Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) has established itself as one of the most crucial tools for gaining – and keeping – a competitive edge. Unfortunately, when it comes to execution, many companies are still not getting the full benefits promised by their EPM implementations.
It’s time to change that. Here are some focus areas guaranteed to bridge the gap:
1. Strategic Aligning
Most companies have concrete plans and clear goals that detail how to execute them and measure progress. Use your Enterprise Performance Management solution to tie these goals in with the day-to-day reality of managing the business. This will help to prioritise objectives while empowering your people to identify threats and opportunities, run projections, and make well-informed decisions to improve profitability and efficiency.
From budgeting, planning and forecasting, to modelling, planning, and analysis, when EPM is aligned across the organisation, operational and financial processes become simpler and quicker. As a result, management is able to create more efficient plans and streamline operations based on accurate data, while teams are able to focus on more value-added activities.
2. Collaboration
EPM solutions are designed to streamline business processes and foster collaboration. By centralising processes across different departments and functions, companies can foster teamwork while reducing errors and saving time.
Essential tasks like planning, budgeting, and reporting offer improved results if different teams communicate more frequently and work together. Using an EPM solution to enhance collaboration across the business allows business leaders to identify gaps and opportunities, and to execute on them, faster.
3. Agility
What-if scenarios and rolling forecasts are just two features of EPM that enable organisations to stay ahead in rapidly evolving business environments. Use your EPM solution to determine, monitor and adjust objectives in real time.
This can be applied across the organisation. Sales teams can optimise or restructure an existing sales funnel, marketing teams can actively monitor or adjust the performance of an ongoing campaign, and purchasing teams can better control their supply network.
4. Customer service
Customer experience has become a key differentiator for companies, and EPM can help take a company’s customer service to the next level. From facilitating collaboration across the business to speed up fulfilment, to improving the security of customer data, your EPM solution can offer a multitude of ways to enhance a customer’s experience of your business.
Financial Planning and Analysis (FP&A) teams, for example, can determine the root causes of poor performance and then collaborate with other departments to fix issues. Similarly, monitoring the company’s margins and financial performance allows organisations to adjust their strategies to meet customer needs.
Today’s successful businesses are always striving for greater efficiency in their operations. This year, use your EPM solution to close the loop between what you want to happen in the business (and how), and what is actually happening (and why). Focusing on these key drivers of value in the business will have a material impact on the top and bottom line, on the balance sheet, and on the overall return on investment.
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