To ERP or Not to ERP?

By Ian Alexander
VP Marketing

That is the question that many SonicRecruit clients have been asking over the last several months. We have all been struck with just how many clients are being asked by their CFOs to seriously consider replacing SonicRecruit with the recruiting module offered by their ERP provider. Given the current business climate and uncertainty in the economy and markets, it’s not a surprise.

It’s also not a surprise that we have consistently justified our costs and value against some of the biggest names in ERP and HRIS.

We are in the process of trying to get an applicant tracking case study or two put together to give more details. It’s a little tricky to get approval for a case study where one valued vendor touts its superiority over another valued vendor, but I believe we should be able to get something going this year.

The whole notion of ERP vs. specialty applications is important because HR executives are increasingly being pushed by finance to consolidate vendors and go with a frequently free ERP recruiting solution. It can be difficult to put together a good case for sticking with a specialized recruiting solution like SonicRecruit because there just isn’t a lot of hard data out there about the potential downside of switching. And when some vendors seem to be giving away recruiting products, it can be tempting to make a switch.

Without going into specifics, here’s what a few clients have experienced over the last several months:

Client One. A happy client of SonicRecruit was compelled by their CFO to cancel SonicRecruit and adopt their ERP recruiting module. In the absence of any hard data to argue against it, the client went forward with implementing the ERP module. Result: In addition to difficulty with user interface, the client’s resume flow dropped from 100 a day to 100 per week. Applicants were calling on the phone to look for alternatives to web employment applications because they are frustrating and difficult to complete. With hard data like this the client is able to make a strong business case for returning to SonicRecruit. This client is not only back with SonicRecruit, but are in the process of sourcing the SonicLaunch onboarding module.

Client Two. This SonicRecruit client purchased a popular mid-market HRIS that came with a recruiting module. The client opts to run the SonicRecruit system in parallel to the new recruiting module and evaluate whether it makes sense to move to the HRIS recruiting module. Within six months the client signed a three year extension with SonicRecruit and remains a satisfied customer. The functionality and ease of use could not match SonicRecruit.

Client Three. This large government contractor purchased SonicRecruit as a bridge system to help them fill a gap while until they could implement a popular U.S. ERP system and subsequently implement that vendor’s recruiting module. After a few extensions of the “bridge” agreement, the client is now signing a multi-year agreement for SonicRecruit to remain its recruiting software.

Client Four. This client’s parent company was trying to compel them to move to the ERP system recruiting module used by the parent. After an in-depth analysis it was decided that the ERP module represented a significant step backwards in functionality and SonicRecruit remains the recruiting software for the client.

These are just a few of the examples we’ve seen. The results have been gratifying for us. And in many cases, these situations have resulted in our clients seeking deeper integrations between their ERP systems and SonicRecruit. That makes us happy because it’s a win-win for the client. These integrations are not very difficult or time-consuming, and clients get the best of both worlds.

With web services and service oriented architecture, we live in a world where integrations are significantly easier than they were even a few years ago. There is no need to settle for less than best of breed providers when it comes to talent management applications. There may be good reasons for consolidating applications with one vendor, but as you can tell from the examples I provide, consolidation for the sake of consolidation can be a costly misstep.