Information Builders Delivers Performance Metrics Manager

NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwire - March 26, 2008) - Information Builders, the independent leader in production business intelligence (BI) systems, today announced the availability of WebFOCUS Performance Metrics Manager (PMM), an easy, flexible and economical entry point to performance management. By making the most widely used elements of performance management accessible and easy to use for a broad array of stakeholders within an organization, Information Builders PMM provides an incremental performance management solution with rich KPI-driven dashboards, using wizards, pre-built dashboards, and analytic tools.

For many organizations, particularly in small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) or businesses just beginning to understand their control points, the most challenging step toward performance management is getting their metrics defined, tracked, and organized. For them, a bottom-up approach such as PMM not only allows a quick path to results, but also represents a manageable approach to building a culture of performance.

According to AMR Research, "Excessive data can overwhelm some systems and many users. Platforms that include both structured and unstructured data and contextual search functionality make navigation through data much easier for the broad spectrum of users. Even with access to more data and easier navigation, take care to limit data and metrics to information relevant to the users' roles via filtering, alerting, exception-based reporting, and role-specific dashboards."(1)

Information Builders PMM delivers an integrated metrics dashboard system, analysis, collaboration and alert threading in an inexpensive and rapid start package. Businesses can begin to collect and consolidate metrics from anywhere in the enterprise and publish them within weeks through role-based dashboards. PMM comes with pre-built starter kits addressing the vertical and horizontal markets, including supply chain, healthcare, banking, HR, IT, and call center. It also offers more than 350 wizard-based industry metrics to create a pool or scorecards.

When an organization is ready to align their metrics with strategic goals, organize strategy maps and scorecards, and align them with initiatives, themes, and processes, they can easily leverage all of their efforts with a simple upgrade to the more comprehensive Performance Management Framework (PMF) that supports these capabilities.

While most other PM solutions represent vendors' combination of various acquisitions, Information Builders PM suite was written from scratch using native WebFOCUS and iWay technologies. By using this approach, businesses can be confident that whatever underlying vendor systems they have now or in the future can be independent of their PM initiatives. For example, it does not matter if SAP, Oracle or IBM information systems are mixed or switched in -- Information Builders PM solutions can combine holistically or switch between these source systems with ease.

"We believe that for many organizations, performance management should focus first on standardizing and contextualizing metrics, and deploying them in dashboards with analytics tools easily and inexpensively to the all decision makers," said David Cook, director of Performance Management Solutions for Information Builders. "PMM supports communication, delivery of dashboards, financial and operational indicators specific to roles and lets everyone know what they are responsible for and how it contributes to everything else."

The Information Builders PM suite was designed expressly to support the business user, so configuration and ongoing management is a fraction of what other systems typically require. Rather than having IT create new dashboards or new metric feeds, business users can easily assemble custom dashboards from a catalog of gadgets and simply point to a metric data source and schedule refreshes on a periodic basis. Using the iWay integration platform, more than 400 data and application sources are automatically available, including RDBMS, legacy file systems, SAP BW and R3, Oracle and Microsoft MDDs, and SOA message busses.

Pricing and Availability

PMM is available immediately. Pricing starts at $50,000 and includes unlimited seats. For more information, visit http://www.informationbuilders.com.

About Information Builders

Information Builders award-winning combination of business intelligence and enterprise integration software has been providing innovative solutions to more than 12,000 customers for the past 30 years. WebFOCUS is the world's most widely utilized business intelligence platform. It provides the security, scalability, and flexibility needed at every level of global extended enterprises. Its simplicity helps create executive, analytical, and operational applications that reach dozens to millions of users. Information Builders iWay Software suite provides state-of-the-art, multi-purpose, pre-built integration components that address all SOA, application, data, and information management requirements. Its integration adapters have been adopted by the leading software platform providers. Together, these products give Information Builders customers the ability to live up to the company motto: "Your Business. No Barriers."

Information Builders award-winning technology has successfully provided quality software and superior services to more than 12,000 customers, including most of the Fortune 100 and U.S. federal government agencies. Headquartered in New York City with 90 offices worldwide, the company employs 1,450 people and has more than 350 business partners. For more information visit http://www.informationbuilders.com.

(1) Hagerty, John and Kasabian, Dave. "Pervasive Performance Management: What It Is and How to Prepare," AMR Research, August 16, 2007.

Contact Information: Press Contacts: Kathleen Moran Information Builders (917) 339-6313 Stephanie Fallon Emerge PR (617) 729-3176