My Upcoming Gartner HCM Research and More

I am working on a number of research notes which will be published soon including:

• Magic Quadrant for E-Recruitment Software, 2008 (hopefully it will be published tomorrow)
• Hype Cycle for Human Capital Management Software, 2008 (Thomas Otter, our not-so-new HCM analyst, is leading the charge on this, but I have a lot of contributions)
• SOA in HCM (this is actually two notes -- one note on the impact of SOA on HCM applications and a second note comparing how Lawson, SAP, and Workday have approached using SOA)
• SaaS in HCM ( This note discusses the impact of SaaS across different HCM market segments and how customers should think about buying solutions)

It is important to note that Thomas has done some outstanding work already including (subscription required):

• Case Study: Dow's Formula for Social Software

Dow deployed a social networking platform to help proactively address the challenges of an aging workforce and a shortage of engineering talent. Participation levels are very high, and business benefits are already evident three months after the launch.

• Testing Times for HR Systems and EU Data Protection Law

Testing is vital for stable, productive HR and payroll systems; however, live personal data in test environments is subject to European Union data protection laws. CIOs, privacy officers and HR should ensure that HR testing is integrated into IT governance models and that compliance is enforced.

Comments

[Meg Bear]

Jim,

Curious why you are not including ORCL in the SOA discussion?

- Meg

[Jim]

It is a good question. The answer is that Oracle's Fusion HCM Applications are not out yet in any form to evaluate. When they do come out, that is something that I would like to do.

[Shehryar]

Hi,

I work for an HCM consulting firm and currently trying to gather facts on SOA adoption in HCM segment. From what I understand, HCM is not the primary driver for SOA adoption globally. Consequently, SOA adoption is impacting HCM applications (e.g SAP service-enabling complete Business Suite including HCM), rather than HCM processes requiring the agility and integration offered by SOA. Please do correct me if you think this is the other way around as well and that HCM processes are better delivered through SOA.

I also believe that just as IT has changed focus from being just an enabler to now becoming a competitive advantage, HCM area will also go through the same transition. Yes, vendors are service-enabling their products including HCM ones but it would be great if you can share some key trends in HCM SOA initiatives. How much of it is due to SaaS and shared service delivery initiatives? How does HCM SOA adoption link to operating model of an organization?

-Shehryar