary adds, "The real meat for me in PerformancePoint Server is the Business Modeller and the Planning Server - these tools will take performance management away from brittle, linked spreadsheet systems into the next plane," he added."Whether Microsoft will price PerformancePoint Server for the mid-market is a much bigger question, since to me they seem to be more focused on going head to head with OutlookSoft, Hyperion and Cognos Planning."
But competing with the higher end BPM vendors could be challenging for Microsoft.Existing companies in the BPM space have had years of customer feedback on features, work flow, data integration and implementation expertise - Microsoft has to close that gap quickly.
Like Access Accounting's O'Reilly, Geary is also concerned that PerformancePoint is more of a toolset than an application."Since PerformancePoint is a set of development tools that can really do just about anything with the caveat of "given enough time and consulting resources", the product could be oversold as a packaged application.This will be a major issue, especially in the mid market.Microsoft is a platform and tools company - they address developers needs very well, but they haven't done very well historically when it comes to talking to users about what their day to day process entails," he added.
Geary adds, "There are only a limited number of BI specialists in the world with business analysis skills who can turn the tools into real solutions.
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