Best-in-Class Global Firms Experience 50% Improvement in SLA Compliance Through Management and Technology Initiatives

Market Wire, February, 2008

A recently published research study from Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks company (NYSE: HHS), titled "The Impact of Globalization on the Service Supply Chain," shows that leading service firms operating globally are using centralized management as well as globally-enabled technology solutions to drive improvements in customer retention, service contract compliance and overall profitability as they address the need to deliver a cost-effective service experience across multiple geographies.

Aberdeen used key performance criteria to distinguish Best-in-Class companies from Average and Laggard firms. These Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) are the financial, operational and customer-facing metrics most frequently cited as indicators of balanced service performance. Best-in-Class firms reported:

--  39% profitability as a percent of service revenue

--  50% two-year service-level agreement (SLA) compliance improvement

--  43% two-year asset uptime improvement
    

Survey results show that the firms enjoying Best-in-Class performance shared several common characteristics, including:

--  They are almost twice as likely as Laggard firms to store customer
    information in a global centralized knowledge base.

--  They are almost twice as likely as Laggard firms to have a global
    parts planning and procurement process in place.
    

"From creating a blended workforce of permanent and contract labor to manage customer demand, establishing a common knowledge warehouse to facilitate centralized data capture and distribution, and centralizing logistics functions to build economies of scale, the Best-in-Class are taking action across the major elements of the service supply chain," says Research Director Micky Long. "And it appears that those actions are paying off in key metrics surrounding customer retention, performance and profitability."

Long recommends that service organizations consider the following strategies to help spur the necessary performance improvements:

--  Centralize service performance data collection.

--  Build a centralized knowledge management system for customer
    information.

--  Implement an integrated process for parts supply chain management.
    

Over 230 companies participated in this quantitative study, including: Capgemini, Cisco Systems, Dimension Data, General Dynamics, Hitachi, Honeywell, IBM, Kawasaki Motors, Microsoft, Nokia, Southwestern Energy Company, The Home Depot, Ridge Tool Company, Texas Instruments, Toshiba, Trane and Whirlpool.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the following underwriters: Astea and Caterpillar Logistics Services. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=4582 .

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 Aberdeen Group, Inc., a Harte-Hanks Company
260 Franklin Street
Boston, Massachusetts 02110-3112
Telephone: (617) 723-7890
Fax: (617) 723-7897
 www.aberdeen.com 

Media Contact: Zack Westenhoefer Aberdeen Harte-Hanks (617) 854-5354 zachary.westenhoefer@aberdeen.com