Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Onboarding Software And SaaS

Last week, we took a look at Emerald Software Group’s traditional licensing option and why this is one of the choices we make available to our clients. Now, I’d like to talk a little more about our Software as a Service (SaaS) solution and why it is popular with so many of our customers.

Minimal Up Front Investment

With the SaaS hosted agreement, there is no license to pay for. Clients simply pay a set price per new hire per month for access to the software application and accompanying data storage. Maintenance and upgrades are included, so there are no unexpected expenses. Treating this software as an operating cost rather than a capital expenditure makes budgeting much simpler for some employers. ROI is easy to calculate and cost savings are often realized as soon as the client begins using the system.

Infrastructure Costs are low

When we host the software on our own servers, an employer’s setup costs are minimized in several ways. No hardware needs to be purchased or upgraded to implement the onboarding solution. The client only needs to provide internet access and a computer terminal – something every modern HR department already has in place. With our recent addition of a cloud computing option, each client’s access can be immediately scaled to handle a higher volume of new hires as needed. There’s no cause for IT to worry about purchasing additional server space or equipment.

Limited IT Involvement

With our SaaS option, IT does not have to invest significant resources in implementing and maintaining the software. It’s still necessary for IT to be involved in initial discussions to make sure everyone is on the same page regarding topics like data security and integration with backend systems. Fortunately, our products are designed to interface readily with most top brands of HR industry software.

HR clients appreciate the fact that they can finally automate their onboarding processes without waiting for IT to allocate a huge chunk of time to the project. We take care of the setup and maintain the software so your IT department doesn’t have to. This works well for:

• Small businesses that might have only one or two IT employees who can ill afford to spend time meeting HR’s needs

• Mid to large sized businesses that tend to adopt new technology slowly because the process for approving and implementing new software on-site is unwieldy

Fast Results

For HR departments that want to move quickly to reduce risk and increase compliance with labor laws, the SaaS option is often ideal. Speed to implementation and full adoption is very fast for most of our clients because they can leave so much of the process to us. At the same time, HR can be as hands on as they like in developing the electronic forms and workflow to ensure onboarding is carried out according to their company’s business rules every time. To learn more about Universal Onboarding and SaaS, go here.

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