Actuate Corporation (NASDAQ: BIRT), The BIRT Company^™ – delivering more insights to more people than all BI companies combined – today announced the results of a worldwide study conducted in conjunction with the Advanced Performance Institute (API) to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of the Balanced Scorecard. Measuring and Managing Performance – A Global Study garnered responses from over 3,000 companies across the globe, making it one of the largest and most comprehensive surveys ever conducted in the field of performance management. API Founder and CEO Bernard Marr analyzed the results in his newly released white paper 20 Years of Measuring and Managing Business Performance: From KPIs and Dashboards to Performance Analytics and Big Data.

“While the results of the survey reveal that most companies measure, monitor and analyze their performance, not all companies generate the level of benefits expected from their efforts,” Marr said. “By analyzing the survey results we were able to determine the primary factors that contribute to the level of satisfaction organizations feel with their Business Performance Management (BPM) efforts. Three primary factors were found to influence the maturity of a company’s initiative, which can range from those that have little or no data to work with, to companies that are able to use comprehensive performance data to make true operational and strategic decisions.”

Three Driving Influences

While the survey revealed seven factors that contribute to BPM maturity, three main driving influences permeated the results and affected to varying degrees the initiatives of all respondents. The companies that were able to succeed in these three areas were more likely to report a successful BPM initiative:

• Proper impetus or leadership to guide the initiative. For performance management efforts to be truly valuable, buy-in must seep through all levels of an organization and improve strategic decision making throughout. Despite that, many companies maintain a Big Brother approach to performance management: one-third of respondents were motivated to report only by internal pressures to comply.
• The right business tool. While a high correlation exists between a company’s success and the tool or tools chosen, how they use those tools is also critical. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) were revealed as the most common tool, used by over two-thirds of respondents, yet companies must also choose their KPIs carefully: The most successful initiatives were those that aligned and integrated strategic and operational metrics, and those that combined traditional KPIs with performance analytics.
• Appropriate technology for automation. A majority of survey respondents – 61 percent – still use office tools such as Microsoft Excel and PowerPoint to guide their performance management efforts. This, despite the fact that office tools deliver fewer business benefits than end-to-end solutions, which create tactical, operational and strategic dashboards and scorecards in a single collaborative environment.

“We saw in the Measuring and Managing Performance survey, that technology plays an integral role in the success or failure of a performance management initiative,” said Utpal Bhatt, Vice President and General Manager of the Performance Analytics Group at Actuate. “Performance management technology has evolved greatly over the years, yet many organizations haven’t taken advantage of it. Today, the right technology will help foster true performance results by accessing and interpreting data from disparate sources, identifying underperforming areas, initiating and communicating improvement plans, and easily sharing best practices.”

For the full study, plus additional insight into tools, case studies and a solution overview to help drive your organization to a successful BPM initiative, go to: www.actuate.com/BSCturns20.

Tomorrow’s Webinar Details

To hear Bernard Marr speak about the findings live on March 12 at 9 a.m. PDT, register at www.birtperformanceanalytics.com/se/info/wsemq113pag20anniversarybscbanner/.

About the Advanced Performance Institute

The Advanced Performance Institute (API) is a world-leading independent research and consulting organization specializing in organizational performance. The institute provides expert knowledge, research, consulting and training on concepts like strategy management, performance management, analytics, Business Intelligence, Key Performance Indicators and big data. The aim of the Advanced Performance Institute is to provide today’s performance focused companies, governments and not-for-profit organizations with insights, advice and services that help them deliver lasting change and superior performance. The institute has a long and successful history. It was established in the mid-1990s and has continuously grown to its current world-leading position with clients from across the globe. It is headquartered in the United Kingdom.

About Actuate – The BIRT Company^™

Actuate founded and co-leads the BIRT open source project, which is used by over 1.5 million developers around the globe and serves as the foundation of the ActuateOne^® platform. Applications built on ActuateOne deliver more business and consumer insights to more people than all BI companies combined - ensuring organizations are ready for the exponential growth of Big Data and the proliferation of touch devices.

The ActuateOne platform empowers developers to rapidly develop custom, BIRT-based business analytics and customer communications applications. ActuateOne applications built with one BIRT design can access and integrate any data, including unstructured sources. They provide one user experience regardless of skill level and are supported by one platform for any cloud, hybrid, on-premise, web or touch device deployment.

Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Actuate has over 5,000 customers globally in a diverse range of business areas including financial services, technology and the public sector. Actuate is listed on NASDAQ under the symbol BIRT. For more information, visit www.actuate.com or engage with the BIRT community at www.birt-exchange.com.

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