Defining World-Class Performance Management

• Institutionalize a KPI strategy: Best-in-class companies are instituting a KPI culture for alignment of business strategy and company goals.
• Continuously revise KPI definitions: Business changes, and as it does, so must the KPIs used to measure it.
• Provide access to KPI information to all decision-makers: Use dashboards, scorecards and auto-alert.

In an environment where IT resources are already stretched to capacity, and where there is limited budget for activities like performance management, how can business leaders begin the process of making performance management a dynamic and pervasive business practice? In the past these kinds of initiatives came with tremendous cost and effort, with delayed returns. In some instances, projects would begin – and end as soon as the champion left the organization.

Fortunately, advancements in web technologies (Web 2.0 with enhanced interactivity and usability) and business models (Software-as-a-Service, open source) are setting the stage to make performance management more accessible to organizations of all sizes and profiles. It is no longer necessary to deploy an expensive CPM software system across the organization with a rollout that could often take years. Companies today are beginning their performance management journeys with small, departmental implementations that allow them to see results in weeks, not months or years, and to bring on new users on an incremental basis to engage everyone in the organization in performance improvement. The key enabler of this new level of flexibility is Software-as-a-Service.

Actuate Corporation recently debuted Actuate OnPerformance, the first Software-as-a-Service solution from its performance management portfolio. To learn more about Actuate OnPerformance, visit: http://www.actuate.com/products/performance-management/on-demand-pm/.