GigaOm Radar for Human Resource Information Systems for Small-to-Medium Businessesv1.0

1. Summary

Human resources (HR) continues to be a critical component of any organization looking to stay competitive in a tight employment market. While much focus has been given to strategic human capital management (HCM) solutions, small-to-medium businesses (SMBs) are looking to deploy core process and data solutions rather than highly advanced and costly strategic experience software. These requirements have paved the way for human resource information systems (HRISs) that are tailored to SMBs by emphasizing core administrative support, ease of use, and accessible pricing.

To be considered in this report, solutions must support the full employee lifecycle. This includes functionality to recruit, onboard, pay, and train employees, as well as maintain their data. While embedded functionality is generally easier for SMBs to use, solutions may also be considered if certain aspects of the employee lifecycle are supported by well-integrated third-party partners. Additionally, all data collected and used throughout these modules should be stored in an accessible centralized data store.

Beyond these core employee functions, solutions must also support SMBs in standing up compliance policies to ensure local regulations and laws are known, understood, and then followed in an automated manner. This typically includes activities such as payroll tax filing, paid time off (PTO) policies, and labor laws but can vary depending on where the business operates. SMBs should also have access to a centralized document management system with an integrated e-signature provider, along with solution-wide provisions for notifications and role-based access controls (RBACs).

HRIS providers support SMBs by offering this core functionality in a streamlined, easy-to-onboard package. All solutions are software as a service (SaaS)-only and offer per employee, per month pricing models that help to significantly reduce any barriers to entry. Vendors continue to improve the ease with which businesses can create solutions, with increasing levels of no-code customization for workflow automation, analytics, and attendance management.

Solutions across this sector are undertaking a wide range of approaches to support SMBs and core HRIS functionality. Some are focused on platform breadth, ensuring use case flexibility is maximized via broad application marketplaces and even HCM support. In contrast, feature-focused players are going deeper into specific parts of the employee lifecycle, such as payroll, or specific business model support (retail, for example). Regardless of the approach, each solution aims to drive transformative benefits to these smaller companies through talent acquisition, HR productivity, and compliance risk reduction.

SMBs should carefully assess their current HR capabilities when evaluating a solution in this space. This includes considering where the business is located (or locations from which employees are to be sourced) and whether existing HR applications will need to be integrated into the new platform provider. Cost is an important consideration, but there is a growing need for more advanced (and often costlier) functionality around analytics and extensive communications, and this must also be taken into account.

This GigaOm Radar report highlights key HRIS vendors and equips IT decision-makers with the information needed to select the best fit for their business and use case requirements. In the corresponding GigaOm report “Key Criteria for Evaluating Human Resources Information Systems for Small-to-Medium Businesses,” we describe in more detail the key features and metrics that are used to evaluate vendors in this market.