Software Helps Midsize Companies Automate HR FastSoftware Helps Midsize Companies Automate HR Fast

A rollout of enterprise human-resources software can cost millions of dollars, which means that for midsize companies, those deployments can be too expensive and feature bells and whistles that aren't needed.

To better address time and budget constraints, as well as the process requirements of employers with fewer than 5,000 workers, HR software provider SoftScape Inc. is unveiling on Wednesday a new Web-based version of its human-capital-management software that the company says can be functional within 24 hours.

The new SoftScape Now modules address the "the top 100 or so" workforce process needs of midsize customers, says Aaron Dun, SoftScape's manager of global strategies. SoftScape, which has traditionally sold its suite of HR software to larger companies, is offering the new set of configurable module via an application service provider model.

Among the modules are workforce planning, talent acquisition, workforce performance, learning and development, compensation, and collaboration suites, including support for Internet-based employee meetings.

The integrated suite of modules is also positioned against "point" solutions from vendors that specialize in one or two areas of workforce management, such as E-learning, Dun says.

The software is designed "so that it's ready to go," Dun says. Customers can choose the configurable options they need--such as resource demand planning or time and attendance--and upon providing SoftScape with employee and other relevant data, the software can be functional within 24 hours, he says. Customers can also expand the selection of modules chosen or scale their use of the software as their needs change.

Forrester Research analyst Craig Symons says SoftScape's promise "for rapid deployment capability of the software helps to differentiate" it from other human-capital-management products on the market.

Because many midsize companies today typically rely on a combination of manual processes or "a collection of cobbled-together systems" and point solutions to handle HR processes, the biggest challenge for customers may be in gathering the relevant data to provide SoftScape, says Symons. "HR is very fragmented and siloed," Symons says. "But to get strategic value out of employees, companies really need an integrated window."

SoftScape's offering can provide a potentially fast and cost-effective way to achieving that integrated look into HR, Symons says.

Dun says pricing for the software depends on company size, but on average costs "less than a couple thousand dollars per month."