SAP Benchmarking Can Tell You!
You know how your company is performing today. With the right software and systems, you can quickly compare today’s performance to what you did in the past.
It’s also important to understand how your company’s performance compares to peers in the same industry. Given that many energy services companies are privately held, and not keen to swap information with competitors, how can you figure out where you stand?
Actually, it’s not hard if you know where to look.
“SAP has 253,000 corporate customers in 188 countries,” says VistaVu President Jory Lamb. “Some 4,000 of these companies contribute data that SAP uses to maintain the world's largest benchmarking program. It’s a place where SAP users can go to compare their performance with industry peers on many different levels.”
The SAP benchmarking program – which is offered free to SAP customers – puts users in touch with data for more than 25 process categories, including Finance, Supply Chain and more. The oil and gas service industry is strongly represented in the benchmarking program, allowing you to draw valid conclusions about your company’s performance compared to others. You can benchmark globally, or just within certain geographies.
The program allows you to build detailed reports that can be used to make better decisions and target improvement in specific areas. It takes your competitive position out of the realm of subjective speculation and puts an extensive, relevant data set behind it.
With many smaller companies participating in a profitable industry, energy services seems ripe for consolidation. Private equity firms have taken note of the industry’s dynamism, and are scrutinizing performance benchmarks in picking acquisition targets.
“The more private equity comes into energy services, the more important benchmarking will become,” says Lamb. “Knowing where your company stands is free for SAP customers, and in today’s competitive and consolidating market, it’s essential.”
