Supplier Enablement: The Link Between Procurement and Accounts Payable Success

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - May 8, 2008) - A new study by Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), found that Best-in-Class enterprises display requisition-to-order and invoice-processing costs 24% and 34% lower than all other companies, respectively.

The disconnect between an enterprise and its suppliers remains one of the top areas of concern for professionals looking to increase visibility into spend and garner cost savings. Long heralded as an effective means of connecting an enterprise's procurement department to its suppliers, supplier enablement is branching out to another key functional area: accounts payable (A/P).

Aberdeen's annual benchmark study on supplier enablement found that a majority of enterprises have assigned a high priority to this critical procurement and A/P aspect. After implementing supplier enablement connections, enterprises have boosted their spend under management and greatly reduced maverick spend, requisition-to-order costs, invoice-to-payment costs, as well as saved time by trimming down requisition-to-order and invoice-to-payment cycle times.

By displaying a greater percent of their supplier base (64%), Best-in-Class enterprises have exhibited a wide range of benefits on both procurement and A/P edges, such as:

--  80% of their spend under management, which is nearly twice than that
    placed by all other enterprises
--  Procurement and A/P transaction cycle times 65% and 27% lower than
    their peers, respectively
    

"By electronically connecting to more of their supplier base, Best-in-Class enterprises are steadily achieving transaction cost savings in both procurement and A/P departments," said Amit Gupta, research analyst, Aberdeen. "Top performing firms have demonstrated increased visibility into corporate spend and are continually encouraging enterprise-wide collaboration amongst key functions such as finance, procurement, A/P, and IT."

Aberdeen recommends that enterprises yearning for Best-in-Class benefits should ignore the 80/20 rule of supplier enablement to enable a greater percent of their supplier base, while automating procurement and A/P processes by adopting technology solutions.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Ketera, Puridiom, and Enporion. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=4727.

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: Amit Gupta, Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (925) 264-1828 amit.gupta@aberdeen.com