Accenture (NYSE: ACN) is working with Ohio's Miami University on a strategic sourcing initiative to help the University reduce its total cost of goods and services. The five-month engagement began in October 2011, following a six-week spend assessment in which Accenture helped the University identify and prioritize opportunities to lower total costs and improve processes.

During the current engagement, Accenture is working closely with Miami University's procurement and information technology departments, as well as other major departments, to deliver the targeted savings outcomes using Accenture's leading practices methodology. A key objective of this collaborative approach is sustainable cost reduction and the transfer of knowledge, templates and processes that will help the University independently manage suppliers and its technology landscape long after the engagement ends.

"We are helping the University devise and implement a strategic approach to procurement to drive cost reductions for an array of goods and services," said Dan London, who leads Accenture's Health & Public Service in North America. "Our experience in operations-related management consulting has demonstrated that this is the type of pro-efficiency effort that many educational institutions should be undertaking to help minimize tuition increases and/or cuts in academic programs and services."

Learn more about Accenture's higher education procurement expertise and insight and Accenture research on high performance procurement mastery.

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About Accenture

Accenture is a global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company with over 244,000 people serving clients in more than 120 countries. Combining unparalleled experience, comprehensive capabilities across all industries and business functions, and extensive research on the world's most successful companies, Accenture collaborates with clients to help them become high-performance businesses and governments. The company generated net revenues of US$25.5 billion for the fiscal year ended Aug. 31, 2011. Its home page is www.accenture.com.

Accenture
Joe Dickie, 512-694-6422
joseph.r.dickie@accenture.com