LESSON - The Industry’s First Business Process Management System
By John Kopcke, Chief Technology Officer, Hyperion Solutions Corporation
On October 11, 2005, Hyperion introduced System 9, the first business performance management solution to integrate a complete suite of financial management applications with a business intelligence platform into the industry’s first BPM system. System 9 is the result of a three-year initiative to dramatically transform and simplify the way users interact with business performance management and BI software and the way performance management solutions are deployed, managed, and maintained across the enterprise.
The seeds of System 9 were present when Hyperion entered the performance management market in the early 2000s, and it is a natural next step in the evolution of the category. Then, fragmented decision support systems on top of a complex, multi-vendor transactional environment populated by multiple data sources were the norm. From both the business user’s and the IT department’s point of view, it was total anarchy.
Fragmented decision support systems ontop of a complex, multi-vendor transactionalenvironment populated by multiple datasources were the norm ... it was total anarchy.
The dirty little secret is that in many enterprises, things look pretty much the same today. Vendors are still offering point products, with few tying them together as part of an overall solution.
Customers visiting our briefing center confirm this fact almost every day. They tell us that they are trying to simplify their transactional systems to get fewer moving parts. But they also tell us that their reality is a multi-vendor world, and that they need help pulling it all together.
System 9 is a single system for delivering business performance management across the enterprise. It includes shared business data and processes along with other common services. It creates more interoperability between the applications and activities in the performance management cycle, and enables even greater alignment across the enterprise.
The core of System 9 is financial management applications and our BI platform, which Hyperion has been evolving for some time. What’s new about System 9 is that we have integrated them into a single system. We have done this by developing a System 9 Workspace that unifies applications, data, and reports into a single, easy to learn and use environment for business users. And we have developed Foundation Services that make deploying, managing, and maintaining performance management solutions easier and less costly for IT.
The focal point of the innovation behind System 9 is the Workspace. With it, users can address all of their performance management and query and reporting needs within a single thinclient environment that is personalized and optimized for their unique needs. As a result, users are no longer forced to shuffle between applications to get answers to their business questions or to take action. In addition, the System 9 Workspace reduces the amount of training that is required for business users to learn business performance management and BI software. This translates into a reduction in the time IT must spend supporting users.
Hyperion System 9 is a single, comprehensive, yet flexible system that has many advantages:
- Increases user productivity. Through the System 9 Workspace, business users can access and use all elements of their business performance management solution—applications and BI tools—based on their role in the enterprise.
- Reduces business risk. Advanced data integration and management services in System 9 enable enterprises to more easily and cost-effectively create one version of the truth.
- Lowers total cost of ownership. Integrating applications and a BI platform means System 9 retains modularity and flexibility, easing management.
These are compelling benefits that are available to all Hyperion customers, regardless of which of our products they currently use.
Our commitment to evolving the BPM System will not end with System 9. Already the most comprehensive business performance management solution ever and the first to integrate financial management applications with BI into a single system, System 9 is just the beginning.
This article originally appeared in the issue of .