Users of On-Demand Collaborative Supply Chain Management and Logistics Applications Report Best-in-Class Process Capabilities

Users Gaining Faster Time to Value and Lower TCO in Inter-Enterprise Collaborative Functions With On-Demand Software


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - September 5, 2007) - The focus of a new benchmark report by Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks company (NYSE: HHS), titled, "Supply Chain On Demand: Enable Flexible Business Processes," takes input from over 450 companies to identify the abilities of supply chain applications in managing risk and change in adapting business processes over time. The report assesses the capabilities of users of on-demand applications versus on-premise or custom/home grown solutions.

Aberdeen used four key performance criteria to distinguish Best-in-Class companies from Industry Average and Laggard organizations. These metrics reflect the process level competency for the overall supply chain excellence.

Results show that Best-in-Class companies are:

--  4 times as likely to be able to on-board new trading partners quickly.
--  3 times as likely to support unique business processes for selective
    product categories, customers or channels.
--  2-3 times as likely to support electronic collaboration with trading
    partners (suppliers, carriers and customers).
    

Across the key functional areas of supply chain applications (B2B connectivity, Supply Chain Execution, Supply Chain Collaboration & Supply Chain Planning), Best-in-Class companies are two times as likely to be using on-demand applications than all others. In addition, users of on-demand applications are, on average, 3 times as likely to have better process capabilities in the areas of transportation management and supply chain collaboration.

"The top reason why companies are implementing new supply chain capabilities is the need to change and adapt business processes over time. Users of on-demand applications for inter-enterprise collaborative processes like logistics collaboration and supplier collaboration are demonstrating enhanced flexibility in managing their business processes. In addition these users are experiencing faster time to value and lower TCO," says Nari Viswanathan, Research Director of Supply Chain and Logistics at Aberdeen.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: 7Hills, Deposco, E2open, Inovis, SmartTurns and Wesupply. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=4142

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.

© 2007 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
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Telephone: (617)723-7890
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Contact Information: Media Contact: Nari Viswanathan Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5293 nari.viswanathan@aberdeen.com