Harte-Hanks Aberdeen Group: SMB Companies Pay More yet Stop Short of Achieving Full ERP Benefits
Small companies achieve 'go live' status quickly, but need to change focus
BOSTON, MA - January 3, 2007 - Small to medium size (SMB) manufacturers and the ERP vendors that serve them have explored the concept of "ERP Light" for many years. However, the search for core ERP functionality not needed by small companies produces a relatively short list. A new report published by Aberdeen, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE:HHS), confirmed small companies desire less complexity, yet they also require the same basic functions needed by larger companies. The Benchmarking ERP in SMB Report found SMB companies using a mere 6% less functionality than the average of 1,200 companies of all sizes.
Metrics reported give some indication ERP is generally doing the job it was meant to do for these companies. However, on average, the business benefits fell far short of Best in Class. And lacking size and scale, they pay more per user, per functionality used and per percentage point of average performance improvement.
"Small companies achieve first 'go live' status relatively quickly. A full 86% of small companies reached this first milestone within the first year, as compared to 64% of mid-size companies and 47% of large companies. But results are decidedly average. By placing emphasis on the cost of software and services over process and cost savings, they don't achieve the full potential of business benefits. This demonstrates a certain level of short-sightedness and requires a change in focus." said Cindy Jutras, Vice President, Manufacturing & ERP Research at Aberdeen.
Jutras offers additional recommendations:
o Set goals for your ERP implementation. Many fall short of Best in Class status because performance metrics are not established.
o Aggressively push beyond the limits of current implementations for added benefits and lower total cost of ownership.
o Automate previously manual-intensive and spreadsheet based processes. Expand your implementation to include all fundamental basics of your business.
More than 450 SMB companies participated in the study, including Regulator Marine, Mercury Electronics, Standard Hardware, Cardinal Health and divisions of Lockheed Martin.
To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit: www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=3818
This study is made available to the public through the underwriting of: CMS Software, Harris Data, Made2Manage Systems, Sage Software and Vormittag Associates, Inc. (VAI).
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(TM) 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 www.aberdeen.com or call (617) 723-7890, or to learn more about Harte-Hanks, call (800) 456-9748 or go to www.harte-hanks.com
