Analyst Perspectives

Turnover rates have taken center stage in workforce discussions, often being the first metric leaders request when assessing the state of the workforce. Yet, in isolation, turnover is one of the least understood indicators we have. Relying solely on turnover is like driving a vehicle using only your side and rearview mirrors; you’re reacting to what has already happened, without a clear view of what lies ahead. While turnover shows us that employees are leaving, it doesn’t reveal why they’re...

HR software for HCM is supposed to be the great enabler of a better employee experience. It promises to streamline processes, create seamless engagement and elevate the workplace into something dynamic, personalized and intuitive. Yet, for many organizations, the reality is far from the promise. Instead of making work better, HR software often becomes a tangled web of disconnected tools, frustrating interfaces and rigid automation that strip away the human element. As we progress through 2025,...

Workforce planning has long been a cornerstone of business strategy, yet many enterprises still approach it with outdated methods. Traditionally, it has been rigid, reactive, subjective and often siloed. But as industries evolve—especially those with high turnover and a large frontline workforce, like retail, healthcare and hospitality—companies must rethink how they forecast talent needs. Technology is reshaping workforce planning, making it more dynamic, precise and forward-thinking.

Attending isolved’s first Analyst Summit was more than just an opportunity to hear about their latest innovations—it was a front-row seat to their vision for the future of HR technology and services. A central theme emerged quickly—they are deeply committed to supporting small and mid-sized businesses (SMBs), not just with technology but also with robust services and an ecosystem of partners that elevate HR teams into the strategic powerhouses they were always meant to be.

If you’ve ever held the same job title at two different companies, you know firsthand how misleading job-based approaches to work can be. I’ve had the same title across different organizations, and the roles couldn’t have been more different. The responsibilities, expectations and even the skills required varied so significantly that it made me question why we continue to define work through the lens of static job descriptions.

If you’re an HR professional, the term “API” might make you want to hand things off to IT and move on with your day. After all, you’re here to focus on people, not tech jargon, right? But here’s the thing—APIs play a major role in making sure your HR technology works for you. And no, you don’t need to be an engineer to understand why they matter.

The HCM market has undergone a significant transformation in recent years. Legacy providers, long the dominant force, built their platforms primarily for administrative efficiency—streamlining HR processes but often overlooking the broader employee experience. However, today’s workforce expects more. Employees and managers now demand intuitive, engaging and connected HR experiences that extend beyond transactional tasks.

Technology should be viewed as an enabler of program success for diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging, providing extended support that enables teams to expand their reach and ability to execute more complex business processes. AI-powered recruiting platforms, for example, help remove bias from the hiring process by analyzing job descriptions and identifying language that may unintentionally deter diverse candidates. Tools that utilize algorithms to parse and review resumes can prioritize...

For many years, HR teams encountered an endless stream of buzzwords often intended to garner excitement about new technological developments or further evolution of the HR profession. Unfortunately, this often leads us down unproductive paths in the attempt to be part of the conversation. Often, executives and senior leaders will express a requirement to include the latest buzzwords in any software RFPs as a minimum for participation. HR teams find themselves in a position of compliance but...

The topic of skills is not new to the world of talent management or development, making many appearances in the talent conversation over the years. Recently, it has been a permanent fixture in the discussion, focusing on the total integration of skills across all aspects of the employee experience. The term “skills economy” describes the evolution of how value is assigned in the workplace and employment, emphasizing the importance of individual skills over traditional job credentials.

I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Buyers Guide, an assessment of how well software providers’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Learning Management Systems: Ventana Research Buyers Guide is the distillation of a year of market and product research by Ventana Research.

It has been a predominant buzzword for several years across all areas of human resources (HR), but artificial intelligence (AI) and learning and development (L&D) are finally beginning to integrate at scale, and it is one of the most transformative evolutions for the function of learning and development in the last 15 years. For a few years, we have been learning more about how AI will impact our daily personal lives, and more recently we have seen widespread evidence of how AI will impact our...

The workforce of today has been very clear with their needs, wants and expectations. They need to feel seen, valued, heard, included and empowered. They want to work in an organization that feels like a community and aligns with their personal value systems. Importantly, they expect access to technology and to be developed and supported as they navigate their careers.

Ventana Research recently announced its 2024 Market Agenda for Human Capital Management, continuing the guidance we have offered for two decades to help enterprises derive maximum potential from workforce- and people-related technology investments and initiatives. In crafting this Market Agenda, we focused on essential themes that are critical for HR organizations and for the software providers supporting them. The transformative nature of AI has not just begun to bring intelligence to HCM; it...

I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Value Index research, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Learning Management Value Index 2023 is the distillation of a year of market and product research by Ventana Research. Drawing on our Benchmark Research, we apply a structured methodology built on evaluation categories that reflect the real-world criteria incorporated in a request for proposal to learning management vendors supporting the...

Having recently completed the 2023 Ventana Research Value Index for Learning Management Systems (LMS), I’d like to share some of my observations about how the market has advanced since our assessment three years ago.

Ventana Research recently announced its 2023 Market Agenda for Human Capital Management, continuing the guidance we’ve offered for two decades to help organizations derive maximum potential from workforce- and people-related technology investments and initiatives. In crafting this Market Agenda, we focused on three critical themes top-of-mind for both HCM vendors and buyers: Organizational resiliency, employee engagement and utilizing digital technology to derive deeper insights into the state...

The pandemic years saw an exponential rise in organizational investment in digital learning, and for good reason. With in-person learning no longer an option, organizations were forced to quickly adapt to the changing world of work in order to ensure workers were prepared with the knowledge and training necessary to operate in ways they had never before seen. Beyond operational imperatives, organizations have turned to digital learning systems to find new ways to track and bolster productivity,...

The learning management system technology market has evolved dramatically over the past two decades. Learning management systems, now commonly referred to as learning experience platforms, are an integral resource for any organization concerned about productivity, organizational agility and operational excellence. These technologies enable organizations to demonstrate an investment in people, as the LMS not only facilitates regulatory and legal compliance and other forms of cost and risk...

I am happy to share insights gleaned from our latest Value Index research, an assessment of how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research Value Index: Workforce Management 2022 is the distillation of a year of market and product research by Ventana Research. Drawing on our Benchmark Research, we apply a structured methodology built on evaluation categories that reflect the real-world criteria incorporated in a request for proposal to workforce management vendors...

Workforce management processes and activities, a major focus of investment and optimization efforts for decades, have undergone a huge transformation in recent years. In our view, this is mostly a function of two significant trends: the explosion of technology innovation associated with the use of artificial intelligence, machine learning and embedded analytics in many areas of a business including a range of human capital management processes and operations; and a major reframing of the...

Ventana Research recently announced its 2022 Market Agenda for Human Capital Management, continuing the guidance we’ve offered for two decades to help organizations derive maximum potential from workforce- and people-related technology investments and initiatives. In crafting this Market Agenda, we focused on three critical themes top-of-mind for both HCM vendors and buyers: Organizational readiness, workforce resilience utilizing digital technology to increase retention, and advance worker...

Data from human capital management systems has delivered significant value to organizations for decades. The value continuum has included ensuring compliance with workforce-related laws and regulations around the globe; optimizing human resources’ processes (when combined with various other elements such as change management); maintaining a historical record of key employee activities and transactions; tracking cost trendlines such as those related to recruiting, compensation and benefits;...

The pandemic has had many profound impacts on organizations and their workforces, particularly the need to manage workers differently. Fewer face-to-face interactions make it difficult to “read” employee sentiments and reactions, even with the assistance of artificial intelligence. Employers are faced with the challenge of managing engagement more closely given unprecedented levels of change in policies and corresponding practices.

In my recently published Analyst Perspective “Selecting an HCM System? Include the Tougher Use Cases in Evaluations,” I highlighted a few HCM systems use cases that have historically been under-supported across the vendor/product landscape. My view on “critical HCM use cases” is the same today as when I led global HR and HR technology initiatives: use cases flow from the business imperatives faced by nearly every organization and their associated workforce-related implications. These HCM...

The annual Ventana Research Digital Innovation Awards showcase advances in the productivity and potential of business applications, as well as technology that contributes significantly to the improved processes and performance of an organization. Our goal is to recognize technology and vendors that have introduced noteworthy digital innovations to advance business and IT.

"Configurable" has historically been used to describe the degree to which enterprise software, such as HCM systems, can readily adapt to a customer’s business and process requirements, ideally with no (or only modest) involvement from software experts or IT teams. The term will likely always have considerable value when evaluating HCM systems because, while not always top of mind with buyers, the level of configurability in applications is essential for achieving key strategic goals, such as...

Many organizations are having a difficult time selecting what they believe to be the “best fit” HCM system for their particular strategic workforce goals and priorities. This is due in some cases to the very different evaluation lenses or criteria used by IT and HR teams involved in the process. The former tends to emphasize technology-specific selection considerations such as whether the system meets well-defined usability, performance and reliability criteria such as number of clicks needed...

There is a sea change happening in the Human Capital Management systems market. Historically, the predominant orientation of human resources departments has been about mission and goals from an employer’s perspective, spanning areas such as regulatory compliance, workforce costs, efficiency and effectiveness levels, and actions needed to improve skills and overall impact. This rather one-sided focus is now in the rearview mirror of many successful organizations. There’s a new orientation or...

The joining forces of two sizable companies, in this case totaling over 12,000 employees, can be expected to elevate both business risk and business opportunity. The risk side of the ledger typically impacts employees and customers. Employees become distracted or have their productivity dip until they know exactly how they will be impacted and what is changing, or even leaving voluntarily. Similarly, a segment of existing and potential customers view a merger as a net positive down the road but...

Many of us who have operated within the human resources profession or been involved in strategic initiatives aimed at placing the workforce at the center of competitive advantage (aka human capital management endeavors), thought we were at least conversational about predictive HCM tools. We were aware that industrial and organizational psychologists have, for decades, been creating skill- and personality-based assessments using predictive algorithms that stood up to rigorous testing, and how...

Here are some insights on Cegid drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides a balanced perspective of Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors and products that’s rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020. Organizations can use it to evaluate existing suppliers and potential new...

Here are some insights on D2L drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides a balanced perspective of Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors and products that’s rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020. Organizations can use it to evaluate existing suppliers and potential new...

Here are some insights on SumTotal Systems drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides a balanced perspective of Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors and products that’s rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020. Organizations can use it to evaluate existing suppliers and...

Here are some insights on Workday drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides a balanced perspective of Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors and products that’s rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020. Organizations can use it to evaluate existing suppliers and potential new...

Here are some insights on Skillsoft drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides a balanced perspective of Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors and products that’s rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020. Organizations can use it to evaluate existing suppliers and potential new...

Here are some insights on Infor drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides a balanced perspective of Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors and products that’s rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020. Organizations can use it to evaluate existing suppliers and potential new...

Here are some insights on Docebo drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides a balanced perspective of Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors and products that’s rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020. Organizations can use it to evaluate existing suppliers and potential new...

Here are some insights on PeopleFluent drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides a balanced perspective of Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors and products that’s rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020. Organizations can use it to evaluate existing suppliers and potential...

Here are some insights on Oracle drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides a balanced perspective of Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors and products that’s rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020. Organizations can use it to evaluate existing suppliers and potential new...

Here are some insights on SAP SuccessFactors drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides a balanced perspective of Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors and products that’s rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020. Organizations can use it to evaluate existing suppliers and...

Here are some insights on Saba drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides a balanced perspective of Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors and products that’s rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020. Organizations can use it to evaluate existing suppliers and potential new...

Here are some insights on Cornerstone OnDemand drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides a balanced perspective of Learning Management Systems (LMS) vendors and products that’s rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. Our continuous research and analysis of the market for business applications and technologies guide our comprehensive approach to this Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020. Organizations can use it to evaluate existing suppliers and...

I am happy to share some insights from our latest Value Index research, which rates how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ performance requirements in seven categories, five relevant to the product (adaptability, capability, manageability, reliability and usability) and two related to the vendor (TCO/ROI and vendor validation). The Ventana Research Value Index on Learning Management Systems 2020 (LMS) is the distillation of a year of market and product research efforts by Ventana Research....

Over the last two decades, the learning management system (LMS) technology market has evolved more dramatically than any other HR or HCM technology area, and for good reason. Organizations use learning applications across every department every day, thus these systems are an integral part of any organization concerned about productivity, organizational agility and operational excellence. These technologies enable organizations to demonstrate their investment in people, as LMS not only...

Here are some insights on Paychex drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides an analytic assessment of how well payroll software vendor offerings address buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research Value Index on Payroll Software 2020 is the distillation of a year of market and product research efforts by Ventana Research. We evaluated Paychex and seven other vendors in seven categories, five product-related (adaptability, capability, manageability, reliability and usability) and...

Here are some insights on Workday drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides an analytic assessment of how well payroll software vendor offerings address buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research Value Index on Payroll Software 2020 is the distillation of a year of market and product research efforts by Ventana Research. We evaluated Workday and seven other vendors in seven categories, five product-related (adaptability, capability, manageability, reliability and usability) and...

Here are some insights on Kronos drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides an analytic assessment of how well payroll software vendor offerings address buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research Value Index on Payroll Software 2020 is the distillation of a year of market and product research efforts by Ventana Research. We evaluated Kronos and seven other vendors in seven categories, five product-related (adaptability, capability, manageability, reliability and usability) and...

Here are some insights on SAP SuccessFactors drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides an analytic assessment of how well payroll software vendor offerings address buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research Value Index on Payroll Software 2020 is the distillation of a year of market and product research efforts by Ventana Research. We evaluated SAP SuccessFactors and seven other vendors in seven categories, five product-related (adaptability, capability, manageability,...

Here are some insights on Ultimate Software drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides an analytic assessment of how well payroll software vendor offerings address buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research Value Index on Payroll Software 2020 is the distillation of a year of market and product research efforts by Ventana Research. We evaluated Ultimate Software Group and seven other vendors in seven categories, five product-related (adaptability, capability, manageability,...

Here are some insights on Oracle drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides an analytic assessment of how well payroll software vendor offerings address buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research Value Index on Payroll Software 2020 is the distillation of a year of market and product research efforts by Ventana Research. We evaluated Oracle and seven other vendors in seven categories, five product-related (adaptability, capability, manageability, reliability and usability) and...

Here are some insights on Ceridian drawn from our latest Value Index research, which provides an analytic assessment of how well payroll software vendor offerings address buyers’ requirements. The Ventana Research Value Index on Payroll Software 2020 is the distillation of a year of market and product research efforts by Ventana Research. We evaluated Ceridian and seven other vendors in seven categories, five product-related (adaptability, capability, manageability, reliability and usability)...

I am happy to share some insights from our latest Value Index research, which rates how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ performance requirements in seven categories, five relevant to the product (adaptability, capability, manageability, reliability and usability) and two related to the vendor (TCO/ROI and vendor validation). The Ventana Research Value Index on Payroll Software 2020 is the distillation of a year of market and product research efforts by Ventana Research. Drawing on our...

On February 24th Cornerstone OnDemand announced their plan to acquire rival Saba Software for approximately $1.4 billion in cash and stock. Each of the enterprise software companies went to market about twenty years ago with learning management solutions and over time broadened their product portfolios with other talent management offerings including performance management and talent acquisition. The combined company will serve more than 75 million users in about 7,000 organizations around the...

On February 20th Kronos Incorporated and Ultimate Softwareannounced their agreement to merge in an all-stock deal. The companies’ boards have approved the deal, which is expected to close in late March. This union will create one of the world’s largest cloud software entities, one that company representatives are valuing at $22 billion. Aron Ain, long-time Kronos CEO who has overseen Kronos’ journey from Time and Attendance systems purveyor to well-rounded WFM market leader with innovative HCM...

Ventana Research recently announced its 2020 research agenda for human capital management, continuing the guidance we’ve offered for nearly two decades to help organizations derive optimal value from business technology and improve outcomes. A major consideration in crafting this HCM research agenda is balance. HR and business leaders must achieve a meaningful balance in supporting the needs, interests and goals of the enterprise and its workforce. And HR and HCM managers require research to...

Organizations universally desire the business outcome of improved organizational agility — in other words, the ability to quickly and effectively identify and respond to business risks and opportunities, typically through workforce-related actions. Being agile requires that an organization be adept at two things: harnessing cognitive assets, the knowledge and ideas that comprise the intellectual capital of a workforce, and deploying and using technologies that channel those assets where they...

By itself, data isn’t useful for business; the application of analytics is necessary to transform data into actionable information. Data analysis of one sort or another has long been a core competence of finance departments, applied to balance sheets, income statements or cash flow statements. Today, however, Finance must go beyond these basics by expanding the scope of the data being examined to include all financial and operational information that can yield actionable insights. Analysis thus...

It’s no secret that employees are overwhelmed. They’re having to use an array of systems and enterprise tools in the flow of work and deal with an explosion of email messages and other communications requiring some response or action and mountains of content to consume and retain. On top of these time demands, employees must try to keep up with a staggering amount of organizational change.

Identity management is an old problem that has taken on new dimensions in the digital world. In 1993, at the dawn of the World Wide Web (WWW), The New Yorker ran a cartoon featuring two dogs talking, one perched in front of a computer. The caption reads: “On the Internet, nobody knows you’re a dog.” The phrase quickly evolved into a meme highlighting the issue of identity uncertainty in the new digital environment.

Roughly half of my more than 30-year career in human capital management was spent as a line manager responsible for HR technology strategy, selection and deployment. I learned a number of lessons during these years — some just in time, some after the fact. If I had to identify one common thread that unites these insights, it would be that inadequate attention to change management is an ROI-killer on these strategic initiatives every time.

Learning management technology, either as part of a larger HCM software suite or as a standalone niche solution, has evolved from its classroom-based, instructor-led origins. Modern systems deliver information the way many employees learn best, through informal social learning that is personalized and engaging. Some of these new, often mobile-enabled approaches deliver education via short (three to five minute) on-demand videos that are tailored to an individual’s specific job responsibilities...

Over the last two years, investments in digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI) by nearly every major provider of HCM systems and tools have transformed the HR technology landscape. Many of the investments have gone into developing distinctive product capabilities, particularly capabilities that rely on machine learning technology.

Employee engagement has been a dominant theme in both human capital management (HCM) and the systems to manage it in recent years; lately (though not necessarily appropriately) it is a topic often equated with the notion of the employee experience. On a related point, Gallup’s annual employee engagement survey has consistently found the majority of today’s workforce to be disengaged, defined as “not enthusiastic or passionate about their work.” Interest in the degree to which HCM technology can...

I’m thrilled to announce to my HCM vendor and practitioner network as well as the ever-expanding Ventana Research community that I’m now directing Ventana’s HCM practice. I will be working closely with our CEO and Chief Research Officer Mark Smith, who is a fellow HCM enthusiast and thought leader.

Compensation and the processes and systems to support it are at the center of success in every organization, as I have noted recently.In our view, an investment in total compensation management software is a strategic step toward advancing human capital management. Our benchmark research on this topic found some progress in attitudes about modernizing compensation practices. Almost three-fourths (72%) of organizations said that it is important or very important to have a total compensation...

Compensation management is essential for any organization that values engaging and retaining its employees. It is a fundamental component of a range of personnel-related activities – recruiting and hiring, assessing performance, and career and succession planning. Determining and providing appropriate compensation, which may involve base pay, merit pay, variable pay and incentives or bonuses, is equally important for all members of the workforce – full- or part-time employees, contingent or...

Workforce management is a key topic of expertise for Ventana Research. We define workforce management as the set of activities and processes organizations use to manage their hourly and salaried workforce for maximum productivity. It involves not only scheduling, tracking and paying for time worked but also aligning that work to the tasks and objectives of the organization. Workforce management is a critical component of every company’s operations, human resources and overall human capital...

Human capital management (HCM) offers a prime opportunity for organizations and their human resource professionals to make employee-related processes effective in engaging and retaining the workforce. Manual administrative processes often hampered HR in focusing on the workplace experience and employee satisfaction. Modern HCM applications can help them manage members of the workforce as critical assets and make continuous investment in people-related processes, deriving insights on issue such...

As organizations look to improve the competency and skills of their workers, learning management system (LMS) technology can help improve their efforts. Our latest benchmark research in next-generation learning management systems finds a range of progress in this regard. Our Performance Index analysis places organizations almost evenly between the two lowest (51%) and the two highest (49%) of four levels of performance. The results differ by size of company as measured by number of employees....

At Saba’s recent global customer conference executives discussed the company’s latest product enhancements, progress made during the past year and plans for the future. Saba provides a talent management suite that includes all capabilities except compensation management and is a leading vendor of corporate learning management systems. The majority of its 2,200 customers and 31 million users in 195 countries use the learning system, Learning@Work.

Learning is an integral component of human capital management, and a new generation of learning management systems advances learning in organizations around the world. These systems have evolved over the years from a classroom scheduling tool that facilitated instructor-led and classroom training into an array of enterprise applications that deliver and track various types of training. Recently new technologies, such as business analytics, cloud computing, social collaboration, and mobile...

Saba held its annual People 2013 customer and analyst conference recently in San Francisco, with approximately 700 customers in attendance.  At the conference the company provided analysts a perspective on its progress over the last year and its product roadmap.  My colleague Mark Smith wrote about Saba’s acquisition of Human Concepts last year; today Saba says it has 31 million users and 2,100 customers, including names such as Yum Brands, ADP, Proctor & Gamble, Intel and Five Guys Burgers and...

Learning management software (LMS) has evolved over the past 25-plus years from a classroom scheduling tool that helped streamline instructor-led and classroom training to a rich, integrated enterprise application that delivers and tracks training across an entire organization. These applications are effective at enabling organizations to share knowledge and track the knowledge-sharing process. Typically they use a top-down model involving classic instructor-led training and online courseware....