Aberdeen Research Launches Demand Network Assessment Tool for Benchmarking Sell-Side Supply Chains

Customized Assessment and Recommendations Included in the Final Report


BOSTON, MA--(Marketwire - July 30, 2009) - Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE: HHS), today announced the availability of a new online Demand Network Assessment Tool -- a research-based tool for benchmarking demand network/ sell-side supply chain of companies across industries.

Aberdeen's recent research shows that:

--  Customer-related challenges are among the top three drivers for
    companies to re-think the way they manage the multi-enterprise supply
    chains.
    
--  The drop in customer demand has been the most impactful force
    disrupting supply chains for many companies over the past year.
    

Overall, there is a strong move in the industry towards adopting more customer-driven supply chain strategies. "In this business environment, it has become increasingly critical to effectively manage and control a company's demand network/ sell-side supply chain," notes Nari Viswanathan, Vice President and principal analyst at Aberdeen.

E2open's tool, powered by the independent research findings from Aberdeen Group, aims to help companies in assessing and improving one or more of the following processes:

--  Customer order management and delivery process
--  Channel inventory management and replenishment
--  Demand forecasting
--  Sell-side/ customer data management
    

The assessment tool leverages data from Aberdeen's recent research on sell-side supply chains and demand management. "It is more critical than ever for companies to be able to benchmark themselves against their peers in the industry in a cost-effective manner. This assessment tool helps companies achieve this goal," says Viktoriya Sadlovska, research analyst, supply chain management, and the research lead for this assessment tool.

"The need to have clear visibility into orders, inventory and forecast collaboration to optimize the end-to-end demand network has only been intensified in today's marketplace," said Mark Woodward, CEO of E2open. "E2open is proud to partner with Aberdeen to offer the Demand Network Assessment Tool as an invaluable resource for empowering companies to address -- and effectively respond -- to volatilities in demand."

As a result of going through the 10-minute online assessment, companies can compare their capabilities to those of the leading companies participating in Aberdeen's benchmark research studies and obtain a customized score and report outlining recommendations for improvement and solutions deployment in the area of demand network management.

Access to the Demand Network Assessment Tool is funded by E2open.

To access the E2open Demand Network Assessment Tool now, please visit:



http://demandnetwork.aberdeen.com/


Visit Research.Aberdeen.com for additional access to complimentary Supply Chain Management Research.

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.

About E2open, Inc.

E2open provides integrated demand-supply network solutions designed to improve visibility, collaboration, and control across multiple tiers of trading partners. E2open delivers a comprehensive, SaaS-based solution including software, deployment, operations, and partner community management that easily connects to systems of record such as ERPs, PDMs, or advanced supply chain planning applications. E2open's customers span a range of industries and include The Boeing Company, Celestica, Cisco, Dell, Hitachi, IBM, LSI Corporation, Panasonic, Philips, Motorola, Seagate Technology, Spansion, Vodafone, and Wistron. Further information can be found at www.E2open.com.

© 2009 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

Contact Information: Media Contact: Adam Hollander Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5290 adam.hollander@aberdeen.com

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