Aberdeen Publishes HCM, Enterprise Apps, Customer and Financial Management, App Performance Research

Research Examines HR Analytics, Customer Retention, Financial Forecasting Accuracy, ERP Implementation, Application Performance in Distributed Environments


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - Apr 10, 2012) - Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), today announced the publication of new research reports from its Human Capital, Customer Management, Financial Management & GRC, and Networking and Application Performance research practices.

"Analytics into Action: Workforce Planning for Talent Success," prepared by Mollie Lombardi, Research Director, Human Capital Management, and David White, Senior Research Analyst, Business Intelligence, reveals the best practices that human resource organizations can adopt to strike the right balance between short-term business agility and long-term workforce planning. Data collected by the Aberdeen group in January and February 2012 found that top-performing organizations (the "Best-in-Class") outperformed other survey respondents in several metrics. Specifically, the Best-in-Class achieved 19% more of their organizational key performance indicators, had 35% more employees that exceeded their performance expectations, and had twice as many key roles with succession plans in place. These performance differences accrue from subtly different applications of technology, as well as different capabilities within the organization. To obtain a complimentary copy of this report, made available in part by SHL and TIBCO Spotfire, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7392&camp=2.

The "Customer Feedback Management: Leveraging the Voice of the Customer to Amplify Business Results" research study authored by Omer Minkara, Senior Research Associate for the Aberdeen Group Customer Management Technology research practice, details how Best-in-Class companies accomplished an 82% customer retention rate, and strong year-over-year improvements in annual company revenue and customer satisfaction. Tracking, capturing and measuring customer feedback data across multiple channels, and providing a unified view of this information, are key factors in achieving Best-in-Class performance in customer feedback management programs. This report provides practical guidelines on use of business processes and technologies to help organizations streamline the activities involved in capturing and managing customer feedback in order to delight customers. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, made available in part by Cvent and Aspect, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7592&camp=2.

"Financial Planning, Budgeting, and Forecasting: Leveraging Risk-Adjusted Strategies to Enable Accuracy," prepared by Nick Castellina, Research Analyst, Enterprise Applications, and William Jan, Senior Research Analyst, Financial Management & GRC, of Aberdeen, reveals that unforeseen costs are detrimental to working capital and forecast accuracy. By embedding risk identification and valuation in this process, CFOs can keep their respective organizations functioning effectively, despite the occurrence of unpredicted events. Aberdeen surveyed companies to better understand their financial planning, budgeting, and forecasting strategies when accounting for risks. The results revealed that the majority of top-performing companies are meeting their budgets and forecasts by sensing and responding to change and using scenario modeling to build contingency plans. These plans leverage a strategic mix of people, processes, and tools to redirect the business so as to meet original budgets and forecasts. To obtain a complimentary copy of this report, provided in part by Board and Prophix, visit: www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7387&camp=2.

"ERP Implementation and Training: A Guide to Getting Your Business in Gear," also prepared by Nick Castellina, reveals that Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software has the ability to transform a growing business into one that can perform on a larger stage. Of course, this all begins with selecting the right ERP. After selection, the most important actions that result in successfully utilizing ERP to its fullest include active participation in the implementation of the actual ERP solution and employee onboarding. This benchmark, based on data gathered between February and March 2012 from organizations that have already implemented ERP, explores the best practices for integrating ERP into the organization's business. To obtain a complimentary copy of this report, made available in part by Allen Communication Learning Services and Exact Software, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7402&camp=2.

"Boosting Enterprise Application Performance in Distributed Environments," prepared by Jim Rapoza, Senior Research Analyst for the Aberdeen Group Networking and Application Performance research practice, looks at how organizations are successfully managing the performance infrastructure of their networks to improve the performance of enterprise applications across all of their locations. Today it is not uncommon for a company to be supporting workers at dozens of locations. With the help of major enterprise application platforms, such as Microsoft SharePoint, workers throughout these distributed companies are able to stay connected and productive. Organizations that can ensure that core applications perform well and have high reliability across all of their business locations will be able to avoid the costs and frustrations that occur when workers can't satisfactorily use business critical applications. To obtain a complimentary copy of this report made available in part by Talari Networks and Microsoft, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?spid=30410182&cid=7690&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 www.Aberdeen.com or call (617) 854-5200, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748.

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