There are various solutions in managing an organization’s performance. Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) and Corporate Performance Management (CPM) are the most popular of these solutions.
EPM and CPM evolved from Business Performance Management (BPM), a term originally coined when the concept of managing performance was first introduced in the early 2000s. Software vendors and consulting firms developed the term BPM to develop solutions around business analytics and processes that are centered on managing performance. The business processes that EPM and CPM typical cover can be classified into three (3) groups:
- Planning – Budgeting, Planning, Forecasting, and Modeling
- Consolidation – Financial Consolidation and Close Management
- Reporting and Analytics – Management, Financial, Regulatory, and Ad Hoc
Both CPM and EPM are umbrella terms that describe the processes, systems, metrics, and methodologies aimed at seamlessly connecting strategies to plans as well as execution of those plans. These terms have the same end-goal of helping organizations reach their financial goals and objectives. Herein lies the similarity between these two terms.
What, then, is the difference between these two terminologies?
Corporate Performance Management (CPM)
Corporate Performance Management (CPM) indicates a corporate-wide solution with its focus primarily on Finance. It contains more advanced applications for driving an organization’s main goal — that of increasing the shareholders’ wealth.
“Gartner, a research and advisory company, uses the term CPM which is a solution that focuses solely on Finance. CPM solutions monitor and manage the corporation’s performance based on key performance indicators (KPIs) such as revenue, return on investment (ROI), overhead, and operational costs.”
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM)
Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) is the processes, metrics, or methodologies to manage performance across an enterprise. It tackles all primary line-of-business operations such as Finance, Manufacturing, Marketing, Sales, Supply Chain, etc. Though it is mainly designed for business organizations, other non-corporate entities such as government agencies, educational institutions, and non-profit organizations can easily adopt this performance management solution.
Oracle, one of the largest providers of integrated cloud applications and platform services, uses EPM. Oracle requires a performance management solution that can manage all its business operations across the enterprise, so an EPM is a better fit for it than CPM.
“To be effective and yield results for your business, performance-management must be year-round process with no end.” – Teala Wilson
There’s CPM, EPM. There’s also FPM, EIM, and more. These terminologies in performance management solutions may be confusing. But while these terms may come in different names, they still share the same core concept. If you’re looking to solve the performance needs of your organization, look beyond the terms EPM, CPM, FPM, EIM, and others. Research the options and work with a specialized consulting firm like Excel Global Partners to analyze their solution packages. Identify the packages that meet the need of your business and then compare them with each other in terms of price, limitations, features, and other relevant metrics.
Summary
The terms EPM and CPM cover the same set of business processes and share the same purpose of helping an organization achieve its financial goals and objectives. The main difference is that the term EPM refers to a broader solution that can be used across the entire enterprise and even in non-corporate environments. The term CPM, on the other hand, refers to a specialized solution designed for corporate use.
Ultimately, the term used for the performance management solution does not matter. What matters is how well the solution fits your organization.
