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Development of EPM Systems: Management Principles and Tools
This paper focuses on management issues related with implementation and development of enterprise performance management (EPM) systems. Such systems are used for certain management tasks – strategic analysis, management by objectives, corporate planning and budgeting, corporate reporting. Implementation and development of EPM systems should rely on appropriate methodological approach and supporting technologies. However, at present a holistic approach to EPM systems development management is unavailable. The aim of the research is to determine peculiarities of EPM systems development, basic management principles and management tools applicable on different stages of the development process. Here the management principles proposed are system approach (considering the system as a set of structural components and interrelationships between them), going concern (assumption that an organization intends to continue its activities in the foreseeable future), program-based approach (considering an EPM system development program as a set of interrelated projects), competitive consideration (forming few alternative development programs and selecting one of them for implementation), simulation (modeling of development programs and their consequences taking into account stochastic factors), comprehensive assessment (comparison of alternative programs relying on both quantitative measures and qualitative factors), value for money (comparison of investments with the system’s maturity represented by non-financial indicators), aggregated resources (considering resources in aggregate, as total amounts of related payments) and monitoring (analysis of the system’s changes over time, both historical and forecasted). Appropriate management tools comprise conceptual modeling, maturity assessment, discrete-event simulation and multi-criteria decision making. These management principles and tools are essential for creating comprehensive methodology of EPM systems development.