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BERSIN & ASSOCIATES © 2007
BERSIN & ASSOCIATES
Research Bulletin | 2007
About the Author
Josh Bersin,Principal Analyst
How to Build a Talent Management Systems StrategyIntroductionOne of the biggest challenges in HR and training today is that of
developing an integrated systems strategy. This bulletin addresses this topic
and provides readers with guidelines and considerations from our ongoing
research in this critical area.
The Tapestry of HR Systems
First, we must recognize that in today’s IT environment, most organizations
already have a collection of IT systems - which, depending on the setup,
could function like a tapestry, a quilt or a tower of Babel. In whatever
array, these systems were developed and implemented over the years,
based on the maturity of the systems vendors themselves.
Almost all organizations have a payroll system, and most have an
HRMS. The term “HRMS” refers to the underlying system that stores all
the primary (and constantly changing) information about employees,
contingent workers and contractors. It is typically the system of record
for important information like salaries, current job and position, benefits,
and often (but not always) the organizational hierarchy and reporting
structure. The HRMS is largely a database system, used by back-office HR
staff and serving as the source of truth for information about employees in
the company. These systems were designed to facilitate the transactional
aspects of HR – assigning benefits, hiring, relocating, paying and
terminating people.
But as we all know, there are many complex and interrelated processes
that make up talent management. These include:
October 23, 2007 Vol. 2, No. 28
One of the biggest challenges in HR and
training today is that of developing
an integrated systems strategy.
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Research Bulletin | 2007
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How to Build a Talent Management Systems Strategy Josh Bersin | Page 2
• Sourcing and recruiting;
• Performance management and succession planning;
• Leadership development;
• Workforce planning;
• Compensation and incentive rewards; and,
• Learning and development.
These HR processes, which have become increasingly important each
year, have spawned the development of systems for automation and
improvement. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the applicant tracking
market took off leading many companies to implement stand-alone
systems for recruiting. These systems focused on automating the
process of sourcing, tracking candidates and managing the ongoing
workflow of recruiters, managers and staffing leaders. In the early
2000s as e-learning exploded, the learning management systems
market grew up – and today most organizations realize that they need
a highly sophisticated system to manage training administration and
the learning programs in their companies. Now, we are in the heat of
Copyright © 2007 Bersin & Associates. All rights reserved. Page 1
2000 2003 2009
Mar
ket G
row
th -
Ado
ptio
n
2006
HRMS
IntegratedSolutions
IntegratedTalent Management??
BenefitsAdministration
Compensation
HiringRecruiting
ApplicantTracking
RecruitingSourcing
E-LearningCompensation
LearningManagement
LCMS
PerformanceTalent
PerformanceManagement
CompetencyMgt
SuccessionPlanning
Figure 1: Brief History of HR Systems
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2007.
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How to Build a Talent Management Systems Strategy Josh Bersin | Page 3
the “performance management” systems wave, in which organizations
are intent on trying to automate and improve their performance
management and succession planning processes. To add to the
confusion, the HR software vendors are now scrambling to pull together
all these talent management applications into integrated suites.1
In our ongoing discussions with companies dealing with these issues,
we find that most organizations are in a situation where they have a
combination of:
1. Existing legacy systems (often the HRMS or even LMS and
recruiting application);
2. A tremendous demand for new systems (often the performance
management, succession planning or competency management
system); and,
3. A strong set of existing IT architectures and experiences that both
cloud and color its level of risk-tolerance for new vendors.
In fact, many CIOs and HRIT managers are trying to slow the process
down, trying to hold HR back from buying too many systems from too
many vendors that may not work together. Of course, they have good
arguments: if we cannot integrate the data and underlying workflow
from all these different applications, where will we end up when we
want to make strategic decisions?
Why Buy Systems? Start With the Business Problem
As analysts who study business-driven solutions, processes and systems,
we enjoy a pragmatic perspective. The first question an organization
must answer in their quest for a systems strategy is “what problems
are we trying to solve?” Frequently research members ask us for ROI
templates for cost-justifying a certain type of software system, and
typically what we tell them is that there are many different ways to
justify these systems.
1 For more information, Talent Management Suites: Market Realities, Implementation Experiences and Vendor Profiles, Bersin & Associates / Leighanne Levensaler. Available November 2007 to research members or for purchase at www.bersin.com/tmsuites.
If we cannot integrate the data
and underlying workflow from
all these different applications, where
will we end up when we want
to make strategic decisions?
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How to Build a Talent Management Systems Strategy Josh Bersin | Page �
The problems organizations wish to solve tend to fall into three
categories, in a hierarchy of priority (see Figure 2).
In the case of each of the type of HR systems discussed previously, there
are a myriad of potential benefits at each level. Unfortunately, because
of the state of the systems market – and this will probably be true for
many years to come – each systems vendor in each category of the
market has unique strengths in different areas.
Before you start shopping for technologies or decide that a given suite
is the best approach, it is very important to decide what overall business
problems you are trying to solve. If you do not make this important
and often soul-searching step, you will later find yourself very confused
by the wide variety of systems, architectures, delivery models and
implementation strategies before you.
Priority Problem Benefit
1 Automation Reduce the cost of errors, save time, reduce paper and better meet compliance requirements.
2 Process Improvement Better implement existing processes and perhaps even improve them, because the software will facilitate a more integrated and complete, data-rich (current and historical) approach to a given process.
3 Business and Talent Breakthroughs
Ability to do things we could not do before.
Figure 2: Category and Hierarchy of Business Problems
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2007.
Before you start shopping for
technologies or decide that a given suite is
the best approach, it is very important to decide what overall
business problems you are trying to solve.
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Your Talent Management Strategy Comes First
Our best-practice research2 clearly shows that the greatest business
results from HR systems come not from the systems, but from the
underlying strategies and processes behind them.
In fact, in our research into the business impact of 62 different talent
management processes, we identified 22 processes today that drive the
highest levels of business impact.3 Many of these center around areas such as:
• Implementing a coaching and development-based performance
management process;
• Using strategic competencies in the recruiting, performance
management and leadership development process;
• Implementing skills and competency-based workforce
planning; and,
• Creating personal and organizational goals that align with current,
strategic business goals.
2 For more information, High-Impact Talent Management: Trends, Best Practices and Industry Solutions, Bersin & Associates / Josh Bersin, May 2007. Available to research members at www.elearningresearch.com or for purchase at www.bersin.com/hitm.
3 For more information, www.bersin.com/top22.
Copyright © 2007 Bersin & Associates. All rights reserved. Page 1
Business Drivers for TM Systems
BusinessValue
Automation
ProcessImprovement
Business andTalentBreakthroughs
Automate, save paper,save time, reduce errors,meet compliance requirements
Improve individual processes, facilitate betterdecisions at manager level, implement HR self-service,implement competency-based talent management, giveHR better information for workforce planning.
Improve individual and organizational performance, align people, make better people decisions, align L&D with skills gaps, improve the leadership pipeline, increase retention and quality of hire, create greater pools of internal candidates, increase business speedthrough talent pools and succession plans.
.
Figure 3: Typical Business Drivers for TM Systems
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2007.
Our best-practice research clearly shows that the
greatest business results from HR
systems come not from the systems, but
from the underlying strategies and
processes behind them.
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These processes are not dependent on software solutions at all. In fact,
many of them are often more dependent on your company’s culture,
training and generalized approach. If you want your investment in
talent management systems to drive dramatic business impact – and
positive change – we encourage you to consider these processes
strategically and tie them directly to organizational business goals.�
What role does technology play? Once you decide what strategic new
processes are key to your organization’s business success, various systems
are available to implement these processes in numerous ways. You must
now determine which of them are capable of solving the problems you
identified in your particular organization, and which have the
� Bersin & Associates High Impact Talent Management® process is designed to help organizations build this business-driven talent management strategy. For more information, High-Impact Talent Management: Trends, Best Practices and Industry Solutions, Bersin & Associates / Josh Bersin, May 2007.
Figure 22: Bersin & Associates Talent Management Framework®
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2007.
Co
mp
en
satio
n
Talent Strategy & Planning
Critical TalentStrategy
Target Metrics& Measurement
ProcessGovernance
SystemsStrategy
BusinessStrategy
PerformanceManagement
Goal-SettingCascading GoalsSelf-Assessment
Manager Assessment360 Assessment
Development PlanningCompetency Assessment
Sourcing &Recruiting
SourcingCandidate Pools
AssessmentEmployer Brand
RecruitingSelection
SuccessionPlanning
Calibration MeetingsTalent Reviews
HiPo IdentificationCareer Planning
Talent Migration Plan
Formal ProgramsStretch AssignmentsExecutive Education
CoachingMentoring
Job RotationAssessmentEvaluation
LeadershipDevelopment
HR
Syst
em
s&
Metr
ics
Competency Management LeadershipCompetencies
FunctionalCompetencies
CorporateValues
JobProfiles
Co
mp
ensatio
nPlan
nin
gB
ase Co
mp
ensatio
n
Plans
Pay for
Perform
ance
Sho
rt- and
Lo
ng
-TermIn
centivesLearning & Development
Onboarding ManagementTraining
LeadershipCurricula
Coaching / Mentoring Programs
Role-BasedCurricula
CertificationPrograms
OperationalTraining
LearningStrategy
DevelopmentalAssignments
Content Development& Delivery
e-
Figure 4: High Impact Talent Management® Framework
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2007.
Once you decide what strategic new
processes are key to your organization’s
business success, various systems are
available to implement these processes in
numerous ways.
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specific features, ease-of-use, workflow, security, domain management
architecture and delivery model that work in your company.�
There exists today a series of “breakthrough new processes” just now
becoming available, which may also be important to your strategy.
• Integrated performance and learning. Align L&D resources and
programs directly with organizational performance and talent needs,
by taking the individual performance plans of each employee, aligning
them with corporate goals, identifying organizational and individual
learning gaps, and then developing strategies to meet these goals.
• Integrated performance management and succession
planning. Improve your leadership pipeline, the effectiveness of
leadership development and facilitate rapid change, by taking the
individual goal achievement, competency assessments, experience
and feedback from each employee and fitting them into succession
pools for management, leadership and professional roles.
• Pay for performance. Create a performance-based culture by
taking the individual and organizational results from a given
period and providing simple or complex compensation structures
to pay high performers for their efforts.
• Integrated recruiting and performance management. The
results of performance plans and competencies can be used to
create profiles of high-potential employees during the hiring
process. This process can also be used to improve hiring practices
– by monitoring the performance and retention of candidates
over time, it is possible to isolate a profile of high-performing
candidates in order to improve recruiting effectiveness.
• Integrated career planning and self- or manager-directed
career and development planning. Establish architected career
paths – built around competencies – which allow employees and
managers to direct people (or themselves) into new roles through
structured and unstructured development. “Building from within”
improves retention, engagement and satisfaction. It helps people
manage their careers, while helping the organization manage
people into the roles of greatest need.
� For more information, Talent Management Suites: Market Realities, Implementation Experiences and Vendor Profiles, Bersin & Associates / Leighanne Levensaler. Available November 2007 to research members.
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All of these strategies make sense to companies, but the question
is “which do you really want to achieve now?” Different systems
strategies will enable different possibilities.
When we help companies select LMS systems, for example, we
encourage them to differentiate between which particular processes
they “must accommodate” and which are “nice to haves.” If you decide
it is essential for you to automate a complex revenue-generating
customer training process, then this use case is a mandatory set
of requirements for any system. If you must provide integrated
development planning with your performance management process,
then it is important to consider an integrated product set with both
performance management and an LMS.
Consider a Three- to Five-Year Roadmap – Processes and Systems
As you establish the talent management strategy above, it is important to
realize that each of these initiatives will take time to design, implement
and roll out. In many organizations there is already a well-established
process for performance management or succession planning, for
example. It may not be completely adopted enterprisewide, but the
process is well-established, successful and widely understood. In this
case, the software should facilitate the process that already exists and not
necessarily break it just because the software may not have a
particular feature.
Our research shows that in the first one to two years of a performance
management systems implementation, for example, you will likely see a
negative return. The first year will often require a long period of process
design, data integration (e.g., competencies and job profiles), training and
change management. Most organizations adopt a pilot program for the
first year’s review. In the second year, you work out the bugs in a broad
implementation and then in the third year, the system starts to provide
high levels of value. If you then decide to integrate this process with
development and career planning, you must consider the fact that these
more advanced capabilities may not be ready until years three or four.
We routinely assist organizations in building these roadmaps. Often
one of the dependencies in the implementation of talent management
Differentiate between the processes you
“must accommodate” and those that are
“nice to have.”
It is important to realize that each
of these initiatives will take time to
design, implementand roll out.
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systems is the development of competency models or integrated learning
plans, and this must also be considered. In addition, if your roadmap
covers a three- to five-year period, it forces you to look at a hot startup
vendor in a slightly different light. When you share your roadmap with
the vendor, do they see their product strategy aligning with your needs?
Think “process first, system second” and you can build a roadmap that
matches your organization’s business-driven talent management strategy.
Think Use Cases, Not Features
As you define the processes you want to automate and how the system
will be used, it is important to develop real-world use cases for your
organization. A “use case” is not a set of features – it is a complete
scenario that describes how your organization does (or will do) a specific
business process.
If you have an existing process for performance appraisal and evaluation,
for example, write it down – including all the surrounding ways that this
process is informed by- or supplies information to other processes. By
doing this you will create a scenario that enables the systems vendors
to show you precisely how the software will fit (or not fit) into your
environment. While many organizations do fit their processes to the
software, this can often be dangerous – because there may be a step in
your current set of requirements that is impossible or awkward to do in
the systems you select.
While “feature lists” are helpful for general analysis of vendors, they will
not do you much good in the final selection – and our experience with
many companies in their selections shows that use cases often tell you
which vendors truly understand and have solved the problems you want
to solve in your systems strategy.
The Importance of “Profile Management” and Integrated Data about People
One of the important and difficult issues in today’s HR systems landscape
is that data about people is often sprinkled around in many places. When
you want to make strategic decisions, such as:
Think “process first, system second”
and you can build a roadmap that
matches your organization’s
business-driven talent management
strategy.
A “use case” is not a set of features – it is a complete scenario that describes how your organization does (or will do) a
specific business process.
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• Who to hire?
• Who to promote?
• Who to move into a new position?
• Who to give a raise?
• Who to put into a high-potential track?
• Who to put into a critical training program?
These decisions need a wide variety of data about people. This data
is now often called the “person profile” in the jargon of HR systems
vendors. The person profile includes many things, such as:
• Age, demographic information, salary history and job history;
• Educational history, prior experience, managerial experience and
professional experience;
• Certifications, designations and transcripts;
• Performance ratings, feedback and 360-degree assessments;
• Languages spoken, location preferences and physical limitations;
• Personal career goals, development plans and training history;
• Developmental assignments, feedback from executives and
other leaders;
• Competencies, traits, psychographic assessments, and so on.
Where is all this data located? All over the place. Some of it is in the
employee’s resume, some in the HRMS, some in the applicant tracking
system, some in a file cabinet with performance appraisals, some in the
learning management system, and much of it is located in the desk or PC
of the employee, his / her manager or others in the organization.
When we start to look at leadership development and strategic talent
management systems, it becomes important to decide where the
system of record will be for each of these types of data. If you decide,
for example, that skills-based workforce assessment and planning is an
urgent process for your company, you may find that you want to put the
“core competency data” for your organization into your LMS – because
the LMS typically has the assessment tools and learning programs to
provide these assessments. If you make this decision, however, you
now must decide how this data will be transferred regularly into the
performance management and succession planning system.
When we start to look at leadership development and
strategic talent management
systems, it becomes important to decide
where the system of record will be for
each type of data.
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Some companies build data warehouses (typically data marts) to pull
information from all the record systems to create the “succession
planning” or “workforce planning” employee profile record. In today’s
HR systems environment this is often the best approach, but before
you make this decision it is important to discuss the issues and evaluate
vendors based on their capabilities to be the system of record. Many of
the new HR systems vendors are so young that their employee profiles
are not yet sophisticated enough to handle all the data elements
you need.
At this stage, it is important to partner with IT. Typically the HRIT
organization owns the organizational HR data model and may already
have developed a data-architecture for people-related processes. Once
they have this architecture, it becomes much easier to evaluate systems
vendors based on their level of richness, openness and compliance with
this architecture. If the structure is not yet in place – now is the time to
request IT’s assistance. This is one of the most valuable things IT can do to
help you.
Consider Your Organization and Governance
We should not understate the importance of your organizational
structure and governance. Every IT system – particularly those used by
employees and managers – needs owners. These individuals must make
decisions about how the system will work, what reports will be available,
who will have access to what information and who will be able to enter
what type of information.
Without even considering the system security, domain management or
other features of the software, the first question you must ask is “how
will we administer and manage this system? For example, will the U.K.
subsidiary have the authority to change part of the process in some way? In
the LMS world this is very important, because training functions are often
distributed to different functional areas and business units. In the world
of performance management, organizations often modify the process for
hourly workers versus mid-level managers versus executives. In the world of
recruiting, the recruitment process will vary across business units.
Many of the new HR systems vendors
are so young that their employee profiles are not
yet sophisticated enough to handle all
the data elements you need.
One of the most valuable things IT
can do to help you is to develop a data architecture for HR-
related processes.
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Before you shop and evaluate systems and vendors, it is important
to consider what distributed administration is needed, given your
organization’s structure today, and how you will govern and manage
this administration. Implicit in these decisions will be the definition of
different systems roles: super administrators, administrators, managers,
employees, HR users and executive users. How each of these people
use the system will vary. These governance decisions will lead to set of
requirements for roles, domain management, security and reporting for
the selection of systems vendors.
There is no substitution for building real-world use cases – specific
examples of how you implement a given process, how it is administered,
what types of reports will be used and how it will be configured. These
use cases should be documented in detail and the vendors you consider
will gladly show you how their systems accommodate these scenarios. We
have a wide variety of use cases you can build upon to create the specific
scenarios you need for your organization.
Consider Your Existing Staff, Systems and Tolerance for Risk
Unless you are a small company or a startup, it is likely you already
have a lot of experience with some types of HR systems. You may be a
“PeopleSoft shop” and have many people trained on the PeopleSoft
technologies. As a result of that experience, your IT organization may
decide that they must continue the investment in this area – or in fact
many tell us the opposite, that they no longer want to invest in these
particular technologies.
You may have very few IT staff available. In this case you may need a
vendor with extensive professional services and experience with an
outsourced solutions provider to get you the help you need. Many LMS
vendors, for example, provide complete solutions including systems
implementation, content integration, report definition and more.
You may have an LMS or ATS system that is highly successful, and you
have a strong relationship with that vendor – therefore you want to
invest in that vendor’s products first. If you find that the fit is good, you
may want to invest in that relationship.
There is no substitution for
building real-world use cases – specific
examples of how you implement a
given process, how it is administered,
what types of reports will be used
and how it will be configured.
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In other cases you may have been burned by a fast-growing vendor that
did not deliver on their promises (this is not uncommon in this market).
In this case, your organization may have lost its “risk-tolerance” and
may want to do business with a more conservative but perhaps slower-
growing provider who can focus more precisely on your needs.
In our systems research and advisory services we often find that the
biggest driver of success is a meeting of the minds between the buyer and
provider. You must feel comfortable with the vendor’s products today,
their services, their support and their ability to work with you. Remember
that in these architectural decisions, you are not just buying products but
you are also buying companies – and as this market continues to change
rapidly, the products will evolve quickly.
There really is no substitute for a reference. We urge all buyers to look
for two to three references from customers with very similar business
strategies, use cases, organization sizes, and industry and governance
models to your own. Take the time to visit these companies in person, if
possible. As the market for talent management systems is still young,
you do not want to be the “first global solution” for a given vendor,
for example.
Consider the Delivery Model you Prefer
Obviously in today’s world there is a tremendous amount of interest in
software as a service (SaaS) models. Vendors in the SaaS world heavily
push their “multi-tenant architectures,” quality of service, uptime and
other features.
We will not discuss SaaS in detail at this time,6 but it is fair to say that
there are essentially three models for enterprise software today:
1. Licensed, in which you own and manage the software;
2. Hosted, in which you own but someone else manages the
software; and,
3. SaaS, in which you rent the software and it is provided as a service.
6 For more information, SuccessFactors Files for Public Offering: The SaaS Model for Talent Management Grows, Bersin & Associates / Josh Bersin, August 2007. Available to research members at www.elearningresearch.com.
The biggest driver of success is a
meeting of the minds between
the buyer and provider.
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The SaaS model provides many benefits (e.g., regular upgrades, no
need for version and fix management), but it is relatively new for global
implementations – so larger organizations still prefer the licensed model.
The key issues to consider are your needs for data integration,
geographies and domain management, and your financial model. SaaS
software looks like a lease to a CFO, so the financial model for SaaS
software is very different.
The choice of delivery model affects your business case and long-term
financial strategy for the systems. In the case of licensed software, much
of the long-term costs of the system are related to the operational costs
of running, upgrading and maintaining the software.
ModelUpgrades and
FixesCost
Considerations$ Model
Licensed You are responsible for patches and fixes, and likely will install when you have time.
You must purchase the software as a capital investment and budget for implementation, operations, fixes and upgrades.
You own the software and it is yours to maintain.
Hosted “Single-Tenant”
The hosting vendor installs these patches and upgrades whenever you are ready for them.
You typically purchase the software and pay an annual fee for implementation, operations, fixes and upgrades.
You own the software but someone else maintains it and operates it.
On-Demand SaaS
“Multi-Tenant”
The vendor installs these patches and upgrades transparently to you, whenever they want to.
All your fees are monthly or annual and the LMS vendor takes on any cost of hardware, database, fixes and other service.
The vendor provides it to you as a service.
Figure 5: SaaS, Hosted or Licensed Models for Software
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2007.
Key issues to consider are
your needs for data integration,
geographies and domain
management, and your financial
model.
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Initial Infrastructure
5-20%
Deployment Personnel
5-15%
Ongoing Infrastructure
5-15%
Ongoing Personnel50-85%
• Hardware• Software• Security• Networking• Monitoring
tools• Reporting
tools• Facilities
• Needs analysis• Configuration• Tuning and
testing• Launch• IT staff
training• End-user
training
• Hardware upgrades
• Network security
• Bandwidth• Redundant
systems• Backup
helpdesk
• Scheduled maintenance
• Unscheduled maintenance
• Outage response
• End-user support
• IT staff training and support
• Upgrades and add-ons
• Security monitoring
Figure 6: Cost of Ownership for Licensed Software
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2007.
SetupFees2-5%
Deployment Personnel
3-5%
OngoingCosts
80-90%
Ongoing Personnel
5-10%
• Vendor setup fees
• Application testing
• Integration with other systems
• Configuration• Launch and
end user training
• SaaS subscription fees (typically include implementation, support, upgrades, end-user support, content integration, and other services)
• System administration
• Working with vendor
• End-user support and marketing
Figure 7: Cost of Ownership for SaaS Software
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2007.
BERSIN & ASSOCIATES © 2007
BERSIN & ASSOCIATES
Research Bulletin | 2007BERSIN & ASSOCIATES
Research Bulletin | 2007
BERSIN & ASSOCIATES © 2007
How to Build a Talent Management Systems Strategy Josh Bersin | Page 16
In the case of SaaS models, the costs are more heavily weighted toward
subscription fees.
SaaS vendors tend to serve smaller customers, because most large
companies are still not ready for OnDemand software solutions. As a
result, they often have fewer resources for professional services and more
limited options for systems integration. On the other hand, SaaS vendors
are dependent on happy customers to maintain their subscription fees, so
in many cases they are the most service-oriented vendors in the market.
Our research in the LMS market showed that SaaS vendors had much
higher customer satisfaction scores in the enterprise and mid-market
segment than licensed software vendors, for example.
Consider System to System Integration
Finally, there is the issue of how IT will integrate this system into your
other HR systems. Our research on talent management suites clearly
illustrates that sophisticated talent management systems require
integration between LMS, HRMS, ATS and other systems. Such integration
can be done through the use of web services as well as more traditional
system-to-system integration.
There are also third-party system integrations you may need. For
example, your CRM system may hold all information on sales attainment
for the sales organization. This data will directly impact compensation
and even performance appraisals. In order to connect these systems, you
are likely going to have to build this integration. As of yet, no vendor has
productized CRM integrations to their talent management systems.
Most software vendors use a newer, “service-oriented” architecture,
which enables software developers to reach directly into different
modules of the system to integrate workflow and data. If you believe
this level of integration is necessary, the best solution is to have your
HRIT or IT specialist look at the architecture and programming interfaces
available from the vendors you are interested in. Again, speak with
references who have used such integrations in their own solutions.
SaaS vendors are dependent on
happy customers to maintain their
subscription fees, so in many cases they
are the most service-oriented vendors in
the market.
BERSIN & ASSOCIATES © 2007
BERSIN & ASSOCIATES
Research Bulletin | 2007BERSIN & ASSOCIATES
Research Bulletin | 2007
BERSIN & ASSOCIATES © 2007
How to Build a Talent Management Systems Strategy Josh Bersin | Page 17
Bottom Line: Build a Long-Term Architecture and Plan
The bottom line is – you should build a long-term plan and architecture.
Our research and advisory services are designed to help you:
• Establish a business and talent management strategy;
• Develop use cases;
• Identify a short list of vendors; and,
• Make the final decisions.
These systems are complex, powerful and in a rapid state of flux. While
talent management does not require a systems solution to be effective,
organizations now realize that by building a business-driven systems
strategy you can begin to implement the kind of breakthrough talent
management solutions that break down the traditional barriers of HR.
Buyers must have patience, build a roadmap and implement their
strategy one step at a time. We look forward to your feedback and to
helping you develop these strategies with the support of our research
and advisory services.
Copyright © 2007 Bersin & Associates. All rights reserved. Page 1
Integration Reality
LMSPrograms, Courses, Objects, Assessments
Prices, Fees, Student Hours, Credits, Resources,Certifications, Scores, Completions, Ratings
PerformanceManagement
Goals, Objectives, Performance Plans,Development Plans, Assessments
Reviews, Ratings, Rankings
Employee Profile Data (Demographics, History)
Organizational Data (Relationships, Hierarchy, Geography)Job and Role Descriptions, Open Requisitions
Competency Requirements, Organizational Competencies, Skills
Compensation Data (Current, planned, short / long term)
Lear
ning
Con
tent
Lear
ning
Con
tent Content Management (LCMS)
Content Development Tools
Reporting
Con
tent
Inte
rface
s
Performance Support
Collaboration (Webcast, Discussion, Blog, Wiki)
Portals: Employee | Manager | Customer | Partner
Sourcing & Recruiting
Succession Planning
Career Development
Dat
aA
pplic
atio
nTo
ols
Figure 8: Cost of Ownership for Licensed Software
Source: Bersin & Associates, 2007.
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