One of my 'hats' is Chief Evangelist of Really Neat Stuff. Now in old school corporate terms that's just an expansion of the IT guy, CIO and functional expert all mixed up like a good chocolate shake. In that role I'm spending a lot of time these days reviewing SAAS tools for Improv. We're looking for better ways to engage with Clients and Prospects, Talent and Partners. It's a lot of fun and as I've been helping companies choose HRIS, Payroll, and other Workforce Management tools such as Kronos for years I'm pretty good at vetting the software for our requirements. I also get to use our Discovery Framework or Implementation Audit processes to help identify how I can help Improv get from "here to there".
An outcome I always have in the front of my mind is that when choosing SAAS or managed services we have to be exceptionally clear about our requirements. When implementing you're only going to get what the vendor provides without spending a LOT of un-budgeted funds. You have no choice but to be slammed into THEIR box. And in my experience, no matter how good the requirements planning, testing, validating, etc. there are always more requirements that come down the pike later.
ADP almost never sells eTime premise based. From what I can see Kronos is starting to move in that direction. Let's face it. It's a great business model. But is it the best choice for you? I suggest that it is NOT. Unless you've really done your homework it's a slippery slope and the ROI will never be realized. Is it the best choice for you? I can also suggest that it IS. But unless you really do your homework it's one that'll bite you later.
So, back to me and my search. My choices are easier. We're tiny and don't have an internal IT infrastructure any longer. We've chosen to dive into SAAS as a corporate policy. Do we always get exactly what we want? No. Do we have to have workarounds? Yes. Do we have to build API based integration and reporting and ...? Yes. Is it worth it? Yes, for us, now.
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