Enabling Procurement's Success by Enabling Suppliers

BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - June 5, 2007) - Despite the significant benefits that enabling suppliers to participate in electronic transactions can have, many enterprises still experience a large disconnect between the processes and technologies utilized to manage suppliers according to a new study published by Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS).

"The Supplier Enablement Benchmark Report," which analyzes the insights of procurement executives from over 240 enterprises, found that effective supplier connections streamline many facets of the source-to-settle process and help enterprises gain better visibility into their supplier relationships.

"We continue to see supplier enablement as the linchpin to successful e-Procurement and e-Payables technology deployments," said Andrew Bartolini, research director at Aberdeen. "Top-performing enterprises enable more suppliers, more quickly and more efficiently, and report greater user adoption and lower maverick spend as direct results."

Best-in-Class enterprises are excelling in many performance metrics, such as:

--  They place 78% of their spend under management, 56% more than other
    companies
--  Enabling over half of their supply base, compared to the 23% of their
    peers
--  Realize transaction-processing costs 47% lower than all others as a
    result of enabling their suppliers

The Supplier Enablement Benchmark Report recommends that enterprises looking to effectively enable their supply base should start with standardizing all processes within this area and embrace new technology, such as XML and supplier networks and portals.

This report is made available to the public, in part, by the underwriting support of Ketera, SciQuest, American Express, and Aravo Solutions.

A complimentary copy of "Supplier Enablement: Connecting with Suppliers to Build Lasting Relationships" is available at: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=3985

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.

260 Franklin Street
Boston, Massachusetts  02110-3112
Telephone: (617)723-7890
Fax: (617) 723-7897
www.aberdeen.com

Contact Information: Media Contact: Andrew Bartolini Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5310 Andrew.Bartolini@aberdeen.com William Browning III Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5229 William.Browning@aberdeen.com

Enabling Procurement's Success by Enabling Suppliers

New Aberdeen Study Finds That Best-In-Class Enterprises Credit Supplier Enablement for Higher Returns From Their e-Procurement & e-Payables Programs