Two definitions: Enterprise Incentive Management and Enterprise information management

Enterprise Incentive Management (EIM)

Enterprise Incentive Management (EIM) is the strategic tool that makes it possible for companies to centrally manage and take advantage of the full potential of pay-for-performance plans for their employees, contractors, brokers, suppliers, and others inside and outside the enterprise that need to be motivated to drive the performance of the organization.

An effective EIM solution helps:

• align strategy with incentive compensation plans by eliminating implementation and management constraints
• enhance morale and trust by reducing errors and inaccurate payments
• increase productivity by eliminating "shadow accounting" done by individuals because of lack of trust in the accuracy of plan results
• grow revenues by quickly adapting to changing business conditions and competitive threats
• improve decision-making by sharpening visibility into plan performance
• increase profitability and efficiency by reducing administrative and IT costs

Much more than a way to improve an administrative process, EIM is a strategic imperative for high-performance companies looking for improvements to both the top and bottom lines.

When discussing Enterprise Incentive Management, one often encounters the term Incentive Compensation Management (ICM).

Vendors
The choices for incentive-management tools include best-of-breed vendors such as (in alphabetical order) Callidus Software Inc., Centive, exceed technologies[1], Excentive, Laserbeam Software, nGenera, Practique Associates Ltd, Strategix Performance, Inc., Synygy, Inc., Varicent Software Inc., VUE Software, Xactly and enterprise resource planning vendors such as Oracle Corp., QCommission and SAP that offer sales-compensation packages, as do customer-relationship management companies such as Siebel Systems.

Some of these vendors have broadened the scope of their offerings beyond EIM to Sales Performance Management (SPM). By providing executives and sales management with a very clear view of critical sales data, such as what products were sold where, by whom and to whom, and by enabling quick and informed course correction, qualified solutions focus on SPM – the connection of sales strategies to desired business outcomes. Such solutions are unique in their ability to solve the “one-two punch” of insight and action (i.e., knowing what business strategies need to be changed and having the tools to make the required changes). Together, offered products and services offer medium and large enterprises in a multitude of industries the ability to transform their incentive payment systems into strategic business weapons to drive profit growth.

Independent Service Providers
Several independent EIM consultancy firms also exist, such as OpenSymmetry, Solution Advantage and Incentive Automation. These companies can provide unbiased advice on which EIM tool to use and also provide technical consultants to provide expert assistance with any EIM implementation.

Resources
There are several places online where one can find more information regarding EIM:
CRMToday
CRMBuyer
DestinationCRM
ManageSmarter Incentive Articles
Incentive Central
Incentive, Compensation and Sales Performance Management Blog

Enterprise Information Management

Please refer to Enterprise information management for more information on this subject.

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Source: adapted by the editor from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia; from the article "Eim". Image Credit.