Scalability of Performance Management Software

In order to assess the required scalability it is important to consider the final implementation scope of the performance management software. Companies might initially only automate one department or business unit but later plan to roll it out organisation-wide. There are three aspects of scalability:

• The performance management software application should be scalable in terms of programming. It should, for example, be easy to add new cascaded value creation maps
• The underlying performance management database should be scalable since the amount of data and information accumulates quickly
• The performance management communication approach should be scalable so that it is easy to disseminate the information through e.g. the Web browser. Language can also be an issue for international organisations and they might want to check whether the application comes in various languages

Flexibility and Customisation of Performance Management Software

This is an important aspect and nowadays organisations are less willing to invest in performance management software applications that are not, for example, able to integrate with other applications. Many tools provide interfaces with reporting packages, activity-bases costing solutions, CRM or planning tools. Flexibility should also be provided in terms of methodology support.

Many organisations have multiple performance measurement and reporting needs, besides their strategic value creation map might also want to use the software for frameworks such as other business scorecards or assessment frameworks (e.g. Baldrige National Quality Award, EFQM Award, Deming Prize, Investors in People, etc.). It usually makes sense to use the same application for all the performance measurement and reporting needs.