Method and system for the display of business data from multiple sources

A method for presenting business data using a computer system, the method comprising:

• associating business data of at least one enterprise with a business model, the business model having at least one indicator Ii (iεA, A={1. . . , , m, m a non-zero integer}) pertinent to performance of a business and at least one category Cj (jεB, B={1, . . . , n, n a non-zero integer}) identifying an aspect of the business to which the indicator Ii may be pertinent, wherein for each category and indicator value combination V=VI∪VC, where VI={. . . , Iα, . . . } where αεA and VC={. . . , Cβ,. . . } where βεB, there may exist a parameter PV, derivable from the business data, that is susceptible to change over time, and wherein there exists a parameter set S={. . . , PV, . . . } for all V for which a parameter PV exists;
• and
• in a first computer process of the at least one enterprise, and pursuant to a query that defines a result subset {. . . , PW, . . . } of the parameter set S, where W is an element of the set of all V's for which a parameter PV exists, using the business data to derive parameter values PW.

A computer system for presenting business data, the system comprising:

• a business context engine for associating the business data of at least one enterprise with a business model, the business model having at least one indicator Ii (iεA, A={1,. . . , m, m a non-zero integer}) pertinent to performance of a business and at least one category Cj (jεB, B {1, . . . , n, n a non-zero integer}) identifying an aspect of the business to which the indicator Ii may be pertinent, wherein for each pair {Ii, Cj} there may exist a parameter Pij derivable from the business data, that is susceptible to change over time, and wherein there exists a parameter set S={. . . , } for all values of i and j for which a parameter Pij exists;
• wherein the business context engine, in a computer process distinct from any financial accounting processes of the at least one enterprise, and pursuant to a query that defines a result subset {. . . , Prs, . . . }, rεA, sεB, of the parameter set S, uses the business data to derive parameter values Prs for all values of r and s.

A computer system for presenting business data, the system comprising:

• a business context engine for associating business data of at least one enterprise with a business model, the business model having at least one indicator Ii (iεA, A={1, . . . , m, m a non-zero integer}) pertinent to performance of a business and at least one category Cj (jεB, B=1,. . . , n, n a non-zero integer}) identifying an aspect of the business to which the indicator Ii may be pertinent, wherein for each category and indicator value combination V=VI∪VC, where VI={. . . , Iα, . . . } where a αε and VC={. . . , Cβ. . . }, where , βεB, there may exist a parameter PV, derivable from the business data, that is susceptible to change over time, and wherein there exists a parameter set S={. . . , PV, . . . } for all V for which a parameter PV exists;
• and
• in a first computer process of the at least one enterprise, and pursuant to a query that defines a result subset {. . . , PW, . . . } of the parameter set S, where W is an element of the set of all V's for which a parameter PV exists, using the business data to derive parameter values PW.

A computer program product for use on a computer system for presenting business data, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon, the computer readable program code including:

• computer code for associating business data of at least one enterprise with a business model, the business model having at least one indicator Ii (iεA, A={1, . . . , m, m a non-zero integer}) pertinent to performance of a business and at least one category Cj (jεB, B={1. . . , n, n a non-zero integer}) identifying an aspect of the business to which the indicator Ii may be pertinent, wherein for each pair {Ii, Cj} there may exist a parameter Pij, derivable from the business data, that is susceptible to change over time, and wherein a parameter set S={. . . , Pij, . . . } for all values of i and j for which a parameter Pij exists;
• and
• computer code for, in a first computer process distinct from any financial accounting processes of the at least one enterprise, and pursuant to a query that defines a result subset {. . . , Prs, . . . }, rεA, sεB, of the parameter set S, using the business data to derive values Prs for all values of r and s.

A method for creating a business model using an architect module, the model based on business data of at least one enterprise, the method comprising:

• entering at least one indicator Ii (iεA, A={1, . . . , m, m a non-zero integer}) pertinent to performance of a business and at least one category Cj (jεB, B={1, . . . , n, n a non-zero integer}) identifying an aspect of the business to which the indicator Ii may be pertinent, to form a two dimensional grid with the at least one indicator Ii located on a first axis of the grid and the at least one category Cj located on a second axis of the grid, so that each node on the two dimensional grid represents a pair {Ii, Cj}.

A method for presenting business data using a computer system, the method comprising:

• associating business data, which need not be part of a single data structure in any format, of at least one enterprise with a business model, the business model having at least one indicator pertinent to performance of a business and at least one category identifying an aspect of the business to which the indicator may be pertinent, wherein for each pair of indicator and category there may exist a parameter, derivable from the business data and not necessarily pre-existing in such business data;
• and in a first computer process, and pursuant to a query that defines one or more indicator-category pairs,
• using the business data to derive values of one or more parameters corresponding to the one or more indicator-category pairs in the query.

A computer program product for use on a computer system for presenting business data, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon, the computer readable program code including:

• computer code for associating business data, which need not be part of a single data structure in any format, of at least one enterprise with a business model, the business model having at least one indicator pertinent to performance of a business and at least one category identifying an aspect of the business to which the indicator may be pertinent, wherein for each pair of indicator and category there may exist a parameter, derivable from the business data and not necessarily pre-existing in such business data;
• and
• computer code pursuant to a query defining one or more indicator-category pairs, computer code which uses the business data to derive values of one or more parameters corresponding to the one or more indicator-category pairs in the query.

An apparatus for presenting business data, the apparatus comprising:

• a business context engine which associates business data, which need not be part of a single data structure in any format, of at least one enterprise with a business model, the business model having at least one indicator pertinent to performance of a business and at least one category identifying an aspect of the business to which the indicator may be pertinent, wherein for each pair of indicator and category there may exist a parameter, derivable from the business data and not necessarily pre-existing in such business data;
• wherein pursuant to a query that defines one or more indicator-category pairs, the business context engine uses the business data to derive values of one or more parameters corresponding to the one or more indicator-category pairs in the query.

A method according to claim 152, wherein outputting further comprises:

• transmitting the template with the parameters to a network device via a network for display of the template in a browser.