Discover how Blue Mountain Resorts was able to improve reporting, avoid headcount additions, reduce labor costs, decrease inventory levels, and see an ROI of 1,822 percent! Learn what else Nucleus Research found when they calculated Blue Mountain Resort's total investment in Cognos over a three-year period.

Featuring Research from Gartner

As a financial executive, you know that your management and investors are pushing you for more data and better answers. Business leaders have a critical need for information when they need it and powerful financial performance management (FPM) suites have become "must have" management tools. Featuring research from Gartner, this new issue paper from Cognos underscores the urgency of FPM adoption for mid market businesses and will help you plan for the future.

Clearly, a spreadsheet-based approach to data and performance management is wholly inadequate to meet the challenges facing a growing midsize business. Does a complete environment for financial performance management, supporting key planning, budgeting, forecasting, consolidation, reporting, analytics, and data management processes sound good to you? If you answered yes, this is a must read especially if you are looking to spend more time on what you do best--running and growing your business.

Bridge the Gap Between Strategy and Execution by Integrating Operational and Financial Planning
This survey, conducted by CFO Europe Research Services, reveals the majority of 400 executives surveyed from the US, UK, France and Germany believe integrating operational and financial planning has a major impact on key business goals. Yet, only a fifth of respondents describe their operational and financial planning as "highly integrated." Why the gap? In this white paper, you will see the key results of the survey, including: how finance executives still rely on spreadsheets, despite knowing that they are less accurate and more time-consuming; which areas of the business are most integrated with financial planning, and which have miles to go; what your peers think are the most important capabilities of a financial planning tool; and differences between US and European performance management goals and priorities.

For finance departments dealing with increasingly complex regulatory reporting requirements, this white paper clearly communicates the problems associated with external reporting and the benefits of automation. Written in the format of a business case, this paper describes how to lower corporate risk and cycle times as well as where to find efficiency improvements in a critically important business process. Leverage this paper to help identify areas of improvement within your own external reporting process and to communicate the benefits to your CFO.

These are demanding times for senior finance executives. Investors want higher returns. Regulators require more complete documentation of companies' compliance with stricter requirements. And in the face of stiffer market competition, business managers want more capital to invest in the business and more assistance in making investment and operating decisions for their increasingly complex businesses. Companies and their stakeholders have always had high expectations for their finance teams. But this research program reveals that, most recently, these pressures -- from regulators, from investors, and from competitors -- are pushing companies to look for more from their finance teams in two main, but often conflicting, areas.

In recent years, trust in corporations has been profoundly shaken by startling revelations of poor compliance. What can you do to rebuild trust? Leading business strategist Don Tapscott says an integrated approach to governance, risk and compliance management (GRC) can improve relations with your stakeholders and ultimately facilitate competitive advantage. Read the details and learn from case studies of leading corporations in his informative white paper from SAP. Build stakeholder trust and competitive advantage. Download Don Tapscott's "Trust and Competitive Advantage" now.

Discover how companies like yours have achieved a 2-3% increase in topline results – plus a substantial reduction in operating expenses – by optimizing employee performance. Get the eGuide "Roadmap to Success: Driving Bottom Line Results with People Performance" today to learn how you too can enjoy positive bottom-line results like these. You’ll discover: • How increased employee engagement, reduced turnover, and alignment of individual goals to company objectives deliver tangible value and cost savings; • A simple, but effective model to drive higher levels of employee productivity, motivation, and retention • How your organization compares to other large companies in maximizing employee performance to drive results. Download your complimentary copy today!

The sales performance management (SPM) and incentive compensation management (ICM) markets are rapidly evolving and converging.

Today's CFOs are under intense pressure to help the business grow revenue, decrease costs and maximize profitability, all in the name of shareholder value. It's a monumental task. How do you get ahead of all the basic financial management tasks in order to make strategic contributions to the business -- without extending the day to 26 hours? See how in this SAP Business Objects complimentary white paper, "Enterprise Performance Management - Financial Excellence and Beyond."