Corporate performance management (CPM) can help refine a company`s strategic focus, but only if the data it uses is accurate and consistent. It`s tempting to view the current buzz around corporate performance management as just the latest in a long line of dashboard-based executive information systems that have over-promised and under-delivered for decades. But the reason so many of CPM`s predecessors have failed is not because the products were unworthy; it`s because mining and monitoring strategic data is fraught with logistical and cultural problems. And while current CPM products might have made some incremental advances in functionality, they are still at the mercy of the data they render and the individuals who run them.

Even though many organisations have become more disciplined and methodical about creating strategic plans, they`ve been far less successful in executing and assessing performance against those plans. That`s where CPM, also known as business performance management or enterprise performance management, is supposed to help.

Just data usage