The First Rule of HR Software Purchasing
David Carter |
November 1, 2013
The First Rule of HR Software Purchasing
Why do we purchase software?
To make our lives easier.
But when it comes time to make a purchase, we sometimes
focus on features and price points without also seriously considering whether
the software will accommodate and improve our actual day-to-day work processes.
The result can be disastrous—software that actually makes our lives worse.
To prevent this, follow the first rule of HR software purchasing:
Don’t let software drive your processes;
make sure your processes drive your software selection.
This means that the software you purchase—whether it is
online benefits enrollment software or something else—needs to be flexible and
adaptable. Flexible enough to work with and improve your current processes, and
adaptable to the ways you’d like those processes to evolve in the future.
To help you follow the rule, use a defined software
purchasing process such as this one, modified from a list on PurchasingInsight.com
(http://purchasinginsight.com/resources/the-procurement-process/):
1.
Define your business need.
2.
Develop your procurement strategy (how you are
going to select a solution).
3.
Evaluate providers, weighing key criteria
heavily without attaching too much importance to features that have little to
do with your business need.
Ultimately,
the first rule of HR software purchasing is all about making sure the software
meets your needs, now and in the future. To ensure that you always make good
buying decisions, learn about the other rules of software purchasing by
dowloading our white paper, “The Five Rules of Buying Benefits
Software.” (http://www.benefitwerks.com/wp/)