Business Intelligence for the C-Suite: Top Level Visibility Drives Top Notch Cash Flow

BOSTON, MA, Nov 12 (MARKET WIRE) --
In the newly released report, "BI for the C-Suite: Top Level Visibility
Drives Top Notch Cash Flow," Aberdeen Group, a Harte-Hanks Company (NYSE:
HHS), found that top performing companies were able to achieve an average
25% year-over-year increase in operating cash flow and an average 15%
growth in total customers by leveraging a pervasive strategy for Business
Intelligence (BI). This study collected data from 230 senior executives
across the globe and discovered that by optimizing their resource usage
and expanding BI capability to more organizational functions, led to
C-Level executives maintaining tighter control on cash flow and drove
substantial business improvements.

The original generation of BI tools was largely geared towards an IT
audience. Aside from a small fraction of visualization and reporting
capability that was delivered to business users, BI was an information
management tool designed for technologists. Today, the BI toolsets have
expanded in both scope and functionality and are becoming more and more
appropriate for the business leaders. The real-time visibility and
strategic forecasting capabilities of BI has long been appropriate for
senior executives, but many have been slow to adopt the solutions due to
the common misconception that the tools require a great deal of technical
expertise. Aberdeen's research demonstrates that leading C-level
executives are not only utilizing BI and analytical functionality, but are
doing so in a self-service capacity with little or no IT involvement. By
allowing for BI to spread organically across the organization and into the
hands of more top level decision makers, these top performing executives
were able to leverage dashboards, scorecards, historical, real-time, and
predictive analytical capability to generate substantial improvement
across a wide variety of business metrics.

"In the wake of the financial crisis, executives are seeking new ways to
better manage and improve upon a metric that crosses all corporate
boundaries and typically functions as the lifeblood of every organization:
operating cash flow," explains Michael Lock, Research Analyst for Business
Intelligence at Aberdeen Group. "As a software category, many consider BI
at its core to be a tool for better planning, budgeting, and forecasting
of key organizational metrics, especially cash flow. The research shows
that the top performing C-level executives are exploiting BI capabilities
to help improve their ability to predict and forecast cash flow."

This report is designed to educate the executive community as to how
leading companies are able to spread BI capabilities across the
organization and drive business visibility into the hands of the decision
makers that need it the most, ultimately leading to double digit
improvements in operating cash flow and customer growth. The report
recommends clear actions for Industry Average and Laggard companies to
achieve these types of performance improvements.

A complimentary copy of this report is made available due in part by the
following underwriters: Analytix On Demand, Birst, and Dimensional
Insight. To obtain a complimentary copy of the report, visit:
http://www.aberdeen.com/link/sponsor.asp?cid=6052.

For additional access to complimentary Information Technology Research,
please visit
http://research.aberdeen.com/index.php/-information-technology

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.

Copyright 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

Media Contact:
Michael Lock
Aberdeen Harte-Hanks
(617) 854-5365
michael.lock@aberdeen.com

Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.

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