McLean & Company 1

Vendor Landscape: SaaS HRIS/HRMS

Automating and integrating HR for heightened strategic capabilities.

McLean & Company 2

The strategic value of Human Resources is only gaining significance, and

HRIS/HRMS must support this trend or lose out on this market of multiple

needs. SaaS products provide the high functionality and usability required.

Introduction

Enterprises seeking to select a SaaS solution for HRIS/HRMS.

Enterprises with a SaaS HRIS/HRMS use case that may include:

• Creating a central database of employee information for reporting and strategic planning.

• Integrating talent management or payroll with the employee information database.

• Centralizing all talent management modules including performance management into one system.

This Research Is Designed For: This Research Will Help You:

Understand what’s new in the SaaS HRIS/HRMS market.

Evaluate SaaS HRIS/HRMS vendors and products for your enterprise needs.

Determine which SaaS products are most appropriate for particular use cases and scenarios.

McLean & Company 3

Executive Summary

McLean & Company evaluated seven competitors

in the SaaS HRIS/HRMS market, including the

following notable performers:

Champions:

• Kronos – Partners high functionality and intuitive usability, without the cost of a full ERP solution investment, for mid-market and large organizations.

• SuccessFactors – Employee self-service that allows for high social collaboration through the system, along with strong predicative business analytics for strategic decision making.

• Ultimate Software – An award winning SaaS solution with excellent strategic reporting capabilities and

different solutions for the mid-market and large organizations.

Innovation Award:

• Workday – Intuitive usability with robust mobile functionality that focuses on managing international talent from hire-to-retire.

1. Insight One:

• SaaS HRIS/HRMS solutions are a less costly

way to gain advanced functionality without

hosting in-house.

• SaaS vendors are continuously innovating,

increasing functionality through frequent

updates for end users, which are easier to

integrate than full-blown ERP solutions that

treat HRIS/HRMS as add-ons.

2. Insight Two:

Strategic HR departments should consider

SaaS HRIS/HRMS solutions in order to remain

competitive as talent managers and strategists

since proper implementations yield favourable

ROIs.

3. Insight Three:

Not all SaaS providers are the same – some

focus on performance management, while

others are payroll champions. Choose the one

that fits your organization’s needs and talent

management strategy.

McLean & Co. Insight

McLean & Company 4

Market Overview

• HRIS products were originally the “record keepers”

of employee data. They were essentially databases

that collected demographic information, salary data,

benefits administration, and performance appraisal

results. The main objective of the systems was to

maintain employee data integrity and centralization as

opposed to the traditional model of using single-user

spreadsheets and paper employee files.

• The HRIS was administered by the HR department

with IT assistance. Reporting functionalities were basic

and limited to employee lists, organizational charts, and

historical salary information.

• HRIS began to integrate into ERP systems as HR

became more complex, strategic, and less

administratively focused in order to inform payroll and

gain increased reporting capabilities.

• Large ERP vendors like Lawson, Oracle, and SAP

capitalized by offering HRIS as part of their overall ERP

offerings.

• The highly strategic nature of HR has created a

demand for more multi-functional products.

• “Integrated talent management” are the new buzz

words. Vendors are now offering modules and

partnerships that are easily integrated and configurable.

o Integration dominates, giving HR the flexibility to

choose the best fit for the organization.

• Enter SaaS HRIS/HRMS products, which are

independent of ERP systems and offer functionality

beyond mere data repository:

o Configurable workflows, manager and employee self-

service, payroll integration, and compliance reporting

are key to making HR more efficient.

o Recruiting, performance management, succession

planning, learning management, benchmarking, and

analytics reporting are now high demand functions to

assist HR in becoming more strategic.

• Mobile and predictive analytics are the new wave of

functionality that will increase convenience and data-

driven strategic decision-making.

How it got here Where it’s going

As the market evolves, capabilities that were once cutting edge become standard and new functionality

becomes differentiating. Manager and employee self-service and payroll integration have become Table

Stakes capabilities and should no longer be used to differentiate solutions. Instead, focus on talent

management modules, integration capabilities, and usability to get the best fit for your requirements.

McLean & Company 5

SaaS HRIS/HRMS Vendor Landscape selection/knock-out criteria: Market share, mind share, and market consolidation

• For this Vendor Landscape, McLean & Company focused on those vendors that have SaaS offerings and are not

competing in the ERP market.

• “Pure play” vendors – those with many functionalities in addition to basic HRIS functionalities – were included to

compare the integrated talent management system landscape.

• However, talent management vendors without basic HRIS functionality were not considered.

• Only vendors that were at least SAS 70 II compliant were considered.

• Ascentis. Strong payroll functionality for the mid-market.

• Kronos. The market leader, with major workforce management capabilities.

• NuView Systems Inc. A dedicated international player with multiple language capabilities.

• SilkRoad. The user-friendly suite with various module offerings.

• SuccessFactors. Performance management expert with strong HRIS collaboration and reporting capabilities.

• Ultimate. An award-winning system with high scalability capabilities.

• Workday. Innovative newcomer with a quickly growing presence.

Included in the Vendor Landscape:

McLean & Company 6

SaaS HRIS/HRMS Criteria & Weighting Factors

25%

40%

10%

25%Features Usability

AffordabilityArchitecture

50%

50%

Product

Vendor

Vendor Evaluation

Vendor is committed to the space and has a

future product and portfolio roadmap.Strategy

Vendor offers global coverage and is able to

sell and provide post-sales support. Reach

Vendor is profitable, knowledgeable, and will

be around for the long-term.Viability

Vendor channel strategy is appropriate and the

channels themselves are strong. Channel

Product Evaluation

The solution’s dashboard and reporting tools

are intuitive and easy to use.Usability

The delivery method of the solution aligns with

what is expected within the space.Architecture

The five year TCO of the solution is

economical.Affordability

The solution provides basic

and advanced feature/functionality.Features

30%

30%

15%

25%Viability Strategy

ReachChannel

McLean & Company 7

The McLean & Company HRIS/HRMS Vendor Landscape

Champions receive high scores for most

evaluation criteria and offer excellent value.

They have a strong market presence and

are usually the trend setters for the industry.

Innovators have demonstrated innovative

product strengths that act as their

competitive advantage in appealing to niche

segments of the market.

Market Pillars are established players with

very strong vendor credentials, but with

more average product scores.

Emerging Players are newer vendors who

are starting to gain a foothold in the

marketplace. They balance product and

vendor attributes, though score lower

relative to market Champions.

For an explanation of how the McLean & Company Vendor Landscape is created, see the “Vendor Evaluation Methodology” slide in the appendix.

McLean & Company 8

Every vendor has its strengths and weaknesses – pick the one that works best for you

Product Vendor

Features UsabilityAfford-

ability*Viability Strategy ChannelReach

Architec-

tureOverall Overall

For an explanation of how the McLean & Company Harvey Balls are calculated, see the “Vendor Evaluation Methodology” slide in the appendix.

Legend =Exemplary = Good = Adequate =Inadequate = Inferior

*Sample pricing was only provided by one vendor, so Affordability was not evaluated.

Ascentis

Kronos

NuView

SilkRoad

SuccessFactors

Ultimate

Workday

McLean & Company 9

What is a Value Score?

The McLean & Company SaaS HRIS/HRMS Value Index

50 50 50 50 50 50 50

WorkdayUltimateSuccess

-Factors

SilkRoadNuViewKronosAscentis

The Value Score indexes each vendor’s product

offering and business strength relative to its price

point. It does not indicate vendor ranking.

Vendors that score high offer more bang for the

buck (e.g. features, usability, stability, etc.) than

the average vendor, while the inverse is true for

those that score lower.

Price-conscious enterprises may wish to give the

Value Score more consideration than those who

are more focused on specific vendor/product

attributes.

For an explanation of how the McLean & Company Value Index is calculated, see the “Value Index Ranking Methodology” slide in the appendix.

For an explanation of how normalized pricing is determined, see the “Product Pricing Scenario & Methodology” slide in the appendix.

Champion

SaaS HRIS/HRMS Software

Due to the unique nature of

these services, sample pricing

could not be provided by

vendors, so a Value Index could

not be calculated.

McLean & Company 10

Table Stakes represent the minimum standard – without these, a product doesn’t even get reviewed

If Table Stakes are all you need from your SaaS HRIS/HRMS solution, all the vendors evaluated here will

meet your functionality needs. However, usability, configurability, international capabilities, and future use

cases should still be considered.

The products assessed in this

Vendor LandscapeTM meet, at the

very least, the requirements

outlined as Table Stakes.

Many of the vendors go above

and beyond the outlined Table

Stakes, and some even do so in

multiple categories. This section

aims to highlight each product’s

capabilities in excess of the

criteria listed here.

The Table Stakes What Does This Mean?

Feature Description

Employee Data

Capture

Records demographic information about employees, including

name, address, salary, department, etc.

Payroll

Administration

Hours worked, commissions, vacation, leaves of absence,

overtime, deductions, bonuses, taxes, and contributions are

properly documented and distributed in a timely manner.

Reporting

Capabilities

Provides standard templates and custom options to pull data

into meaningful reports (e.g. turnover, absenteeism, diversity)

for both HR and business use.

Role-based

Interfaces

Both employee and manager self-service options available to

change or modify information and generate reports.

Workflow Tasks can be configured to an authorization process that

notifies individuals of outstanding authorization requirements.

SaaS Compliance Meets SAS 70 Type II certification or higher for data security.

Employment

Compliance

Preset or configurable options to track, monitor, and alert

administrators on common workplace compliance

requirements like OSHA, COBRA, etc.

McLean & Company 11

Advanced features are the market differentiators that make or break a product

Feature What We Looked For

Time &

Attendance

Documents employee labor hours (including lunches and breaks,

overtime, etc.), and tracks attendance data for payroll purposes.

Benefits

Administration

Monitors programs and plans, including pension, insurance, and

healthcare, and ensures payments and deductions are made correctly.

Position

Management

Employees can be assigned a position grade, promoted, and moved

into different departments, allowing for workforce planning.

Performance

Management

Evaluates and documents performance so that each employee

effectively meets business goals.

Expense

Management

Reports and tracks that employee expense claims are processed,

paid, and documented in compliance with the organization’s policies.

Succession

Planning

Identifies and tracks development of personnel who demonstrate

potential for increased responsibility and key leadership roles.

Absence

Management

Measures and monitors employee absences to ensure maximum

workforce productivity as well as employee support.

Learning &

DevelopmentFacilitates training to improve employee performance.

Predictive

Analytics

Examines statistically relevant data for significant relationships and

patterns to aid predictions about future trends, opportunities, and risks.

Recruiting Tracks job applicants throughout the recruiting process.

Advanced Features

McLean & Company

scored each vendor’s

offering as a summation of

its individual scores across

the listed advanced

features. Vendors were

given one point for each

feature the product

inherently provided. Some

categories were scored on

a more granular scale with

vendors receiving half

points.

Scoring Methodology

McLean & Company 12

Legend = Feature fully present = Feature partially present / pending = Feature absent

Each vendor offers a different feature set – concentrate on what you need

Time and

Attendance

Position

Mgmt.

Expense

Mgmt.

Succession

Planning

Learning

and Dev.

Absence

Mgmt.Perf. Mgmt.

Predictive

AnalyticsRecruiting

Benefits

Admin.

Ascentis

Kronos

NuView

SilkRoad

SuccessFactors

Ultimate

Workday

McLean & Company 13

$1

McLean & Company Recommends:

North American healthcare will benefit greatly from Kronos expertise; globally, Kronos’s proficiency,

service, and integration with workforce management is unprecedented in any other solution.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

Kronos Workforce Central

3,100

Chelmsford, Massachusetts

kronos.com

1977

$740 M in revenue (2010)

Private equity owned

Kronos is a workforce titan with healthcare expertise and a strong global presence

Champion• Founded in 1977, Kronos was a publically traded company, which

became privately held again in 2007.

• Kronos boasts 30 million users a day in over 60 countries.

• Although it has an impressively large enterprise customer base, it

predominately focuses its strategy on the mid-market.

Overview

• Global scalability, with great success in India.

• Expertise in all industry verticals, with an excellent record in

healthcare.

• Training is available onsite, in person, as well as through remote

customer-guided training sessions, training materials, and customer

communities.

• “Drag and drop” usability simplifies complex reporting.

Strengths

• Despite considerable international presence, the HR and Payroll

system is only available in English.

• Kronos standard reports are written in Crystal, although any ODBC

report writer can be used in conjunction with the database.

Challenges

3 Year TCO: Based on pricing scenario

(see Appendix)

$1M+

McLean & Company 14

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

Employee Central 2.0

1400+

San Mateo, CA

successfactors.com

2001

NYSE: SFSF

FY10 Revenue: $209.4 M

SuccessFactors is an innovative solution with robust employee collaboration functionality and advanced reporting

Champion• Leveraging its deep performance management beginnings,

SuccessFactors has developed an innovative HR Business Suite

product for small, mid, and large sized organizations using a highly

usable, collaboration-friendly interface.

Overview

• SuccessCloud, a first-of-its-kind technology partner program, allows

third-party applications and data from other business systems to

connect and integrate with its BizX suite.

• Business workforce analytics and benchmarking allow for predictive

modeling reporting using 2000+ built-in metrics.

• Mobile applications support project collaboration and recruiting.

Strengths

• Although it has highly integrated payroll partnerships, it is the only

vendor in this evaluation to not offer payroll administration as a

native part of its application.

• SuccessFactors is a high energy offering; though it may be

intimidating to more traditional HRIS users. Corporate wide training

and cultural adjustments will be required to get employees,

managers, and HR professionals collaborating through the system.

Challenges

$1 $1M+

Vendor declined to provide product pricing

McLean & Company Recommends:

Avant garde, data-driven HR strategists will find SuccessFactors predictive modeling and reporting

useful, but more conservative organizations may find the system overwhelming.

McLean & Company 15

McLean & Company Recommends:

Larger mid-sized organizations and large organizations will find Ultimate’s functionality and reporting

capabilities to be very robust, scalable, and advanced.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

UltiPro

1200+

Weston, Florida

ultimatesoftware.com

1990

NASDAQ: ULTI

FY09 Revenue: $196.6 M

Ultimate is a SaaS leader, with exceptional security and functionality

Champion• Ultimate Software has a broad target market, but also provides

solutions specific to the mid-market, making it the most widely used

solution in North America.

• It boasts 2,200+ customers in diverse industry verticals and globally.

Overview

• Ultimate Software was the first SaaS provider to achieve ISO/IEC

7001 Certification.

• Free, unlimited training with a variety of options. Classroom training

and on-demand online courses, partnered with 24x7 access to HR

subject-matter experts, provide excellent support.

• A 96% customer retention rate indicates high customer satisfaction.

Strengths

• Although it has a specific mid-sized offering (200-999 employees),

smaller organizations have no options.

• Cognos reporting for analytics requires staff training in order to fully

benefit from its robust functionality.

• The dated user interface is less appealing and intuitive.

• Mobile functionality is limited to an iPhone application.

Challenges

$1 $1M+

Vendor declined to provide product pricing

McLean & Company 16

McLean & Company Recommends:

Workday’s forward-thinking mobile functionality and future-oriented career and succession planning for

employees can serve a user’s long-term HR needs starting today.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

Global Human Resource

Management

676

Pleasanton, CA

workday.com

2007

Private

Workday is an innovative solution with a focus on developing the leadership pipeline globally

Innovator• Workday was created by former PeopleSoft leaders, backing its

innovative stance with a history of HR system leadership.

• With 177 customers in 123 countries, Workday has grown

considerably since its inception.

Overview

• Strong international capabilities include support for multi-entity,

multi-language, multi-currency, and multi-book needs.

• Robust mobile capabilities, including real-time business intelligence

right to the user’s device.

• Succession planning includes global leadership pipeline planning,

which is unique and aligned with future HR challenges.

Strengths

• Payroll functionality has limited reporting and admission levels

compared to Champion vendors, which decreases usability by

preventing key stakeholders from accessing pay data.

• High growth has resulted in some support quality issues, which can

adversely affect implementation.

• Workday does not specifically target the mid-market.

Challenges

Vendor declined to provide product pricing

$1 $1M+

McLean & Company 17

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

HeartBeat

375

Chicago, IL

silkroad.com

2003

Privately held

SilkRoad presents sleek user interfaces and easy to use talent management modules

Market Pillar• SilkRoad’s HeartBeat and integrated suite is a slick, appealing

product with 2,000 customers in 20 locations globally.

• SilkRoad provides a cross-industry solution for mid-sized to large

enterprises.

Overview

• Powerful, flexible role-based security allows customers to restrict

access to sensitive data. Role-based security extends to reports as

well.

• A well developed learning management module is used to train

clients to maintain consistency and showcase key features.

• Reporting does not require an external plug-in, so custom reports

can be created throughout the suite.

Strengths

• Mobile device use and support for the solution is still evolving.

• Reporting dashboards are useful, but not configurable (planned for

next year).

• SilkRoad’s integrated talent management suite is led by other

modules (i.e. onboarding); the core HR solution is young and more

of an ideal fit for the mid market currently.

Challenges

$1 $1M+

3 Year TCO: Based on pricing scenario

(see Appendix)

McLean & Company Recommends:

Users looking for strong talent modules without the more traditional aspects of HRIS (time and

attendance, absence management, etc.) will find SilkRoad very user friendly and accessible.

McLean & Company 18

McLean & Company Recommends:

Forward-thinking international companies can leverage NuView’s commitment to global organizations

and the ability to add modules as the HR function grows without the hassle of integration.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

NuViewHR

92 employees (2009)

Andover, MA

nuviewinc.com

1994

Private, $11.3 M in revenue

(2009)

NuView Systems is a strong emerging player, especially in the international arena

• NuView Systems released its most recent Global and Payroll

Software in May of 2011, which incorporated client feedback through

focus groups.

Overview

• The modular system allows addition of other modules after initial

implementation without extra integration costs.

• International configurability includes foreign currency management,

localization of forms in different languages, and filtering for

international data regulators (i.e. only data that is relevant and

allowed to be collected appears in fields).

Strengths

• Despite longevity in the marketplace, NuView is a boutique offering

without major market share. This may limit user community support.

• The user interface is boxy and appears dated compared to the fresh

aesthetic of many competitors.

• Mobile capabilities are limited to basic administrative tasks and to

phones with IE and Windows Mobile 5.0 or higher.

Challenges

$1 $1M+

Vendor declined to provide product pricing

Emerging Player

McLean & Company 19

McLean & Company Recommends:

Deep payroll expertise allows for a variety of options to integrate and manage payroll according to

individual client needs, especially in North America.

Product:

Employees:

Headquarters:

Website:

Founded:

Presence:

Ascentis HR

79

Bellevue, Washington

ascentis.com

1980

Private, $3.6 M revenue

Ascentis is a more traditional HRIS provider, with solid payroll functionality and market longevity

Emerging Player• Strongly focused on the mid-market (75-2,500 employees),

Ascentis is the product of a 2007 merger between EBS Online,

a payroll services company, and Ascentis.

• Ascentis serves over 1,400 clients.

Overview

• Ascentis provides strong payroll functionality as well as

integration with other providers.

• Its partner network of benefits providers is robust, particularly

for US-based clients.

• Over 300 standard reports provide new SaaS clients with a lot

of out-of-the-box options prior to customization.

Strengths

• US-based support limits global scalability, and a low number of

international clients despite the vendor’s longevity is indicative

of a limited geographic focus.

• While Ascentis plans to add advanced modules (recruiting was

just released in May 2011), it has not mastered the “integrated

talent management” suite like its competitors.

Challenges

$1 $1M+

Vendor declined to provide product pricing

McLean & Company 20

The McLean & Company SaaS HRIS/HRMSVendor Shortlist Tool is designed

to generate a customized shortlist of vendors based on your key priorities.

Identify leading candidates with the SaaS HRIS/HRMSVendor Shortlist Tool

• Overall Vendor vs. Product Weightings

• Top-level weighting of product vs. vendor

criteria

• Individual product criteria weightings:

Features

Usability

Affordability

Architecture

• Individual vendor criteria weightings:

Viability

Strategy

Reach

Channel

This tool offers the ability to modify:

McLean & Company 21

Exemplary performers offer multiple languages, international reporting, and

have a strong global client portfolio.

Global organizations require scalability, international experience, language and compliance capabilities

Global Scalability

Features and Usability

Mobile Functionality

1

2

3

Exemplary Performers

Viable Performers

Poor Performers

4

McLean & Company 22

Exemplary performers have strong scores in both functionality and usability,

with viable performers excelling more at one or the other.

Integrated talent management requires a variety of features and slick usability to encourage use

Global Scalability

Features and Usability

Mobile Functionality

1

2

3

Exemplary Performers

Viable Performers

Adequate Performers

4

McLean & Company 23

Robust mobile functionality on various mobile devices rather than just

selected devices gets top points.

Mobile functionality is an emerging trend with high demand from busy HR professionals and managers

Global Scalability

Features and Usability

Mobile Functionality

1

2

3

Exemplary Performers

Viable Performers

Poor Performers

4

McLean & Company 24

Appendix

1. Vendor Evaluation Methodology

2. Value Index Ranking Methodology

3. Product Pricing Scenario & Methodology

McLean & Company 25

Vendor Evaluation Methodology

McLean & Company’s Vendor Landscape market evaluations are a part of a larger program of vendor evaluations which includes Solution

Sets that provide both Vendor Landscapes and broader Selection Advice.

From the domain experience of our analysts as well as through consultation with our clients, a vendor/product shortlist is established. Product

briefings are requested from each of these vendors, asking for information on the company, products, technology, customers, partners, sales

models, and pricing.

Our analysts then score each vendor and product across a variety of categories, on a scale of 0-10 points. The raw scores for each vendor are

then normalized to the other vendors’ scores to provide a sufficient degree of separation for a meaningful comparison. These scores are then

weighted according to weighting factors that our analysts believe represent the weight that an average client should apply to each criteria. The

weighted scores are then averaged for each of two high level categories: vendor score and product score. A plot of these two resulting scores

is generated to place vendors in one of four categories: Champion, Innovator, Market Pillar, and Emerging Player.

For a more granular category by category comparison, analysts convert the individual scores (absolute, non-normalized) for each

vendor/product in each evaluated category to a scale of zero to four whereby exceptional performance receives a score of four and poor

performance receives a score of zero. These scores are represented with “Harvey Balls,” ranging from an open circle for a score of zero to a

filled in circle for a score of four. Harvey Ball scores are indicative of absolute performance by category but are not an exact correlation to

overall performance.

Individual scorecards are then sent to the vendors for factual review, and to ensure no information is under embargo. We will make corrections

where factual errors exist (e.g. pricing, features, technical specifications). We will consider suggestions concerning benefits, functional quality,

value, etc; however, these suggestions must be validated by feedback from our customers. We do not accept changes that are not

corroborated by actual client experience or wording changes that are purely part of a vendor’s market messaging or positioning. Any resulting

changes to final scores are then made as needed, before publishing the results to McLean & Company clients.

Vendor Landscapes are refreshed every 12 to 24 months, depending upon the dynamics of each individual market.

McLean & Company 26

Value Index Ranking Methodology

McLean & Company’s Value Index is part of a larger program of vendor evaluations which includes Solution Sets that provide both Vendor

Landscapes and broader Selection Advice.

The Value Index is an indexed ranking of value per dollar as determined by the raw scores given to each vendor by analysts. To perform the

calculation, Affordability is removed from the Product score and the entire Product category is reweighted to represent the same proportions.

The Product and Vendor scores are then summed, and multiplied by the Affordability raw score to come up with Value Score. Vendors are

then indexed to the highest performing vendor by dividing their score into that of the highest scorer, resulting in an indexed ranking with a top

score of 100 assigned to the leading vendor.

The Value Index calculation is then repeated on the raw score of each category against Affordability, creating a series of indexes for Features,

Usability, Viability, Strategy, and Support, with each being indexed against the highest score in that category. The results for each vendor are

displayed in tandem with the average score in each category to provide an idea of over and under performance.

The Value Index, where applicable, is refreshed every 12 to 24 months, depending upon the dynamics of each individual market.

McLean & Company 27

Product Pricing Scenario & Methodology

McLean & Company provided each vendor with a common pricing scenario to enable normalized scoring of Affordability, calculation of Value

Index rankings, and identification of the appropriate solution pricing tier as displayed on each vendor scorecard.

Vendors were asked to provide list costs for SaaS HRIS/HRMS solutions to address the needs of a reference organization described in the

pricing scenario.

Additional consulting, deployment, and training services were explicitly out of scope of the pricing request, as was the cost of enhanced

support options, though vendors were encouraged to highlight any such items included with the base product acquisition. The annual software

maintenance rate was also requested, along with clarity on whether or not the first year of maintenance was included in the quoted software

costs, allowing a three-year total acquisition cost to be calculated for each vendor’s SaaS HRIS/HRMS solution. This three-year total

acquisition cost is the basis of the solution pricing tier indicated for each vendor.

The vendors’ three-year total acquisition costs were not normalized to produce the Affordability raw scores and calculate Value Index ratings

for each solution due to the lack of pricing information available for the majority of vendors.

Key elements of the common pricing scenario provided to SaaS HRIS/HRMS vendors included:

• A mid-level clothing manufacturer/retailer with corporate offices on the US West Coast, East Coast, and in the UK, and with 2,200 global

employees is looking for an HRIS SaaS solution. The firm is interested in a complete and comprehensive solution that will effectively plan,

control, and manage HR costs; achieve improved efficiency and quality in HR decision making; and improve employee and managerial

productivity and effectiveness.

• US East Coast (Satellite)

• Employing 200 people (10% of total staff), the East Coast office solely holds a Marketing department.

• England (Satellite)

• Employing 400 people (20% of total staff), the UK office has buyers and manufacturing (200 employees), and 5 additional IT staff. The

company’s remaining 2 HR staff are located here to manage regionally specific functions, including local administration, learning and

development, recruitment, and generalist HR responsibilities. The organization wishes to enter into an agreement that provides for three

full years of service, including licensing, support, and maintenance. Pricing should reflect this term.

• Because the organization operates on a 7/24 hour day (due to a self-hosted website, webstore, shift work, and different time zones) it

requires support availability over extended hours; any quoted support must be sufficient and appropriate to reflect those operational hours.