Performance Management Software Support Service

The many performance management software vendors offer different levels of service. Some offer no implementation support and instead partner with consulting companies to provide this. Other vendors offer comprehensive services including their own implementation service, consulting, international service hotlines, etc. Organisations need to be clear how much support they want and whether the vendor or their partners can deliver this.

Understand the Future Developments in Performance Management Software

We suggest you try to understand the planned future developments and release frequency of the different performance management software products. The differences might indicate the vendors attention and commitment to the product. It is also important to understand the future vision of the software vendor, which will influence the direction of any future product development. In an ideal case the future view of strategic performance management would be similar for the vendor and your organisation in order to ensure future compatibility.

Performance Management Software Selection Process

Overall, it is important to involve different people in the process of developing the requirements for your strategic performance management software solution. Organisations often fail to involve all key functions and end up with a solution that matches only half of their organisational requirements. When only IT people are involved they typically look for the IT specific capabilities and compatibility with the existing IT infrastructure; finance people usually looked for financial capabilities and maybe the economically most sensible solutions; business analysts may look for the most comprehensive analysis capabilities; and general managers may look for a good user interface and ease of use.

In order to address all requirements you might have for performance management software, it is important to involve members of all four groups in the decision process. My experience has taught me that the selection process is best led by members of the management team in close collaboration with business analysts and the IT function.