Supply Chain Intelligence: A Command and Control Center for Managing Enterprise Performance

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - December 11, 2008) - Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), announced the release of a benchmark report, "Supply Chain Intelligence: A Command and Control Center for Managing Enterprise Performance." From October to November 2008, Aberdeen benchmarked the supply chain intelligence capabilities of 138 enterprises. The report highlights the key pressures, strategic actions, process and technology capabilities in supply chain intelligence among the companies with Best-in-Class supply chain performance. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5391.

"In today's global business environment, managing supply chain-wide information effectively is becoming critical to business success. Today's multi-enterprise supply chains require the 'intelligent enterprise' to make optimal decisions not only within its four walls, but also as it relates to managing supply chain partners and distribution networks. To make optimal decisions across end-to-end supply chains, executives and mid-level managers require actionable insights and intelligence on tactical and strategic levels," says Nari Viswanathan, Vice President and co-author of the report.

This study shows that Best-in-Class companies have achieved competitive differentiation by improving their supply chain intelligence capabilities. For example, Best-in-Class companies are:

--  27% more likely than all others to have the ability to provide
    visibility to executives into critical business level metrics
    
--  64% more likely to have the drill-down capability in their SCI tools
    to determine causes of business level challenges (root cause analysis)
    
--  20% more likely than all others to collaborate across the enterprise
    to gather supply chain data
    
--  30% more likely than all others to be collaborating with supply chain
    partners to get timely and accurate supply chain data
    
--  25% more likely to create ad-hoc reports without help from IT
    

"It is critical for companies to move from just having visibility into processes to taking control over them. Enhanced supply chain intelligence capabilities are required to better understand supply chain processes and trends and take control of the business outcomes. Being able to take control of and respond to disruptive events is critical for the long-term business success," says Viktoriya Sadlovska, Research Analyst and co-author of the report.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Dimensional Insight and Infor. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5391.

For additional access to complimentary Supply Chain Management Research, please visit http://research.aberdeen.com/index.php/-supply-chain-management.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen is a leading provider of fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having benchmarked more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is uniquely positioned to educate users to action: driving market awareness, creating demand, enabling sales, and delivering meaningful return-on-investment analysis. As the trusted advisor to the global technology markets, corporations turn to Aberdeen™ for insights that drive decisions.

As a Harte-Hanks Company, Aberdeen plays a key role of putting content in context for the global direct and targeted marketing company. Aberdeen's analytical and independent view of the "customer optimization" process of Harte-Hanks (Information - Opportunity - Insight - Engagement - Interaction) extends the client value and accentuates the strategic role Harte-Hanks brings to the market. For additional information, visit Aberdeen http://www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to http://www.harte-hanks.com.

© 2008 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
451 D Street, Suite 710
Boston, Massachusetts 02210-1928
Telephone: (617) 854-5200
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com

Contact Information: Media Contact: Viktoriya Sadlovska Aberdeen Harte-Hanks Viktoriya.Sadlovska@aberdeen.com (617) 854 5239 Nari Viswanathan Aberdeen Harte-Hanks Nari.Viswanathan@aberdeen.com (617) 854-5293