Aberdeen Publishes HCM, FM & GRC, GSM, Retail, Enterprise Apps, and IT Infrastructure Research

Research Examines Employee Onboarding, Invoice Management, Print Services Management, Retail Self-Service, Risk Management, Managed Services


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - Jan 11, 2012) - Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), today announced the publication of new research reports from its Human Capital Management, Financial Management & GRC, Global Supply Management, Retail and Consumer Product, Enterprise Applications, and IT Infrastructure/Storage and Virtualization research practices.

"Accelerating Time to Performance," a new Aberdeen Group report by Mollie Lombardi and Madeline Laurano, Research Directors for Aberdeen's HCM Practice, examines how learning in the onboarding phase of the employee lifecycle can improve time-to-productivity and set the stage for long-term employee excellence. "Companies are investing in talent to power their growth, and effective onboarding is a critical tool to ensure a quick return on the time, energy and cost of hiring," said Lombardi. The research explores how top-performing companies use onboarding to develop and retain talent that will advance the business. To obtain a complimentary copy of the research report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7477&camp=2.

"Cloud Invoice Management and the SMB," authored by Scott Pezza, Research Analyst in Aberdeen's Financial Management & GRC practice, explores the differences -- and surprising similarities -- between Small and Midsize Businesses and their Large Enterprise counterparts. Looking at the pressures they face, strategies they pursue, and technologies they implement, this piece seeks to outline common approaches to improvement, and uncover the potential for hosted solutions in the SMB marketplace. To obtain a complimentary copy of this report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7530&camp=2.

"Printed Materials and Services Management," prepared by Christopher J. Dwyer, Senior Research Analyst for the Aberdeen Group Global Supply Management practice, highlights the significance of the print category, which encompasses nearly 9%-to-10% of the average organization's total budget. The new research study details the Best-in-Class print management program and will help to educate enterprises on how to strike an effective balance between costs of printed materials / services, brand consistency, and the overall quality and effectiveness of the print category. To obtain a complimentary copy of this report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=6367&camp=2.

"The 2012 Self-Service Hand-Book: The Empowered Consumer," prepared by Deena Amato-McCoy, Research Analyst for the Retail and Consumer Product research practice reveals that self-service is gaining more attention among retailers than ever before, particularly as consumer adoption of digital technologies continues to grow. While the technology itself was of interest as a way to augment marketing programs and control labor costs, self-service has morphed into a mission-critical business operation for retailers that are eager to connect with shoppers and improve the customer experience through "empowerment." To obtain a complimentary copy of this report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7376&camp=2.

"ERP's Impact on Risk and Change Management," prepared by Nick Castellina, Senior Research Associate for Aberdeen's Enterprise Applications research practice, examines how risk factors into all business decisions because there is a high likelihood that decision makers need to adjust to structural, market-based, or geopolitical changes as time goes on. These challenges are difficult to address without a system providing full visibility into the operational and financial state of the business. Organizations using Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software are better prepared to deal with risk identification and mitigation, and have the ability to react to change in an agile manner. To obtain a complimentary copy of this report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7277&camp=2.

"Managed Service Providers: A Stepping Stone to the Public Cloud" authored by Aberdeen's Dick Csaplar, Senior Research Analyst for the IT Infrastructure/Storage and Virtualization research practice found that 31% of all IT organizations have deployed or plan to deploy part of their IT infrastructure to the public cloud in the next 12 months. However, among users of IT managed services, 44% report that they plan a public cloud deployment during that same period. Users of IT 3rd party managed services are 41% more likely to outsource all or a portion of their IT infrastructure to the public cloud. The report also identifies data backup services as being the most popular MSP offering, and Best-in-Class organizations found that it was easier using an MSP to perform basic IT tasks than doing it themselves in their own datacenter. To obtain a complimentary copy of this report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7337&camp=2.

About Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company

Aberdeen provides fact-based research and market intelligence that delivers demonstrable results. Having queried more than 30,000 companies in the past two years, Aberdeen is 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 or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748.

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