HR Tech - Part One
Northgate Arinso: For those of you who knew Arinso as a SAP integrator things have really changed in the last 12 months. With the merger with Northgate and subsequent privatization by one of the leading private equity firms KKR ( Kohlberg Kravis Roberts), Northgate Arinso is going after the SAP market for large installs with Finance and HCM needs as well as the mid market with ResourceLink Aurora, a mid market solution . In addition to investing in their product line Mike Ettling, their CEO, has been building out their key team with the addition of Trey Campbell (ex Exult, and CEO of Accenture BPO) and Mike Wilson (ex Ultimate and Cyborg). Although this organization is very EU centric - paying 1 out of every 3 people in the UK,- they are looking to expand their team in the North American Market.
Workforce Software: An established player in the time and attendance / scheduling field, Workforce Software has finally decided to showcase their expertise. With over 10 years of experience, they have been under the radar for the better part of their existence. In fact, in their briefing their CEO (Kevin Choksi) barely said a word, leaving the briefing to Howard Tarnoff, SVP of Sales and Marketing and a former Workbrain employee. With a staff of 150 people, they have grown this entity to be profitable and have a 64% revenue growth Q1 2009 over Q1 2008. At the conference, they launched Predictive Dynamics, a survey tool that ties changes in scheduling to employee satisfaction, customer satisfaction and profits. They also have a client conversion program targeting Workbrain or informing clients to convert them to the workforce software platform. (Time and attendance does have this program as the Workbrain clients are prime for picking - even those on the perpetual licence plan.)
Cybershift: This leading provider of strategic workforce and expense management software had two major announcements at HR Tech. This included a partnership with Bank of Montréal (or BMO) spend and payment solution as a preferred partner to Cybershift as well as MasterCard with their announcement provide corporations with the integrated expense management solution. Cybershift has been around since 1996 and is funded by top-tier venture capitalists and focuses on workforce management software for organizations with over 1,000 employees that have complex user rules. Led by steady management from Robert Farina, CEO and Laura Hills, VP of marketing, this organization is driving success through partnerships and direct sales. Nice to see steady growth, a strong pipeline and a long-term commitment to the space.
One of the better finds at the HR technology conference and winner of the top HR product of the year was a firm called HR Acuity. This product is a software system that helps mitigate financial and legal risks by establishing a transparent and structured employee relationship process that ensures consistency, compliance and oversight. Although maybe not as sexy as some of the talent management and human capital management software on the floor, HR Acuity can clearly show a demonstrable value or ROI for firms that are currently going through wrongful termination, equal pay, theft, safety violations, gender bias, discrimination, workplace harassment and other issues that are threatening the organization’s bottom line.
More to come tomorrow.
