BPM Partners: Performance Management Suitable for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises; Free Web Seminar on Performance Management Addresses Needs of Smaller Organizations.

STAMFORD, Conn. -- BPM Partners, the leading independent authority on business performance management (BPM) solutions, will be one of the featured speakers for a free performance management solutions for the mid-market Web seminar, hosted by Thomson Media and Oracle. The speakers will provide attendees with access to an overview of the available tools, sample sets of key performance indicators, standardized approaches to reporting and budgeting, as well as access to a wealth of knowledge on BPM implementation of use and interest to small to medium size enterprises (SMEs.)(1)

The Web seminar will be held on Wednesday, September 8, 2004 at 2:30 Eastern. Featured presenters include: Sophie Louvel, Financial Insights, Bill Greene, Oracle Corporation, Lori Oswald, Am South Bank and moderator Craig Schiff, BPM Partners. Register at http://bpmpartners.com/events_webinars.shtml

"Smaller companies have a reputation for being nimble and able to take advantage of marketplace opportunities faster than their larger peers. In reality, the market challenges and pressures of smaller companies are similar to those faced by much larger organizations who are already aware of and benefiting from BPM," said Craig Schiff, president and CEO of BPM Partners. "Smaller businesses also need to implement BPM to get a better understanding of their business and for more strategic decision making."

"The maturing of the business intelligence marketplace has created a solid foundation upon which the framework for performance management is rising," continued Schiff. "Easier-to-use reporting and analysis tools, and more sophisticated and stable data warehousing provide an environment for users to have unprecedented access to the information they need in order to run their businesses more effectively. SMEs need that information just as much or more than their large enterprise rivals."

Additional market trends that support the potential for performance management initiatives with SMEs include:

--Case studies of successful implementations and positive ROI at larger, more complex organizations

--An increased number of vendors servicing the marketplace and increased competition among those vendors. (BPM Partners' 2004 vendor directory includes more than 60 BPM vendors as compared to approximately 40 in 2003.)

--Increased awareness of risks around unreliable data and the need for tighter internal controls. Whereas Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulation is a concern for public companies, smaller organizations are concerned about the potential impact on their business's health if information is incorrect.

BPM is a set of integrated, closed-loop management and analytic processes, supported by technology, that address financial as well as operational activities. BPM is an enabler for businesses in defining strategic goals, and then measuring and managing performance against those goals. Core BPM processes include financial and operational planning, consolidation and reporting, modeling, analysis, and monitoring of key performance indicators (KPIs) linked to organizational strategy.

About BPM Partners

BPM Partners is the leading independent authority on business performance management (BPM) solutions and a founding member of the BPM Standards Group. BPM Partners' vendor-neutral consultants guide companies through their BPM initiatives from start to finish, helping companies attain the maximum value from their business performance management initiatives. This is done through hands-on services that provide insight on how to collect and analyze the right information to address specific business goals. BPM Partners leads clients through vendor selection, evaluation and implementation of departmental or enterprise-wide BPM systems.

By analyzing and then matching the client's requirements with the appropriate vendor, BPM Partners helps companies narrow the selection of vendors from a lengthy industry list that includes Applix (Nasdaq: APLX), Cartesis, Cognos (Nasdaq: COGN), Geac (TSE:GAC), FRx Software, Hyperion (Nasdaq: HYSL), Longview Solutions, OutlookSoft, PeopleSoft (Nasdaq: PSFT), SAP (NYSE: SAP), SAS, Satori Group, SRC Software and others. For further details, go to www.bpmpartners.com

(1)SME is a convenient term for segmenting organizations that are between the "small office-home-office (SOHO) size and the larger "enterprise." The European Union has defined an SME as an independent company with fewer than 500 employees.