Regarding Our BPM Consulting Guide

I just finished reading Craig Schiff's article BPM Consulting Market 2005, which appeared in the September issue of BPM Magazine. While the intent of the article is admirable, I was surprised by the magazine's selection of Mr. Schiff as its author and the method (response to a survey distributed by BPM Partners) used to include/exclude firms. These two factors resulted in an article that, in my opinion, is more of a promotional piece than an unbiased evaluation. Regarding the first factor, I trust that Mr. Schiff is an expert on many BPM topics. I simply find the selection of any consultant competing in the BPM services market to be curious. Reliance on market insiders for guidance makes sense. Reliance on their opinions concerning competitors hinders objectivity. Regarding the second factor, I find the criteria used to distribute the surveys to be a mystery. No criteria were included in the article. -- Steve Vandehey, CPM Practice Leader, Navigator Systems Inc.

Steve, your points are well-taken. We did not have space in the guide to include every consulting firm that works with BPM software, so Craig Schiff solicited participation from those firms that he deems to be market leaders. Craig knows the BPM market inside and out, having played a founding role in both Hyperion and OutlookSoft before starting his consulting firm, BPM Partners, but I recognize that by asking Craig to make subjective decisions about which firms to invite to participate, we opened ourselves up to potential conflict-of-interest concerns. We meant, as the introduction to the guide states, for it to be used as "a starting point in [readers'] search for the ideal consulting partner." That said, we will reevaluate how these decisions are made before developing next year's guide. -- Meg Waters, Editor in Chief, BPM Magazine

I couldn't help but notice a quite inaccurate description of Stratature in the September edition of BPM Magazine. While not too long ago we did offer BPM implementation services, our company is now 100 percent focused on the master-data-management market with our +EDM product. While companies such as WhereScape and Cognos are partners of ours (+EDM Technical Alliance Partners), we have never offered Cognos or WhereScape implementation services. -- John Leavitt, Director of Marketing, Stratature Inc.

John, it appears that Stratature completed our survey form before your change in focus and we failed to catch the change during our fact-checking process before printing the issue. Thank you for bringing this to my attention; I apologize for the error.

I also owe an apology to Parson Consulting and Bywater. We intended to invite both firms to participate in the guide but failed to do so. Both are included on the list of firms that chose not to participate. -- MW

Skewed Survey Results

In this business environment where every second is crucial and every decision evaluated, BPM can offer a real-time window toward effective policy. What's necessary to drive this, however, is empirical data measured over time for today's seemingly overly cautious executive. For BPM to work, our data needs to be checked and rechecked for accuracy and intent. The survey published in the June 2005 BPM Magazine (see Is BPM Performing? Surveys Highlight the Market's Needs) was an opportunity that fell short. In a simple mistake, the entire survey results left me in complete doubt. How does one go from "satisfied" to "somewhat satisfied" to "extremely satisfied"? Your data skews the actual results, which is the exact reason dashboards and metrics are viewed with skepticism. -- Ed Hallda

BPM Implementation Survey Launched

I enjoyed reading the articles in the June issue of BPM Magazine. We have almost the same IT structure as Ardent Health Services (see Financial Analytics From the Ground Up) here at Denny's, but it seems that they have progressed more quickly. I would be very interested in a comprehensive article that addresses the resource and time requirements for consultants, dedicated finance staff, and dedicated IT staff for a new BPM initiative focused on budgeting, analytics, dashboarding, etc. Perhaps you're aware of one that has already been written? -- Dave Royle, Senior Manager, Financial Planning & Analysis, Denny's Corp.

I'm glad you found the case study helpful, and your article suggestion is very timely. We are currently conducting a survey to answer these same questions: How long does implementation take for various types of BPM software systems? How much does it cost? Is it worth the effort? We invite all readers who have implemented a budgeting, planning, reporting, or financial analytics application within the past three years to participate in the survey. We will publish a report on the results early next year. -- MW

Rebuttal to June Case Study

The June edition of BPM Magazine includes a case study in which Mike Dinsdale from Velocity11 expresses his opinion of the capabilities of CompuSoft's Synoptix vis-à-vis other report writers (see How Reporting Can Increase the Velocity of Business). In response, I would like to stress that Synoptix utilizes the latest in development technology and is a cutting edge, n-tiered application that requires reliable network communications. If that connection is not maintained, report generation becomes disrupted. This appears to be the case with Velocity11. As long as companies maintain reliable connections, Synoptix is an extremely powerful report writer with unparalleled ease of use. Utilizing its enterprisewide capabilities, companies can create any report they require -- reports that can vary from an income statement to a labor-efficiency report, and anything in between.

With the recent release of version 3.0, Synoptix revolutionizes report calculation speeds with its Threaded Hyper Object Technology (THOT). With THOT, Synoptix intelligently evaluates the nature of reports and only then calculates them, thereby optimizing the way report data is retrieved. Synoptix is also completely unique in its multidimensional cell functionality, which gives users the capabilities of a spreadsheet plus the power of a robust report writer, all within a single cell. The benefit for users is that Synoptix acts both like a standard spreadsheet and a report writer that offers financial, detailed, and business intelligence reports.

Perhaps as important as its reporting capabilities, Synoptix empowers companies with complete drill-down functionality right from custom reports. Getting from a summary balance all the way down to the source data can be accomplished with just a few mouse clicks. Not only this, but Synoptix gives companies the advantage of providing real-time data because of its direct connection to the database. Thus in a stable network environment, Synoptix provides every reporting and research capability that most businesses need to compete effectively in today's rapidly changing market. -- David Andersen, Ph.D., Vice President, CompuSoft Development

If you appreciate, take issue with, or would otherwise like to comment on any of our editorial, please write me at mwaters@penton.com. I welcome all feedback. Letters may be edited for clarity or length. -- Meg Waters