CHICAGO--Sept. 19, 2006-- Results Link Best Practices to Significant Increases in Value of IT to the Bottom-Line
The Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG(R)), the world's largest customer-run community of SAP professionals, announced that with SAP it is delivering a benchmarking program that empowers organizations to strategically analyze the impact of SAP on their businesses and understand the value of adopting best practices. To date, more than 1,000 participants have realized the value of the ASUG/SAP Benchmarking and Best Practices program.
Organizations across a wide range of industries that have adopted best practices are realizing a significant advantage over their competitors. For example, initial results show three-times lower costs for a top-performing versus a low-performing finance organization, 32% improvement in effectiveness for top-performing shared services organizations versus those without shared services, and 2.4 times higher materials savings for top-performing sourcing organizations than average sourcing organizations.
Individual companies are leveraging the study results, often leading to dramatic benefits. One company learned that best-performing companies have reduced the number of monitoring and system management tools in use by leveraging SAP. When they realized they weren't doing very well by comparison, the company applied resources to things like Solution Manager within SAP. As a result, they were able to cut millions of dollars in system-monitoring infrastructure cost by consolidating the number of systems used.
"We don't want to just be better than our competition," said Chris Van Liew, Director, IT Enterprise Systems SAP Support at Weyerhaeuser, a participant in the Total Cost of Ownership Benchmarking Study. "We want to be the best forest products company in the world and a global leader among all industries. With the findings of the Benchmarking study, ASUG and SAP have helped us identify opportunities that enable that vision."
The Benchmarking and Best Practices program was formulated by the ASUG CIO/CTO Executive Exchange which includes senior level SAP executives in response to demand from ASUG members for benchmarking information to help compare performance and identify the value of adopting best practices.
"The ASUG/SAP Benchmarking initiative gives organizations the opportunity to compare their performance against that of their peers and other SAP users," said Rod Masney, ASUG President and Global Information and Technology Architect for O-I. "This is extremely beneficial to all participants as it allows them to determine the value of adopting suggested best practices, understand how IT drives performance, and track value realization."
Launched as a pilot program in 2005, the ASUG/SAP Benchmarking program originally included ongoing studies in the areas of Human Capital Management, Finance, and Supplier Relationship Management & Procurement. This summer, the benchmarking program has expanded to include the areas of Supply Chain Planning, Manufacturing, New Product Development and Introduction, Customer Contact Centers, and Total Cost of Ownership. New initiatives focused on Centers of Excellence Outsourcing, and Governance, Risk, and Compliance, have been launched over the last few weeks.
This collaborative program between ASUG and SAP is currently two-fold. Along with benchmarking initiatives the organization added a series of Best Practices Surveys in spring 2006 to provide more targeted forms of insights on key, current and emerging trends in business and technology.
Benchmarking initiatives are both quantitative and qualitative in nature and focus on measuring business process performance. Participants receive a company-specific report, copy of aggregate results, including trends, and an Insights Whitepaper written about each survey. Best Practices surveys are focused on specific organizational and information technology trends and participants receive a summary/aggregate report of results. Participants in the benchmarking program also receive a one-on-one session with SAP benchmarking consultants to review key insights.
Participants of the benchmarking program receive many valuable benefits in addition to determining the impact of SAP on their business. They are able to internally explore the linkage between IT and performance, quantify the value of adopting best practices, and compare their use of SAP with that of their high level competitors and peers. Participants also have the ability to recognize company best practices and industry trends over time as each benchmarking initiative is ongoing and continuously updated with additional data points.
To ensure the effectiveness and integrity of the program, ASUG and SAP have developed the ASUG/SAP Benchmarking Code of Conduct, which is based on the code of conduct established by the International Benchmarking Clearinghouse. A service of the American Productivity and Quality Center, the Benchmarking Code of Conduct sets out basic principles to guide the exchange and confidentiality of information.
About ASUG
The Americas' SAP Users' Group (ASUG(R)) 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)
