Technically HR: Oracle announces HCM model geared toward midsize enterprises

Oracle this month announced a new HCM solution for midsize enterprises aimed at streamlining the implementation of its suite in a cost- and time-effective way.

The offering, Oracle HCM Now, provides HR leaders at enterprises with up to 15,000 employees with a predictable implementation over six months in three phases, at a fixed cost to help with budgeting for the transformation.

“We kind of liken it to a model home,” said Yvette Cameron, SVP of global HCM product strategy at Oracle. “You start with the foundation…HR and recruiting, because you need to manage your people, you need to hire your people. You get…successful on that and then you move to adding the next level…payroll and other components. And then from there, phase three…the more advanced innovations.”

Cameron told HR Brew the offering helps companies that may lack “the cushion…for variability” or additional IT resources to roll out HCM solutions on their own.

“A lot of these midsize enterprise organizations, they’ve been formed through a series of acquisitions, grassroots efforts,” Cameron said. “So their people are managed in sometimes myriad solutions—sometimes spreadsheets, believe it or not—and they don’t have that foundation of people and organizational structure.”

HCM Now offers a way for these organizations to maximize their people processes with an HCM solution used by the big boys. The product launches across all industries in North America, but Cameron said the company plans to grow to Europe and other countries soon.

Zoom out. Less may not be more. Oracle Now offers the type of integrated system for midsize enterprises that’s often reserved for the largest global companies. Having one tech platform that integrates all HR solutions may even help employees best take advantage of those offerings.

Research from HR tech firm Personio found that 37% of employees say there are too many different digital tools, which it calls “fragmentation frustration.”

It’s an ongoing challenge for companies with multiple HR tech solutions: one system for time and attendance, another for expenses, a third for payroll and benefits, another still for employee experience and surveying.

The survey results mirrored findings from HR Brew last year, which found almost 70% of employees with one HR platform said they felt confident they could find the information they need, but confidence dropped to 49% when a company had more than one platform.

“It’s not just the technical integration…It’s the fact that there’s overlapping functionality. There’s confusion amongst the users and the different look and feel, and do I go to this system for this, [when] there’s [also] a little bit of it over in this other system,” Cameron said. “The beauty of what we have in Oracle Cloud HCM is the complete interconnectedness of all of our capabilities.”