BPM FORUM POLL SHOWS FUNDAMENTAL BUSINESS AND OPERATIONS ISSUES WEIGH IN WITH COMPLIANCE AS IMPERATIVES FOR PERFORMANCE

Survey of Blue-Chip Forum Membership Reveals Impact of Performance Measures Beyond Financial Data

PALO ALTO, Calif., December 17, 2022 – Business factors such as profit optimization, better business planning, and improved operational visibility are weighing in as key factors along with corporate governance in driving business performance initiatives, according to a poll released today by the Business Performance Management (BPM) Forum. 70 percent of respondents have also moved beyond financial data to incorporate marketing and customer information in performance assessment, suggesting a more holistic and comprehensive approach.

These findings are part of an in-depth poll of the members of the BPM Forum (http://www.bpmforum.org), a new organization including more than 230 leading business executives and thought leaders launched in July to address the growing challenge of performance management, corporate accountability, and compliance in global enterprises.

"Our members are telling us that their companies need better business performance management, not only to comply with stricter corporate governance concerns, but more importantly to drive fundamental bottom-line business improvements and performance visibility within their organizations," said Jim Bramante, BPM Forum advisory board member and global leader of the financial management practice at IBM Business Consulting Services. "These findings are consistent with a recent IBM CFO poll that points to the need for a holistic approach to BPM in order to drive both compliance and improved business results."

The survey results point to a shifting landscape in business performance management, in which performance accountability is increasingly entrenched in the executive suite. 95 percent of respondents are somewhat or extremely sensitized to the need for better business performance management, and 76 percent look to the President, CEO, or CFO for BPM mandates.

These executives rate better business planning (74 percent), improving visibility (69 percent), budgeting and forecasting (58 percent) and business intelligence (36 percent) as the most important ways that business performance management is impacting their organization – rating higher than compliance (13 percent).
The Sarbanes-Oxley act is still a factor among members, however. 73 percent of respondents said they are somewhat or very concerned as a result of Sarbanes-Oxley about the processes, tools, and methodologies used by management to track performance. While this figure is lower than in a BPM Forum poll released in July 2003 of corporate board directors, in which 85 percent were concerned when asked the same question, compliance continues to weigh in with business executives.

When asked about the major challenges to the deployment of BPM solutions, members highlighted insufficient processes (59 percent) and data collection systems (51 percent), along with the cultural issues around such changes (49 percent) as the most important impediments to success.

"We are hearing from the BPM Forum membership, our customers and the marketplace at large that companies need to resolve information quality as they move along the path to compliance and improved performance visibility," commented Nazhin Zarghamee, Chief Marketing Officer at Hyperion, a founding sponsor of the BPM Forum. "In fact, the BPM Forum is developing intellectual capital in the form of white papers, executive dialogs, and industry roundtables to help industry professionals tackle such issues and challenges."

Responding members hail from a broad array of vertical industries, with Financial Services and Manufacturing expected to lead the way in BPM adoption, according to the poll. Executives are well represented in the survey, with the heaviest concentration being CFOs and Presidents.

These findings and others are part of a comprehensive survey report available today from the BPM Forum at http://www.bpmforum.org

About the BPM Forum
The BPM Forum is an organization advancing the understanding of business performance management techniques, technologies, and processes in global enterprises with more than $400 billion in combined annual revenues. The not-for-profit organization brings together over 220 influential business line managers and senior executives overseeing enterprise finance, operations, and technology. Forum members will join in the pursuit of innovations in business performance management, a term that describes the methodologies, metrics, processes and systems used to monitor and manage a company’s business performance. Driven by demands for improved operational accountability and corporate governance, the BPM Forum will research and promote cutting-edge methods to strengthen financial management disciplines, and drive performance improvements across large organizations. For more information or to nominate a member, please visit http://www.bpmforum.org