IT blogger Rick Sherman, founder of Athena IT Solutions, provides empirical research that validates the contributing role of Performance Management software in preparing organizations to emerge stronger and smarter from the economic downturn. His research appears in his blog titled Business Intelligence (BI) Index: Treading Water. His headline is misleading — he sctually reports that stock prices of BI software vendors are outperforming the market.
Sherman cites that “The software companies in the BI index, although many being in the middle of the performance rankings YTD, are likely to fare better and rebound quicker than other industries and even other high tech firms.” What accounts for this?
My belief is that the more progressive organizations have quickly moved from a pessimistic position to an optimistic one. That is, they no longer view themselves as being victims, with doom-and-gloom resignation to forces perceived as outside their control, to a much more optimistic view. They will not only survive, but they will emerge, when the economic downturn bottoms out, as healthier and more powerful. They won’t just beat their competition but pre-empt them by being equipped with business analytics. With skills and competency from applying business analytics such as from my employer SAS, their managers and employee teams will not only gain better insights about their situations, but they will also make better decisions based on analytically testing the outcomes of their decisions.
Don’t despair. The evidence of better financial performance among BI and performance management software vendors is one indication that smart organizations are investing in their futures, rather than just cutting costs.
