Vendor Landscape: Talent Acquisition Systems Find the right solution to automate your requisition-to-hire process 1
Introduction Choosing a Talent Acquisition System to automate the requisition-to-hire process comes down to look and feel and fit with the organization s culture and processes. This is because 90% of the functionality offered is virtually identical from vendor to vendor. This Research Is Designed For: Small to mid-sized enterprises seeking to select a Talent Acquisition System (TAS). Their TAS use case may include: Replacing and updating a manual, paper-based recruitment process. Streamlining and automating the recruiting process to increase efficiency, improve accountability, expand reach, and reduce costs. Building a better relationship between recruiters and hiring managers by providing an easy-to-use, accessible system. Launching an applicant portal that will encourage more applicants and allow for automated collection of applicant information. This Research Will Help You: Understand what s new in the TAS market. Evaluate TAS vendors and products for your enterprise needs. Determine which products are most appropriate for particular use cases and scenarios. 2
Executive Summary evaluated eight competitors in the TAS market, including the following notable performers: Champions: Taleo With strong vendor capabilities and unmatched functionality, it offers a leading TAS that can deliver benefits to any organization. icims Commitment to SMBs and robust, user-friendly solution makes this an easy vendor to like. SilkRoad With its strong product and vendor capabilities, it provides a high quality solution for SMBs. Kenexa a pioneer in recruiting solutions, is a stable and committed vendor with a well-rounded product for medium- to large-sized enterprises. Innovation Award: Hireology With its sophisticated built-in interview and selection management tools and job analysis functionality, it is setting a new bar for the market. Info-Tech Insight 1. Evaluating vendors by checking off a features list doesn t work anymore: As almost every vendor offers similar functionality, how they do it becomes the differentiator. As a result, workflow and usability become key evaluation criteria. 2. Recruiters are key end-users, but don t just satisfy their needs in selection: Hiring managers will use the TAS too, so ensure it meets their needs. And don t forget about applicants! View the applicant portal from the applicant s perspective to ensure it is visually appealing and easy to use. 3. Integrating with a variety of external sources is crucial, but be wary of costs: Vendors differ in the number of sources with which they integrate, associated costs, and third-party contract requirements. Check all of these factors to avoid surprises. 3
Market Overview How it got here Hiring needs have increased and organizations approach recruiting more strategically since the 1980s. As a result, the TAS market has gained tremendous momentum. Solutions have come a long way from standalone workflow and document management systems used only by HR. TASs are now a vital part of managing talent. Technological advances and the Internet allowed vendors to create more advanced systems. Now, in addition to tracking candidates, solutions include candidate self-service via online applicant portals, employer branding, integration with social media tools, reporting and analytics. Today s TAS is really an integration platform that tracks resumes and connects sourcing tools and services, assessment tools, background checking, job boards, and recruitment outsourcing companies. Until the late 1990s the solutions were called applicanttracking systems (ATS). Although often still called an ATS, they are increasingly called E-recruitment Software, or Talent Acquisition Solutions or Systems to account for the increased breadth of capability beyond basic applicant tracking. Where it s going The market is in the middle of a revolution as organizations want to replace their recruiting systems with software-as-a-service (SaaS) technology. To keep up, it is predicted that the high end of the market will consolidate and the middle to low end of the market will expand. Vendors are also continually innovating so that TAS capabilities meet today s recruitment challenges and needs: Integration with other HR systems. Third-party partnering to strengthen TAS feature sets. Assessment methods to reduce hiring costs and make hiring decisions more data-driven. Advanced resume parsing technology to manage the volume of online applicants, increased variety of resume formats and languages, and improved accuracy of field population. Increased collection and reporting of compliance data and pursuit of standard certifications to meet stronger compliance requirements (e.g. European data protection laws, U.S. OCCCP search requirements). As the market evolves, capabilities that were once cutting edge become standard, and new functionality becomes differentiating. Vendors offer about 90% of the same functionality, so features do not really differentiate solutions. Instead, focus on look and feel and workflow to get the best fit. 4
Talent Acquisition Vendor Landscape selection/knock-out criteria: Market share, mind share, and market consolidation The TAS market is flooded with at least 400 rich solutions from recruitment specialists, ERP/HRMS vendors, and talent management suite vendors. The market is competitive and far from being consolidated. Despite faltering economies, the TAS market continues to show healthy growth of 10-12%. For this Vendor Landscape, focused on those vendors that have a strong market presence and/or reputational presence among small- to mid-sized enterprises. Included in the Vendor Landscape: Bond International Software. The largest provider of software for recruitment agencies worldwide, Bond is breaking into the corporate recruiting market with their BondTalent solution. Hireology. The smallest and newest vendor in this evaluation, Hireology is trying to take recruiting to the next level by adding sophisticated assessment tools to traditional TAS features and functions. icims. The third largest provider in the SaaS TAS market, icims s mission is to make business easier for the SMB market. Kenexa. One of the pioneers in the TAS market, Kenexa offers TAS products for complex, global organizations and medium- to large-sized businesses. Njoyn. A dedicated TAS provider, Njoyn is a major player in the Canadian market with the potential to break into other markets in the near future. SilkRoad. A recent entrant to the space, SilkRoad markets a single platform that can scale to any size of organization in any industry. SuccessFactors. Starting as a performance management solution vendor, SuccessFactors offers recruiting modules for large enterprises and SMBs. Taleo. Focused on recruiting at start-up, Taleo is now the largest provider of SaaS TAS. 5
TAS Criteria & Weighting Factors Product Evaluation Features The solution provides basic and advanced feature/functionality. Features 20% 40% Usability Affordability The five year TCO of the solution is economical. Architecture 35% 10% Affordability Usability Architecture Vendor Evaluation Viability The solution s dashboard and reporting tools are intuitive and easy to use. The delivery method of the solution aligns with what is expected within the space. Vendor is profitable, knowledgeable, and will be around for the long-term. Product 50% 50% Vendor Strategy Vendor is committed to the space and has a future product and portfolio roadmap. Viability 25% 30% Strategy Reach Channel Vendor offers global coverage and is able to sell and provide post-sales support. Vendor channel strategy is appropriate and the channels themselves are strong. Channel 15% 30% Reach 6
The TAS 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. SilkRoad Taleo icims 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. Bond Njoyn International Software Hireology Kenexa Success- Factors For an explanation of how the Vendor Landscape is created, see Vendor Evaluation Methodology in the appendices. 7
Every vendor has its strengths & weaknesses pick the one that works best for you Product Vendor Bond International Software Overall Features Usability Affordability* Architecture Overall Viability Strategy Reach Channel Hireology icims Kenexa Njoyn SilkRoad SuccessFactors Taleo Legend =Exemplary = Good = Adequate =Inadequate = Inferior *Sample pricing was only provided by a few vendors, so price was not evaluated. For an explanation of how the Harvey Balls are calculated, see Vendor Evaluation Methodology in the appendices. 8
The TAS Value Index What is a Value Score? The Value Score indexes each vendor s product offering and business strength relative to their 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. Champion Due to the unique nature of these solutions, sample pricing was only provided by a few vendors, so a Value Index could not be calculated. 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 50 Taleo icims SilkRoad Kenexa Success- Factors Bond Njoyn Hireology For an explanation of how the Value Index is calculated, see Value Index Ranking Methodology in the appendices. For an explanation of how normalized pricing is determined, see Product Pricing Scenario & Methodology in the appendices. 9
Table Stakes represent the minimum standard without these, a product doesn t even get reviewed The Table Stakes Feature Requisition Management Candidate Capture Prescreening Applicant Tracking Candidate Self-service Reporting/ Analytics Role-based Access Description Create job requisitions and manage requisition workflow, including approvals and posting to relevant sources. Import candidates from multiple sources using resume parsing and candidate-provided information to generate editable and searchable candidate profiles. Create and use job-specific pre-screening questions to knock out applicants early in the recruiting process. Track applicant workflow and scheduling through the entire hiring process and automate applicant communications. Online portal where applicants search and apply for jobs, build and maintain candidate profiles, and subscribe to job alerts. Both basic and custom reporting capabilities, including tracking and reporting standard and advanced recruiting metrics, cost data, and compliance data. User-specific access and dashboards for administrators, recruiters, hiring managers, and any other users. What Does This Mean? The products assessed in this Vendor Landscape TM 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 the products capabilities in excess of the criteria listed here. If Table Stakes are all you need from your TAS solution, one of the important differentiators for the organization is price. Dig deeper to find the best price to value mix for your needs. 10
Advanced features are the market differentiators that make or break a product Scoring Methodology Advanced Features scored each vendor s features offering as a summation of its individual scores across the listed advanced features. Vendors were given 1 point for each feature that the product inherently provided. Some categories were scored on a more granular scale with vendors receiving half points (see partial functionality criteria). Feature Workforce Planning Web Mining Social Media Sourcing Candidate Assessments Background Checking Job Offer Management Onboarding Mobile Capabilities What We Looked For Ability to carry out demand and supply planning. Ability to search for applicants online via a third party or proprietary spidering tool and easily add them to the applicant pool. Ability to easily post job openings on a variety of social media sites, in particular LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter. Support for multiple types of assessments for use after prescreening, such as interview guides, personality questionnaires, and aptitude tests. Either provided as part of the system or via a third-party agreement. Background checking and drug testing capabilities provided as part of the system or via a third-party. Ability to document offer details, manage offer approvals, generate offer letters, and manage acceptance information. Ability to provide pre-hire paperwork and track the process in the system or via an add-on module, and automatically move new hires into HRIS. Robust mobile functionality for applicants, recruiters, hiring managers, and other users on multiple types of devices. 11
Each vendor offers a different feature set concentrate on what you need Workforce Planning Web Mining Social Media Assessment Background Checking Job Offer Mgmt. Onboarding Mobile Bond International Software Hireology icims Kenexa Njoyn SilkRoad SuccessFactors Taleo Legend = Feature fully present = Feature partially present / pending = Feature absent On a broad level, all TAS offer very similar capabilities and there are few differences across vendors in terms of the functionality offered. As a result, evaluating workflow, approach, design, and usability are key to choosing the right solution for the organization. 12
Taleo differentiates itself with proven successes and a robust, flexible, easy-to-use solution for the mid-market Champion Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Taleo Recruit 1,258 San Francisco, CA taleo.com 1999 NASDAQ: TLEO FY10 Revenue: $267.2M Overview With its roots in recruiting, Taleo has the industry s largest ecosystem of customers, candidates, and partners. Taleo primarily targets Global 2000 organizations, but does offer good solutions for SMBs, the smallest proportion of its customer base. Strengths Applicant portals are attractive providing an excellent candidate experience (e.g. system automatically parses resume or LinkedIn profile and auto-populates the application record). Lots of add-ons to streamline workflow and increase usability, including a SourceBar for Internet Explorer (IE), an Outlook plugin, and a Scheduling Center for applicants to schedule interviews. Challenges $1 $1M+ * Vendor declined to provide product pricing. Onboarding functionality is provided via Taleo OnBoard, an additional product, so there are additional costs for this feature. With add-ons only available for IE and Outlook, those using other browsers (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, and Safari) and E-mail programs (e.g. Gmail, Lotus Notes, and GroupWise) miss out on the added functionality. Recommends: Consider Taleo if you are looking for a robust, function-rich, and user-friendly solution with the option to add a lot of really interesting bells and whistles. 13
icims offers a robust and user-friendly solution that backs up its commitment to make business easier for SMBs Champion Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Talent Platform 160 Hazlet, NJ icims.com 1999 Privately-held $1 $1M+ 3 Year TCO: Tier 7; between $100K and $250K Overview With over 1000 customers world-wide, most of which are midmarket, icims has a 97% customer retention rate since 2003. Its TAS is well-suited for US-headquartered organizations with local and multinational requirements. Strengths End-user interface is very intuitive and highly configurable. Provides high quality customer service to all customers. Can post to over 2,000 worldwide job boards, including major sites and niche boards, via an aggregator integration. Comprehensive library of electronic forms, iforms, for hiring and onboarding. Contents are searchable and can be reported upon. Challenges Telephone support hours are offered 24x5, which could be limiting for organizations that operate 24x7. Mobile capabilities are not as robust compared to other vendors; however, increasing the mobile capabilities for internal end-users is on their roadmap. Recommends: Small- and mid-sized businesses looking for solid functionality, an easy-to-use system, and excellent customer service will find a lot to like about icims. 14
SilkRoad may be newer to the space, but excels due to highly configurable career sites, ease-of-use and clean dashboards Champion Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: OpenHire 375 Chicago, IL silkroad.com 2003 Privately-held $1 $1M+ 3 Year TCO: Tier 6; between $50K and $100K Overview With 2,000 customers in 20 locations globally, SilkRoad provides a cross-industry solution for mid-sized to large enterprises. Although most famous for its onboarding solution, RedCarpet, its recruiting solution was one of its earliest products. Strengths Excellent career sites that can be easily configured and edited by end users, with no need to involve the IT department. Bidirectional integration with Outlook and an IE plug-in. Rich functionality for searching social networking sites. Gives Hot Matches for jobs based on scores and ranking criteria. Offers support for internal users and candidates. Challenges Mobile device support is evolving. Currently, there are no mobile applications and most mobile users are job candidates. Organizations using other browsers (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, and Safari) and e-mail programs (e.g. Gmail, Lotus Notes, and GroupWise) cannot capitalize on the robust e-mail integration and browser plug-in. Recommends: End-users looking for a feature-rich solution, particularly for hiring managers, and an excellent candidate experience will find a lot to like about SilkRoad s OpenHire. 15
Kenexa capitalizes on its long history in the TAS market and expertise in recruiting to provide a good solution Champion Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: 2X Recruit 2,000 Wayne, PA kenexa.com 1987 NASDAQ: KNXA FY10 Revenue: $199.4M Overview Kenexa, a pioneer in the TAS market, works with over 4,400 organizations located in more than 200 countries. They offer a robust TAS, 2X BrassRing, for complex global enterprise and 2X Recruit for medium- to large-sized organizations. Strengths Support for internal users and candidates, and each client has a dedicated client service manager. Robust mobile functionality for internal users and job seekers. To enable easy approvals and candidate data collection, a Smart Email feature provides non-system users with links to live system data; data is automatically recorded and emails are tracked. Challenges $1 $1M+ * Vendor declined to provide product pricing. Limited information on 2X Recruit on the Kenexa website makes it difficult for clients to learn about the solution and determine which features are part of 2X Recruit and not just 2X BrassRing. Branding and customizing of career portals is currently limited in 2X Recruit. Recommends: Consider 2X Recruit if you are a mid-sized enterprise at the high end of the SMB market; the solution is geared towards mid-large organizations. Smaller enterprises may want to look elsewhere. 16
SuccessFactors works with its vast partner network to provide a flexible, capable solution for SMBs Market Pillar Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Recruiting Management 1400+ San Mateo, CA successfactors.com 2001 NYSE: SFSF FY10 Revenue: $209.4 M Overview Leveraging its roots in performance management, SuccessFactors now serves over 3,500 customers in more than 38 languages. They provide a one-size-fits-all TAS solution for organizations of any size, industry, and geography. Strengths Rich mobile functionality for internal users and candidates, including device support and free applications are available via application stores (e.g. Android Market). Vast partner program, including an innovative SuccessCloud technology partner program allowing third-party applications and business system data to connect and integrate with the suite.. Challenges $1 $1M+ * Vendor declined to provide product pricing. Although easy-to-use, the corporate career portals are not as attractive as those of other vendors and do not provide much customized branding (i.e. look very similar across clients). SuccessFactors customers have reported that support and service has declined dramatically in the past two years and that the architecture is very inflexible. Recommends: Enterprises looking for robust mobile functionality, comprehensive global configuration capabilities, and strong partner programs should evaluate SuccessFactors. 17
Bond has only recently applied its extensive recruiting experience to the corporate world it needs time to evolve Emerging Player Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: BondTalent 500 West Sussex, UK bondtalent.com 1973 LSE: BDI FY10 Revenue: m 32.4 Overview Bond International Software made its name selling recruiting solutions to staffing firms worldwide. Based on that success, it expanded to the corporate recruiting market by launching BondTalent in the UK in 2003 and in the US in 2009. Strengths Plug-and-play design that is easy to use, reducing training needs. Offers support and sales in 16 offices over 4 continents. Robust applicant self-service capabilities. Rich onboarding functionality included directly in the system. Able to parse candidate information from one language and translate it into another language. Challenges $1 $1M+ * Vendor declined to provide product pricing. The menu in the end-user interface is on the right side of the screen, which is not user-friendly and could be disorienting for some users. Does not provide support for applicants. As the solution is fairly new and Bond continues to develop it, the functionality is basic compared to other solutions on the market. Recommends: BondTalent is best suited for multi-national SMBs that need a system with robust multilingual capabilities and support for multiple currencies and date/time formats. 18
Njoyn has yet to make its mark in markets outside of Canada, but offers a highly flexible and well-supported TAS Emerging Player Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Njoyn 25 full-time; 15 contractors Toronto, Canada njoyn.com 2000 Subsidiary of CGI (NYSE:GIB) CGI FY10 Revenue: $2.73B Overview Njoyn is a global company based in Canada offering a flexible tool that is best suited for the medium- to enterprise-sized corporations in any vertical and similarly sized agencies. Njoyn s TAS supports 10,000 users, largely based in Canada. Strengths Customer service for both applicants and internal users. Highly customized and branded applicant portals. Fields in the applicant profile on the career site are autopopulated by automatically parsing the uploaded resume. Applicants get a score based the job requirements Instant messaging capability within the system for internal users. Challenges Solution is only offered in English and French. Compared to other solutions, the internal end-user interface is not very intuitive. $1 $1M+ 3 Year TCO: Tier 5; between $25K and $50K *Based on standard implementation and one corporate site. Recommends: Njoyn is an ideal choice for enterprises that are wary of the USAPATRIOT Act, a risk with Americanbased service providers, and those wanting a 100% Canadian solution. 19
Hireology is the newest vendor however, its robust tools for interview and selection management are impressive Emerging Player Product: Employees: Headquarters: Website: Founded: Presence: Hireology 5 full-time; contractors Chicago, IL hireology.com 2009 Privately-held $1 $1M+ 3 Year TCO*: Tier 4; between $10K and $25K *Based on the Enterprise plan, which is the largest plan. Overview Relatively new on the market, Hireology is trying to reinvent the way companies select talent by building an easy to use, intuitive platform that uses data and analytics to drive hiring decisions. Strengths Flexible pricing based on the number of concurrent openings, not the number of users, candidates, or company locations. SmartRank TM feature to sort candidates based on behavioral fit to job requirements (versus a keyword/semantic matching process). Guides for interviews and reference checks based on job analysis data can be viewed in the system and printed, if needed. Challenges Applicant portal is very basic compared to other vendors. As Hireology positions itself as one part applicant tracking system and three parts assessment system, the applicant tracking functionalities are not as advanced as those of other vendors. Recommends: Enterprises looking for sophisticated built-in tools to help make better hiring decisions will do well to evaluate Hireology. Also, its flexible pricing is ideal for enterprises with low or sporadic hiring needs. 20
Identify leading candidates with the Vendor Shortlist Tool The Talent Acquisition System Vendor Shortlist Tool will generate a customized shortlist of vendors based on your key priorities. This tool offers the ability to modify: 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 21
If employer branding is very important to the organization, a unique and highly configurable applicant portal is a must The ability to easily make the look, feel, and content of the applicant portal your very own differs across vendors. Exemplary Performers 1 Employer branding is important 2 Advanced candidate assessments Viable Performers 3 Global hiring needs Adequate Performers 4 22
If the organization wants more than basic pre-screening, candidate assessments help make data-driven hiring decisions Making better hiring decisions is about using data to drive that decision. 1 Employer branding Exemplary Performers 2 Advanced candidate assessments Viable Performers 3 Global hiring needs Adequate Performers 4 23
Multilingual capabilities for candidates and system end users is critical for organizations who hire around the globe A variety of languages for the applicant portal, end-user interface, and resume parsing is key. Exemplary Performers 1 Employer branding 2 Advanced candidate assessments Viable Performers 3 Global hiring needs Adequate Performers 4 24
Appendix Glossary Vendor Evaluation Methodology Value Index Ranking Methodology Product Pricing Scenario & Methodology 25
Glossary Applicant Tracking System: An applicant tracking system (ATS) is a software application that enables the electronic handling of a company s recruitment needs. An ATS allows an organization to collect and store candidate and job-related data, and track and monitor the progress of candidates through all stages of the hiring process. An ATS can be used to post job openings on a corporate web site or job board, screen resumes, and generate interview requests to potential candidates by e-mail. Other features include pre-screening questions, source tracking and source effectiveness reports, and resume processing tools. Until the late 1990s, these systems were only referred to as an ATS; however, today they are increasingly referred to as Talent Acquisition Systems/Solutions (TAS), E-recruitment Software, or Candidate Management Systems. All of these terms are used interchangeably, and refer to solutions that are designed to automate the requisition-to-hire process. E-Recruitment: E-Recruitment, also known as online recruitment, is the use of technology to attract and recruit candidates. Companies have moved much of their recruitment process online so as to improve the speed by which job candidates can be matched with vacancies. Using e-recruitment technologies, employers are able to fill posts in a fraction of the time previously possible. Recruiting Software: Recruiting software a broad term used to refer to software applications (i.e. Talent Acquisition Systems/Solutions) designed to help organizations recruit employees more efficiently. Recruiting software is used by small, medium and large organizations to handle job applications and to manage and screen resumes. Other features may include individual applicant tracking, requisition tracking, automated resume ranking, job posting, pre-screening questions and response tracking, and multilingual capabilities. 26
Vendor Evaluation Methodology 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 Info-Tech clients. Vendor Landscapes are refreshed every 12 to 24 months, depending upon the dynamics of each individual market. 27
Value Index Ranking Methodology 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. 28
Product Pricing Scenario & Methodology 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 TAS software licensing to address the needs of a reference organization described in the pricing scenario. Pricing was based to reflect three full years of service including licensing, support, and maintenance. Additional consulting, deployment, and training services were explicitly out of scope of the pricing request, though vendors were encouraged to highlight any such items included with the base product acquisition. The request for a three year service agreement allowed a three-year total acquisition cost to be calculated for each vendor s TAS solution. This three-year total acquisition cost is the basis of the solution pricing tier indicated for each vendor. Finally, the vendors three-year total acquisition costs were normalized to produce the Affordability raw scores and calculate Value Index ratings for each solution. Key elements of the common pricing scenario provided to TAS vendors included: A three-site, mid-level clothing manufacturer/retailer with 2,200 employees located at a US West Coast head office facility, a second US East Coast satellite office, and a UK satellite office. Recruiting functions are handled primarily at the US head office by three recruiters, but two HR staff in the UK site manage recruiting for that location. The firm is interested in a TAS solution that will fully automate applicant tracking, job requisition and posting, applicant management and correspondence, in addition to providing other basic TAS functionality and comprehensive reporting capabilities. They want a system that is flexible, open and adaptable to changing human resources needs across its West Coast, East Coast, and UK offices. The solution need to support the general IT structure of the organization: Primarily Microsoft Server infrastructure file, print, and application servers (other than those listed below) fully virtualized. Exchange 2010 (2 servers). Oracle DB on Linux (2 servers at the US West Coast office, and a single server in the UK). 700 Windows 7 laptops; 1,100 Windows 7 desktops; 100 Mac OSX desktops. BlackBerry is the standard corporate device (with a single BES server), but iphone and Android phones are allowed to connect to the network also. General security infrastructure: Spam protection is handled by a cloud-based service; VPN capabilities provided by single function VPN appliances. 29