The IT industry has confused the marketplace by blurring the lines between business intelligence (BI) and corporate performance management (CPM) software, according to CODA chief executive Jeremy Roche.

With CODA attending next month's Softworld Accounting & Finance show alongside a host of BI and CPM vendors, Roche slammed the industry for not getting the message out to potential customers that both technologies perform different tasks.

'Much of the hype around CPM, a term coined by industry analysts, is confusing,' said Roche.

'The messaging provides little differentiation from that of the BI tools vendors. Because the essence of performance management is methodology for the structured use of analytic applications and BI tools; this isn’t really a surprise. But it makes life very confusing for businesses looking to address performance management issues.'

In essence, business intellignece encompasses various analytical tools: forecasting, scorecarding and budgeting. CPM is the backbone of these tools, making sure that the right people are provided with the right information.

Roche's comments were announced in anticipation of the Softworld Accounting & Finance exhibition held at Birmingham NEC on 18 and 19 October.