Dresner Advisory Services believes that a “golden age” of enterprise performance management (EPM) software is dawning. EPM solutions are mature and highly functional in all areas, widely available in the cloud, and leverage artificial intelligence (AI) in ways that enable organizations to deliver demonstrable business benefits easily.
We define performance management as an approach that fortifies the management cycle with enterprise-class modeling, planning, business intelligence (BI), and analytics in a single, or closely linked, system. EPM software primarily enables these capabilities. We have tracked the market for these solutions since 2019. Our 2024 EPM Market Study shows a high degree of market maturity, with 71 percent of organizations using EPM software. Also, 67 percent of organizations consider their use of EPM software extremely successful or very successful.
However, some data leaders may not realize EPM software could deliver a further tranche of benefits as it enters its golden age. Almost half of organizations (51 percent) have EPM solutions in place for longer than five years. Therefore, many data leaders in these organizations may consider EPM something they have “done,” and view it as a technology in maintenance mode that requires only upgrades (when appropriate).
Despite clear evidence of market maturity, the EPM market is not static. Three underlying shifts are underway in the EPM software market, and data leaders need to understand the implications of these:
- Comprehensive performance management solutions: By enhancing their solutions’ capabilities, vendors now can deliver on the potential of a holistic approach to performance management. Mature, functional solutions—available across all aspects of EPM—offer much greater potential for business value than the previous generation of solutions that tended to focus primarily on budgeting and financial consolidation.
- The transition to cloud: Cloud EPM solutions—widely available, proven, and more accessible to small and midsize organizations—make it easier for an organization to expand its EPM footprint and deliver on the promise of EPM.
- The emergence of AI: EPM vendors increasingly embed AI capabilities in their applications to deliver business benefits for specific use cases. Although vendor support remains patchy, early adopters can leverage these embedded AI capabilities to create sources of differentiation and demonstrate how AI can deliver targeted business benefits.
Data leaders should review their current EPM deployments in the context of these three EPM trends and create action plans to leverage these trends in the next two to five years. Taking these actions will allow them to deliver a fresh tranche of business benefits from existing EPM investments. Failure to do so means organizations could fall behind their peers that leverage new EPM capabilities to better manage performance and improve business outcomes.
You do not have permission to access this document. Make sure you are logged in and/or please contact Danielle with further questions.