At least once a week, I am on a call or respond to a question posted on Ask the Experts from an organization that is having difficulty narrowing the field of talent management systems for their initiative. The organization asks us to identify five or six solution providers that are best suited for their stated requirements. We are happy to help them, as this type of high-value service is included in our membership program.
Inevitably, the organization leads with a complaint that it is impossible to tell the solution providers and their offering apart. I wholeheartedly agree.
By my latest count, there are at least 29 providers offering some type of integrated talent management solution. From quick scan of websites of the leading talent management solution providers it appears they all hired the same marketing team! Organizations would be hard-pressed to find a solution provider that did not promote their offering using one of the following descriptors:
• Integrated;
• On Demand;
• Marketing leading;
• Strong reviews from analysts;
• Comprehensive;
• Holistic approach;
• Driving business performance;
• Empowering the high performance workforce; and
• Helping organizations identify and retain the best talent.
These are all very admirable traits and goals - which I agree should be promoted. But alone, without any REAL differentiators promoted, solution providers are indistinguishable from one another and organizations are left confused.
Based on our experience analyzing the solutions available today, here are a few traits we see as REAL “differentiators” in this seemingly homogenized – and definitely saturated - market:
Deep domain and services expertise – The solution provider has supported the application for several years and has many customers using the current version of the application. The solution provider has resident practitioner expertise and strategic consulting services to support customer implementations.
Many customers in a target market– The solution provider understands the unique needs of organizations of a certain size, in a certain industry vertical, or pursuing a specific strategy (e.g. pay for performance) and has the customer references to back it up.
Global capability – The solution provider has customers, support & services resources, data centers and the platform localization to support global enterprise implementations.
Staying power - The solution provider has been in business for a long time, with strong and transparent financials.
Modern platform and user experience – The platform has garnered attention and awards for being easy and intuitive to use.
HRMS – The solution provider offers integrated HRMS and talent management on one platform.
Low cost provider– The solution provider offers competitive pricing and communicates the total cost of ownership over the contract period.
Solution providers take note and help your prospective customers clear through the market muddle.
We will continue the dialog on this topic our IMPACT 2009: The Business of Talent® conference in St. Petersburg Florida - April 14-16 2009. Please join us for The Future of Learning and Talent Management Platforms panel presentation to hear the thoughts of the executives from the leading solution providers.