HR outsourcing and SAP….

Decided it was time to write a post more related to my day job…I had a look at the post on systematicHR. I won't comment on detail on HR-XML, cos I need to get up to speed with it again (I was closely involved 5 years ago, but not really since) , but I will comment on changes I see happening in the HR outsourcing-BPO space.

Over the past couple of years at SAP we have been very successful with our BPO programme. (no, not SAP as a BPO provider!) but BPO providers using SAP technology – Convergys, ADP, Arinso, EDS, ACS, LogicaCMG, Accenture, T-Systems, and TATA. As well as country deals such as BASF IT services here in Germany. These guys are realising that maintaining mainframe or old HR software is not their core business. They are in the service business, not the software business. We also have alot of cool technology to support shared service delivery, and obviously the strong integration back into the customers SAP platform.  We also have a strong team in place to support and drive this line of business. (some of the guys come from the provider space)

I've watched with interest the movement from BPO providers like ADP being key competitors of SAP to quite suddenly being a key piece of our HR-HCM strategy. Opening up the product has also meant opening up our go to market model, providers like ADP are now offering services to customers on a global scale using the SAP technology as an enabler for growth…. . From the press release in Nov last over 32 companies and 190 000 employees are already on the GlobalView platform, from movements in the market I see this as a solution to watch. I expect these numbers to grow really rapidly, as the ADP machine rolls this out globally.

I'm also very impressed with Convergys. The mega deal with Du Pont will run on an SAP platform. Karen Bowman is developing Convergys into a significant global player.

The customer now has the option to run SAP inhouse, or in via BPO, so this should remove those batch flat file worries that systematicHR was concerned about. A mix and match between BPO and inhouse is much easier, as the newer integration technologies (netweaver etc) create a much more flexible platform. (for instance inhouse talent management, but with realtime integration to BPO based HR transaction data)

Without much marketing or fuss, we are becoming a significant platform for HR BPO in the global and large customer space. As new developments rollout, SAP powered solutions will also play an increasing role in the mid-market. We have a model in place now that makes sense for SAP, the providers and is compelling for the customers. We hope that SAP will become the dominant HR BPO platform, and I think we are well on the way to getting there.

This is probably my last post for a week or so, as I'm off snowboarding. (I am the world's worst snowboarder) We are going to Obertauen in Austria, so I will practice my german queueing (read elbowing) skills too. I have been told by my wife that  blogging is not allowed. I will be forced to drink Jaegermeister instead.

technorati tag: SAP