HR Versus IT: Rogue SaaS Applications

One of the benefits associated with greater mainstream acceptance of SaaS is that it reduces the conflict between HR and IT. Business leaders in many different departments are often tempted to implement SaaS solutions without input from IT. That’s because the process of vetting software can seem to take forever. When strategic decision makers get tired of waiting around, they may move forward on their own. According to survey results floating around the blogosphere, IT often has no idea that managers are going behind their backs to contract with SaaS vendors. As you can imagine, when a CIO finally catches on to the presence of these “rogue software applications” this doesn’t go over well.


Why HR Might Circumvent IT

In many HR departments, just getting through the day-to-day pile of work is hard enough. Lobbying for support from IT to get new software implemented can take a lot of time and effort. Often, it seems that any suggestion regarding software improvement that doesn’t originate in IT is summarily rejected. Plus, HR may have a very small budget to spend on upgrading their processes. This makes the use of SaaS applications that don’t require IT involvement very appealing. SaaS vendors know this and will often use it as a selling point for their products.

Pitfalls of this Approach

When an HR director decides to go rogue and sign an SaaS vendor contract behind IT’s back, there may be serious problems ahead. A back door approach to implementation does nothing to strengthen collaboration between HR and IT. That may be bad news later when events transpire that lead to the discovery of the maverick software. This can happen if:

• HR realizes after the fact that the SaaS application requires customization to make it work for their organization

• The application interferes with other company software systems

• The software needs to be integrated with other, existing HRIS applications to make it really useful

• The vendor did not provide adequate security or data backup services and critical employee data is compromised

It may be easier to ask forgiveness than permission. But no HR executive really wants to have to go, hat in hand, to IT for help solving a problem with an SaaS application that IT didn’t approve in the first place. At Emerald Software Group, we encourage HR and IT to work together. We’ve got the expertise to speak their language as well as yours – so you have someone in your corner at the negotiating table.

Ease Of Training A Plus for HR SaaS

Blogger Andy Porter from Fistful of Talent offers a particularly candid view of what HR executives really think about most HR software sales reps. His many pet peeves include the habit some vendors have of sending an entire entourage to make a presentation when only one person is really required. Fancy graphics that don’t really convey useful information is another issue causing Porter to feel angst. All he really wants to know from HR software technology vendors is:


• How easy it is to for end users to operate the system

• How it will help managers do their jobs better

In Porter’s opinion, software should be so easy to use that it doesn’t actually require training. It should be designed to be intuitive and self explanatory. To his way of thinking, offering extensive training on a system isn’t a plus. It’s an indication that the developer has not put the customer’s needs first in designing the system. SaaS applications have an obvious advantage in this area since basically every end user is familiar with web based software.

According to Andy, the benefits to managers should be simple enough to sum up in a few clear cut sentences. The answer shouldn’t be a long-winded explanation of what the software can DO from a bells and whistles standpoint. It should be about what actual results it creates for the client’s organization. Many SaaS HR solutions do actually give managers powerful tools for working more effectively. However, Porter is quite correct in his assertion that not all vendors know how to communicate this fact.

How Does Universal Onboarding Measure Up?

From the viewpoint of a new hire, Universal Onboarding is completely intuitive. The only instructional prompts needed are provided on screen as the user navigates this wizard based application. Training for HR administrators is pretty straightforward as well. The process of creating new data panels is one HR personnel will already be familiar with if they know how to use Adobe Reader. In the event that any in-person training is desired, this can be provided on site or at Emerald Software’s facilities.

How does this software help HR managers do their job better? Reducing the cost of onboarding, eliminating errors and omissions on forms, and increasing legal compliance are the three biggest ways our solution achieves this objective. That’s just the tip of the iceberg as you can see if you browse our Universal Onboarding product details.

Why Choose a Niche Product for Onboarding? Part 1

Last week, we took a look at some of the HR software solutions Emerald has experience integrating our programs with. These include big names in the SaaS HRMS field (UltiPro, SilkRoad, etc). Many of these commonly used suite solutions provide some form of onboarding module. This means employers often have the ability to minimize or eliminate the use of paper in their new hire forms administration using the option offered by their suite software. So, why are customers who have already invested in software for the full range of HR processes still seek out a niche solution for their onboarding needs?


Greater Compliance

For employers who are really sticklers about compliance, every step of an onboarding process must be viewed in light of how it promotes this goal. Suite providers often grasp that electronic forms are needed. Some also automate the flow of data collected on these forms into other systems (such as Payroll) to reduce HR’s workload. However, not all systems go the extra mile to ensure that there are no errors or omissions and that the actual process of collecting data and signatures is done the right way. Employers have to ask these questions when comparing a suite solution with a niche product for onboarding:

• Which system provides a complete library of up-to-date federal and state required forms?

• Which system presents these forms in an electronic data collection format that enforces the government’s instructions regarding how the form must be filled out?

• Which system permits the incorporation of unlimited forms to cover all an employer’s policy acknowledgement and data collection needs?

• Which system prevents new hires from submitting electronic forms that are incomplete or incorrectly filled out?

• Which system complies with all the requirements of the 2000 e-Sign Act so that the legality of electronically collected signatures cannot be called into question later?

• Which system can be interfaced with e-Verify to enhance compliance with ICE best practices for worker eligibility verification?

These are all important questions because they impact an employer’s level of risk. Mistakes on forms don’t just lead to errors in how HR handles data. They can also have real consequences that may include fines and penalties in the event of an audit by a government agency.

In the next blog post, we’ll look at additional reasons why HR looks to niche products like Universal Onboarding for greatest ease of use.

Commonly Integrated Systems for AllegroHR & Emerald Green Office

One of the most pertinent questions HR and IT can ask about our Emerald Software suite of products is “Will what you provide work with what we already have?” In most cases, the answer is yes. If we don’t currently have an integration solution on hand for a product, chances are there’s something in the works. We know that when customers have the ability to interface Emerald products with their existing enterprise software this is a big point in our favor. After all, our software is designed around the concept of automating as many processes as possible. This means the more interfaces we can successfully implement, the higher the value our product delivers. So, while we may be viewed as a “niche” software provider, this doesn’t mean that we don’t know how to “play well” with other vendors’ applications.
Below is an overview of some of the applications we have experience integrating our software with. We also have the capability to integrate with any third party that uses the HR-XML NewHire standard for interoperability. If you don’t see the software you currently use on the following list, don’t worry. Your personal Emerald Software Group business development consultant can fill you in on the complete list of 3rd party integrations we can currently perform.

• iRecruiter
• Kenexa
• SilkRoad
• OpenHire
• UltiPro
• ADP
• PeopleSoft
• Abra Suite
As you can see, these applications range from recruitment and applicant tracking to payroll and general HRIS. Since our own product offerings run the gamut from our always popular Universal Onboarding to document creation and business process management, we don’t just focus on integrating with other applications in the HR realm. We’ve also got a handle on interfacing with suite solutions such as EnterpriseOne. This means data can be delivered from our software to any area of an organization’s ECM system. The ability to transfer, compile, and analyze data from all applications across an organization leads to the development of more accurate metrics, improved performance, and controlled costs. So, don’t let your HR and enterprise data sit segregated in many different applications. Let us help you start connecting the data points today.

Can SaaS Work For Large HR Departments?

While many current SaaS solutions are targeted at small to mid-sized businesses, there are a number of larger corporations that are testing these waters as well. Some challenges are unique to large businesses when using remotely hosted software both for niche services and enterprise-wide solutions. This is especially true in multi-national organizations where data privacy regulations in foreign countries may prohibit certain types of information storage and transfer.

Workday Takes On the Tough Questions

Author Stan Swete on Workday.com posted a blog article in September that highlights additional issues. He addresses many common concerns clients have about using SaaS and cloud computing for core HR systems in organizations with more than 5,000 workers. It’s a quick read and well worth a perusal. Below is our take on some of the questions he raises.
On the one hand, using a full suite of SaaS products from a single HR software vendor helps ensure ease of integration between the hosted applications. However, it also means that the SaaS solutions may “touch” many more applications throughout the enterprise structure. This can impact the cost and complexity of interfacing the HR system with other applications.

Far Reaching Service Reliability a Must

When faced with servicing a workforce numbering thousands (or tens of thousands) of employees, small-time SaaS vendors may not have what it takes to handle the workload. Those that are most likely to be successful from a scalability standpoint are taking advantage of the cloud platform to cater to clients of all sizes. For multinational employers, SaaS vendors must also be able to guarantee reasonably reliable access from any point on the globe. Not every country has high-bandwidth capability, so this must be taken into consideration during the planning stage for global integration of an SaaS solution.

Customization is Vital

In addition to scalability, multi-state and multi-national companies must have the capability to customize workflows within the SaaS application to meet local employment law requirements. This is critical from an HR compliance standpoint. Vendors who offer just an off-the-shelf solution or who run only a single instance of their application can’t generally supply this type of targeted service. However, at Emerald Software Group we have designed our Universal Onboarding system to be configurable for any unique business process you require. This customizability is built in to the system since we know that labor laws are constantly shifting and HR needs to be able to keep up.

SaaS Data Security for HR

Not all of the concerns HR may have about the security of SaaS are necessarily unfounded. Although top notch HR software vendors can afford to implement the latest security measures both online and in their data facilities, not all SaaS vendors are created equal. Employee data is always highly sensitive. Employers routinely collect information that could be used to perpetrate identity theft on a massive scale if it falls into the wrong hands. The damage to employee/employer relationships in the event of a data breach (even if no fraud results) is massive.
According to this whitepaper slideshow from Softscape, the average cost of a compromise in the security of HR data is over 6 million dollars. That’s not a risk organizations can afford to take – and not one they should have to worry about when it comes to the security of their data in the hands of an SaaS vendor.

Investigate Before You Sign Up With a New SaaS Company

In the slideshow mentioned above, the folks at Softscape outline several security concerns that HR clients should explore with their IT department and potential SaaS vendors. For example, if a multi-tenancy structure is used (which is typical for SaaS), a closer look at data segregation is warranted. If all employee data for multiple customers is hosted in a single database, this increases the risk of data being unintentionally exposed to the wrong client. With niche vendors who have a small client base and little capital to work with, this is the kind of corner cutting that can lead to real problems.
An SaaS vendor that takes security seriously will have multiple layers of physical and virtual security measures in place to prevent both accidental data breaches and intentional attempts at hacking/sabotage. They will also work with each client’s own IT department to implement further measures as needed to ensure the application is truly secure.
For some clients, this is accomplished most effectively by providing an on-premise version of the software rather than going with SaaS. However, this is only the better option if the client’s organization actually has a highly secure internal data center. For the average customer, the costs of maintaining a state-of-the-art data facility are prohibitively high. So, most HR departments may actually be keeping data safer by relying on a best of breed SaaS vendor to host it off site. To find out more about the safeguards we put in place to keep our clients’ new hire onboarding data secure, contact us at 770-569-5122.

HR Software and Blended/Hybrid SaaS

Over the last few weeks, we’ve been looking at a lot of the reasons HR may choose SaaS over on-premise software. This special report from Workforce.com offers an in-depth look at the options available for HR applications.


What is Pure SaaS?

This definition is, of course, open for debate. However, here’s one description of what a pure SaaS vendor might look like: The vendor would have data from multiple clients all stored in the same infrastructure and run on a single instance of the software leaving it somewhat vulnerable to catastrophic failure or security breaches. Little or no customization of the application would be possible for individual clients beyond basic settings options. All upgrades would be mandatory – regardless of whether they interfere with a client’s existing interfaces with back end systems.

The Reality of SaaS

Obviously, most vendors in the HR software sphere aren’t advertising products that have such serious limitations as those you might see with “pure” SaaS. They may work with one of a variety of different multi-tenancy structure approaches that securely segregate each client’s data and offer some flexibility in tailoring the application to the client’s needs. In addition, many SaaS vendors give customers the option of whether or not to deploy various updates based on the impact this would have on the client’s other systems.

Some SaaS vendors even offer a distinct instance of their application for each client that can be customized to match an HR department’s unique business rules. They also completely partition one client’s data and software application from the next by creating separate “virtual” servers. With the advent of cloud computing and server virtualization software, this has become a way for SaaS vendors to offer customization and higher security without driving up the cost of their products too much.

Emerald Software Group Offers Hybrid Options

A number of vendors in the HR field offer on-premise software, a multi-tenancy model of SaaS, and a dedicated instance of their application delivered online. However, in the onboarding niche this is not the case. Virtually all of Emerald Software’s direct competitors offer only an SaaS version of their onboarding software with no on-premise version available. We don’t believe in turning customers away when we can accommodate their needs by staying on top of clients’ demands for flexible options. That’s why we have so many different choices available including licensed, hosted, and managed versions of our onboarding software.

Why SaaS Is Working For HR – Part 3

One of the primary reasons HR departments turn to SaaS solutions for niche applications is to avoid involving IT in the day to day support of these programs. However, there is simply no avoiding the fact that a really useful piece of software doesn’t operate in a vacuum. It has to be integrated effectively with the rest of the HRIS portfolio to fulfill its true potential. As this 2008 article from informationweek.com points out, it’s not installing an SaaS app that is costly and challenging – it’s the integration that can be problematic. Too often, employers end up footing the bill in terms of IT labor for this stage in the implementation process.


However, as customers become more aware of the potential hidden costs of SaaS solutions, vendors are being forced to step up to the plate. With a ‘pay as you go’ model, it’s just too easy for businesses to switch to a different provider if they aren’t satisfied. When very little integration has been accomplished, it is relatively simple for customers to extricate themselves from a relationship with a specific SaaS vendor. It is in the best interests of vendors to step in and take some responsibility for ensuring that their products can be readily integrated without a huge time investment on the customer’s side. The more systems an SaaS solution is connected with in a client’s software environment, the less sense it makes for HR to start over with another vendor.

HR Is Still In Control

Fortunately, one of the great things about SaaS for HR is that some of the most common problems are those that you don’t have to be an IT specialist to understand and anticipate. That puts HR in the position of being able to sniff out and avoid some potential problems before the stage where IT has to become involved. The fewer SaaS solutions IT has to evaluate and reject as inadequate, the less frustrated they are likely to become with the whole process.

So, HR clients comparing SaaS options would do well to ask about integration capability up front. Taking the vendor’s word that their product is “really easy to connect to other applications” isn’t sufficient. Specifics are much more helpful. Here are some questions that may help HR narrow the field of competitors:

• Do you have templates and instructions put together for how to integrate your software with other commonly used HR programs?

• Can your API (Application Programming Interface) be used to connect your program with any other software that also features an open API?

• Will we need to use one or more third party integration tools or services to connect your application with our existing software solutions?

• If I give you a list of all the programs we need to connect to your software, can you tell me whether you have successfully completed an integration involving each one of them?

• What role will your technicians play in working with our IT department to ensure a successful integration?

• Can you describe the steps in a typical integration process for me and the average time to implementation?

• Have you ever had an integration attempt that just didn’t work out? If so, what alternative solution did you suggest to your customer?

The questions and answers will get a lot more technical from there, but at least the vendor’s responses will give you an idea of how much thought they put into integration when they designed their software -and how hands on they plan to be in helping your company with implementation. If they hem and haw and give you vague responses, that’s not a good sign. Do you want to see how a really responsive SaaS vendor acts when it comes to delivering top service and excellent integration capability? Give Emerald Software a call at 770-569-5122.

Why SaaS Is Working For HR – Part 2

In this second blog post about how HR is utilizing SaaS solutions, let’s take a look at another article that talks about our current topic. This is a piece from 2008 which may seem like eons ago in the fast paced world of technological evolution. However, it still makes some points that are relevant in 2010. Author Cindy Waxer at HR World contrasts the previous dearth of niche solutions with today’s array of choices for every application. There is really something for everyone, from performance management to new hire onboarding – any process HR wants to focus on improving can be addressed by a specialty program.


ERP vendors are struggling to keep up since rolling out upgrades for fast implementation by end users is not exactly their forte. However, some major players are offering more “off the shelf” functionality than before that permits HR to add on features as needed when their current suite falls short. Unfortunately, for clients using older versions, implementing these newer solutions can still be a very lengthy process.

That’s one reason newer businesses sometimes choose to build their HRIS from the ground up using SaaS solutions rather than investing in a system that will be outdated almost as soon as it is up and running. Companies with existing ERP systems are also choosing to add new features using products provided by SaaS vendors rather than launching extensive projects to revise their legacy software.

Will On-Site Licensing Persist?

In the future, a non-SaaS performance management solution outside those sold by the really big name vendors in HR software may be hard to come by at all. According to Waxer (quoting an IDC study) over 80% of vendors in that niche are already using the SaaS model to deliver software services to their HR clients. This doesn’t mean SaaS is always the best way to go. But as it becomes more prevalent, the momentum of the movement is likely to convince more and more employers that this type of solution has merit.

SaaS for HR Is Expanding in Scope

While SaaS has long been viewed as the province of niche software suppliers (including Best of Breed providers like Emerald Software), some vendors are beginning to expand their offerings to become more like traditional suite providers. It will be interesting to see to what extent these companies maintain their agility as their portfolio of product offerings grow. These vendors will need to remember that ease of integration with other solutions is still critical.

The more collaboration and cross compatibility we SaaS solution architects can generate, the better our chances of survival in a world where HR clients have an ever growing array of options. The days of crowding out everyone else are over – even for the giants in the HR software industry. This is why we focus strongly on building strategic partnerships. In the end, it is likely that those who cooperate the most effectively will be the most successful.