ERP shouldn’t do talent
January 12, 2006
Ventana Research released this note saying, basically, that ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) systems (Oracle, SAP and others) don’t do workforce management well. In fact, they assert that a choice to use an ERP system to manage the workforce is a statement that workforce performance is not a top priority for the organization. They even go so far as to say "Ventana Research advises organizations not to rely solely on ERP for processes and systems to manage the workforce." Pretty interesting stuff.
HR groups are often under significant pressure (or even directed) by IT and Finance to go with an HR module from the ERP vendor they already deal with. It’s thought that this will simplify data integration as well as the operations and management of the new software. The reality is tha workforce performance is just not something that’s core to the big ERP guys. They throw it on there, or in some cases give it away for free to make sure they hold their position of influence at your company.
Ventana urges against this line of thinking:
"The existence of efficient ERP systems that manage enterprise resources for operational needs does not ensure that the right talent is hired, compensated, trained and motivated by appropriate rewards and goals. The current consolidation of the ERP market offers organizations the opportunity to focus on acquiring or building a set of processes and systems that will improve the management of the workforce and its performance. Finance executives should re-evaluate their investment priorities and allocate time and capital to upgrading workforce management processes and deciding who should be providing these mission critical systems."
Related posts
Comments
One Response to “ERP shouldn’t do talent”
Got something to say?
Max, I’ve been trying to decide on agreeing or disagreeing with this post. Since I can’t decide, I’ll do neither.
We’re at a wonderful place with technology. In the early 90’s, you had to depend on some pretty bad interface mechanisms if you didn’t want to have a single ERP. Recruiting and other systems like performance or payroll were barely integrated at all. Then we got more sophisitcated and at least systems started talking to each other in the mid-90’s.
Today, with web services, you can find the best in class solitions for every part of the HR technology market and (if the applications are up to W3C standards) hook everything together real time and fairly seamlessly.
I’m not going to say that centralized single database is dead. However, It’s a whole lot easier to have SAP as a central repository, but also have apps like SuccessFactors all providing a single view of the organization for decision support.