Corporate Performance Management
As Actuate enhances the Performancesoft Views (now BIRT Performance Scorecard) solution, the commitment to customer satisfaction is clear as they continually incorporate features their users require into new product releases. The latest version of Performancesoft Views includes: state of the art enterprise deployment capabilities, an impressive and intuitive user interface, and advanced integration to back end systems. With Performancesoft Views Version 7.0, Actuate delivers the next generation of Performance Management capabilities that complement the enterprise information infrastructure of most organizations. IDC RESEARCH Kathleen Wilhide, Research Director Compliance and Business Performance Management Solutions
The Most Widely Deployed Performance Management Solution BIRT Performance Scorecard was developed specifically to address real life Performance Management situations. With almost two decades of production history, BIRT Performance Scorecard is the acknowledged leader in the Performance Management category, delivering the richest, most intuitive, user friendly Performance Management Applications, and the largest number of successful deployments worldwide. BIRT Performance Scorecard s flexibility accommodates any performance framework, including: the Balanced Scorecard, Malcolm Baldrige, Six Sigma or any custom frameworks you may have. It is also scalable to meet the needs of even the largest initiatives, yet intuitive enough to master after only a few hours of training. Since its first release, Performance Scorecard has been on the forefront of technology, offering functionality that continually anticipates our customers needs. The development path for the BIRT Performance Scorecard is driven by ongoing customer feedback and the latest industry requirements. We can safely say that, after ten years, we continue to meet and exceed our customers expectations. Intuitive and Easy To Use Your end-users, project leaders and senior management will find BIRT Performance Scorecard easy to understand and use. Designed to lead your entire organization toward improved performance and accountability, this user-friendly solution does not require technical expertise. With personalized Home Pages, users are one click away from their favorite features, while customizable filters give each individual access to the critical information they need, when they need it, such as the measures they own, or just those performing below target. Performance Scorecard also provides automatic e-mail alerts to warn users of exceptional conditions like poor performance or missing data or commentary. Flexible and Scalable BIRT Performance Scorecard allows you to define any number of management frameworks to support an evolving or multilocation Performance Management initiative. A single copy of Performance Scorecard is loaded to the associated.net server, and the advanced delivery architecture streamlines deployment and ensures compliance with IT standards for application management. Each new release automatically handles any required database upgrade and conversion, and your own designated performance management System Administrators can easily make additions or changes without the need to involve technical resources. BIRT Performance Scorecard also offers different product editions to satisfy customer needs, regardless of the size of the initiative. Its sophisticated administrative, role, and group-based security features suit even the most complex scenarios. In addition, Performance Scorecard multi-server web technology makes it the ideal solution for large-scale deployments. 3
Home Pages Personalized Home Pages give users access to actionable performance data such as Home Page Alerts, Performance Reports, Briefing Books, etc., from the moment they log into BIRT Performance Scorecard. Each user can personalize his or her Home Page to identify what is important to them, both within Performance Scorecard and from external systems, and benefit from the timely delivery of automated right-time Performance Management data. Home Pages are easily customized by inserting your company logo, and you can quickly update users on important system or company issues through automatic notifications every time they log in. What Users Can Do: View personalized Home Page Alerts from the moment they log into BIRT Performance Scorecard Identify their own favorite Views, Performance Maps, Briefing Books, and Reports, to avoid scrolling through long lists of available items Access critical Performance Management information with a single mouse click View important news and announcements published by System Administrators in the Information Links section Access advanced functionality in the navigator pane to run Audit Trail Reports and generate e-mail alerts that automatically send Performance Management data to the appropriate individuals 4 Set up Links to custom reports, external documents or websites that can be directly launched from the Home Page
The Performance View The Performance View display provides users with an at-a-glance look at the company s overall performance, allowing them to manage all aspects of Corporate Performance by illustrating strategic alignment and providing a clear definition of priorities at every level. Built-in consolidation allows performance to be tracked and aggregated across both time and location dimensions, while colorcoding quickly identifies underperforming areas, alerting managers to areas in need of urgent attention. What Users Can Do: Assess overall performance at-a-glance with customizable, color-coded scorecard measures Use performance indicators to help focus in on areas of concern, identifying issues before they impact higher level objectives Access advanced analysis options to facilitate corrective planning, through use of a Performance Index, Variance Display and Future Period Display Investigate performance for individual measures by location, e.g. projects, departments, divisions or geography Compare actual and projected performance with any number of comparatives such as: budgets, targets, prior periods and benchmarks Right click on a measure to immediately access a comprehensive Dashboard, which can be specifically designed to reflect the information that is relevant to that measure graphs, data tables, notes, measure information, commentaries, etc. Compare historical performance over time by scrolling through previous years, quarters, months, etc. Enter data and commentaries (with the appropriate authorization) directly from the Dashboard Zoom in on specific areas of interest in the View and print partial or entire Views to printers or PDF files for wider distribution 5
Performance Maps Performance Maps provide dynamic, interactive functionality that supports the communication of visual elements related to your specific Performance Management initiative. Using a simple drag-and-drop interface, users can quickly create graphical representations of their Performance Management information to produce: Strategy Maps, Traffic-Light Reports, Initiative Tracking, Six Sigma Program Tracking, Process Maps, Cascading Scorecards, Cause-and-Effect Diagrams, Geographical Maps, Product/Brand Market Maps, etc., using supplied templates or internally developed graphical elements. Users can also enhance Maps to create a central repository of related information by adding Links to relevant Reports, Views, Books, external documents and websites, to provide a comprehensive Map of performance information and resources. What Users Can Do: Drive corporate strategy through clear visual representation of any Performance Management framework such as: the Balanced Scorecard, Malcolm Baldrige, JCAHO, Six Sigma, etc. Clearly see color-coded performance measures and the linkages between the items defined in the Map Display the Executive Dashboard for the selected measures Investigate performance issues highlighted in the Map via a single-click drill down displaying lower levels of detail Display performance for multiple locations simultaneously, e.g. on a Geographical Map background, for any selected measure Display the Map for different time periods to examine historical and/or projected performance Link directly to other objects displayed Books, Reports, Views, e-mails, external documents, websites, etc. Print Maps to printers or PDF files for wider distribution 6 Display the same Map for different locations (selected from a simple drop down list) to investigate performance at all levels in the organization
Briefing Books Briefing Books allow users to create and deploy customized Views of performance to accommodate specific needs across the organization. Measures displayed in Briefing Book sections can be selected manually, or can be filtered to display items based on various selection criteria such as: performance, criticality, location or ownership. Links to relevant standard and custom Reports, Maps, external documents and websites can be added to any Book so that all related information is only one click away. To control access, Briefing Books can be defined as private or shared, and Performancesoft Views advanced security features ensure that users only have access to the information they are entitled to see. What Users Can Do: Access measures that have been selected according to defined criteria, e.g. all the measures I own where performance is bad Display measures in ranked order, e.g. best to worst performing Drill down by measure or location to get more detailed Performance Management information Examine detailed measure performance via the Executive Dashboard, which is automatically displayed on the right hand page of Briefing Books Access supplementary Dashboards that provide additional analysis into measure and location performance Scroll backwards or forwards in time to examine historical or projected performance changes for the measures displayed Link to documents, external applications, websites, etc., associated with a selected measure Run stored Reports, automatically updated with the latest available information, and view or print them to a printer or PDF file Generate an e-mail to the owner of the currently selected measure with a single mouse click Enter actual and forecast data, and performance commentaries (where authorized) 7
Classic Reports BIRT Performance Scorecard provides a point-and-click reporting module that allows users to easily create custom reports in a wide variety of formats. Once created these dynamic and interactive reports can be saved into the system and are available with the most up-to-date information anytime in the future. Reports are easy to print, e-mail and post to the web or to an intranet site. What Users Can Do: Easily generate new reports by using supplied templates Display reports in a variety of popular formats, including: trend graphs, pie charts, tables, etc. Include commentary and action plans to provide an explanation of performance results and next steps Store reports for future use and generate them on demand for viewing, printing or e-mailing as PDF files Copy specific elements of any report (tables, charts, graphs, etc,) for use in other documents, e-mails and presentations Select items to be included individually or automatically based on the results of a filter, using criteria such as ownership or performance 8
Share Share is used to provide one-click access to the critical documents, applications, websites, e-mail links, etc., that support your Performance Management initiative. Users can access Share from their personal Home Page, Briefing Books and Performance Maps. The advanced security functionality of BIRT Performance Scorecard gives System Administrators the ability to define user, location and measure-specific links to ensure only the right people have access to critical performance information. What Users Can Do: Access links associated with specific measures and/or locations, which can be used for various purposes, e.g. launch external applications, view associated documents, access websites or search engines and link to reports View information links, which can be used to broadcast information to all or selected users, e.g. corporate information and news, system updates, etc. Launch automated e-mail messages to Measure Owners or Assistants, System Administrators, etc. 9
BIRT Root Cause Analysis Using BIRT Performance Scorecard you can export all of your performance management user data, calculated data, colors and commentary for use by Actuate report development software. Built knowing that customers want to maximize investment in their current Performance Management and information systems, BIRT Performance Scorecard greatly simplifies the dissemination and analysis of Performance Management information by offering users interactive, intuitive reports that can be customized to meet their specific needs. The offering provides all users with spreadsheets or other personalized reports that reflect Key Performance Indicators or performance against metrics. What Users Can Do: Drill down into transaction level data from a performance scorecard to more closely align the Performance Management practice with business indicators that are contained and managed in other systems Export Performance Management data to create custom web and spreadsheet reports Replace ad-hoc reports currently created and saved in spreadsheets with a standardized reporting format, using industry-leading enterprise reporting capabilities Schedule and generate exports to the Reporting Data Mart Leverage the data already consolidated in BIRT Performance Scorecard to create reports on-the-fly, or to respond to requests from management 10
BIRT Reports Interactive reporting portal High fidelity views of KPI Fully functional spreadsheets Personalized reports 11
One Edition Many Options Whether your Performance Management initiative is a small, single department deployment, or enterprise-wide with multiple locations, divisions and business units, Actuate can customize BIRT Performance Scorecard to suite your needs. Scale Of Your Implementation Available A pilot implementation with potential to expand your initiative. A departmental or smaller organization implementation with less than 50 users, with easy upgrade potential. An organization-wide deployment with multiple locations, divisions, or business units. The most complex, decentralized, organization-wide deployment. Security And Administration You plan to centralize administration activity but still need the capability to define access rights for all system objects (measures, locations, etc.), including modification and data input responsibilities. You require these capabilities, as well as other advanced administrative controls such as: single sign-on (LDAP support), online analysis of audit trails and automatic event scheduling. You need the ultimate in flexibility, with the additional ability to use templates to enforce organization-wide standards, and also to be able to distribute administrative duties across multiple locations, with granular control over exactly who can perform specific activities and exactly what they can change. System Access And Connectivity Requirements You need flexibility in how you license your software (Named User, single or multiple database support, single and multiprocessor servers, etc.). You plan to automatically update Views with data extracted from external databases and applications, and want to control these processes from within. You want to store data in an Oracle or SQL Server database rather than the royalty-free embedded database. You want to publish information to a very large number of users in a read-only Briefing Book format, without incurring per user license costs. By ensuring us immediate access to current, comprehensive information that provides a clear definition of priorities at every level, Actuate Performancesoft Views (now BIRT Performance Scorecard) helps us understand, measure and effectively communicate our operational performance in the context of strategic objectives and critical success factors. Honeywell Tom Christensen, System Administrator 12
Actuate Performancesoft Views (now BIRT Performance Scorecard) is the ideal Performance Management solution to fit within NSTAR s performance driven culture. Its easy to use, intuitive interface allows us to quickly see how we are performing against Key Performance Indicators and how performance in one area impacts that of another area. And because Performancesoft Views features and functionality are driven by customer feedback, we can be confident that the tool will continue to meet the realworld Performance Management challenges that NSTAR faces, allowing us to plan, with confidence, future improvements in our financial, customer and operational business areas. NSTAR Susan McSherry, Director Corporate Performance Management
Actuate Performance Management Center of Excellence 150 John St. Suite 600, Toronto, Ontario, M5V3E3, Canada Tel: (800) 449-3804 www.actuate.com/solutions/performance-management Virginia Branch Office 12030 Sunrise Valley Dr. Suite 220 Reston,Virginia 20191 Phone: +1-703-674-2260 Toll Free Phone: +1-877-496-0545 E-mail: PMinfo@actuate.com Actuate UK Ltd. & Peformance Management Center of Excellence 1st Floor Pickford House 46 Bow Lane London, EC4M 9DL United Kingdom Phone: +44 (0)207 246 4700 Fax: +44 (0)207 246 4701 E-mail: ukinfo@actuate.com URL: http://www.actuate.com/uk Actuate - the people behind BIRT Actuate founded and continues to co-lead the Eclipse BIRT open source project. BIRT is the premier development environment for Rich Information Applications that present data in compelling and interactive ways via the web on any device. Actuate and its people are dedicated to making BIRT the best environment for our customers to develop Web 2.0 applications that drive revenue through higher customer satisfaction/loyalty and improve operational performance. The people of Actuate continually participate in and provide resources for the vibrant open source community that has emerged around BIRT. Anybody can participate in the BIRT movement by visiting www.birt-exchange.com. Actuate offers value-add BIRT products and services that speed the development process and bring additional functionality, interactivity and enterprise scalability to BIRT-based Rich Information Applications. Actuate has over 4,400 customers globally in a diverse range of business areas including financial services and the public sector. Founded in 1993, Actuate is headquartered in San Mateo, California, with offices worldwide. Actuate is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol ACTU. For more information, visit the company s web site at www.actuate.com. Actuate Corporation 2207 Bridgepointe Parkway Suite 500 San Mateo, CA 94404 Tel: (888) 422-8828 www.actuate.com