HCKT Hackett Group Inc

The Hackett Group, a global strategic advisory firm (NASDAQ: HCKT), announced today that it will preview findings from its 2008 Book of Numbers� research at its 18th Annual Best Practices Conference, �20/20 Vision: Are You on the Right Path to World-Class?� at the InterContinental Hotel in Atlanta April 24 and 25. The research, which quantifies spending, staffing, economic return, and other key efficiency and effectiveness metrics of world-class performance in finance, IT, HR, procurement and other Selling, General, & Administrative (SG&A) areas, will be one of several conference highlights. The two-day invitation-only event will also feature presentations by senior executives from more than 20 of the world�s most successful companies, including Alcoa, Caterpillar, Corning, Hewlett-Packard, and Phillips. �Our annual Best Practices conference has always offered strong perspectives on the best practices of top performers. Speakers from the world�s largest and most successful companies talk about their efforts�what�s worked, what hasn�t,� explained Hackett President Wayne Mincey. �The current economic uncertainty has many companies considering some tough choices, and it�s easy in an environment like this to fall back on short-term thinking,� said Mr. Mincey. �But the best companies have always been looking out five years into the future, charting a course in finance, IT, and other key back office areas that supports their larger business strategy. Companies with staying power are the ones that have built strong and flexible infrastructures that enable them to predict and respond to shifts in demand and changes in the marketplace. That�s the perspective we want to encourage with this year�s conference.� The following executives are currently scheduled to present: � Alcoa, Inc. - William O'Rourke, Vice President Global Business Services Exceeding Alcoa's Vision for Global Business Services � Alltel Inc. - CJ Duvall, Executive Vice President Human Resources Building a Partnership between HR and the Business � Applied Materials - Juan Rodriguez, Senior Director of Global Shared Services Operations The Hackett Group - Julio Ramirez, Managing Director The Quest to Achieve World-Class Performance through Globalization � Canon-Europe - Jean-Louis Gregoire, Chief of Strategy Constellation Energy Group, Inc. - Follin Smith, former Executive Vice President & CFO Freescale Semiconductor - Samuel Coursen, Vice President & CIO MDS Inc. - James Reid, Executive Vice President Global Human Resources Addressing the Top C-Suite Issues � Caterpillar, Inc. - Sid Banwart, Vice President, Human Services Creating Business Value by Managing Healthcare � Centrica plc - Matthew Idle, Head of Credit Operations Improving Operational Performance While Reducing Costs via Outsourcing � Dow Chemical Company - Mack Murrell, Vice President Information Systems Driving IT Value Across the Enterprise � Corning Incorporated - Thomas Blumer, Vice President Procurement & Transporation Vision 2010 - Achieving Alignment and Delivering Sustainable Procurement Value � Dow Chemical Company - Timothy King, Vice President Global Purchasing Procurement at Dow - Partnering for Success Internally and Externally � The Hackett Group - Wayne Mincey, President World-Class Performance - What Separates the Winners and Losers, Today and Tomorrow � Hewlett-Packard Company - Michael Bordoni, Vice President Finance Strategy Leveraging a Finance Transformation Strategy to Achieve World-Class � Juniper Networks, Inc. - Steven Rice, Executive Vice President Human Resources Demonstrating a New Dimension in HR Value Delivery � MDS Inc. - Stephen DeFalco, President & CEO Great People, Strong Development and a Performance- Driven Culture Can Make a Difference � NCR Corporation - Ivan Alvarez, Director of Strategy & Architecture NCR's Multi-Path Journey to an Efficient Destination � Oracle Corporation - Jeffrey Henley, Chairman & former CFO The Oracle Transformation: Enabling Growth and Globalization � Philips North America - James Schweizer, General Manager Shared Business Services Value Creation in Finance Shared Services � Research in Motion - Robin Bienfait, Chief Information Officer Leveraging a Customer-Centric IT Strategy � Smurfit-Stone Container Corporation - Steven J. Klinger, President & COO Sustaining Growth by Lowering Costs and Improving Performance More information on Hackett�s 18th Annual Best Practices Conference is available online at: http://www.thehackettgroup.com/events/bp08/index.jsp. About The Hackett Group The Hackett Group (NASDAQ: HCKT), a global strategic advisory firm, is a leader in best practice advisory, benchmarking, and transformation consulting services, including shared services, offshoring and outsourcing advice. Utilizing best practices and implementation insights from more than 4,000 benchmarking engagements, executives use Hackett's empirically based approach to quickly define and prioritize initiatives to enable world-class performance. Through its REL brand, Hackett offers working capital solutions focused on delivering significant cash flow improvements. Through its Hackett Technology Solutions group, Hackett offers business application consulting services that helps maximize returns on IT investments. Hackett has worked with 2,700 major corporations and government agencies, including 97% of the Dow Jones Industrials, 73% of the Fortune 100, 73% of the DAX 30 and 45% of the FTSE 100. Founded in 1991, The Hackett Group was acquired by Answerthink, which was renamed The Hackett Group in 2008. The Hackett Group has global offices in the United States, Europe and India. More information on The Hackett Group is available: by phone at (770) 225-7300; by e-mail at info@thehackettgroup.com; or on the Web at www.thehackettgroup.com. Book of Numbers is a trademark of The Hackett Group. This press release contains �forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause Hackett�s actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from the results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Factors that impact such forward-looking statements include, among others, the ability of the products, services, or practices mentioned in this release to deliver the desired effect, our ability to effectively integrate acquisitions into our operations, our ability to attract additional business, our ability to effectively market and sell our product offerings and other services, the timing of projects and the potential for contract cancellations by our customers, changes in expectations regarding the information technology industry, our ability to attract and retain skilled employees, possible changes in collections of accounts receivable, risks of competition, price and margin trends, foreign currency fluctuations, changes in general economic conditions and interest rates as well as other risks detailed in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 29, 2006 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.