August 01, 2017
The HR Technology landscape is filled with a lot of jargon. Some is wrapped in acronyms such as SaaS (Software-as-a-Service), ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) and HCM (Human Capital Management). SaaS refers to the hot trend in recent years to “rent” vs. purchase HR software applications, typically through the cloud delivery model where every customer is using the same “instance” or version of the software. HCM platforms are technology platforms used to support the entire employee lifecycle and other HR-related transactions, and ERP platforms (e.g., in HR, Finance, etc.) manage transactions across the entire organization, not just HR. What does all this jargon mean, and how can it help you make a decision about what technology to pursue for your group?
Whether you pursue a unified solution that all looks and works the same but may not optimize your needs – or a mismatched suite of solutions that makes you enter the same information in different systems to meet specific needs – it’s most important that you know what you’re looking at and what your many options are.