A strategy for trimming your HR software list - human resource - how to select a proper human resource management software

HR Magazine, April, 1997 by Eric Baker

Selecting software for a human resource management system (HRMS) is much like buying a new car. There are hundreds of models; some satisfy minimum requirements, while others appeal to your wildest dreams. Salespeople are happy to give you a test drive, but sometimes try to talk you into a modal that is not appropriate for your needs. Like a new car, HR software is most useful when specifically tailored to your requirements.

There are now more than 50 major HR management systems available. When making a selection, you need a procedure to trim the list to a manageable number-generally under five products - for detailed analysis.

THE REQUEST FOR INFORMATION

The first step in software selection is deciding what you want the software to do. List the functions and technical specifications you want, keeping in mind several levels of needs and wishes: absolute requirements, requirements, features you want, and those that would be nice to have. Remember to consider features that are not essential now, but will be in the future.

To get summaries of several systems, prepare a Request for Information. The RFI should describe your organization's most essential functions and technical requirements and ask qualified vendors to reply with specific information about their products. In the RFI, also ask about database support for the products; vendors change databases regularly.

SELECTIVE REJECTION

After you receive all the replies to the RFI, begin a process of selective rejection to pare down the list of products. First, consider your absolute requirements - and reject software that doesn't meet them. For example, relational databases are preferred over flat-file databases for HR systems, so you could eliminate anything other than relational databases. Second, consider the specific, required functions. If you want an HR system that includes benefits and payroll, reject products that don't.

Need for modifications. When buying electronic gadgets such as stereo systems, people frequently combine different brands for better results than they could get from just one manufacturer. But that approach is not always best for HR management systems. For example, if you want Oracle's HR system to work with People-Soft's benefits program, modifications of One program or both will be required.

Thus, a major criterion for software selection is finding a product that meets your needs with little or no modification. Reasons for this include the cost of modifications, potential for conflicts between the programs, loss of vendor support for customized modules, and the possibility that further modifications will be required for upgrades. In most cases you will buy a modular HR management system anyway, so you might as well plan to use it as a unit.

As HR management software is upgraded and functions are added, the programs are more likely to satisfy user requirements without extensive modifications. A thorough search will allow you to find those products.

A need for client/server? Although your system requirements may call for client/server technology, some major systems on the market are not designed for it. Once the organization decides to select or reject client/server, the options are narrowed considerably. The chart shows a sample of products in each category.

The operating system. Another major selection issue is the operating system. Organizations using Windows 3.1 may have difficulties with a Windows 95 or Windows NT product. If you use any Windows operating system, using another system under Macintosh, Unix, Sun or OS/2 presents difficulties.

What do I mean by difficulties? Most organizations have a technical staff that can support the hardware and software being used. While one version of Windows is easy to support alone, a blend of Windows 3.1, Windows 95 and Windows NT brings more problems. Some IT staffs have resources to support all operating systems, but others do not. Be sure to ask your IT department which operating systems it can support, and confine your selections to those.

The database. Another issue for technical support is having the appropriate underlying database. Some HR management applications work within a specific database; for example, an Oracle database could be the foundation for ADP, Cyborg, Genesys and PeopleSoft applications. The application and the database are two completely separate products. In-house expertise in one does not guarantee expertise in the other.

For large systems that track many employees, a full-time database administrator is often required. If the organization has in-house expertise in a particular database, you will probably want to consider only applications that work with that database. Be sure to ask the IT staff which ones they know best.

Some systems - such as Abra for DOS, Avantech HR, HR AdVantage, HR/Pay and TotalHR - are built on relational databases like Revelation, FoxBase and Access. If you select one of those systems, separate database support becomes less significant.

Other company-wide issues can be used to reduce the number of vendors: cost; network installations and protocols; support for structured query language (SQL); interface capabilities; and capacity to support peripherals such as interactive voice response, Internet/intranet operations and employee self-service kiosks.