Sorting Through the Technology Maze

1
Sorting Through the Technology Maze

• IHRIM Pacific Southwest All-Chapter Event
• October 12, 2000
• Long Beach, CA
• Presenter Myron Oakes
• Director of Consulting Services
• HR Technologies, Inc.
• Pasadena, CA

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About HR Technologies

• Founded January 1997
• Skill sets HR as well as IT experts
• Specialty The application of technology to the
  Human Resources function
• Products
• Focal Point Salary Review
• Paperless Employee File
• Applicant Kiosk
• Services
• HR Systems Selection, Implementation and
  Integration
• Specific experience Ceridian, ADP, PeopleSoft
• Microsoft Server Client environments (DBA
  Services)
• Implementation of web-based niche HR solutions
• See www.hrtechnologies.com for more info.

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Session Overview

• A Brief History of Time
• The building blocks of web-based computing
• Phases of web-based deployment of HR Information
  
• Six types of web-based application being
  developed
• Three major applications, 7 minor ones, which
  leverage the web to do HR differently than it has
  ever been done before
• How to pick whats right for you
• Questions and comments?

4
The Times they are a-Changin

• Corporate Computing Environment
• From Mainframes to Minis to Client-Server to
  Hosted Apps
• User Presentation
• From Character Interface to Windows GUI to
  Browser
• Project timelines
• From years to months to weeks
• The Holy Grails of Computing are being
  discovered
• Machine-independent Client - browser (running
  HTML)
• Machine-independent Language - Java
• Fast Processors (Moores Law Computing
  price/performance is cut in half every 18 months)
• Fast Telecommunications (T1, ISDN, DSL, Frame
  Relay, VPNs)

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Times are Changing - Part Deux

• With browser-based computing, Employee Self
  Service is finally a realizable goal
• Windows gave us pretty interfaces, but unwieldy
  to maintain
• Telephone (IVR) gave us ease of maintenance and
  infinite scalability, but with limited user
  appeal
• Browser gives the best of both worlds
• Infinite (or at least large-scale) Scalability
• Pain-Free Client (host PC) maintenance
• But theres still a Gotcha - it takes a
  sophisticated infrastructure to host these
  sophisticated capabilities

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Times are Changing - Part Tres

• Enter the ASP - Application Service Provider
• You dont have to own a function to have a
  function
• If a browser is delivering the data, who cares
  where the server is?
• Advantages
• Sophisticated capability is accessible to almost
  everyone
• No acquisition costs or hardware/software
  headaches
• Rapid Implementation
• Disadvantages
• When you do not control your data, its tough to
  be strategic
• Tough to unring the ASP bell (Roach Motel for
  data)
• A hosted solution will be slower than
  client-server
• Multi-vendor coordination can be difficult

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The Stage is Set!

• Universal Client - Browser
• Machine-independent languages Java, Javascript,
  HTML
• Cheap, Fast PCs
• Good corporate connectivity (Thank-you,
  client/server)
• Increasingly technology-literate population
• Security Issues are virtually solved (Virtual
  signatures, 128-bit encryption, Secure Socket
  Layer)
• Reasonably well-informed user community
  (technology-enabled HR is no longer new)

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The Products are coming! The Products are coming!

• Browser-based products are being deployed
• Tier 1 Static Text (Text Read-Only)
• Policies, Handbook, SARs, SPDs, Employee
  Directories
• Targeted External Web Sites (Wellness, Retirement
  Planning, Physician Directories)
• Tier 2 Dynamic Text (Database Read-only)
• Benefit elections, electronic pay stub, course
  transcripts, org charts
• Tier 3 Dynamic Employee Information (Database
  Update)
• Make your benefit elections, enroll in a
  course,change your information, give your
  subordinates a raise
• This is a good implementation order if you are
  just getting started

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What is out there now?

• 1. Portals
• Easy to Implement
• Oversold to a naïve and still ignorant population
• 2. Information Providers
• Policies, procedures, tier 1 and 2 functionality,
  nicely packaged
• Enwizen, Authoria, AON Consulting
• 3. Niche players (Client-hosted and ASP)
• Focus on a specific piece of HR Administration
  (e.g. Benefits, Comp)
• Healtheon/WebMD - early player in the Benefits
  Administration space
• 4. Web-enabled Employee Self Service
• Bolt-on ESS module for your legacy HRIS
• iTango, Concur, Conduit (before purchase by
  ProBusiness)

1-3 from Jesse Berst - Ziff-Davis Publishing
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What is out there now? (cont)

• 5. Web-enabled HRIS (Client-hosted and ASP)
• Made-over legacy applications (PeopleSoft, SAP,
  ADP, Lawson, etc.)
• Developed from scratch (Oracle, Best)
• 6. Web-based HRIS (ASP Only)
• Developed only to be ASP Solutions
• Employease, AtWork (Benefits -gt HRIS)

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What niches are being addressed?

• The Big Three Are...
• 1. Recruiting and Hiring
• Icarian, Deploy, WebHire, iSearch, QuickHire,
  ResumeWare, over 20 other vendors!
• 2. Job Boards
• Monster, HotJobs, CareerMosaic, CareerTrack,
  BrassRing, Dice, HeadHunter.Net, etc.
• 3. Benefits Administration
• Healtheon WedMD, EmployeeLife, atWork, iBenefits,
  AmericasChoice

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What niches are being addressed?

• The Seven Dwarfs...
• 1. Employee Self-Service Bolt-on products
  (iTango, Concur)
• 2. Performance Management/ Workforce Planning
  (PerformaWorks, SuccessFactors, Criterion, AIM)
• 3. Learning Assessment (FutureLink,
  KnowledgePoint)
• 4. Information Delivery (Simpata, Enwizen,
  Authoria)
• 5. Employee Portals (Abilizer, Xylo)
• 6. Survey Assessment (PerformaWorks, Saja,
  Opus360)
• 7. Background Checks (IRSC, Professional Resource
  Screening)

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Todays Purchasing Environment

• Similar to late-1970s
• Minicomputers were first released
• Companies would buy to be modern, then not use
• Software quality is quite low (functionality,
  stability)
• Much of the software was written by technically
  smart people who did not know a lot about HR
• Adoption is THE major issue
• If you buy it, will they use it?
• Key put the system in the critical path of an
  important process

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How to Pick and Install a Solution

• 1. Only pick what you can understand
• 2. Pick a system that addresses a current,
  measurable pain point in your organization
• Just because the vendor has a good hammer, that
  does not mean that your nail is a good nail.
• 3. Find some happy campers and pay them a visit
• Its not that you dont trust them, but is their
  campsite similar to yours?
• 4. Manage the implementation wisely
• Keep it in scope and in budget
• Address your pain point, then declare victory and
  leave the rest for phase 2
• 5. Interview the ASP
• Do they guarantee uptime?
• Do they have a disaster plan?

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To Summarize.

• Web-based solutions are here to stay
• They can make your life easier
• They can make your life more difficult
• Choose Wisely
• Implement conservatively
• Be patient - this industry is maturing
• Comments? MOakes_at_HRTechnologies.COM (Phone
  626-685-2690 Fax [phone])