Workforce Management All-in-one vs. Best-In-Class - not all it’s cracked up to be

What is the All in one?

In the field of Human Capital Management (HCM) many vendors are looking to bundle different solutions together specifically time and attendance and payroll. While having “one” solution seems like a good idea we want to inform you as to some common misconceptions about choosing best in class software vs and all in one solution.

6 things you need to know before selecting:

1. All-in-one has better integration- Not necessarily, don’t be fooled; these all-in-one software vendors have their challenges as well. In fact some would argue more due to the complexity of trying to advance one application created unanticipated bugs in another.  Best-in-Class software vendors have been integrated with partners and competitors since inception in many cases.  They’ve gotten expert at this and most inherently develop this within their application.  It’s easy to evaluate - ask them for references and details about the integration approach. 

2.  Best in class is more costly- What? Integration is important but it can be provided by multiple sources and in most cases not an additional cost. Shouldn’t the cost on the software, implementation and services be the main consideration for this?  Of course – don’t confuse the two.  It is easy to determine what the total cost of ownership is when comparing multiple vendors.  Don’t get caught up on such a small factor in your overall decision but ask your all-in-one vendors to break out their proposal if they don’t do this as a standard already.

3. Shinny and new – better right? – No, you’re not buying a car. This is a serious business investment which needs to yield significant ROI.  Should your vendor be using the latest technology – yes! If the vendor offering you a brand spanking new software package – be weary here.  Truth is software is extraordinarily tough to develop, especially workforce management.  Today people are focusing on making the product look great (“Sellable”) and Cloud enabled.  Both important but newer software can lack focus on critical functionality required to generate ROI.  Things like strong calculation engines and ability to automate any work rule comes with decades of experience.  New software products or vendors may lack here.

4. What if you want to replace just one part of the all-in-one down the road? This can be very tough and how possible this is would be entirely based on the vendor you are speaking too. Some all-in-ones will protect one module over the rest.  For example, a payroll provider, may not allow your business to remove just the payroll piece if you are unhappy with it or the costs get too high.  They would suggest you would need to look at changing everything.  This can be a huge headache and very costly to your business.  Putting all your eggs in one basket sort of speak.

5. Service – always highly valued but typically under evaluated. Workforce Management Solutions can have a lot of moving parts and challenging to implement.  Of course without the right vendor experience and core expertise this can be high risk for failure.  Best-In-Class has extraordinary focus on what they do best – that experience translates to stronger ability to service the customers’ environment making the change for success exponentially higher.

6. You are now my prisoner! Truth is all-in-one applications are “Stickier ”. Meaning customers, even unhappy ones, will bite the bullet and deal with poor service, rising costs, or even lack of functionality just because the thought of changing this out is terrifying!  Why!  There are better options available and you should be totally satisfied.  Be careful when making this decision that it’s the right one because you will most likely decide to “live” with it for many years even if highly dissatisfied.

So what should you focus on when making a decision between Best-in-Class and All-In-One?

Simple, what’s best for your business?  Too many businesses get caught up with the notation of “one-throat-to-choke” and ignore fundamental requirements for these purchases.  These decisions are critical to your business and should not be made because it seems like the convenient option.  The reality is integration is important but you can get various degrees of this in Best-In-Class.  Your business should look at these integration points and decide – what’s this actually worth to us?  Going to market will allow you to effectively look at solutions which can offer more capability, better services, suit your business requirements better, and in many cases better price – all delivering a stronger more effective ROI.