Aberdeen Publishes ERP, Communications, Product Innovation, FM&GRC, IT Infrastructure Research

Research Examines SaaS ERP, Integrated Communications, Simulation-Driven Design, Order-to-Cash Cycle, Virtualized SAP


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - Dec 14, 2011) - Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), today announced the publication of new research reports from its Enterprise Applications, Collaboration and Integrated Communications, Product Innovation, Financial Management/Governance, Risk and Compliance, and IT Infrastructure research practices.

"SaaS and Cloud ERP Trends, Observations, and Performance 2011," prepared by Nick Castellina, Senior Research Associate for the Aberdeen Group Enterprise Applications practice, examines the trend of more organizations considering SaaS for their ERP implementations, along with the reasons that organizations are considering SaaS ERP, and the performance of organizations that have already adopted SaaS ERP. These organizations are turning to SaaS for the cost savings and collaboration improvements that it provides. Small- and medium-sized organizations with SaaS ERP outperform organizations with on-premise ERP in the time it takes to close a month, the percentage of shipments that are complete and on-time, internal schedule compliance, inventory accuracy, and customer satisfaction. To obtain a complimentary copy of this report made available in part by Avanade and Sage, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7190&camp=2

"Business Optimization through Integrated Communications in the SoMoClo™ Era," written by Hyoun Park, Research Analyst for Aberdeen's Collaboration and Integrated Communications research practice, defines the value of "Integrated Communications," which Aberdeen defines as integrated and rationalized approach to align technology with enterprise communications. By integrating these technologies through the lens of SoMoClo (Social, Mobile, and Cloud as a single technology platform), top performing organizations created communications environments to contact new prospects and fellow employees, and alleviate departmental confusion more quickly than all other organizations. To obtain a complimentary copy of the research report, made available in part by esna tech and 8X8, Inc., visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7193&camp=2

"High Quality Products that Cost Less with Simulation Driven Design," a research study authored by Michelle Boucher, Research Analyst for the Aberdeen Product Innovation and Engineering research practice, finds that time is the top pressure driving companies to improve their ability to understand product behavior during design. The report identifies how product development teams can obtain better insight into product function to guide decision making so that engineers can evaluate trade-offs and arrive at an optimal design. To outperform the competition, companies need to discover ways to overcome challenges such as accurately modeling complex products and managing their complex operating environments. The study indicates that those most successful at addressing product behavior challenges reduced the length of their development process by 28% while keeping their products meeting 91% of quality targets and 87% of cost targets. The report provides guidance to achieve similar results. To obtain a complimentary copy of this report visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7202&camp=2

"Focusing on Customer Relationships in the Order-to-Cash Cycle," prepared by Scott Pezza, Research Analyst for the Aberdeen Group Financial Management & Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) research practice, builds on previous accounts receivable (AR) research ("The Order-to-Cash Cycle: Enhancing Performance with Process Automation," July 2011) exploring the importance of customer relationships to managing the Order-to-Cash cycle. The objective of this report is to offer a holistic view of receivables management that looks beyond internal processes and addresses the customer's impact on AR success. To obtain a complimentary copy of this report visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7454&camp=2

"The Case for Virtualizing your SAP Deployment," co-authored by Aberdeen's Dick Csaplar, Senior Research Analyst for the IT Infrastructure/Storage and Virtualization research practice, and Kevin Prouty, Research Director for Enterprise Applications, found that only 31% of SAP deployments are on a virtualized platform. Those with a virtualized SAP deployment gained benefits including improved disaster recovery, dynamic resource capacity management and server consolidation. The research also indicated that 60% of organizations who have deployed SAP on a hypervisor utilized third-party professional service organizations because they believed they lacked the required expertise in-house to correctly manage the technology themselves. To obtain a complimentary copy of this report visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7461&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.

(C) 2011 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