HRchitect’s MarketMinute: Oracle Announces Acquisition of Taleo

February 13, 2012

Last week, Oracle, an enterprise application software vendor, announced the acquisition of Taleo, a cloud-based human capital management (HCM) solutions provider, for $1.9 billion and a little over five times the projected 2012 revenue for Taleo.  Members of HRchitect’s executive team – Matt Lafata, Rick Fletcher, Ron Hanscome, John Hinojos, Tom LaMarre and Alex Tellez – met to discuss the transaction, on the implications to the talent management marketplace, during the most recent Market Minute.  Audio from the discussion is available here.  Key takeaways are always posted to The Puzzling World of HRtechnology blog and appear below.

Initial reactions:

  • It makes sense long term to have Integrated Human Capital Management.
  • The continued consolidation and acquisition of best-of-breed vendors by the ERP’s may create a commoditization of talent management features in the industry.
  • We may see an opportunity cost of integration over innovation.  Internal thrashing and energy that would be spent on innovating each of the particular product suites may instead be spend on providing good integration paths between the Oracle core products and Taleo capabilities.
  • How will products that currently integrate to Taleo be affected?
  • What does the product roadmap look like?  Oracle has historically had a tightly controlled approach to talking about product releases until they are almost out the door.  It may be hard for customers to get a good understanding in advance of what the roadmaps look like and what the impact will be on their own organization’s strategy.
  • How will Fusion and the Fusion applications be reconciled with the deeper, in many respects, best-of-breed / talent management capabilities that Taleo brings to the table?
  • A year ago the industry was seeing the talent management vendors consolidating and moving toward the suite vendors going after the mid-sized core HR vendors to create a whole human capital suite.  Over the last couple of months, the ERP vendors who have a lot of cash, have been picking these players up, largely because acquisition is an easy way to add cloud / SaaS capabilities to their product offerings.

Should existing Taleo customers be concerned about the acquisition?

  • Clients who are not Oracle shops are already expressing concern.  However, Taleo’s integration tools are agnostic – they currently work well with a number of HR systems – so there will be limited impact there.
  • Don’t panic.  No immediate changes will happen to the Taleo product offering or support are expected.

With this move by Oracle, and SAP’s previous acquisition of SuccessFactors, what about Workday?

  • Workday has build out talent management (performance, career development, succession planning and compensation) and for a first or second-version offering, is really very strong and all delivered within the context of an integrated HCM application.  However, recruiting and learning are the two remaining outliers.  Workday has chosen not to build these out.  The question remains if they will go outside of their organic approach and acquire someone, or will they continue to partner in the delivery of recruiting and learning?  The next few months should prove important in them determining that strategy.

Final thoughts:

  • As with all acquisitions, intent or strategy around it is one thing, execution is an entirely different thing.  The success of this acquisition will depend on how well the strategies are thrashed out, and how well they are executed.
  • The HR technology marketplace continues to move and shake with mergers and acquisitions.  It is always wise to go into an evaluation of an HR system with eyes wide open and consider all of the decision drivers that are most important to your organization, before deciding on any vendor

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Posted by Tiffany Appleby

The Challenge of Going Global

February 1, 2012

Global companies often struggle with the challenge of deploying technology solutions and process automation in regions that perceive the demanded changes as “corporate mandated” and specific to the location of the company’s corporate offices. How often do we hear the sentiment expressed that this is just another corporate initiative that has nothing to do with how we do business in the region? Consequently, many system initiatives fail miserably when the regions are asked to adopt it. Projected ROI is not realized, organizational ineffectiveness continues, and careers are adversely impacted – despite the well intentioned deployment.

Over the last several years I have had the opportunity to work with many world-leading companies that have deployed solutions throughout the various world regions – to local end user populations with very distinct processes, business cultures, and language requirements. In working with these companies one of the first thing we have done is assess the company culture to determine if the organization is truly ready to deploy a global system that will be adopted as envisioned. After all – “if you build it they will come” only works in the movies.

In response to this problem, countless books, articles and white papers have been written and an equally large amount of seminars and workshops delivered. So why not (I ask myself) a blog on lessons learned over my years working with companies that have ventured into the world of global system deployment? Lessons learned from working with executives, project team members and system end users – both at Corporate as well as in the regions. A blog that discusses how to create a more effective deployment atmosphere and culture during system definition and implementation and prepare the ground properly to ensure that the actual system deployment is positive and yields the desired response at the Corporate and Regional level.
So, from scheduling calls and engaging virtual teams, to walking the fine line between localizations and standardization; from ensuring representation and commitment at the regional level, to overcoming project stereotypes and misconceptions across the board; from defining deployment strategies and managing system rollout tasks – stay tuned. Practical tips and suggestions I have learned (sometimes through my own mistakes) over the past decade as I have worked with well intentioned, conscientious and highly motivated colleagues thrown into the deep end and asked to swim.

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Posted by bskimball

2012 HCM Budget Observations

January 27, 2012

I recently served as a panelist on a webinar which discussed the 2012 HCM budgets.  The survey was done by IHRIM (International Association for Human Resource Information Management), and some interesting results appeared on the survey which caused me to do additional research on how the past few years of a difficult economy has impacted HR and HR systems budgets.

The good news is that 82% of those surveyed had their 2011 budget kept at the 2010 level or increased.  For 2012 that number is going up to 85%.  While we are still struggling with the economy, it shows that corporate leaders are realizing that they need to begin to invest in their technology infrastructure.  As companies have tried to hold down their expenses, their systems have continued to age and may not be taking full advantage of the technologies being used by  newer groups of employees.

Use of the 2012 budgets appear to be in the Talent Management areas (Recruiting, Performance Management and On-Boarding).  One interesting area of increase is with Business Intelligence, which corporations have realized can help them make better decisions about running the business.  32% of all respondents said they would be looking at some sort of Business Intelligence this year.

Spending on HR technology continues to grow in 2012 as organizations begin to see the economy moving.  There are still many areas which could impact the economy and corporate spending, but if you have allowed your technology and HR systems to become out dated, this needs to be rectified sooner instead of waiting for a full economic recovery.  If you haven’t already done so, you should begin to create an HCM technology strategy roadmap to best use your budgeted funding.

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Posted by jhinojos

Don’t Miss Thursday’s HRchitect WebMingle with Lynne Mealy and Nov Omana of IHRIM

January 4, 2012

The HRchitect WebMingle is designed to give you some insight into the puzzling world of HR technology, talk about upcoming events in our industry, and provide insightful interviews with people of our industry – who they are, what they do and why you should care. The WebMingle has become the most popular live weekly Internet show in the HR technology industry!

The WebMingle has truly redefined how people get information about vendors, trends and really anything related to HR technology and we are very proud of that.

This week’s guests, the first of 2012, are Lynne Mealy, President and CEO of IHRIM, and Nov Omana, Chairman of the IHRIM Board of Directors.

Formed in 1980 from informal gatherings when HR and IT professionals found themselves needing mediators, IHRIM has become the world’s leading clearinghouse for the HRIM (Human Resource Information Management) industry. Today, IHRIM is a community of experts – a dynamic group of practitioners, vendors, consultants, students, and faculty that continues to grow, not just in numbers, but in its scope of knowledge and information.

Lynne Mealy currently serves as the President and CEO of IHRIM, inc., a nonprofit membership organization whose mission is to education and inform its members on the use of HR information technology. Lynne holds an MBA from Suffolk University and achieved her Human Resource Information Professional (HRIP) Certification from IHRIM in 2010. With more than 28 years’ experience in human resources, with a focus on HR information systems and strategic management, Lynne is a published author and presenter.

Nov has been in the HR Technology arena for over 35 years.  He is known for his thought leadership, his understanding of combining and leveraging technology in new ways, and his strong knowledge of the vendor community surrounding HR technology.  His reputation is “connecting the dots” between technologies to create new solutions and solve business problems. Nov is currently on the International Human Resources Information Management (IHRIM) Board of Directors (Chairman), IHRIM Educational Foundation Board (Vice Chair), an advisor to the Oracle HR User Group Board (OHUG), ClearView Management Advisory Board, and EpicHR’s Advisory Board. Nov also is a certified Human Resources Information Professional, HRIP, since 2010 and winner of the prestigious IHRIM Summit award in 2007.

Visit http://blogtalkradio.com/mattlafata to listen live this Thursday, January 5 at 2pm CST. If you missed any of our previous 90 or so WebMingles, you can also access them from that page.

We look forward to welcoming Lynne Mealy and Nov Omana with IHRIM to the HRchitect WebMingle and hope to have you join us as well.

If you would like to be considered as a guest on an upcoming WebMingle, please contact Tiffany Appleby at tappleby@HRchitect.com

Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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Posted by mattlafata

December WebMingle Recap, Part 2 – What’s Ahead for 2012

December 28, 2011

Note: On December 14 HRchitect conducted its traditional year-end WebMingle. Matt Lafata (President), Ron Hanscome (VP HCM Systems Strategy Consulting) and John Hinojos (VP Consulting Services) spent a lively hour discussing major HCM technology events that occurred in 2011 versus what we predicted last December, and delivered a fresh set of predictions for 2012. Part 1 reviewed major events of 2011 and how our predictions panned out. This post will cover what we expect will happen in 2012, and Part 3 will discuss what it all means for companies looking to invest in HCM technology solutions over the next 12 months.

Economics and Demographics – Critical Issues for 2012

  • Last year began with signs of economic recovery, which triggered a lot of spending on HCM technology, as organizations released budget to address some long-deferred investments. However, we saw a slowing of activity during the summer, due in our opinion to uncertainty about the strength of the recovery and some concerns over a double-dip recession combined with the normal vacation season slowdown. Activity picked up again somewhat as we moved into autumn, and it appears that many organizations are planning for strategy, evaluation/selection, and implementation projects for HCM technology in the first half of 2012.
  • Mixed messages about the economy (e.g., better housing and manufacturing data versus concerns over country debt levels in the European Union and the need for a longer-term solution there) may lead to spending reductions in the last half of 2012, as firms may choose to ratchet back spending if there are too many warning signs.
  • There is lingering impact from the economic downturn that began in 2008 – many “Baby Boomer” workers are postponing their retirement plans, and now plan to stay working for the foreseeable future. This means that there is significant participation of three generations in the workforce, with a fourth now beginning to enter.
  • Having four generations in the workplace will definitely strain HCM processes and technologies for most organizations, as each generation has different perceptions, expectations, and needs. The biggest gap will likely be from “digital natives” who want to leverage their social networks as a part of their job, perform HR processes on their mobile devices, and demand a leading-edge user experience throughout.

Trends to Watch in 2012

  • The overall Human Capital Management software market will continue to consolidate, but at a slower pace – there has been so much activity in 2010 and 2011 that the pace has to slow down somewhat, as there are fewer attractive targets left standing, and vendors have to pause and digest their purchases. We believe that further acquisition activity in 2012 will focus on ITM suite vendors “rounding out” their solutions by purchasing point solution vendors. The pace of acquisition could remain (or even accelerate) if the economy takes another hit, resulting in smaller privately-held vendors becoming distressed properties at attractive prices.
  • Marketing and development efforts around ITM suites will continue, but shift focus – vendors did a great deal of “missionary” marketing in 2009-11 to educate potential customers on the value of ITM. That work has paid off, as most buyers now have a fundamental understanding of ITM. We believe that vendor marketing over the next few years will focus on showing the market how leading-edge capabilities (e.g., social, mobile, communication/collaboration, analytics) can add value to core ITM processes.
  • Niche and ITM suite vendors will maintain their feature/function lead – much like 2011, we expect the gap to generally remain constant during the year. Vendors will invest in improving the overall user experience of their applications, as this is increasingly a critical success factor for end user adoption. Another general area of investment focus will be support of more sophisticated metrics and analytics. We also expect to see more attention paid to working with customers to enable better support of workforce planning.
  • ITM vendors will increase their investment in social, communication & collaboration capabilities – after several years of marketing hype and frenzy, solid proof points of value emerged in 2011, even though large-scale end user adoption has lagged behind the buzz to a considerable extent. Recruiting will continue to lead the ITM functions in adoption with social sourcing and candidate relationship management, but the incorporation of collaboration capability into performance management (performance “notes” and multi-rater feedback), career development/ succession planning (community feedback on strengths/opportunities), and learning(tracking informal learning events) should all see increased usage in 2012.
  • Mobile enablement of ITM processes has become the next frontier of marketing and end-user adoption – after a year of tremendous hype around mobile (particularly focused around the manager role) highlighted by the release of Workday and PeopleFluent iPad apps in Q311, we believe that 2012 will be the year of execution. We expect to see some effective pilots as well as larger scale implementations by the end of the year. Many vendors are choosing the cross-platform approach of utilizing HTML 5 over supporting specific mobile platforms; this will increase their ability to efficiently roll out mobile apps, with the downside of not being able to leverage each platform’s specific user experience functions.
  • Organizations will continue to try to rationalize their application portfolio by implementing ITM suites – the trend in 2010-11 was that the vast majority of organizations strategically embrace the ITM suite concept; however, actual suite purchases lagged due to the lack of a fully integrated set of equally functional applications. In the end, organizations (particularly in the enterprise market) are less willing to ‘trade off’ functionality in one component of ITM for the sake of integration. Market consolidation of ITM suite vendors and concrete plans for integrating acquired functionality should increase the average number of modules purchased per ITM suite in 2012.
  • SaaS has become the preferred method for ITM deployments – although some organizations (less than 2011) still want the option of on-premise deployment, we expect that over 75% of ITM deployments will utilize some form of SaaS in 2012.
  • The linkage between Performance, Learning, Succession and Career Development is increasing in importance for ITM – the change to this area for 2012 has to do with the growing need for robust career development/planning processes in many industry segments; this function also needs to leverage the rich data contained in a centralized talent profile. All four of these functions will feed the talent profile, and help drive “Talent Review” or “Talent Pipeline Planning” processes.
  • Organizations are increasingly trying to satisfy multiple types of recruiting with a single solution – this trend continues from 2011, especially in the desire to unify professional and hourly recruiting onto a single solution. We also expect some leading firms to include the contingent workforce in their definition of a holistic recruiting solution, due to their desire to use their contingent workers as a potential talent pool.
  • Talent Profile data (including competencies) has become the centerpiece of ITM – we expect to see more organizations deploying a centralized talent profile in 2012. As well, there will be a continued expansion of data beyond traditional skill / competency information to include such elements as career and geographic preferences, education, work experience, performance / potential ratings, and performance review results. The robustness of the talent profile has now become one of the critical factors driving selection of ITM Suites as we move into 2012.
  • The quality of vendor service and support remain the key to long-term customer satisfaction – solution feature/function and cost are weighted very heavily in ITM selection projects. However, wonderful inexpensive capabilities are of limited value if you are not able to partner effectively with your solution provider. The quality of the vendor’s service and support must be factored appropriately into any ITM selection project. Customer panel discussions throughout 2011 indicated that this area needs to be improved to meet expectations; it remains to be seen whether ITM vendors will make the long-term investment needed.

Stay tuned for Part 3, which will discuss the implications for any organization looking to purchase and implement ITM technology in 2012. You may also access the full audio replay of the WebMingle here.

Leave a Comment » | HCM, HR technology, Human Capital Management, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management | Permalink
Posted by Ron Hanscome

December WebMingle Recap, Part 1 – 2011 in Review (How Did We Do?)

December 21, 2011

On December 14 HRchitect conducted its traditional year end WebMingle. Matt Lafata (President), Ron Hanscome (VP HCM Systems Strategy Consulting) and John Hinojos (VP Consulting Services) spent a lively hour discussing major HCM technology events that occurred in 2011 versus what we predicted last December, and delivered a fresh set of predictions for 2012. This blog post will focus on reviewing what happened in 2011. Part 2 will cover what we expect will happen in 2012, and Part 3 will discuss what it all means for companies looking to invest in HCM technology solutions over the next 12 months.

Major HCM Technology Market Events
2011 proved to be a very busy year in terms of acquisition; at last count 23 transactions or announcements occurred, signifying a huge influx of capital into the HCM technology marketplace. Of that total, the HRchitect team highlighted the following 6 transactions for discussion:

  •  SumTotal buys GeoLearning (January), Accero and CyberShift (July) – this set of acquisitions signaled SumTotal’s intent to move beyond its enterprise learning roots into the midmarket with GeoLearning, and ultimately provide a holistic solution that includes integrated talent management (ITM), core HRMS, and workforce management. However, the organization faces quite the challenge integrating its five learning platforms and Softscape (purchased September 2010) with the latest purchased applications.
  • Taleo buys Cytiva (April) and Jobpartners (July) – increased Taleo’s penetration in the midmarket with Cytiva’s SonicRecruit solution as well as providing a stronger foothold in Europe with Jobpartners recruiting and ITM solution.
  • Peoplefluent buys Aquire (April) – a prime example of investment in analytics by the ITM market, Aquire’s significant capabilities in analytics, org charting, and workforce planning are now being leveraged in the context of Peoplefluent’s ITM suite.
  • SuccessFactors (SFSF) buys, is bought, and buys some more – leading ITM suite vendor adds LMS capability (formal and informal) via the April Plateau and March Jambok acquisitions. In perhaps the biggest deal of the year, on December 3 SAP announced its intent to buy SFSF for $3.4B (a very robust valuation that validated interest in the ITM market). A few days later, SFSF announced it was acquiring Jobs2Web in order to add social recruiting and candidate relationship management functionality to its recruiting offering.
  • Technomedia buys Hodes iQ – an interesting move by this niche learning-focused vendor to add the Hodes recruiting functionality. Technomedia has a presence in Canada and France, and this purchase may help them to expand their footprint both functionally and geographically.
  • Kenexa buys Batrus Hollweg – this November acquisition of a leader in assessments for the hospitality segment highlights Kenexa’s goal of deepening their already robust assessment capabilities, a key enabler of ITM for many organizations.

In addition, the past 12 months included a number of funding transactions that further highlight investor interest in the overall HCM market in general, and the ITM market in particular:

  • SilkRoad Technologies raised $40m in November 2010
  • Cornerstone OnDemand executed an oversubscribed IPO in March 2011 that raised $137M
  • LinkedIn went public May 2011, raising an eye-popping $4.3B (21 x estimated 2011 revenues)
  • Jobvite announced in May 2011 that it had raised $15M in Series C funding
  • Kenexa conducted a follow-on stock offering in May 2011 that raised an additional $79M

The Crystal Ball Review – HRchitect’s Predictions for 2011

  • Market consolidation continues – this one was accurate as far as it went; however, the continued pace and size of activity went beyond our expectations, with the SAP / SFSF serving as the capstone of a very eventful year.
  • The link between integrated Performance Management, Succession Planning and Learning will increase for customers – we saw some increased interest in linking these processes together to improve the effectiveness of ITM, as well as some purchases of integrated enabling technology; however, adoption was somewhat slower than we expected due to the uncertain economy and the difficulty of change management in organizations.
  • There will be increased adoption of integrated Performance Management and Compensation to Support Pay for Performance Programs – We have seen some evidence of direct linkage in our client engagements, but not as much as anticipated. Clients are looking for it, but vendors haven’t yet delivered easy to use, robust capabilities. Delivering truly impactful pay for performance programs takes a lot of work – and many organizations are not able or willing to accept the increased workload.
  • There will be increased convergence of the ITM Suite and HRMS – several core HRMS vendors have delivered enhanced ITM capabilities in 2011. The most visible example is Workday, whose three 2011 releases featured expanded performance management, succession planning, and compensation functionality. Ultimate Software continued its focus on the right level of capabilities for the midmarket, and now provides recruiting, onboarding, performance management, and compensation modules.
  • Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) continues to gain popularity – the momentum shift to SaaS clearly continued for ITM, but there was also a strong increase in SaaS deployments for core HCM and Workforce Management (WFM) applications as well.
  • Customers will not upgrade existing ERP legacy apps without investigating SaaS alternatives – HRchitect consultants experienced this in most evaluation projects; however, while SaaS was certainly considered, the uncertain economy resulted in less budget for ‘rip and replace,’ causing many organizations to stay the course with their existing ERP-based HCM solutions. Some went the route of the least expensive upgrade, while others chose to wait and only apply bug fixes and compliance upgrades, looking to re-assess the situation in 2012.
  • Niche and ITM suite vendors will continue to maintain their feature/function lead – this proved to be an accurate prediction overall; however, there were some core HCM vendors that took a big step forward, such as Workday with its ITM-focused releases, and Lawson software with its integration of the Enwisen acquisition for HR portal and Onboarding. However, Lawson’s subsequent purchase by Golden Gate (PE firm) and merger with Infor has resulted in the exodus of some key talent, and has raised doubts about its product investment strategy moving forward.
  • Mobile will play a big role in HR technology in 2011- certainly mobile enablement was one of the major marketing focus areas for vendors, with all the associated hype of early solutions. Actual adoption was pretty limited, but we expect to see more reality hit the marketplace in 2012.
  • Web 2.0 collaboration and social software tools will see increased usage – actual adoption was significantly impacted by generational workforce differences, as well as the impact of change management programs in user organizations – the overall result was less pervasive use than we expected.
  • Linkedin usage as a recruiting tool will increase – our actual experience with clients revealed that more organizations and recruiters are now using LinkedIn as the primary way to gather information on potential employees. LinkedIn has also announced several partnerships with recruiting technology vendors in 2011 to improve the integration between their applications and LinkedIn.
  • The application user experience will differentiate ITM products and impact adoption – almost every ITM engagement in 2011 focused on the user experience as a critical selection criteria, reinforcing the notion that great functionality is not adopted if it isn’t easy to use.
  • Increased vendor focus on customer service/support is critical to customer satisfaction – most trade show events that we attended in 2011 included some form of customer panel. Without exception, panel attendees gave their vendors less than stellar grades, and called for them to “up the ante” on service and support. The question is, are the vendors listening?
  • ITM solution price points will rise after the “dust settles” from vendor consolidation – in many respects the dust is still settling, given the pace of acquisition activity. Therefore, we saw continued price pressure due to economic conditions and competitive selections.
  • ITM vendors with holistic solutions that drive business results will gain share versus technology-focused providers – HRchitect clients certainly focused on both tangible ROI projections and qualitative benefits in their selection projects. Vendors have responded with more robust support of business impact justification during the sales process. In the end, the pace of consolidation (every major vendor trying to get to a more holistic solution) made it difficult to validate the accuracy of this prediction. Rest assured, however, that this remains an area of high interest to all current and potential users of ITM technology.

Hopefully you found this look back at 2011 to be interesting and useful. Part 2 will cover our predictions for 2012.

To listen to the show in its entirety, click here for the audio archive.

Leave a Comment » | HCM, HR technology, Human Capital Management, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management, Workforce Management | Permalink
Posted by Ron Hanscome

Don’t Miss Thursday’s HRchitect WebMingle with Charles Coy of Cornerstone OnDemand

December 3, 2011

The HRchitect WebMingle is designed to give you some insight into the puzzling world of HR technology, talk about upcoming events in our industry, and provide insightful interviews with people of our industry – who they are, what they do and why you should care. The WebMingle has become the most popular live weekly Internet show in the HR technology industry!

The WebMingle has truly redefined how people get information about vendors, trends and really anything related to HR technology and we are very proud of that.

This week’s guest is Charles Coy, Senior Director of Analyst and Community Relations. Charles previously appeared on HRchitect’s WebMingle in early 2009.

Cornerstone OnDemand is a leading global provider of a comprehensive learning and talent management solution. We enable organizations to meet the challenges they face in empowering their people and maximizing the productivity of their human capital. Our integrated software-as-a-service (SaaS) solution consists of the Cornerstone Recruiting Cloud (early 2012), the Cornerstone Performance Cloud, the Cornerstone Learning Cloud and the Cornerstone Extended Enterprise Cloud. Our clients use our solution to develop employees throughout their careers, engage all employees effectively, improve business execution, cultivate future leaders, and integrate with their external networks of customers, vendors and distributors. We currently empower over 7.1 million users across 179 countries and in 29 languages.

As Senior Director of Analyst & Community Relations, Charles serves as the “voice” of Cornerstone, discussing company vision and momentum with analysts and evangelizing the company through social channels and speaking opportunities. He has worked in a variety of positions at Cornerstone since the early days of the company more than a decade ago.

Visit www.HRchitect.com/Knowledge/WebMingle to listen live this Thursday, December 8 at 2pm CST. If you missed any of our previous 85 or so WebMingles, you can also access them from that page.

We look forward to welcoming Charles Coy with Cornerstone OnDemand to the HRchitect WebMingle and hope to have you join us as well.

If you would like to be considered as a guest on an upcoming WebMingle, please contact Tiffany Appleby at tappleby@HRchitect.com

Matt Lafata, HRchitect

Leave a Comment » | HCM, HR technology, Human Capital Management, Talent Acquisition, Talent Management | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Permalink
Posted by mattlafata

HRchitect’s Influence in the HR technology World Is Far Reaching

December 3, 2011

I take a lot of pride in what we do at HRchitect. Day in and day out we make a difference in the lives of many leading organizations and the people that are at those organizations today and those who will be there in the future. We do this through the HR technology services we offer around strategy, software selection and implementation.

After 14 years, and well over 800 clients, including many of today’s most successful companies, many who keep coming back for additional services, we have developed a leadership position. This position comes from trust and a definition of trust that I like is “reliance on the integrity, strength, ability, surety, etc., of a person or thing; confidence.”

Something I absolutely love about what we do, and the companies we serve, is that I see reminders everywhere I go, and with everything I do. It is almost impossible to go anywhere or do anything, without using a service or a product from one of our customers.

I wrote about this last December, as we were in the midst of the holiday season where you just can’t go anywhere without being subjected to holiday commercials on TV and holiday music every time you enter a store. I thought this would be a good opportunity to expand on that because it really is something we are extremely proud of.

Think about some of the constant reminders about the tremendous influence that HRchitect has in the HR technology world…

Chances are you are going to do some shopping for friends and loved ones this holiday season. You will likely visit a company in person or online that HRchitect has performed HR related technology services for – Best Buy, Target, OfficeMax, L.L. Bean, RadioShack, Nordstrom, JCPenney, Lowe’s, GAP, Wal-Mart, Dell, Totes, Fossil, Barnes and Noble, Blockbuster, Kodak, Dollar General, Sony Playstation, Sur La Table, Crate and Barrel, Family Dollar, Finish Line, Levin Furniture, Orchard Supply Hardware, or numerous others. Yes, chances are very high you will shop at a store that is an HRchitect client.

Don’t you need some money to visit these stores? Chances are good you will get money from an HRchitect client – Wells Fargo, Washington Mutual, Bank of America, Bank of Oklahoma, U.S. Bank, Capital Bank, Capital One, TD Bank, First Citizens Banc, OMNI Bank, or many others. Then of course it’s time to use a credit card that might come from Citigroup, First USA, American Express, or Visa.

Maybe you will need to check with your credit union such as Texans Credit Union, BMI Federal Credit Union, Boeing Employee Credit Union, First Community Federal Credit Union, Space Coast Credit Union, or Mountain America Credit Union. Or maybe before that you need to talk with your financial advisor at Northwestern Mutual, Fidelity, Charles Schwab, or Barclays Global Investors before you spend any money.

Naturally all this running around will make you hungry or thirsty so why not visit one of HRchitect’s clients. Grab a Dr Pepper Snapple product to quench your thirst, or maybe Pepsi is your thing. Or chow down on a Burrito at Chipotle. Maybe something from Panera Bread or Yum! Brands? How about having Domino’s Pizza or Papa John’s deliver to you? Or how about something from Nestle, maybe some hot chocolate to stay warm? Chances are pretty good you will eat or drink something from one of HRchitect’s clients.

Are you traveling to visit relatives this holiday season? What if you don’t want to stay with them, because they don’t have room or they drive you crazy? Not a problem. You can stay at Hyatt hotels, or a Starwood Property, Marriott, Wyndham, Choice Hotels, Sea Pines Resort, Hooters Casino Hotel, Atlantis Casino Resort & Spa, or one of many other fine locations.

What if you get sick with all the stress and germs that are in the air this time of year? No problem. HRchitect clients can help you such as Mayo Clinic, Kindred Healthcare, BJC Healthcare, Tenet, Texas Health Resources, Legacy Health System, Moses Cone Health System, California Pacific Medical Center, Austin Regional Clinic, Beth Israel Hospital, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and dozens more. No matter where you are, we are sure you can find a healthcare system that has relied on HRchitect.

You might also utilize an HRchitect client to get your oil, gas, electric or some other form of energy (either directly or indirectly) to keep you warm or get you where you need to go. Companies such as Aera Energy, Cenovus, Conoco Phillips, Baker Hughes, Oklahoma Gas and Energy, Peabody Energy, Regency Energy, Westar Energy, Pride International, or many others.

Let us not forget how you will communicate with loved ones this year. I can almost guarantee you will do that through a product or service from Sprint, AT&T, Motorola, Verizon, Virgin Mobile, Qwest Communications, T-Mobile, L3 Communications, or use that shiny new iPhone or iPad. You got it, all clients of HRchitect.

I could go on and on but I think you get the picture. HRchitect clients are everywhere, every industry, and of every size. You can see some of them here.

If you are reading this and are one of our clients, we’d like to give thanks to you for making us the leading HR technology consulting firm. If you are not yet one of our clients, let’s talk as we would love to add you to the list and share our wonderful experiences with companies just like yours. Join our growing list of over well over 800 clients who made the decision to get the best risk insurance policy and peace of mind that any organization can buy.

HRchitect will help to ensure you select the right HR technology product (talent acquisition, talent management, workforce management, HR/payroll, etc.) for your unique needs and when you do get that right HR software product, we will make sure you get the most out of your investment by ensuring a sound implementation.

This leadership position you have helped us achieve is not to be taken lightly, and simply makes us strive to do more. Watch for some exciting blogs, reports, webinars, and WebMingles (our radio show) in the coming weeks and months.

2012 is going to be another very exciting year in this industry, and no doubt another very puzzling year in the world of HR technology. Don’t go it alone. Seriously. HR technology decisions are not to be taken lightly. In one way or another, they have an impact on your most important asset – your people! Utilize HRchitect’s services today and you will have the peace of mind you, your employees, and your company deserve.

To learn more about how HRchitect’s HR systems strategy, selection and implementation expertise visit www.HRchitect.com.

Happy Holidays!
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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Posted by mattlafata

Don’t Miss The Annual HCM Technology 2011 Recap/2012 Predictions From the Experts at HRchitect

December 2, 2011

The world of HR technology continues to puzzle many people. Fortunately, HRchitect, the industry’s leader in HCM technology consulting, is on its continuing and never-ending mission, to go where no one has gone before, and help make sense of it all.

If you do nothing else this December as it relates to the HR technology world, attend the annual special edition of the HR technology WebMingle with HRchitect on December 14 at 1pm Central Time. It is THE live event of the year that looks back on all the big events of 2011 AND looks forward to 2012 and the Integrated Talent Management (ITM) trends that matter to you.

While we certainly don’t have a crystal ball, we have been doing this long enough to know we have the pulse on the HCM community. This helps us to weed through all the hype to talk about what is really happening while keeping YOUR best interests at heart. Our leadership position and tenure in this industry brings with it an obligation to share our knowledge and thoughts with the community at large and we hope you can join us at this special event.

Listen as members of HRchitect, including Matt Lafata, President; Ron Hanscome, VP of HCM Systems Strategic Consulting, John Hinojos, VP of Consulting Services; Alex Tellez, VP of Implementation Services, and Rick Fletcher, VP and Founder, give their thoughts on a number of items facing us today. These include:

  • Recap of merger, acquisition and funding activity that took place throughout 2011
  • Market Dynamics
  • Evolution of ITM
  • Executing ITM
  • Assessing the Vendor Landscape
  • 2012 Predictions
  • …and more

Clear your schedule and don’t miss this event! Seriously, do it now. It’s THAT important! The registration link is below.

We’ll even have a great holiday gift for you – a fresh off the presses copy of our latest edition of our report, “Integrated Talent Management Technology Trends”.

To add this exciting FREE event to your calendar, please visit http://gurl.im/3ad12eG

To learn more about how HRchitect’s HR systems strategy, selection and implementation expertise visit www.HRchitect.com.
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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Posted by mattlafata

HCM technology user experience: Despite SaaS, still a long way to go

November 4, 2011

One of the best things about October is the release of results from the annual CedarCrestone HR Systems Survey. The 2011-2012 iteration is the 14th edition, the survey has been ably led since Day 1 (that’s right, 14 years) by Lexy Martin, who has managed to maintain the continuity of data and analysis over three different organizations (first The Hunter Group, then Renaissance, and now CedarCrestone). This data (along with Lexy’s perceptive interpretation and insights) has always been made available for free – an amazing gift to all stakeholders in the HCM technology marketplace. You can download a copy from the CedarCrestone website if you don’t have one already. I have been digesting the survey results over the past couple of weeks; this is the first in a series of intermittent and irregular posts on my key takeaways from the data.

The first thing that really jumped out at me was the data collected on the major perceived advantages of SaaS – reduced HRIT/IT staffing, faster time to innovation (easier to be on latest product release and quicker time to implement), and a better user experience that drives adoption and value. Although the overall data certainly supported these perceived SaaS advantages, I want to focus on what else the data is telling us – in particular, about the state of the User Experience (UEX) for HCM technology. Let’s take a look at Figure 14 (page 10 of the white paper survey summary PDF):

Source: CedarCrestone 2011–2012 HR Systems Survey, 14th Annual Edition

  • Overall, the survey responses support the perception of a better UEX for SaaS applications (2.3 versus a 2.0 for licensed apps). Although the difference seems small at first glance, converting the numbers to a 100 point scale results in a 67 for licensed and a 77 for SaaS – a full ten points, which is significant in my view. The difference is not surprising, given the dated user interfaces that are currently in place at many organizations – especially if an upgrade to a newer version with UEX enhancements has been deferred (common in the current economic environment).
  • On an absolute scale, the improvement of SaaS over licensed applications is disappointing compared to the ideal UEX defined in the survey (“3 – Excellent, intuitive, user centered design, effectively promotes use”). Converting to a letter grade, If 3 is an “A plus”, the licensed app score is roughly equal to a “C minus”, while the Saas overall UEX was a “B minus.” I don’t know about you, but as the parent of two teenage boys, I’m really not happy with either of those grades on a report card! Even though the user experience in SaaS HCM apps is viewed as being significantly better, that doesn’t mean that we have arrived – there is still much work to be done to deliver a truly great UEX.
  • Looking at the ratings by HCM function, it is interesting to see that respondents did not uniformly rate SaaS UEX as superior to licensed apps. In fact, Time & Attendance, Compensation, and Succession Planning showed slightly better ratings for licensed apps (although none scored above a “C” grade). On the flip side, the biggest differences were in HR Management/Record Keeping and Business Intelligence, where SaaS scored .3 better than licensed – two areas where UEX has historically been the least effective and difficult to enhance for licensed apps.

How should these findings impact your current HCM Technology implementation? HRchitect believes that the User Experience should be one of the fundamental criteria that drive an HCM Technology selection – and here are four “Rs” that will help ensure a good result:

  • Recognize that replacing your licensed HCM app with a SaaS offering does not “automagically” guarantee a great UEX. What it will likely do is provide a measurably better starting point for what will hopefully become a good or even great UEX in the future – through your own efforts, vendor improvements, or some combination of both.
  • Realize that all SaaS applications are not created equal – each has developed a specific tool kit for configuring and personalizing the application, and each has been built with particular UEX design assumptions. Some vendors began with html as the basis for the UEX, while others have progressed to Flash or other tools. Now the latest subject of conversation is HTML 5, which may allow some vendors to “leapfrog” current tools. It is crucial to understand where each vendor in your evaluation is at, as well as where they are heading in the future…therefore…
  • Remember that UEX will continue to be a moving target over the next few years – all vendors will be working to improve it, UEX SMEs will continue to research and report on the latest successful approaches (many gleaned from the consumer side a la Amazon), and organizations will continue to experiment. Taken together, this conglomeration will steadily improve the UEX of applications – although I believe the progress will continue to be incremental rather than revolutionary.
  • Resolve to focus on UEX when choosing your next HCM technology. Become one of your organization’s knowledge resources and advocates for UEX. Be sure that you get the right information during the selection process (by RFI, RFP, demo, or due diligence), so that you can determine what principles are driving the UEX, what UEX expertise is resident on the vendor development team, and the extent to which the delivered UEX can be configured to meet your organization’s requirements. Doing this will give you a good idea of your starting point as well as what you have to work with once you begin implementing the new solution.

As always, I welcome any thoughts or perspectives you might have on this topic – just add a comment or contact me directly. Stay tuned for some additional posts on other results of interest from the CedarCrestone survey.

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Posted by Ron Hanscome

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