Analytics versus Performance Management – Does Anyone know the Difference?

One of the fun but also frustrating aspects of enterprise performance management is dealing with the confusion about what it is and is not. Debates abound among IT analysts, management consultants, business journalists and software vendors – just to name a few groups.

I like to debate. That is the fun part. In a blog by Muthu Ranganathan, the SAP product manager asks the question echoed in this blog post’s title.

In my opinion Muthu tries to oversimplify this topic by stating that “analytics is the past, and performance management is planning plus analytics.” I discuss this in my prior blog “Rearview Mirrors or Windshield.” I think he underestimates the role that analytics plays in analyzing the future. Analytics is not just about slicing and dicing historical data. What do I mean?

One of the fun but also frustrating aspects of enterprise performance management is dealing with the confusion about what it is and is not. Debates abound among IT analysts, management consultants, business journalists and software vendors – just to name a few groups.

I like to debate. That is the fun part. In a blog by Muthu Ranganathan, the SAP product manager asks the question echoed in this blog post’s title.

In my opinion Muthu tries to oversimplify this topic by stating that “analytics is the past, and performance management is planning plus analytics.” I discuss this in my prior blog “Rearview Mirrors or Windshield.” I think he underestimates the role that analytics plays in analyzing the future. Analytics is not just about slicing and dicing historical data. What do I mean?