The information released by SAP over the weekend announcing their intention to acquire SuccessFactors left many (including myself) doing a ton of thinking and reflecting on our industry.
We are in this industry because we love what we do and to me there is nothing more exhilarating than getting news of this magnitude. So, let’s take a moment to understand and appreciate what this means to the world of Human Capital Management and Technology – and why we should all be doing virtual high-fives, backflips and celebrating in whatever way we choose to embrace our passion for this marketplace.
SAP has just broadcast to the world the single-most persuasive validation of Human Capital Management technology to date. It is a declaration we can all, as vendors and practitioners, lean on as we create workforce technology strategies and HCM business cases for years to come.
I am smart enough to realize that SAP also has done this to shift its focus to the cloud in a move to match what others like Workday and Salesforce.com have done, but lets be sure to take advantage of the HCM mention as long as we can. We don’t get it that often!
Don’t get me wrong, there have been plenty of significant developments over the years that validate Human Capital Management and support related HR technology advancements. I could point to dozens of both groundbreaking and inch-by-inch efforts that have pushed aside legacy HR systems to make an industry-changing move like this even possible.
What makes this combination of two powerhouses so significant for all of us is that it combines one of the world’s largest software companies with one of the industry’s foremost cloud computing companies –and it happened in the HCM space!
If you’re a CHRO, pay attention to how this acquisition will benefit you as an HR leader – don’t wait for your IT or HR technology folks to fill you in. Take some time to “rethink” your HR process and technology strategy for 2012 and beyond and understand how “the cloud” can benefit you immediately.
If you’re a CIO, recognize your opportunity to start thinking about integration paths and platform capabilities. This acquisition gives the industry the opportunity to think about integrations and data correlations that have never been thought of before.
If you’re an HR technologist, heads up… a few things may be changing in your world. However, be the voice of reason – no need to panic. Don’t run off and schedule demos to “rip and replace” just yet. Instead, be a logical and patient thinker about how these changes will influence where HR is going in your organization and how to make your HR technology function more strategic.
I believe that what Salesforce.com did to transform the world of CRM, acquisitions like this – and what other vendors have built from scratch to unify Core HR and talent management capabilities – will do for HCM. Cloud-based, social, mobile, extensible, instant, on-demand bliss (at some point). 2012 will be a year that changes the HR technology market forever and will cause virtually every organization in the world to explore the use of these new HCM technologies to drive enterprise advantages.
So, congratulations to SAP, SuccessFactors and the ENTIRE INDUSTRY! We have all worked long and hard to validate the need for what we do in this market. Today, our position that people matter has been affirmed. Each of us will continue to look for ways to deliver value to the enterprise using technology until we are seen as a strategic lever that no organization can survive without.
This is a monumental time for Human Capital Management and the world of cloud computing. Take a moment to reflect, and learn from past mistakes, understand the true future of the space, and create big, audacious plans to win the war for talent and how it impacts the business strategically.
We have been working with our customers throughout the weekend and all day today answering questions and helping them think through the impact of this announcement on their organization. It means something different to everyone, based on the state of their existing technology deployments and the maturity of their HCM processes. Please reach out at anytime to ondemand@knowledgeinfusion.com to discuss the impact on your organization.
Another infusion of knowledge…
Tags: acquisition, HCM market, market consolidation, SAP, SuccessFactors