May 27, 2009 – As public sector organizations from education to health care receive unprecedented amounts of economic stimulus funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), SAP AG released its own software package yesterday designed to provide transparency into how those funds are spent.
SAP joins a growing list of vendors, including IBM/Cognos, Microsoft, Actuate, MicroStrategy and specialists like Greenway Medical Technologies in offering performance management software to meet ARRA reporting requirements.
Based on existing solutions from the SAP BusinessObjects portfolio, the new package gives government organizations the visibility required to track and optimize performance, according to a company release. The software is configured to help organizations make the best use of funds by delivering insight into spending, accountability and performance evaluation.
Economic stimulus funds slated for public recovery present a series of challenges for public sector organizations – challenges that are likely to impact technology spending. For example, recipients of ARRA funds are required by law publish timely and accurate accounting, allocation and results data for every dollar received.
Gartner Research, estimates that the stimulus impact on government IT spending will range from $22 billion to $32 billion through 2012. Gartner analysts identified government, health care, utilities and education key vertical markets with targeted growth initiatives.
"Federal government intervention in the economy via the Troubled Asset Relief Program and American Recovery and Reinvestment Act provide alternative pathways to prioritize new initiatives, stabilize finances across vertical-market organizations and drive new buying behaviors," said Rishi Sood, research vice president at Gartner, in a recent press release. "However, the impact of these programs on directed technology spending remains unclear, as vertical market organizations seek greater clarity on how to best unlock federal government support."
Adrienne Baker is associate editor at Information Management. She can be reached at adrienne.baker@sourcemedia.com.
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