Tag Archives: SuccessFactors

got mobility? HR Apps will Rule the World

HR2013, Mobility, MSS, SAPInsider, SuccessFactors, Uncategorized, , ,

Alright, maybe the title is a bit extreme, but I have seen a lot of excitement lately around mobility and HR. The question is not if mobility will hit mainstream HR platforms (be it on premise or SaaS), but rather how fast it will catch on.

So first things first, do you remember this?

Motorola DynaTAC8000X
Motorola DynaTAC8000X

It’s the Motorola DynaTAC8000X. For those old enough, the DynaTAC may be best known for being used in the 1987 movie Wall Street, starring Michael Douglas as corporate raider Gordon Gecko. Whether or not you were a fan of the movie, it’s pretty amazing to see this phone in action.

We have come a long way from the Motorola, having lived through the rule of Blackberry in the corporate world, until Apple came along with its iPhone and iPad innovations and flexed its muscles…

And now I reflect further on mobility, as I am getting ready for my HR Forum Q&A on the SAP Insider Learning Network, for Wednesday, April 17, 2013 at 12:30-1:30pm EDT. The session title is Leveraging HR mobile apps: Mobility with SAP ERP HCM and SuccessFactors. (Please register for this ahead of time – you can also go ahead and leave questions already on the site.)

During my session at HR 2013 in Vegas, I felt a strong connection with my audience. Lots of interest – as well as – lots of questions around what SAP and SuccessFactors has in their offering. During my session “Guidelines and Best Practices for Deploying ESS and MSS on Mobile Devices“, (which I am also presenting at the SAPInsider Europe conference in Amsterdam in June), I was able to articulate a few themes that seemed to resonate well with colleagues.

Performing HR transactions on a mobile device?

Yeah! Performing HR transactions on a mobile device will become the norm and not the exception in the not-so-distant future. In 2011, Gartner predicted that 40% of ESS and MSS transactions will be performed on a mobile device by the year 2015.  Whether or not we will achieve this number is not the point here.  Another interesting stat: In 2015, projected sales of smart phones/tablets will be 1.7 billion units, whereas the projected sales of PC/laptops will be 400 million units. Definitely makes you scratch your head.

Bring Your Own Device

BYOD is leading the charge where consumer IT is the pioneer. We demand our HR apps to work a certain way since we use Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, Amazon, and Google on a daily basis. In fact, on the same device we shop Diapers.com, we can also update our performance management plan, or approve leave requests, or look at the current headcount numbers. Pretty amazing.

Consider This!

If you are going mobile for HR, here are some quick consideration areas:

Functionality – will depend on several factors including your device type (tablet, smart phone) but think about what processes actually make sense to be on a mobile device and what processes don’t;

Size/User Experience  – screen real estate matters; be sure to think about the user experience when operating a smart phones or tablet;

Connectivity – between WiFi and cellular networks, you can connect just about anywhere (work, home, airport, plane!);

Security and Infrastructure – understanding options around MDM (Mobile Device Management) software like SAP Afaria, and MEAP (Mobile Enterprise Application Platform) like SUP (Sybase Unwired Platform); and lastly,

Deployment Model: Are you developing native applications or web mobile applications?  This is an ongoing debate that has no winner. Some are of the ilk that there is no match to developing native mobile applications (using Objective C for iOS, Java for Andriod, etc.) so as to fully unearth the powers within the device (including its hardware, like camera functions). And then, there are others who believe HTML5 is the holy grail and browser-based access to applications is the most efficient and sensible option (e.g. for upgrades). There are pros and cons in both camps.

The Store is Open for Business

Last, did you know SAP has a store just like Apple has iTunes, Google Android has Google Play, Windows has Windows Store, and BlackBerry has AppWorld? You can find it at http://store.sap.com/. There’s also a mobile app for it on iTunes.

SAP mobile application iTunes
SAP Mobile Application Store

In addition to the SAP-built applications, the SAP vendor eco-system is also pushing the envelope and making some important innovations in this area as well. My company, Worklogix, has created some incredibly powerful mobile applications that our clients are loving. See below screen shot of Worklogix’s Mobile Desktop – which gives HR and Managers the ability to view their team (span-of-control), and initiate or approve transactions such as promotions, changes in position, termination, and hire/rehires.

Worklogix Mobile Desktop for HR and Managers
Worklogix Mobile Desktop

 

Have any questions on the above? Please don’t hesitate to leave a comment, or contact me directly. Thanks!

 

Thoughts from HR2013

ESS, HR2013, SAP HCM, SAPInsider, Self Services, SuccessFactors, Talent Management, , , , , , , , ,

Hi gang,

Just back from a great conference held by the SAPInsider team from Wellesley Information Services. Like past years, this year was great. Here are some of my takeaways, impressions, and lasting thoughts while still fresh in the brain:

  1. The messaging was clearer, but the sales pitch needs to go. The good news from the conference was that SAP and SuccessFactors did a much better job at the positioning of the strategy/roadmap than last year. I thought David Ludlow did a nice job with the message delivery at the keynote. Outside of the keynote, the sessions largely had the same quality and diversity in previous years (great job to SAPInsider, Riz, and Amy Thistle). My session on mobility really resonated with the audience, as did many important subjects on integration and HANA. The only downer for me was that there was selling in some of the vendor-led presentations. This is a customer-driven event and it should focus on ‘how-tos’, case studies, and best practices. Let’s focus on describing the options for our customers and how we can help drive successful deployments.
  2. Impressed with access to SAP and SuccessFactors staff. This year more than any other we had more SAP/SuccessFactors representation at the conference. Also, some SAP folks were available on Twitter throughout the conference, such as @watchthewave and  @brianclendenin which enabled us to clarify some items right then during the conference. For example, I had a question around Plateau’s performance management offering that was clarified by a SuccessFactors VP in about 1 hour. I learned first hand how powerful social can be, especially in a conference setting.
  3. Innovation around HR Renewal and deployment challenges. Like others, I saw some cool things around HR Renewal, but am concerned around how quickly it can be adopted by the bulk of customers. First , it does require the customer to be at a certain version/patch: SAP ERP 6.0,  Enhancement Package 6 on with SP Stack 03. What’s difficult here is that we have alot of things being thrown in front of customers from an ESS/MSS perspective: there was the conversion to Web Dynpro ABAP (which is now complete, as of EhP6), then there was CORBU, then HR Renewal for the HR Business Partner, then an extension of this for ESS and MSS. Also, throw in the mix of SAP Portal versus NetWeaver Business Client (NWBC). For those customers who are a SharePoint shop, NWBC is a consideration (to be consumed in a web part), but the challenge now is that SAP Portal is pretty well entrenched in SAP customers and it’s hard to rip that out at this point. When surveyed at my ESS/MSS customer session, about 80-90% were using the SAP Portal. Net new clients might be a different story. So we need to guide our customers in this hazy area. [As a side note, I was disappointed with the demo during the keynote, as it appeared slow (due to connectivity issues). At one point, the screen went blank. Also, the Employee Central demo appeared a bit slow during the keynote, and it was given shorter airtime (not sure why?).
  4. Some thoughts around functionality offerings of SAP/SuccessFactors:
    1. Jobs2Web adds huge capability for the Recruiting solution from a social (SocialMatcher) and candidate User experience perspective. However, the recruiter functionality (original SuccessFactors Recruiting) needs improvement, which I hope is an area of innovation for SAP/SuccessFactors.
    2. Performance management (and goals) continues to be a strong and compelling offering. I’m not sold on the use case of the new goals app for my iPhone, but the offering in sum is functionality rich.
    3. Qualifications management is a key issue needing a solution. Since many customers maintain a qualifications catalog within their core HR system, and since the go forward solution is SuccessFactors, there needs to be a well-thought out plan to sync this within a hybrid environment.
    4. I believe the SAP on premise Enterprise Compensation Management (ECM) and SuccessFactors comp/variable pay are comparable in terms of functionality. I heard from several customers who will stay on premise with compensation since their variable pay calculations/business process need special attention.  Those that have SAP Payroll on premise, I also see value in coupling the comp with the payroll.
    5. We need more clarity in the Workforce Analytics and HANA areas. From the information I gathered, and from the customers I met with, there is still alot of confusion around the strategy on premise v. cloud, around these two items.  I suspect we will hear more about these items during SAPPHIRE in May.
    6. Employee Central needs to grapple with the concurrent/ global employment use case since it currently cannot handle multiple contracts. Again, an area SAP/SuccessFactors needs to invest in.
    7. Time management was largely absent during the sessions and throughout the conference.
    8. Cloud Payroll was mentioned at a very high level. When will we hear more about this?

Next stop is the 2013 SAPPHIRE/ASUG conference. Hope to see all my friends there, and learn more!

Please follow me on Twitter at @jeremymasters

My Impressions from the HR2012 Singapore Event

SAP HCM, Self Services, SuccessFactors, Talent Management, , ,

Hi there,

I just returned from Singapore this weekend, and I wanted to provide some impressions from the HR 2012 conference that I attended and presented at. I know that not all my colleagues had the opportunity to attend, so I thought I would write a few quick thoughts that I took away.

  1. Same challenges, different time zone. No matter which time zone you’re in, country you live in, or language you speak, I am continuing to see the same challenges with HR and IT professionals. User adoption (usability), roadmap questions on SFSF and SAP, and the need for strong online form processing (eForms)-among others!- continue to plague SAP customers in all areas in the world. This year, I had the fortune to speak in Vegas, Milan, and now Singapore, so I got a decent sampling from customers in the North America, EMEA, and AsiaPac markets.
  2. User experience continues its dominating theme. User adoption of self service for employee, managers, and HR is still a huge part of successful implementations. My session on usability was well-received, with many heads shaking in the audience as we looked out for usability challenges with SAP portal applications as they are today. The audience was intrigued by the new HR Renewal functionality that I discussed. A good blog with some screenshots can be found here, authored by Jarret Pazahanick. SAP has hit a cord on this one, as I imagine most on premise customers will be interested in exploring how to exploit this innovation.
  3. SuccessFactors story re-introduced. Raj Sundarason, VP Human Capital Management Solutions from SAP, did a nice job at the HR Plenary address, especially re-introducing the SuccessFactors story and the benefits offered by a cloud solution. The options (full cloud, on premise, and hybrid) were again explained to the customers, and there was definitely some interested faces in the crowd.  There was also the same general concern on the roadmap and, especially questions on how talent management in the cloud would/could play into their existing framework since some of them were already implementing (or had recently implemented) some or all of SAP’s talent management modules.  This is a work in progress of course, but kudos to Raj for a job well done.
  4. Mobile. Interest in mobile, but not as pronounced as I was expecting considering how heavy SmartPhone usage is in this area of the world. However, I suspect folks (desperately) want this but know that they need to “walk before they can run” with respect to their existing situation (i.e., most customers I talked to were still trying to nail down a self-service strategy).
  5. Singapore is a fabulous city and country. This was my first time in Singapore and had a great time, meeting some really great people, and seeing some really amazing sites.

Looking forward to the opportunity of being back next year for the AsiaPac HR2012 conference.  Although the flight was a tough one (20 hrs in all: JFK-NRT-SIN), it was well worth the trip.

Thanks again to everyone at SAPInsider for this opportunity, and for the customers and friends I met while there.

@jeremymasters

Singapore Conference 2012

Compensation, SAP HCM, Self Services, SuccessFactors, Talent Management, , , ,

I am excited about my upcoming trip to Singapore for the first ever SAPInsider HR conference, October 16 through October 18.  For additional details on the conference, check out the website here: www.hr2012.com

A few weeks back, I was able to sit down with Dave Hannon, Senior Features Editor with SAPinsider & insiderPROFILES at Wellesley Information Services (twitter: @Daveatwispubs) and record a short podcast on the sessions I will be delivering in Singapore.

To read about my session on ESS and MSS, click here:

To read about my session on Usability and User Experience, click here:

I will be doing an “old school”, “back to basics” session on Org management. Click here for more info.

And, of course, one of my favorite topics (always), compensation management.

Obviously, one of the themes throughout my sessions will be around the recent acquisition of SuccessFactors, and what this will mean for SAP customers now and going forward.  I have had many conversations with my customers since SAPPHIRE around this topic, and it’s evident that many questions still exist out there.  I have previously listed some of the top integration challenges between SAP and SuccessFactors in a prior blog.

Thanks, and for those of you who will be in Singapore, I look forward to meeting up with you!

Jeremy

@jeremymasters

 

SAP and SuccessFactors: My Top 9 Integration Challenges

SAP HCM, Self Services, SuccessFactors, ,

I have had the fortune of gaining exposure to some of the latest information on the ongoing SuccessFactors and SAP integration. At the SAPPHIRE conference, and again at the recent HR2012 conferences, SAP has laid out their plan for integration with SuccessFactors (SFSF).  It is obvious that everyone at SFSF and SAP knows this topic is paramount in moving forward with its customers.  Clearly, SAP is pouring lots of R&D into these integration packages, and promising frequent minor releases (to combat poor reception to the slowness of earlier Enhancement Package releases). We are yet to understand what the rhythm will be, but certainly they will need to have frequent innovations around these process and data integrations so that customers can leverage a standard integration.

For the SAP customers who decide that a hybrid orientation (SAP as Core/Payroll/Time/Benefits and SFSF for Talent) is their new platform, I have identified a few challenges that will need to be addressed for SAP and its customers as they move forward:

  1. An interface is still an interface. Customers understand that an interface is still an interface no matter how standardized it will be. The current download/upload via .CSV was a quick and dirty solution to get SAP customers on SFSF but we need to mature this integration – SAP and SFSF  know this and is actively working on further improvements in their integration packages.
  2. Workflow/approvals and notification management.  How will workflow and approval routing be handled? SAP arguably has one of the best workflow engines out there, so will this be leveraged, or perhaps workflow/notification management will be handled from SFSF.  When organizational structure changes and employee movement occur, we will be reliant on SAP Core master data to update SFSF in a timely and consistent manner. This is easier said than done as know from our past experiences connecting systems.
  3. Security and provisioning models. How will the security models be shared between the two systems?  How will the security and provisioning models be integrated/shared/leveraged across platforms? How will established GRC and identify management processes be incorporated into SFSF?  This could be an audit and controls field day.
  4. Global employee management. Most SAP customers are not using true concurrent employment (global employment) functionality, but almost all have their own way of identifying expatriates, inpatriates, and other global employees.  This is a pain point for a lot of customers since it’s already hard to manage this population in SAP.
  5. Portal navigation including ‘deep linking’. How will customers achieve “one, unified self service experience” if some services reside in both portals (Employee Central and NetWeaver)? Years ago, we were foaming at the mouth on the importance of having one portal with seamless look-and-feel, linking, and access to web content regardless of where it resides (intranet, internet, etc).
  6. Usability / user experience between the two systems needs to be addressed.  Right now, it makes sense that this is prioritized lower since there are ‘bigger fish to fry’ (i.e., data integration) but we know that we want a beautiful user experience, but we also want a beautiful, consistent user experience.
  7. Data model. How are the two data models being integrated, merged, or otherwise made seamless?  SAP’s Infotype framework is one way of organizing data; SFSF has another. When data is sent to SFSF (and/or back to SAP), will we need any transformation of data, or is the data models close enough to support tight integration?
  8. Terminology. Every system has its own set of terms (‘system vernacular’). How will we integrate these? Examples include (from the SAP side), Personnel Area, Personnel Subarea, Employee Group, and Employee Subgroup – how do map over to SFSF data, and what are they referred to as?  Additionally, we need to be sure translations are handled consistently as well. Internationalization needs to be seamless and consist across the two systems.
  9. Content management. Centralized content management will be difficult if not impossible.  For the interim, I suppose parallel content management strategies would exist until one system is used, as I don’t think Employee Central and SAP Netweaver could be managed from the same CMS.

These are the top considerations that have been swirling around in my head of late, and I am sure there are more considerations.  There are certainly specific ones depending on the type of business. For example, public sector versus private as well as within industry (e.g. Pharmaceutical vs non-Pharmaceutical).

The good news is that SAP and SFSF are committed to tackle these items, but our community must be diligent and honest on how we approach and solve for each of them.  Time will tell on how these are solved. Hopefully SAP and SFSF will use their large vendor network to help.

– Jeremy Masters

@jeremymasters

How SAP’s purchase of SuccessFactors will affect SAP HCM consulting

SAP HCM, SuccessFactors, Talent Management, , ,

I was recently asked to provide a few comments on the recent SuccessFactors purchase and what it means for SAP HCM consulting. Some other leading industry experts and I gave our slant on how the recent news may influence how we do our work differently within the HCM space.  Click here to be taken to the article posted in the SAP Community Network’s website.   The blog offers some nice perspectives, broken down by some of the major areas within the SAP HR module including:

  • Core HR (Payroll, Time, Benefits, PA, OM)
  • Enterprise Compensation (ECM)
  • eRecruiting
  • Learning Solution (LSO)
  • Talent Management
  • Performance Management
  • ESS/MSS
  • SAP HCM Technical