BPM Partners Releases 2005 Pulse of Performance Management Market Survey Results.

STAMFORD, Conn. -- BPM Initiatives Get High Marks; BPM Vendors Have Room for Improvement

BPM Partners, the leading independent authority on business performance management (BPM) solutions, today released the 2005 BPM Pulse Survey, a guide-at-a-glance to real world BPM implementations and leading vendors. The BPM Pulse presents information and feedback from over 200 actual BPM users in an easy-to-reference graphical report. It serves as a useful benchmark for those currently considering, planning or starting a BPM project, helping users and potential users consider the risks and benefits of a BPM implementation.

High points of the new study were recently presented as part of the third annual "Beyond the Hype" Webcast in partnership with Business Finance Magazine. Free copies of the summary results and analysis are available in a white paper entitled "2005 BPM Pulse Survey Results" which can be downloaded at http://www.bpmpartners.com/bpmcentral_whitepapers.shtml . BPM Partners' "Beyond the Hype 2005" vendor review whitepaper is also available for download and it includes some of the market perception vendor ratings from the 2005 Pulse Survey.

"The BPM Pulse is the annual check-up on the health of the BPM industry," said Craig Schiff, founder and CEO of BPM Partners. "Although it is clear that the acceptance of BPM is now wider than ever, there are obvious signs that the end user community has high expectations for the success of their chosen solutions. With the increase in BPM acceptance, forward looking organizations are being more careful in defining their requirements prior to engaging vendors and developing tangible business cases for their initiatives. Executives are focused on reducing risks for a project as widely visible across the enterprise as a BPM initiative."

"In terms of vendor satisfaction, a majority of the 20 vendors included in the market perceptions rating received only average marks," continues Schiff. "BPM Partners' independent assessment is that vendors continue to overstate their case, users have incomplete or unrealistic requirements, and the implementation process often takes longer and costs more than anticipated."

Selected results show the growth and potential of the BPM market segment and provide important information for BPM vendors and their customers:

--54 percent of mid-sized companies (2500-5000 employees) that responded are currently in the midst of a BPM project, up from 34 percent in 2004.

--84 percent of the large companies (greater than 5000 employees) that responded have completed, are in process, or are planning a BPM initiative for 2005, up from 75 percent in 2004.

--Contrary to the intense marketing surrounding Sarbanes-Oxley and other regulatory issues, compliance remains a less important driver of BPM initiatives. In 2005, BPM initiatives are being driven by issues with current systems (49 percent of respondents) and the need to stay competitive (46 percent).

--Other areas of investigation in the survey include the importance of key BPM benefits, whether current BPM initiatives cover the full suite of functionality available, market perceptions of the solution vendors, the ranking of BPM thought leaders and the identification of those responsible for an organization's BPM initiative.

BPM - a growing software category with over 80 vendors - is a combination of business processes, select measures (metrics, key performance indicators) and systems that enable an organization to understand, act on and influence its business performance. In today's fast moving business environment, it is vital that corporate executives understand the true performance of the business at any given point. Budgeting, planning, consolidation, scorecards, dashboards, certain business intelligence (BI) tools and analytic applications all fall under the BPM umbrella.

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 needs assessment, vendor selection, 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, Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), OutlookSoft, SAP (NYSE: SAP), SAS, SRC Software and others. For further details, go to www.bpmpartners.com .