Written by: Samantha Colby
Like many of you, I’ve spent the last few days at the office following up on connections made while attending the 18th annual HR Technology Conference and Exposition. This year’s conference had over 4,000 attendees and upwards of 340 vendors present in the expo hall. Whether you were a first time attendee like myself, or an 18 year conference veteran, this year’s HR Tech Conference was one for the record books.
Between the Vegas glitz, the glamorous booths and unforgettable giveaways, the Expo Hall alone was an eye-opening perspective into the world of HR technology. For a first-time attendee of HR Tech, here were my impressions:
• A majority of organizations are changing HCM technology
The HRchitect team spoke with hundreds of conference attendees from a variety of industries and organizational sizes. The one common denominator among this group is that they are looking to change their HR technology, which makes perfect sense as to why they are attending HR Tech. This presents a major opportunity for the technology vendors, so it will be interesting to see how vendor competition, especially at trade shows and conferences, evolves.
At an event like HR Tech, it was easy to be drawn in by the nicest booths and best giveaways, but, at the end of the day, you need to make sure that you select an HCM technology because it best meets your business requirements – not simply because the vendor has a large marketing budget.
• New systems implemented = need for new system integrations
You saw a great piece of technology that would be the perfect complement to your existing system – or so you think! Now consider, will that skills testing platform integrate with your current Applicant Tracking System (ATS), or will you be spending hours working on administrative tasks transposing data from one platform to another? It is important to ask a potential vendor if the capability exists to integrate with your current systems. If the systems integration doesn’t exist, it is likely being developed as we speak. Should the integration exist, you need to understand how complicated would it be to complete the integrations.
If you’re on a tight timeline or don’t have the resources in-house, it may be to your advantage to engage with an implementation partner, like HRchitect, who can integrate virtually any HR systems.
• It’s nearly impossible to keep up with all of the marketplace vendors on your own
Perhaps the most significant takeaway from attending HR Tech is the sheer number of HR technology vendors that exist in today’s marketplace.
It is nearly impossible for the average person to keep up with all of the marketplace offerings. Notice that I said nearly? That is where HRchitect experts can assist. HRchitect monitors the marketplace and stays up to date with all of the vendor technology offerings. So, when you are thinking about changing or replacing your HCM technology, engage with HRchitect. No one knows the vendor landscape better, and you’ll be sure to save hundreds of hours of time and frustration than if you were to go about evaluating and selecting a new technology on your own.
For those in the HCM world, the conference was a must-attend event with informative conference sessions, a vast expo hall and incredible networking opportunities. For this first-time attendee, HR Tech certainly left quite the impressive first impression. See you in Chicago in 2016, HR Tech!
About Samantha Colby:
Samantha Colby is the Marketing Manager at HRchitect, the leader in HCM systems strategic consulting. Samantha has several years of experience in the payroll and benefits administration space. Samantha has B2B and consumer marketing experience in several industries including consulting, higher education and sports and entertainment.