Bersin & Associates' New Buyer's Guide Identifies Latest Trends for Buyers in Fast-Growing, $3 Billion Talent Management Systems Market

OAKLAND, Calif., Nov. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Bersin & Associates, the premier research and consulting firm empowering Human Resource (HR) organizations to drive bottom-line impact, today announced the introduction of its first-ever Talent Management Systems Buyer's Guide, which seeks to reduce investment risk by identifying the latest trends for HR professionals selecting talent management software solutions that drive business performance.

The new guide also provides tips for navigating the rapidly-changing, fast-growing $3 billion-plus talent management systems market, which is estimated to grow more than 12 percent this year.

"The market for talent applications has exploded, driven by the depth of functionality now available and the ease of implementation provided by Software-as-a-Service," said Josh Bersin, chief executive officer and president, Bersin & Associates. "Our new buyer's guide is designed to help HR professionals clarify priorities for their talent management systems, understand the market players, and help them select the right short list for a successful implementation."  

The TMS Buyer's Guide describes key trends in this market, including:

• Integration of standalone applications: A market shift towards suites that integrate the previously disparate functions of recruiting, performance management, compensation and learning
• Convergence of talent management with core HR management systems, reflecting the shift of the employee system of record to an integrated talent management application
• A shift in the benefits of talent management systems from cost savings to strategic value: Most buyers have already seen the benefits of reducing paperwork and saving time. Now they want these systems to drive consistency across a global organization, deliver actionable talent intelligence, help the organization improve engagement, better allocate compensation, and help improve the leadership pipeline
• Increased adoption of SaaS as a delivery mechanism for talent management and HRIS applications, further linking these cloud systems to new outside services for assessment, payroll, data analysis, and major social networks like LinkedIn and Facebook

The new Bersin & Associates' Buyer's Guide also provides practical guidance and tools for selecting a talent management system. For example, it recommends developing an HR technology strategic plan, noting that the organization's over-arching business strategy should be mapped to an appropriately developed, comprehensive and integrated Talent Management strategy, including a related set of business objectives and success metrics.

"Our research shows that roughly one-third of total HR budgets goes to technology and services related to talent management:  recruiting, performance management, leadership development, and corporate-wide training and compliance programs," said Dr. Katherine Jones, principal analyst and director, human capital management, Bersin & Associates. "To help HR professionals optimize this important investment, we've developed the new TMS Buyer's Guide to aid practitioners in understanding the latest technologies and how they can be best applied to tackle real-world business problems."

The guide also profiles 25 selected providers of talent management solutions. Each profile includes a summary of the solution provider's history, the current size and target market for the company and insights regarding its current products and/or solutions. Companies profiled include ADP, Cornerstone OnDemand, Halogen Software, HealthCareSource, HRsmart, iCIMS, Kenexa, Lawson, Lumesse, NorthgateArinso, Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle PeopleSoft, Oracle Fusion HCM, PageUp People, Peoplefluent Software (previously Peopleclick Authoria), Saba, SAP, Silkroad, SuccessFactors, SumTotal Systems, Taleo, Technomedia, Towers Watson, Ultimate Software, Workday.

The full report, Talent Management Systems Buyer's Guide, is available today for $995 for a PDF and $1,145 for a print copy. It may also be purchased together with the latest Bersin & Associates Talent Management Systems 2012 industry study for $1,495 for a PDF and $1,645 for a print copy.  For more details, go to http://www.bersin.com/Talent-Management-Systems-Buyers-Guide/

Bersin & Associates research members already can access regularly-updated detailed background and product information on more than 300 solution providers in all areas of HR and talent management in the Bersin online Solution Provider Library.

Register to join Josh Bersin for his online webinar at 2:00 p.m. ET/19:00 GMT on November 30, 2011, The Hot and Exploding World of Talent Management Systems: Key Trends for 2012 -The Role of Social, Mobile, and Big Data .

Those interested in learning more about Bersin & Associates and its WhatWorks® membership may email [email protected] or call (510) 251-4400.

For media queries, email [email protected] or call (510) 251-4406.

About Bersin & Associates

Bersin & Associates empowers HR and learning organizations to drive bottom-line impact through world-class research and consulting. The company's WhatWorks® membership gives human resources, learning, and talent acquisition professionals the information and tools they need to drive change in their organizations as strategic business partners.

Bersin & Associates members use our insights and tools to benchmark themselves against best practices, design and implement programs across the HR and learning spectrum and select and implement systems.  More than 5,000 organizations worldwide, including more than half of the Fortune 100, use Bersin & Associates research and consulting to guide their learning, talent, and human resources strategies. 

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click appropriate link.

Katherine Jones
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=105155

Josh Bersin
https://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=82304

SOURCE Bersin & Associates