Using More of Available Information Assets

For many years companies confined their reporting and analysis to accounting
measures as well as some high-level operating data (units produced, utilization
rates or number of employees, for example); this often was the only readily
available information. As corporations have broadened the scope of their automation in
recent years to include customer relationship management, supply chain
management and other externally facing and operating functions, they have been
collecting a much wider and deeper range of data that can be used to measure performance. Addressing 21st century reporting requirements means increasing the availability of this nonfinancial operational information.