Easy as one, two, three

Martin Snyder, Main Sequence Technologies

1) Applicant tracking software and recruiting software are not the same thing
Of the most common misperceptions that we encounter among potential buyers of applicant tracking systems is that ‘applicant tracking’ and ‘recruiting’ are roughly synonyms, while in real practice they are quite different parts of the staffing function, with differing focus and importance to each organization.

Recruiting is a sales activity, typically including all of the elements of other sales efforts such as forecasting, message and market development, relationship development, lead generation and qualification, contact management, consultation, negotiation and closing, and sales effort metric tracking. Applicant tracking is a process activity, typically including elements of process management such as describing, automating, executing, and optimizing process steps associated with humanistic processes (innovation, interaction, dynamic shaping), in this case, of the hiring process within organizations.

There are specific differences in design for both functions. For example, in the underlying data model it’s essential for recruiters to monitor competitors – who is working where, what projects, changes and initiatives competitors are undertaking and experiencing, what’s working and not working, and other information to establish and maintain recruiter expertise as they perform the consultative part of the sales process. In the applicant tracking, there is only one organization that typically needs to be described. In activity management, recruiters are involved in a wide variety of tasks and need calendaring systems for their personal productivity as well as for monitoring a team or organizational perspective. Calendaring requirements for people doing applicant tracking are typically limited to interview scheduling.

To make a good selection decision in this important area, find out if your recruiters need CRM functionality, and explore your recruiting style – active recruiting similar to that done by third-party firms or more passively based on advertising and employment brand building. Talent acquisition is a fundamental economic process, and it’s done in as many ways as there are unique organizations.

2) Talent management systems and applicant tracking systems are not the same thing
The market space for applicant tracking systems was created because earlier human resources information systems (HRIS) were not well adapted to the intricacies of talent acquisition, particularly after the advent of the internet as a key channel for talent acquisition activity.

The decision to seek best-of-breed solutions for various functions is highly individual to each organization. For organizations possessing advanced analysis capabilities and data warehousing competencies, integrating solutions from multiple vendors is a practical possibility, likely to both save money and foster competitive advantage. For other organizations, the ability to work with a single vendor and employ packaged integrations between point functions easily outweighs certain functional disadvantages.

When making your decision, carefully analyze the ability of your organization and potential vendor to complete integrations. While innovations like HR-XML (a unified standard for integrating HR data) and advanced i tools are making data integration more practical, it’s still a unique situation with each organization.

3) Web-based and ‘software as a service’ are not the same thing
Another common misperception today among software buyers is that the terms web-based and application service provider (ASP) or software as a service (SaaS) are often used interchangeably, when actually they are separate ideas that need not occur together. It’s important for you to understand the distinction between ASP and web-based when selecting software systems, because the differences may meaningful for your situation.

There are effectively four parts to a web-based software solution. One is the web-server (every new Windows computer can be one), the second is an internet connection for the web-server. That connection can be a DSL line, a T-1 line, or any other provision whereby people on the public internet or a private network can enter the web server’s ‘address’ (or URL) to connect with it. The third item is the actual software code, which is installed on the web server generally like any other software might be. The fourth item is database administration/software maintenance services.

The important part to understand is that, regardless of who provides the four parts, the end-user experience will generally be the same with the same software code. The delivery is typically indistinguishable to end-users. The decision to go ASP or to self-host when that option is available for a particular solution is usually not cut and dried; each organization has its own balance relating to the four parts of web-based software solutions.

One key metric is the number of end-users; most ASP services are priced to scale with usage – the number of users, bandwidth consumed, number of transactions as examples, and normally in perpetuity. Software is often licensed corresponding to typical clusters of usage patterns (like max number of users, number of sites, elapsed time or a one time charge). If there will be many users over a long timeline, licensing is normally substantially less expensive.

Other decision points include planning for an extended lifecycle, change control needs, interaction with the raw data, and taxation of licenses compared to services. Regardless of market hype, keep in mind that web-based and SaaS are two different ideas.