Hyperion bolsters BPM suite

Business Intelligence (BI) software specialist Hyperion has unveiled an updated version of its business performance management (BPM) platform featuring enhanced modelling capabilities, new functionality for managing capital investments, improved data quality management, and tighter integration with third-party applications.

The company said a new visual modelling environment called BPM Architect would give users a better view of financial planning processes, while a new Capital Expense Planning module would provide functionality for integrating data on fixed capital investments into annual budgets.

Meanwhile, Hyperion System Release 9.3 also extends the suite's master data management functionality to incorporate new data integration functionality for extracting data from multiple applications.

Kathleen Wilhide of analyst IDC welcomed the release, claiming in a statement that the improvements should increase the success rate of BPM projects.

"First [the] Data Management module helps ensure that the integrity of the data itself is sound - a key first step toward improving the veracity of reporting," she said.

"Second, the new BPM Architect helps align and integrate various financial planning and reporting processes to ensure they are working together toward common objectives, another issue that derails many performance-management projects."

Separately, the company also announced enhanced integration between the new suite and third-party systems, including Microsoft Office, Google Search Appliance, SQL Server 2005, IBM WebSphere and SAP Netweaver.