So after my little rant on integration yesterday, you’d think that I’m pretty sold on ERP? You’d be right. I’m also sold on point solutions though, and there is indeed a time and place for them. First, let me start with my pro’s for point solutions from yesterday.
They are the “best of breed” solutions, have the most advanced functionality, slickest user interface and self service tools, and probably the best per function process and workflows. And while I won’t go into ROI or TCO, there is usually a significant difference in the cost model between ERP and point solutions.
I’ll be honest, advanced functionality does not excite me that much. When it comes to performance, there is a box that everyone has, and anything truly unique will need to be customized. That’s ok, but the facts are that everyone (comparing apples to apples – you can’t put an SMB solution against Taleo) is going to be within 5% of everyone else. And any new, interesting functionality hasn’t really meant that much to me. So vendors are offering Facebook integration. So what? They are not helping you define the governance model. They are not telling you what the legal issues are with privacy. And they are not helping you understand how this advances your strategy. So while they are giving you an interesting functional improvement, they are also giving you a strategic and policy nightmare.
Self service and user interface is indeed important however. This goes right down to change management. While you should always have a change management program with every implementation, a decent user interface will make your life a bit easier on this front.
So I think workflow for the very specific (not end to end) process will be best in a point solution? Probably so, as they have much more time to invest thinking and programming the possible permutations. As mentioned yesterday, processes are end to end and I think that the ERP wins this battle. What I would say though, is if you’re going to buy a point solution (let’s say talent), think seriously about sourcing all your point solutions from a single vendor. This way, competencies, performance, compensation and succession will generally be integrated. Going with the right vendor, either recruiting or learning may be as well. Make sure that you’re also checking out how integration is really happening on the back end. Often, vendors have cobbled together a set of applications they have purchased and the back end is a disaster that you’ll never know about until after implementation. But some good research and questions will allow you really figure out if you’ll have integration or just the appearance if it. (What are those questions you ask? Sorry, that’s stuff I get paid for) At the end of the day, if your integration points are between core HR and a single suite of point solutions, you’re still probably ahead of the game. You’ll still have areas where process is broken, but hopefully you’ve eliminated most of the integration points and therefore eliminated much of your manual work as well.
