ERP is Critical in Reducing Costs for Midsize Companies

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - September 9, 2008) - The newly published "2008 ERP in the Mid-Market" benchmark report from Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), finds that midsize companies are most concerned with reducing cost. However, Best-in-Class midsize companies, having already cut costs by an average of 21% -- compared to 9% by Industry Average and only 1% by Laggard companies -- are less driven by the need to cut costs and have now turned their attention to using ERP to improve customer satisfaction. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5148.

Standardized implementation of ERP and standardized business processes that support internal company collaboration will ultimately result in a better customer experience. "The hallmark of a Best-in-Class implementation is standardization of both processes and master data such as charts of account, customers, suppliers and products," says Cindy Jutras, VP and Group Director, Aberdeen. "A majority (69%) of Best-in-Class companies have a standardized implementation of ERP across a potentially distributed and global environment. Whether this has resulted from developing and implementing standards up front or from a consolidation effort, this is a recommended state for any company."

Best-in-Class companies enjoy improved performance, including:

--  22% reduction in inventory levels
--  19% reduction in operational costs
--  22% reduction in administrative costs
--  95% complete and on-time shipments
--  95% inventory accuracy
    

The research offers details on how to improve business performance through ERP investment and implementation strategies. Some of the recommended actions for improving performance include:

--  Assign ERP ownership to the line of business executive that stands to
    gain the most benefit from the implementation
--  Standardize procedures and ERP implementations across the enterprise
--  Broaden and deepen the use of ERP
--  Extend ERP access to more users in the organization
    

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Infor, Plexus Systems, and Sage Adonix. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=5148.

To access all of Aberdeen's complimentary research please visit http://research.aberdeen.com.

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 AberdeenGroup, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
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Contact Information: Media Contact: Cindy Jutras Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5247 cindy.jutras@aberdeen.com