Americas’ SAP Users’ Group Announces New Studies As Part Of Expanding Benchmarking & Best Practices Program

ORLANDO--The Americas’ SAP Users’ Group (ASUG), the world’s largest customer-run community of SAP professionals, announced today it has launched a series of new Benchmarking and Best Practices initiatives through its continued collaboration with SAP America, Inc. The announcement comes as part of activities surrounding the 2008 ASUG Annual Conference and the SAPPHIRE® 2008 Orlando conference taking place this week in Orlando, Florida.

The ASUG and SAP Benchmarking and Best Practices program was developed in 2005 as a means for organizations to drive exponential value and identify opportunities to enhance their competitive position. By accurately assessing performance and comparing the results to those of peers, organizations can achieve the highest level of efficiency and effectiveness. To date, more than 1,000 unique organizations have completed nearly 4,000 total surveys. The program continues to grow in 2008 with the introduction of three new Benchmarking studies: Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Sales Effectiveness; Enterprise Health Check; and Retail Merchandising/Category Management. One new Best Practices survey, “Running the ERP Marathon”, is being offered in conjunction with Florida State University.

The CRM: Sales Effectiveness Benchmarking study examines the effectiveness of a company’s sales force based on company financials, key performance metrics and sales enabling processes. Participants will have the opportunity to learn more about their company’s sales efficiencies, proficiencies and deficiencies. This will provide insights into Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with comparisons to both industry and aggregate respondents. The Sales Effectiveness Benchmarking initiative covers over 25 KPIs and over 30 Best Practices.

The Enterprise Health Check Benchmarking initiative assesses the extent to which participants leverage best practices associated with major processes within the enterprise value chain, including supply chain management, SRM/procurement, manufacturing, order to cash, financials and human capital management. The study includes over 60 KPIs and 90 Best Practices.

Participants in the Retail Merchandise/Category Management Benchmarking initiative will have the opportunity to learn how efficiently first quartile retail organizations manage their merchandise and how they perform on top KPIs. This will provide participants with insights into key business pain points and potential dollar benefits. Survey participants should have a need to increase revenue per square foot, reduce unplanned markdowns, increase inventory turns and reduce merchandise/category management function costs.

Organizations looking to optimize their ERP environments will obtain critical insights into core post-implementation focus areas through participation in the Running the ERP Marathon Best Practices study. This collaboration among ASUG, SAP and Florida State University will enable visibility into knowledge gaps between Business and ERP professionals within the organization, how communication and coordination between these teams can be optimized, recommended best practices associated with the ideal structure of the ERP post-implementation support unit, and the long-term impact of business and IT alignment on organizational efficiency, effectiveness and flexibility.

These new surveys join a growing catalog of ASUG and SAP Benchmarking studies including: Human Capital Management, Talent Management, Finance, Supplier Relationship Management and Procurement, Total Cost of IT Ownership, Supply Chain Planning, Manufacturing, New Product Development and Introduction, Customer Contact Centers, Governance, Risk, and Compliance, Business Intelligence and Analytics, Warehouse Management, Transportation Management, Order to Cash, and Contract to Cash. Best Practices surveys in the areas of ERP "Terabyte Club" Critical Operations, Organizational Change Management, Centers of Excellence, Enterprise Asset Management, Business Intelligence and Analytics, Enterprise Data Management, Shared Services, Value Realization, and IT Strategy round out current program offerings.

Previous benchmarking studies have yielded valuable data and useful best practices for program participants. Those organizations that adopt best practices enjoy notable benefits. For example, leading companies in the Supplier Relationship Management and Procurement study had a 49% higher savings and 51% lower costs than average companies. Similarly, top respondents in the Transportation Management Benchmarking study achieve 9% higher on-time delivery performance at 67% lower spend compared to lower ranking companies.

“These new Benchmarking and Best Practices studies are a testament to the thriving collaboration between ASUG and SAP. Additionally, our partnership with Florida State University on the Running the ERP Marathon Best Practices survey really exemplifies the growing visibility and credibility of this program,” said Steve Strout, chief executive officer of ASUG. “Through all of these offerings, our members have a tangible means through which to gauge current performance, and take an honest look at opportunities for improvement. The best practices obtained through this no-cost program are helping our members build roadmaps to be a best-run business.”

“ASUG and SAP launched the Benchmarking and Best Practice initiative three years ago and since then it has turned into an unprecedented partnership between a users’ group and a software company,” said Chakib Bouhdary, senior vice president for SAP Customer Value and Strategy AAPJ, SAP Americas. “We focused early on to make the program actionable and pragmatic and we are very pleased with the number of customers that have leveraged the insights to maximize the value from their investments in SAP® solutions. We are now expanding the program beyond corporate services to front-office processes and offer a complete health check for all key processes. We are fully committed to the program and enabling our customers’ success.” Additional information about the ASUG and SAP Benchmarking and Best Practices Program is available at http://www.asug.com/benchmarking.

About ASUG

The Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG®) is an independent, volunteer-run organization that facilitates knowledge transfer among the community of SAP customers by providing user-driven educational opportunities, professional networking and a forum that provides insight and influence to SAP. ASUG maintains a unique position within the SAP community through its: combination of highly-focused education tools; access to subject matter experts and SAP executives; ability to influence SAP products and services; and personal networking opportunities with SAP customers. As a result, members from any sized organization continuously solve their SAP-related business problems more efficiently and cost-effectively, realizing a significant return from their membership. (Additional information at http://www.asug.com)