SymphonyRPM Unveils New Platform to Deliver Unmatched Performance Management and Predictive Business Analytics Solutions
Added functionality provides visibility across the enterprise for automated, forward-looking decision-making and flexible operational planning and execution
Palo Alto, Calif. -- May 9, 2005 -- SymphonyRPM, Inc., provider of an integrated enterprise platform for forward-looking performance management and predictive business analytics solutions, today announced general availability of its new enterprise platform. Significant new features include DecisionFlow™ technology for superior business decision-making, flexible change-rules capabilities for advanced planning, and cross-functional model-to-model and multi-model support. These performance and usability enhancements give business users the power to achieve real-time synchronization of operational planning and execution.
“Enabling performance management requires more than just deploying dashboards. Workflow, forecasting, and the ability to centrally manage data related to performance objectives, tactics and execution are required,” said Eric Rogge, vice president and research director, Ventana Research. “Next generation platforms like SymphonyRPM will provide holistic, integrated support for a broad range of performance management functions.”
SymphonyRPM combines business intelligence, predictive business analytics, workflow and data management into a single, scalable platform to accelerate time-to-market and time-to-value for performance management solutions. Through its patented business application development environment, users benefit from the combination of a collaborative Web-based analytic interface and a dynamic closed-loop, rules-based modeling framework for identifying root causes and performing iterative “what-if” analysis to make better decisions across the enterprise.
“Working with SymphonyRPM is an important element of IRI’s business transformation strategy. Its powerful, next-generation platform helped IRI leverage our deep domain expertise to rapidly and cost-effectively develop high-value performance management applications for the retail/CPG market. In fact, IRI went to market with eight sophisticated enterprise solutions within six months of signing the OEM agreement,” said John Fors, senior vice president, product management, Information Resources, Inc. (IRI). “We selected SymphonyRPM for a number of reasons, including the truly extensible nature of the platform, its predictive modeling capabilities, the ability to quickly configure business workflows, and powerful approach for real-time decision making.”
DecisionFlow Technology: Automated Decision Making
SymphonyRPM’s patent-pending DecisionFlow technology powers better decision making by encapsulating best practice business processes into a single directed unit. As a result, SymphonyRPM’s customizable workspaces provide a flexible framework for decision process automation that can accommodate multiple pages in a single workspace and multiple panes on a page, while allowing the user to build complete decision-centric solutions in an integrated, easy-to-use environment. Business users can also visualize “what-if” activity and results on the same page.
Flexible Change Rules: Advanced Planning Capability for New Business Initiatives
Flexible Change Rules capability is a powerful new planning feature to the SymphonyRPM platform. Typical formulas in analytic engines have linear, one-way calculation flows, for example, A + B + C = D. Now, with Change Rules, line of business managers can change the calculated result (D), which for example could be selling 100,000 units of spring jackets for three geographic regions, lock one member, such as the East region (B) and spread the other two factors, such as West (A) and North (C) regions, proportionately. This can all be done with a single button click. Managers benefit from having one place where they can set and change rules, while automatically updating all effected processes without having to make manual updates. This level of complex conditional calculation is not possible with traditional business intelligence tools.
Model-to-Model Support: Increased Visibility Across the Enterprise
Another competitive differentiator for the SymphonyRPM platform is its ability to provide true Multi-Model and Model-to-Model support. With this functionality, users can view multiple models at the same time, enabling cross-functional work across an enterprise deployment. Business managers can also build scalable models that subscribe to other models, for example, a Sales Planning Model can subscribe to a Financial Planning Model, or a Planning Model can push results to a Reporting-Only Model.
Dynamic New Member Addition to the Database
SymphonyRPM provides the ability to add new members directly to the database from the SymphonyRPM platform for activities such as new product introductions in manufacturing and merchandising, promotion planning in retail and CPG, and other types of new business planning processes. Users can easily set up worksheets for new product introductions using the Structured Dynamic Member Addition capabilities, which provide users with a Web-based approach for easy set-up and entry of variables, like new product names, and qualifying data such as price and effective dates. This functionality can be built directly into a workspace for complete closed-loop planning-to-decision capabilities.
Additional enhancements to the SymphonyRPM platform include:
Scheduled Reporting: Pre-generated HTML reports and zero-latency to browser
Custom Aggregates: On-the-fly creation of custom member groups; users can see the information the way the business views it, versus how the database stores it
Support for Multi-Dimensional Expressions (MDX): Microsoft standard for multi-dimensional query support “Managing business performance requires the ability to adjust future execution across the enterprise to the evolving realities of the ever-changing market. Traditional approaches simply report history in one form or another, which, by definition, means there’s nothing to be managed. With those reporting tools, users are often relying on Excel spreadsheets to help manage future performance, which is clearly not sufficient,” said Jim Clayton, president, SymphonyRPM, Inc. “The robust new features of the SymphonyRPM platform are a further extension of our ability to provide our partners with a 10x improvement in time-to-market for high-value applications that automate decision and planning processes, enabling their customers to quickly react to business problems and opportunities.”
SymphonyRPM has partnership agreements with GERS Retail Systems, Information Resources, Inc.(IRI) and SunGard, and offers best-of-breed data management capabilities through IBM. The SymphonyRPM platform is currently deployed at more than 100 customers worldwide, including Dow Jones, Polaroid and Unilever. The SymphonyRPM platform recently received one of the highest rankings in Ventana Research’s 2005 Performance Management Vendor and Product Scorecard. In the report, which encompassed more than 30 vendors and 70 products and took more than four months to conduct and analyze, SymphonyRPM received an overall score of 85.6 percent resulting in a leadership position for Performance Management.
Shipping and Availability
The SymphonyRPM integrated enterprise platform is available immediately. For more information and pricing, contact Bennett Indart, vice president of products, at info@symphonyrpm.com or (800) 975-7707.
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