Category Archives: HR & Payroll

DataServ and Triumphant SaaS

PayStream has recently learned of some interesting research from the SaaS provider, DataServ. Much of their material on the current market for financial process automation—specifically cloud-based technology—is in line with our own, and we consider them a valuable voice in today’s software industry. They also released a new ECM platform for AP, AR, and HR automation earlier this year, giving more creditability to their opinions on SaaS software.

The company recently touched on a topic that is very relevant among today’s businesses—SaaS vs. ERP-native applications. As the middle market opens up and companies’ software needs shift towards more affordability and versatility, there has been increased interest in cloud-base technology. However, there are still some doubts as to the accessibility and benefit of SaaS systems. DataServ says these “myths” are unfounded, and they work hard to debunk them.

One myth revolves around cost. While some consider increased internet connectivity and corresponding usage fees to be a hard sell, DataServ believes that this is not an accurate metric for comparing the SaaS price against that of an in-house system. A true total cost of ownership model will address the cost issue in a more holistic manner, and will help companies make a sound decision for their budget. PayStream agrees—focusing on one price-point of a system instead of the overall, long run cost will not give companies an accurate idea of the efficiency and optimization possible with the cloud.

Two other issues DataServ addressed were the complexity of managing multiple browsers used by a variety of SaaS providers, and data ownership, backup, and security. According to DataServ, success in these areas is more dependent on choosing the right SaaS provider rather than the efficiency of the platform. In the issue of data management especially, SaaS platforms offer plenty of tools to properly move and secure information through the system, ensuring accuracy and compliance in all processes. Whether web browsers or data are managed effectively depends largely on a companies’ collaboration with their provider, as well as the depth of their providers’ experience. Fortunately there are helpful guides to selecting the right service provider, many of them found in PayStream’s own research.

DataServ also points out that a compelling reason to use an SaaS platform for business processes is the fact that there are so many dynamic and successful services available. In contrast, many organizations are discovering that ERP’s native solutions are inaccessible and inflexible. Many times, companies can offset this immobility—and optimize their process—by leveraging 3^rd party, cloud based solutions.

How does a company decide which of their functions should be ERP driven and which might benefit from a non-ERP solution? According to DataServ, they should ask themselves the following questions to determine if they are ready to migrate:

Is the function considered outside of your business’ core competency, and is it something that distinguishes your business from the competition?
Do you find it difficult to find resources (money, IT, priority) to install the functionality you need?
Do the enhancements deliver a positive ROI?

Businesses that decide to use the cloud for their back-office processes will gain the benefits of an overall enhanced experience. Many improvement are possible, including better collections performance on past due accounts, paper control in the payment process, and more business value through greater focus on core capabilities.

PayStream is impressed by DataServ’s knowledge in the field of cloud-based automation. We look forward to seeing what they have to offer the financial software industry in the years to come.

To learn more about the balance of cloud-based technology within existing ERPs, download PayStream’s latest research release, the 2014 P2P for SAP report.

Keeping Organizations Together: The CFO’s Guide to Human Resource Management

PayStream Advisors has found an interesting development concerning the HRM and payroll processes of today’s businesses—one that proves our recent research release, The CFO’s Guide to Human Resource Management Solutions, could not have come at a better time. In the report, research shows that the role of the CFO is increasing in the areas of HR and payroll, as is the use of analytics to drive human resource success. This is due to the difficulties that publisherlogo.ncp uncoordinated data from HR and payroll activities create for organizations, causing those companies’ leaders to look for ways to increase inter-process connectivity and streamline the management of business information.

This new report is perfect for CFOs and HRM, payroll, and finance professionals looking for ways to fix data problems. It offers a revealing exploration of the ways in which HRM solutions can synchronize critical business data to drive success in organizational growth, performance, and profitability. The main finding of PayStream’s research has shown that the most valuable aspect of HRM solutions is the visibility they bring, empowering organizations to make better informed decisions.

Despite the benefits of HRM solutions, results in the report from a survey conducted on HR and finance professionals show that outdated HR and payroll solutions are still being used by more than half of small and medium sized businesses. These systems often spread vital information between a wide array of people and departments without a streamlined process, increasing the risk of poor and lost data and compromising compliance measures. Not only that, organizational communication is weakened by the time spent in an un-streamlined procedure. Even an efficiently managed HR department can be damaged by a manual, antiquated, and delayed data process.

HRM PayStream’s report reveals the power of HRM solutions to transform this inefficient process. Through real-time access to integrated workforce and business data, HRM solutions drive critical processes, and they deliver elemental business insight using complete transparency. The use of HRM solutions also enables information-rich, real-time reporting that helps CFO’s and HR managers make educated and effective decisions. The report also shows that in addition to consistency and accuracy, organizations need adept HRM techniques to properly handle their most important resource: employees. A company’s workforce drives growth and performance, and business success is linked to employees’ unique skills and talents. However, people—and total compensation costs—are difficult to predict, and having real-time access to important business metrics greatly increases a company’s ability to set realistic goals and measure results for their staff.

PayStream Advisors uses this research report to explore how HRM and payroll solutions meet the requirements of data visibility and workforce efficiency management to create a safe and effective process. The report shows how the software supports automation and integration, enables business success through analytics, focuses on accuracy and compliance, and ultimately improves business performance. PayStream analysts highlight the benefits of HRM and Payroll solutions features and functionalities, and they also provide in-depth profiles on several leading HRM solution providers in the market today.

Download a free copy of the CFO’s Guide to Human Resource Management Solutions here.

Finance Meets HR — Coffee with iCIMS CFO, Ron Kasner

Last week, PayStream Advisors was fortunate enough to sit down with iCIMS CFO, Ron Kasner. Ron served as the CFO of another solutions company prior to his time with iCIMS, so he is well qualified to give us insight for our upcoming report, “A CFO’s Guide to Human Resource Management.” iCIMS is the leading provider of SaaS talent acquisition solutions, and their top product, the Talent Platform, is used across many industries to help hire and retain the greatest of today’s workforce.

While speaking with Ron, we were interested to know how HR and Finance collaborate. Ron feels there can be collaboration among many workforces and from many different standpoints, and these interactions become clearer when he breaks down the two worlds into their component parts to see how each contributes to a business. For Finance, Ron see’s the accounting side and the budget analysis and planning side, while for HR, he draws the distinction between talent acquisition, talent management, talent engagement, and talent development. Next, he looks at the interactions between those worlds to find the touch points. Within the financial world, the predominant touch point in accounting always centers around payroll and other employee interactions; in budgeting and planning, there’s significant collaboration around analytics.

iCIMS utilizes detailed analytics with their talent acquisition and talent management, focusing mainly on the performance of employees. Ron’s company believes cost per hire analysis is very important across different areas of an organization’s hiring process. iCIMS can pull relevant information from their own system to compare it to industry data regarding cost-per-hire ratios or interview-per-hire managers, and they can also learn from the performance data they take from their own licensed products. iCIMS is working to make these industry benchmarks available to their clients to help them in their own analysis.

Ultimately, iCIMS is trying to build up and drive their talent pipeline. They use their acquisition tools to engage with potential hires before jobs are open so that when positions become available, they will already have connections ready to go. Ron believes it is important for iCIMS to know and be known by job seekers, which makes building a talent pipeline an essential process.

While this dedication to making connections with potential employees is striking, what iCIMS does with that talent is even more exciting. We asked Ron about some of the top problems HR organizations were trying to solve. For iCIMS in particular, the focus is on employee retention. Ron explains that when scaling a business, an organization can think in terms of people, process, and systems. If they focus on the people and acquiring the right people, the right process and systems will follow. However, part of what makes up a good staff is how easy they are to retain. There are several things a company can do to keep turnover down, like culture, engagement, and benefits, but that’s only one piece of it. There will still be a leaky bucket in any organization, and the biggest HR challenge at the end of the day will be hiring the right people to fill that leaky bucket so that the company can continue to grow. For companies who don’t grow quit as fast as others, the challenge is still the same—how do they get the next best people in the door? And, how does a company stay ahead of turnover by replacing those employees with better people? To get the best quality talent into an organization, Ron believes it is essential that the right tools be in place.

We were impressed by iCIMS’ mission to bring a company the best quality hires, but we were interested to know about the direct results an organization can experience if they choose to work with iCIMS. Ron doesn’t believe the most effective way to measure results is through trying to calculate ROI, but rather by gauging productivity. This is all about narrowing the focus to specific areas a solution affects. When choosing a solution, a company should look at a specific part of their process and ask themselves how the solution will make that process better. For Ron, this standpoint comes from how he works as a CFO. He considers himself an operational CFO, meaning that he doesn’t look at the bottom line cost of the solution, but at how the solution operates to improve a business. Companies that only consider the bottom line will tend to pick solutions that save them money but don’t always make them better. Ron sees this as a downward spiral, because those solutions won’t actually save money—they will only lose the money that could have been put into effective solutions. “Efficiency is in effectiveness,” Ron says. “Just because something’s cheaper, it doesn’t necessarily make your business better.”

PayStream Advisors enjoyed this one-on-one time with Ron Kasner and iCIMS, and we feel that our upcoming report will really benefit from the wisdom of a CFO that is focused on greater final quality rather than a quick fix. Look for “A CFO’s Guide to Human Resource Management” this third quarter

Big Benefits for Businesses Outsourcing Payroll and HR to Ultimate Software

Balancing payroll and human resources (HR) in your company can be a time consuming task. Most business owners in small to medium size companies know the frustration of spending more time than they want on these non-revenue generating activities. Payroll and (HR) are common starting points for outsourcing business operations, which makes them one of the most outsourced administrative tasks, estimated to reach $162 billion by the year 2015, according to Outsourcing Insider.

Ultimate Software is one payroll and HR outsourcing provider that is working to lighten the load of businesses owners through their UltiPro solution. Over 2,600 customers in 150 countries utilize UltiPro. The UltiPro solution delivers HR, payroll and talent management solutions that connect people with the information and resources they need to work more efficiently. Ultimate Software was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Weston, Florida. In 2013, Ultimate was ranked #9 on FORTUNE’s list of the 100 Best Companies to Work For; recognized as a ‘Leader’ in Nucleus Research’s HCM Technology Value Matrix; and awarded the highest rating by Constellation Research in its Cloud Buyer’s Bill of Rights Certification

Two companies in the healthcare industry – Intralign Health and Daybreak Group—recently selected the cloud-based UltiPro solution to enhance their processes for human capital management (HCM). A highly regulated industry with complex HCM requirements, the healthcare industry has a wide variety of challenges related to people management. For example, when supporting employees who have diverse backgrounds, education, skills, and experience, healthcare companies need HCM technology that provides end users with easy-to-use capabilities. To monitor changing workforce demographics as well as manage reporting and audit requirements, healthcare organizations also need a single solution to house employee data that is accessible to HR, leaders, and managers who are in multiple locations. Changes can occur rapidly and unexpectedly, and as a result, companies need customer and support services that are responsive and can quickly address their needs.

“Because of its cloud delivery, UltiPro will provide our company with an affordable solution that requires minimal IT support and spend on our internal resources. Even better is that all the HCM functionality is delivered in one unified suite, which will bring significant advantages to our operations,” said Lars Thording, Vice President of Marketing and Public Affairs at Intralign Health. “In addition to the business benefits that will come with one system of record for our HCM, UltiPro also will deliver cohesive, standardized reporting as well as give our teams the flexibility to configure the solution to meet our unique business requirements.”

AAA Carolinas, a member of the AAA family of motor clubs is also benefiting from Ultimate’s unified approach to HCM, person-centric technology, and responsive customer service. Before UltiPro, AAA Carolinas had used several systems for its HR and payroll operations, so employees, managers, and administrators had to manage multiple logins and navigate different systems. The systems were often out of sync, creating frustrations and reporting issues. To address these challenges, AAA Carolinas has been leveraging Ultimate’s UltiPro as its one system of record for HCM.

“Having multiple systems is a time waster. Our first priority is helping our customers, and having to manage a variety of systems could divert us from this goal. With UltiPro as our one system of record for HCM, we have simplified our work so we can focus on what’s really important to our business,” said Lori Diggs, human resource project analyst at AAA Carolinas. “I’ve never worked with an HCM solution where the information was so easily accessible. Managers now can go to one place to handle everything that is related to their talent.”

Delivered with cloud technology, UltiPro provides customers like AAA Carolinas with an end-to-end suite of HCM functionality, including recruitment, onboarding, payroll, benefits, performance management, and more. Plus, employees, managers and executives have immediate, 24-7 access to information as well as a range of strategic HCM tools that are both easy to access and easy to use.

In 2013 Ultimate Software delivered significant enhancements to its HCM suite with expanded support for global organizations, predictive analytics, and new mobile capabilities. Ultimate’s Retention Predictor provides HR professionals and managers with a statistically accurate, data-based indicator of an employee’s flight risk, along with the potential impact to the organization of losing that employee. In addition, for customers that choose to display the Retention Predictor, the indicator is automatically populated for each employee with no manual selection required by the manager. Organizations can now better understand workforce dynamics, proactively intervene when appropriate, and assess the effectiveness of programs in building long-term employee relationships.

Where to go for more information?

Companies are currently seeking the results that Intralign Health and AAA Carolinas are witnessing through outsourced payroll and HR services. As a result of the growing payroll and HR provider market, PayStream Advisors is developing a Technology Insight report for finance professionals who are actively seeking information regarding outsourcing payroll processing and HR services, in an effort to improve productivity and simplify administration.

This upcoming Q2 2014 report will provide valuable insights into emerging payroll technology and HR services that provide companies with the much needed relief from day-to-day administration processes, so they can focus on their core business. The report will provide current payroll and HR trends, statistics and a detailed view of current payroll and HR outsourcing providers and their product/service offering.

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