Openworld Update #9: Fusion

More detail and some pics for you...

The demo on the HCM product was the highlight of the week for me.  It has all the right items included, and a nice package to boot.  Some images from the presentation...

Two views of org charts.  You can toggle between them, as well as pull more info by person and initiate transactions.

Drill down into an employee page, see their comp ratios, proficiencies, predictive performance, and other key data...

Want to move them into a new role?  You can see how their skills match the job profile and what kind of fit they would be.  Again, more predictive analysis built into the system...

 The on-boarding panel, which includes a progress bar that updates each time a piece is completed, including person info validation and emergency contacts...

Not to mention benefits enrollment, including pricing based on the pay rate and the bio data already provided...

 The design interface, which allows you to rework the process on the fly...

I spoke with one of the presenters, and he verified that the system starts the predictive work based on external data, but adapts over time to the specifics of the organization.  By far the best thing I saw over the week.

Openworld Update #8

Finally had the chance to see the Fusion HCM product yesterday. It
looks fantastic, and ther features that were shown were everything I
was hoping for. I have pictures from the demo that I will post later.
The interest part now will be the vendor discussions at the HR Tech
conference next week. Fusion looks like it cantake the place of a lot
of one-off systems. I'm interested to hear why they think they should
still be part of the total HRIS solution.

Openworld Update #7

This morning's keynote was presented by Michael Dell, with some help from Cadir Lee (Zynga) and Rob Carter (FedEx).  The takeaways:

They are all really busy, and business is great
They all really like working together
You should buy/use their product

Outside of that, not too much.  Dell did show off their tablet phone (available soon as Best Buy) and their upcoming 7" tablet.  And they like Android, apparently.

It strikes me that the keynotes have been more about how great each company is rather than offering solutions to complex issues or taking the opportunity to issue challenges to their user community.  I think this is a huge miss, not just for OpenWorld but for any conference that brings a user community together.  Maybe that's just the HR guy in me talking.

Openworld Update #6

Just one post today to wrap up the action...

Most of the good ideas are coming from the Expo areas, not from the sessions.  They are remarkably disappointing.  Today's sessions...


"20 Countries in 20 Weeks With No IT Support"
In fairness, I should have asked what they were doing in those 20 countries.  Traveling the countryside?  Cooking classes?  Book reports?  The answer is technically an HCM implementation, in that they were adding EEs from a recent acquisition.  Their time today was spent explaining how they built a template to enter the data, and a glorified macro to type it in.  That's it.  No integration, no testing, no full migration, no change management, no training.  Data entry.  And it took 20 weeks to enter 900 records.  The best thing I can say for this session is that it ended early.

"Building Your PeopleSoft Application Strategy"
You should upgrade now, because then the CEO will sign off on everything.  We have the skit to prove it.  Oh, and all HR people have to offer at the big table is an engagement survey ("Everyone is sad, but we treat them really well.  If only we knew more!"), turnover ("I wish we knew why people are leaving!") and a fear of the unknown ("What?  We have to upgrade our system again someday?").  But it's ok, as long as you upgrade, you'll be fine.

Hopeful for more tomorrow, with some promising sessions lined up.  But the feeling from the IT team is the same.  And I've heard it was similar last year.  It's unfortunate, given the cost of the conference.  I am trying not to get my hopes up for the HR Tech conference in Chicago, but I think having a host of vendors on hand will provide more insight into processes and specifics than we are seeing here.

Openworld Update #5

Final session of the day was the Oracle HCM Roadmap, promising a look into the future of the application.  And the future looks a whole lot like the present.  Or even the past.

The items they shared were very basic, including online applicant portal and manager self service.  The feature set looks very standard, and at no point did the presenters give us something along the lines of "I know this looks like what everyone else has been doing already, but here's why ours will be great!"

On a side note, if you are presenting for your company, no matter how big the crowd, be sure you know how the microphone works and what you are going to cover.  The presenters looked ill-prepared at the last session, their demo did not work correctly, and one of them insisted on holding the lapel mic (while waving her arms around, gesturing during her parts).  Hard to watch, little value gained.  We can all do better.

Openworld Update #4

Just finished with Pfizer's session on implementing Self Service.  They put in a global (!) system in just about a year, starting in February of 2009.  They built around user needs, VOC, simplicity, and standardizing data and processes globally (with regional adaptation to meet regulatory needs).  Interestingly, they didn't start discussing the technology platform until September.  It was launched a few months after that.

Their story is a great one when it comes to planning your transformation.  It was all about the people, then the processes and then, late in the game, the technology.  As it should be.

Openworld Update #3

Finished up a review of PS Tools 8.5 implementation by Oxfam, a service organization.  They deal with some interesting situations, dealing with a lot of human rights and disaster relief situations.

The presentation boiled down to:

• Identify business drivers (for them, collaborative applications, interface features)
• Install test systems
• Let the technical team and functional team play with it (in an unstructured way)
• Schedule feedback and discussion sessions with them
• Prepare demo sessions of new features
• Give one-on-one demo sessions for key business leaders (not just your stakeholders)
• Be upfront about cost, risk and timeframes

There was also discussion on the implementation approach, but I won't review it here.  The lesson I would take from this, though, is that their successful implementation (or expected success, I suppose, as they don't go live until this weekend) is built around creating pull.  Pull from the technical team, pull from the business needs, pull from leadership.  A lesson that can be applied to almost every project you touch.

Openworld Update #2

Made it through the opening keynote with all sense intact.  As expected, a 2 hour commercial for Oracle and their partners, mostly focused on hardware and infrastructure.  (Nothing much for us HCM folks.)  A couple of thoughts...

Fujitsu spent a lot of money and time to create some slick videos that said nothing at all.  And I think their CEO might be a robot.

The exhibition hall is packed, a lot of golf and video games.  Good times.  Won some golf balls (not that I play).

First session:  Review of a well managed PS Tools upgrade project.  More to come...

Openworld Update #1

Completed check-in (after starting via mobile last night).  Took under 5 min to get my badge and swag pack (a backpack, notepad, and water bottle).

Four Iron Man suits are set up outside the keynote room.  It's clearly a big theme for them.  Mark Hurd did his best to steal Tony Stark's entrance, and there is a lot of red light and heavy drums.

Pics and more to come...

Blogging From Openworld

In San Francisco, waiting for the morning keynote. I'll share anything
interesting I come across?
Anyone else make the trip out?
--
Sent from my mobile device

Regards,
Dwane
314.610.6937
dwane.lay@gmail.com