Salary.com Announces CEO Transition…from Salary.com

February 23, 2010

 

HRchitect featured Salary.com in our 2008 release of The Suite Life of Integrated Talent Management and also includes them in our list of top Talent Management Systems and top HRIS vendors that businesses should consider. If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation.

Salary.com, Inc. (NASDAQ: SLRY), a leading provider of on-demand talent management, payroll, and compensation solutions, today announced that Kent Plunkett has announced his resignation as chief executive officer, effective immediately. Mr. Plunkett will continue to serve as chairman of the board. Salary.com also announced that its board of directors has appointed Paul R. Daoust as interim chief executive officer while it conducts a formal search for a permanent chief executive officer.

Kent Plunkett stated, “I am incredibly proud of what the people who built Salary.com have achieved since we founded the company over 10 years ago. Salary.com is recognized as the global leader in compensation management data and software, and our emerging suite of SaaS-based human capital management solutions is in a strong competitive position. We have recorded 35 consecutive quarters of revenue growth and I remain optimistic about the company’s long term growth potential.” Plunkett added, “It is time for me to step aside and provide the opportunity for fresh leadership to serve Salary.com’s amazing customers and employees. I am highly confident in Paul’s leadership of the company’s executive transition plan and believe that Salary.com has a very strong foundation for our next chief executive to grow the company to the next level.”

Paul Daoust is a recognized leader in the human resources industry with over forty years of operating experience, and he has been a member of the Salary.com board of directors since 2006. Daoust previously spent 28 years with Watson Wyatt Worldwide, one of the world’s largest human resource consulting firms. For five of those years, Daoust served as chief operating officer and contributed to the doubling of Watson Wyatt’s revenue and a tripling of its profits. After his career at Watson Wyatt, Daoust served as chief executive officer of HighRoads, Inc., a privately-held, technology-enabled solutions company providing benefits lifecycle management. After four years as chief executive officer, Daoust transitioned to non-executive chairman in 2005 and he continues to serve HighRoads in that role. Daoust also currently serves on various boards in the human capital industry.

Robert Trevisani, Salary.com’s lead director, stated, “The board of directors would like to thank Kent for his lifetime worth of contributions to Salary.com. His passion and dedication have helped the company evolve into a market leader in on-demand Human Resource solutions. The Board is confident that with Paul joining as interim chief executive officer, Salary.com has the leadership in place that will enable the company to continue prospering while it searches for its next permanent chief executive officer.”

For more information on Salary.com, please visit www.salary.com
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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SilkRoad technology and Indeed.com Join Forces…from SilkRoad

February 19, 2010

 

Integration with World’s Leading Search Engine for Jobs Expands SilkRoad Clients’ Reach

HRchitect featured SilkRoad in our May 2008 release of The Suite Life of Integrated Talent Management and also includes them in our list of top Talent Acquisition Systems vendors that businesses should consider. SilkRoad participated in the Onboarding Systems panel on June 10, 2009 as part of theHRshow. SilkRoad competed in the HRchitect Beauty Pageant on Onboarding Systems in January 2009 where they were crowned the winner. Brian Platz, EVP and COO of SilkRoad also appeared on the HRchitect WebMingle on March 20, 2009. If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation.

SilkRoad technology, a leading provider of talent management solutions, announced today the integration of the OpenHire job delivery platform with Indeed.com.  With millions of job seekers and more job searches per month than any other job site, Indeed is the leading search engine for jobs.

SilkRoad’s integration with Indeed will allow SilkRoad customers to expand their reach to potential candidates. Jobs delivered directly to Indeed from OpenHire will be included in Indeed’s organic results and its network of more than 10,000 websites. 

This integration will allow SilkRoad customers to reach the single largest audience of both active and passive job seekers on the Internet.  SilkRoad technology has existing agreements in place with Jobfox and Simply Hired.

Through this integration, OpenHire customers will benefit from implementing automated tracking for all jobs delivered to Indeed. By automatically populating the source when candidates apply to jobs from Indeed, more accurate ROI measurements can be made by recruiters wishing to track their online recruiting efforts. OpenHire customers can also take advantage of Indeed’s free Job Analytics reports, which contain information about how well a company’s jobs are performing on Indeed. OpenHire customers can use this report to gain insight into what keywords candidates are using to find their jobs, what job titles are being clicked on most often, and how their jobs are performing compared to other companies on Indeed.

“We are excited to introduce SilkRoad’s OpenHire customers to the benefits of having their jobs included on Indeed,” said Samuel Fitzroy, Director of Alliances at Indeed. “Having jobs included automatically from this integration will ensure that all OpenHire customers are taking advantage of Indeed’s massive audience of active and passive job seekers.”

Companies have been using OpenHire to find and track top talent since 1998. Their patented job board integration, career site portals, intelligent searching, screening tools, and candidate communication tools make it easy to streamline workflow and lower recruiting costs, all while improving efficiency. These features, combined with Indeed’s reach, will allow SilkRoad customers to maximize the exposure of their jobs to candidates in the most efficient way possible.

Having jobs automatically included on Indeed also makes it even easier to sponsor positions and get additional targeted job seeker traffic.

“We are very excited to be working with Indeed,” said SilkRoad Director of Product Strategy, Thomas Boyle. “They have simplified the job search process for job seekers, while building an incredibly cost-effective tool for companies to attract the best talent possible.”

For more information on SilkRoad, please visit www.silkroad.com
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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SkillSoft Announces Agreement on the Terms of a Recommended Acquisition for Cash by Private Investor Group…from SkillSoft

February 13, 2010

 

SkillSoft Shareholders to Receive $10.80 Per Share in Cash

Jim Ray from SkillSoft appeared on the HRchitect WebMingle on February 27, 2009. If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation.

SkillSoft PLC (NASDAQ:SKIL), a leading Software as a Service (SaaS) provider of on-demand e-learning and performance support solutions for global enterprises, government, education and small to medium-sized businesses, today announced that it has reached agreement on the terms of a recommended acquisition of the Company by a new company formed by funds sponsored by each of Berkshire Partners LLC, Advent International Corporation and Bain Capital Partners, LLC (together, the “Investor Group”). Under the terms of the recommended acquisition, SkillSoft shareholders will receive $10.80 in cash for each SkillSoft ordinary share or American Depositary Share (“ADS”), representing a 26% premium to the average closing price of SkillSoft’s ADS over the one-year period ended on February 11, 2010 and a 49% premium to the average closing price of SkillSoft’s ADS over the five-year period ended on February 11, 2010. The fully diluted equity value of the transaction is approximately $1.1 billion.

“Skillsoft is pleased to announce this transaction, which is being unanimously recommended by the Board of Directors,” said Chuck Moran, CEO of SkillSoft. “We believe the transaction is good for our shareholders as the offer represents an attractive premium relative to our trading history and, as an all cash offer, provides liquidity for shareholders. We view the transaction as an endorsement of SkillSoft’s leadership and success, which has been achieved through the commitment of a dedicated team over many years.”

“We are delighted to have reached agreement with the Board of SkillSoft on this recommended transaction,” said Michael Ascione, a Managing Director of Berkshire Partners, speaking on behalf of the Investor Group. “We believe the acquisition represents a compelling opportunity for SkillSoft and its shareholders that maximizes value and certainty, reduces execution risk and provides immediate liquidity. Berkshire, Advent and Bain Capital Partners look forward to supporting Chuck Moran and the SkillSoft team in creating long term value for SkillSoft’s customers and pursuing the opportunities for growth that we see in existing business lines and new products and customer solutions.”

SkillSoft will continue to be headquartered in Dublin, Ireland and led by the current management team, including Chuck Moran as CEO.

The acquisition has been unanimously approved by SkillSoft’s Board of Directors and a committee of independent directors, and the Board intends to recommend to SkillSoft shareholders to vote in favor of the acquisition.

For more information on SkillSoft, please visit www.skillsoft.com
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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Taleo Reports Record Fourth Quarter and Fiscal Year 2009 Results …from Taleo

February 11, 2010

 

Q4 Revenue of $50.5 Million; Record Q4 GAAP and Non-GAAP Fully Diluted EPS of $0.13 and $0.23; Record Q4 Cash Flow From Operations of $20.6 Million; 186 New Customers Added in Q4; Posts 25% Year-Over-Year Growth in Application Revenue

HRchitect featured Taleo in our May 2008 release of The Suite Life of Integrated Talent Management and also includes them in our list of top Talent Acquisition Systems vendors that businesses should consider. Taleo participated in the Talent Management Systems panel and Talent Acquisition Systems panel on June 10, 2009 as part of theHRshow. Kevin Marasco, VP Brand Marketing with Taleo appeared on the HRchitect WebMingle on November 6, 2009. If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation.

Taleo Corporation (NASDAQ: TLEO), the leading provider of on demand talent management solutions, today announced its financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2009.

“Like many of our world-class customers, Taleo invested through the recession in our people and in product innovation, and we are now stronger competitively and financially,” said Michael Gregoire, Taleo Chairman and CEO. “We are in a tremendous position to take full advantage of the recovery, and we plan to keep up our blistering pace of innovation to help our customers drive their own re-invention and growth.”

Annual business highlights included:

–  Product: Launched Taleo10(TM) Talent Management Solution for Enterprise and Small and Medium sized business.

–  Community: Delivered Talent Grid(TM), a set of three communities with online access to Taleo’s ecosystem of customers, partners and candidates.

–  Acquisition: Announced a definitive agreement to acquire Worldwide Compensation, Inc. the leading independent provider of global compensation management technology. The acquisition was completed on January 1, 2010.

–  Accolades: Industry analysts from Gartner, Bersin & Associates and IDC lauded Taleo for Leadership and Innovation in their respective Recruiting, Performance Management and Talent Management market reports; Performance Management received “HR product of the year” CODiE Award and “Top 10 HR Products of the Year” from Human Resource Executive Magazine; and Taleo’s Service and Support Organization received “Rated Outstanding” certification from the Service and Support Professionals Association and the Fall 2009 STAR Award for Service Excellence from the Technology Services Industry Association.

Fourth quarter highlights included:

–  GAAP revenues of $50.5 million, an increase of 5% year-over-year.

–  GAAP application revenue of $44.5 million, an increase of 11% year-over-year.

–  GAAP net income of $4.6 million or $0.13 per fully diluted share.

–  Non-GAAP net income of $8.6 million, or $0.23 per fully diluted share, an increase of 44% year-over-year.

–  Cash flow from operations of $20.6 million and free cash flow of $19.2 million.

–  Net cash at December 31, 2009 of more than $244 million.

–  Signed 186 new customers, including 18 new Taleo Enterprise customers and 168 new Taleo Business Edition customers.

–  Closed 7 large enterprise deals with annual contract values in excess of $250,000.

–  Signed more than 45 new performance management customers, increasing total performance management customer base to more than 200.

Fourth quarter customer momentum included:

–  New enterprise customers include: Associated Bank, Equifax, Kingfisher Plc, RTI International, Teradata Operations, Cook County, Illinois,  Thales UK, Amalgamated Holdings Limited and Tyco International Management Company.

–  New small and medium-sized customers (companies with up to 5,000 employees) include: Provenance Hotels, Association for the Blind and Vision Impaired, Teach for All, Rand McNally, Prosperity Bank, Munroe Regional Medical Center, JM Smucker, Delaware State University, Sherwin Williams, Janney Montgomery Scott, Warner Chilcott, and Alliance Building.

–  Continued momentum in joint Recruiting and Performance Management suite deals with several customers, including: American Life Insurance Company, Navteq, Acxiom, and the City of Edmonton. Additionally, existing customer VF Corporation added Compensation Management to its existing Taleo solution.

2009 highlights included:

–  GAAP revenues of $198.4 million, an increase of 18% year-over-year.

–  GAAP application revenue of $173.5 million, an increase of 25% year-over-year.

–  GAAP net income of $1.3 million or $0.04 per fully diluted share.

–  Non-GAAP net income of $26.4 million, or $0.77 per fully diluted share, an increase of 48% year-over-year.

–  Cash flow from operations of $50.7 million and free cash flow of $41.5 million.

–  Signed 664 new customers, including 65 new Taleo Enterprise customers and 599 new Taleo Business Edition customers.

–  Closed 25 large enterprise deals with annual contract values in excess of $250,000.

–  Application revenue backlog increases to more than $350 million as of December 31, 2009.

Taleo delivered the following financial results for the fourth quarter of 2009:

Revenue: Total revenue for the fourth quarter was $50.5 million, an increase of 5% on a year-over-year basis. Application revenue for the fourth quarter was $44.5 million, an increase of 11% on a year-over-year basis.

Net Income (Loss) and Net Income (Loss) Per Share to Common Stockholders: Net income was $4.6 million for the fourth quarter, compared to a net loss of $(2.5) million for the same period last year. Net income includes $3.6 million in amortization expense related to the acquisition of Vurv, $2.9 million in stock-based compensation expense and a gain of $2.5 million related to settlement of Vurv escrow claims. Net income per fully diluted share was $0.13 for the fourth quarter of 2009, based on 35.6 million fully diluted shares outstanding, compared to a net loss per share of $(0.08) for the same period in 2008, based on 29.8 million weighted average shares outstanding.

Non-GAAP Net Income and Non-GAAP Net Income Per Share: Non-GAAP net income was $8.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to non-GAAP net income of $5.0 million in the same period last year. Non-GAAP net income includes amounts excluded from GAAP revenue due to the write down of the deferred revenue associated with purchase accounting for the Vurv acquisition, and excludes stock-based compensation expense, amortization of acquired intangibles, restructuring and severance expense, and the gain associated with the settlement of the Vurv escrow account. Non-GAAP net income per fully diluted share was $0.23 for the fourth quarter of 2009 based on 37.5 million fully diluted weighted average shares outstanding, compared to non-GAAP net income per fully diluted share of $0.16 for the same period in 2008 based on 31.1 million fully diluted weighted average shares outstanding.

For more information on Taleo, please visit www.taleo.com
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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Ultimate Software Reports Q4 and Year-End 2009 Financial Results…from Ultimate Software

February 10, 2010

 

Record Total Revenue and Recurring Revenue Results for Quarter and Year

HRchitect includes Ultimate Software in our list of top HRIS vendors that businesses should consider. If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation.

Ultimate Software, a leading provider of end-to-end strategic human resources, payroll, and talent management solutions, announced today its financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009. For the fourth quarter of 2009, Ultimate reported recurring revenues of $35.7 million, a 24% increase, and total revenues of $52.3 million, an increase of 5%, both compared with 2008′s fourth quarter. GAAP net income for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $0.1 million, or $0.00 per diluted share, versus $0.6 million, or $0.02 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2008.

Non-GAAP net income (which excludes stock-based compensation and amortization of acquired intangibles) for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $2.6 million, or $0.10 per diluted share, compared with non-GAAP net income of $2.7 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, for the fourth quarter of 2008. See “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information” below.

For 2009, recurring revenues increased 25% to $133.4 million, and total revenues increased 10% to $196.6 million, both as compared with the prior year. For 2009, the GAAP net loss was $1.1 million, or $0.05 per diluted share, as compared with a GAAP net loss of $2.9 million, or $0.12 per diluted share, for 2008.

“2009 was a successful year for Ultimate. Our recurring revenue grew by more than 25% and our client retention rate remained strong at 97%,” said Scott Scherr, CEO, president, and founder of Ultimate.

“We also attained our 2009 operating income plan and have a solid foundation in place for 2010.”

Financial Highlights

– Ultimate’s total revenues for 2009 increased by 16% compared with that of 2008, excluding license revenues from 2009 and 2008 and the 2008 recurring revenues associated with a former business service provider. Excluding these same items, the incremental non-GAAP operating margin was 39% for 2009.

– Ultimate’s recurring revenue gross margin covered all operating expenses in 2009′s fourth quarter on a non-GAAP basis.

– Recurring revenues — primarily consisting of Intersourcing revenues from our Software-as-a-Service offering of UltiPro and maintenance revenues — grew by 24% for the fourth quarter of 2009 and by 25% for the 2009 year, both versus comparable 2008 periods. Intersourcing revenues and, to a lesser extent, maintenance revenues, were the principal factors in the growth of recurring revenues.

– Non-GAAP operating income for the fourth quarter of 2009 was $4.4 million and $12.9 million for the 2009 year. (For more detail, see “Unaudited Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures to GAAP Financial Measures.”)

– Ultimate’s annualized retention rate was 97% for its existing recurring revenue customer base as of December 31, 2009.

– The combination of cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities was $33.2 million as of December 31, 2009 compared with $23.0 million as of December 31, 2008. For the quarter ended December 31, 2009, the Company generated $7.3 million in cash from operations and repurchased 188,600 shares of the Company’s issued and outstanding $0.01 par value common stock (“Common Stock”) for $5.0 million, under its previously announced stock repurchase plan (“Stock Repurchase Plan”). For the twelve months ended December 31, 2009, the Company generated $23.5 million in cash from operations and repurchased 451,850 shares of the Company’s Common Stock for $12.2 million under its Stock Repurchase Plan. As of December 31, 2009, we had 1,014,575 shares available for repurchase in the future under our Stock Repurchase Plan.

– Days sales outstanding were 68 days at December 31, 2009, representing a reduction of 3 days compared with days sales outstanding at December 31, 2008.

Business Highlights for 2009 Year

– Ultimate was honored for the second consecutive time to be named the #1 best medium-sized company to work for in America by the Great Place to Work(R) Institute, Inc., the same research and management consultancy that produces FORTUNE(R)’s “100 Best Companies to Work For” list for large companies. Ultimate is the only organization to receive the number one position twice in this category.

– Ultimate’s UltiPro won first place in the People’s Choice Stevie competition for Favorite New SaaS Product sponsored by the American Business Awards. Other products competing in this category were Salesforce.com, Cisco WebEx, Citrix Online, NetSuite, and Peopleclick. The nationwide online vote was open to the public.

– Ultimate was named a winner of THINKstrategies’ Best of SaaS Showplace (BoSS) Awards. The BoSS Awards are presented by THINKstrategies to bring greater attention to Software-as-a-Service and cloud-computing companies that produce tangible business benefits.

– Ultimate’s customer support center was awarded Service Capability & Performance (SCP) certification for best practices for the 11th consecutive year. The SCP Standards represent the global benchmark for service excellence and are recognized by leading technology companies around the world.

– Connections 2009, Ultimate’s second annual global user conference, was held September 15-18. Co-sponsored by Dell and IBM, Connections 2009 brought together more than 600 UltiPro users from companies across North America, such as Callaway Golf, First Horizon, Fujitsu America, Sony Music Entertainment, Texas Roadhouse, and Yamaha Corporation of America.

Financial Outlook

2010 Financial Guidance:

Ultimate provides the following financial guidance for 2010 (which differs from the guidance provided on October 27, 2009):

For the first quarter of 2010:

– Recurring revenues of approximately $39 million;

– Total revenues of approximately $55 million; and

– Operating margins, on a non-GAAP basis (discussed below), of approximately 6%.

For the year 2010:

– Recurring revenues to increase by approximately 27% in 2010 over those in 2009;

– Operating margins, on a non-GAAP basis (discussed below), of approximately 10%; and

– Total revenues to increase by approximately 18% over those in 2009.

Operating margin expectations were determined on a non-GAAP basis using the methodologies identified under the caption “Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information” in this press release. Non-cash equity-based compensation expense for 2010 is expected to be between $13.5 million and $14.0 million.

For more information on Ultimate Software, please visit www.ultimatesoftware.com
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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WorkForce Software Announces Significant Revenue Growth and Company Expansion in 2009…from WorkForce Software

February 10, 2010

 

Company Marks 10th Anniversary With Record Revenues

If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, Workforce Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation.

WorkForce Software, the leading provider of workforce management solutions for organizations with complex policies and compliance concerns, reported today that revenue for the period January 1, 2009 through December 31, 2009 increased by 50% as compared to the same twelve month period in 2008. Despite the challenging economic conditions that affected the global economy in 2009, WorkForce Software continued to expand operations, grow its workforce, and add new clients to the roster.

“Due to the unprecedented economic pressures of 2009, organizations of every size and across every industry sought ways to reduce costs, improve operational efficiencies and maximize the value of their employee base,” stated Kevin Choksi, WorkForce Software’s co-founder and CEO. “Workforce management solutions emerged as a significant contributor to helping Human Resource professionals expand their role within the organization and positively impact business development, employee productivity, and corporate strategy.” 

Key to WorkForce Software’s growth was the signing of new clients including Day & Zimmermann, University of Hartford, and Duke Energy. Nearly 50% of the new clients are in the utility industry, building upon WorkForce Software’s already strong install base in the nuclear power market. Validating WorkForce Software’s concentration on mitigating complex labor policies and ensuring compliance, the company implemented the largest fatigue management project on record. The Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) required all nuclear plants to meet strict “fitness for duty” regulations by August 15, 2009 or shutdown. WorkForce Software successfully implemented its EmpCenter® Fatigue Management solution to 90,000 employees at 34 locations in the U.S. simultaneously.

WorkForce Software’s continued growth also required the organization to relocate its corporate headquarters in September. Doubling its office space in a new modern facility, with a state-of-the art training facility, WorkForce Software can easily accommodate its current and future employee population.

Finally, WorkForce Software also celebrated its 10-year anniversary in 2009, marking a decade of focusing on meeting complex and evolving strategic workforce management needs and acting as a true partner in their clients’ ongoing success.

“The entire organization is excited by the company’s continued growth and the milestones we reached in 2009,” concluded Choksi. “And 2010 promises to deliver greater growth for the company with expanded services and solutions for our clients.”

For more information on WorkForce Software, please visit www.workforcesoftware.com 
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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Saba Delivers Innovative New Approach to Rewards Management with Saba Compensation …from Saba

February 6, 2010

 

Sophisticated Software Can Identify and Reward the Most Valued Employees, Not Just High Performers

HRchitect featured Saba in our May 2008 release of The Suite Life of Integrated Talent Management and also includes them in our list of top Talent Management Systems and top Learning Management Systems vendors that businesses should consider. Saba participated in the Learning Management Systems panel on June 10, 2009 as part of theHRshow. A.G. Lambert, the VP of Marketing with Saba appeared on the HRchitect WebMingle on August 14, 2009.

If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation.

Saba, the premier people management software and services company, today announced the general availability of Saba Compensation, an easy-to-use software solution that drives more informed compensation decision-making by providing a comprehensive view of employee success. The sophisticated approach of Saba Compensation enables both compensation professionals and individual managers to make smarter spending decisions that improve performance, productivity, and talent retention rates. Among the innovations: direct access to multiple measures of success from within the compensation allocation tool, providing the ability to identify value beyond the performance review score.

Unlike today’s compensation solutions, Saba Compensation goes beyond simple pay-for-performance processes that focus only on formal review scores. Instead, Saba Compensation provides decision-makers with a rounded view of each individual by surfacing data from multiple people management processes. This helps identify employees in critical roles, high potentials, “team players,” and even those that contribute to knowledge sharing in today’s collaborative companies. The solution also includes ways to better engage employees by enabling them to surface their own reward preferences, which further boosts talent retention rates among valued employees. A number of Saba customers participated in early previews and user testing of these innovations, including Sydney Water and Graham Group, Ltd.

“Saba Compensation is very intuitive and easy to use,” said Paul Adams, reward and recognition manager at Sydney Water, Australia’s largest water and waste water utility, and a multi-award-winning employer. “We’re very pleased with Saba’s solution, which supports our know-how approach and our flexible and family-friendly work environment.”

“We need a compensation solution that not only helps us achieve compliance with our salary program guidelines, but can also help us link the accomplishments of work plans to bonus and pay increases,” said Laird Beatty, director of human resources at Graham Group, Ltd. “We want to directly motivate employees to align their work plans and performance with our compensation plans. That’s why we chose to add Saba Compensation to our existing Saba people management platform.”

“For our customers, a compensation offering that is merely a compensation worksheet for managers won’t do,” said Bobby Yazdani, chairman and CEO, Saba. “Saba Compensation incorporates elements of employees’ performance and value to the organization in a sophisticated way that no other compensation offering can.”

Saba Compensation is available now as part of Saba’s unified people management solutions, delivered either on-demand or on-premise.

For more information on Saba, please visit www.saba.com
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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SuccessFactors to Acquire Inform…from SuccessFactors

February 4, 2010

 

Becomes First Company to Offer Business Analytics and Workforce Planning in Comprehensive Business Execution Software

HRchitect featured SuccessFactors in our May 2008 release of The Suite Life of Integrated Talent Management and also includes them in our list of top Talent Management Systems vendors that businesses should consider. If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation.

SuccessFactors, Inc. (Nasdaq: SFSF), the global leader in business execution software, and Inform Business Impact, the global leader in analytics and workforce planning, today announced they have entered into a definitive agreement under which SuccessFactors will acquire Inform.

With this strategic acquisition, SuccessFactors will be the first company to offer business analytics and workforce planning as part of a comprehensive business execution software suite. With their unmatched applications and strategic consulting, Inform serves more than 130 enterprise customers, most with more than 100,000 employees, including 24 of the Fortune 500, such as Comcast, BHP Billiton, Starbucks, Nike and ANZ Bank, which represent approximately 2.5 million employees.

Inform has a rich 28-year history and 600 person-years of field and academic research, proprietary content and technology development in business analytics and workforce planning.

The addition of Inform’s powerful, 100 percent cloud-based software and unique expertise dramatically boosts SuccessFactors’ market-leading Business Execution Software (BizX) solution. The combined product will provide customers with a much more strategic use of workforce information, while expediting business execution, allowing SuccessFactors to deliver: 

  • Predictive analytics
  • Strategic workforce planning
  • Strategic reporting
  • Workforce analytics
  • Workforce reporting
  • Over 2000 key performance metrics, and
  • Peer benchmarking content for over 20 industries.

The combined solution extends value and builds on the investment customers have already made in SuccessFactors by enabling them to assess their readiness to execute their strategies, forecast the impact of their business decisions, mitigate risk and take action accordingly.

“All companies establish strategic plans. The critical challenge today is to execute on those strategies and improve overall business performance,” said Lars Dalgaard, founder and CEO of SuccessFactors. “With this acquisition, SuccessFactors is arming CEOs, CFOs and human resource professionals with actionable, high-value insights to perform better, gain competitive advantage, and lower costs. Our acquisition of Inform turbo-charges our focus and commitment to BizX and will dramatically drive further adoption within the $36 billion business execution market.

“Our customers convinced us that this was the right move, and they were asking for this combination of products,” Dalgaard continued. “When we did the due diligence on 30 Inform customers, several of them blind references, we realized how big this could become combined.Despite the size of their sales force, Inform has been able to achieve a lot, and with our global distribution and the most paying unique users in the cloud, we think this is a great opportunity for them. I believe no one in the industry, even with other business intelligence or homegrown solutions, can come close to replicating Inform’s deep, proprietary intellectual capital and their set of robust and proven solutions. When you talk to Inform’s customers, they are just playing a different game. They are answering different questions. They are driving more impact. They are changing the way their companies make decisions.

“When SuccessFactors went public more than two years ago, we outlined three separate criteria for companies we’d look at for acquisition,” Dalgaard added. “As SuccessFactors continues to aggressively grow, very selective M&A will continue be a part of that strategy as it relates to the three criteria we announced in 2007: furthering our technology; resellable high margin content; or geographic presence to improve business execution world-wide for any size company. Just one of these criteria would be enough for us to do an acquisition if the customers were referenceable and renewing at strong rates, but Inform had a check in all three boxes. This acquisition allows us to provide something none of our competitors can – software specialized for business execution decisions based on people information that has a direct impact on how a company performs.”

“Inform’s mission has always been to give businesses the best information and insights possible in order to create a clear path to success. SuccessFactors is aiming to do the same thing, so this is a natural fit,” said Peter Howes, founder and CEO of Inform. “Acquisition wasn’t our goal. We have had many offers from American and European companies, but I was never interested until I saw the strategic fit with SuccessFactors. We’re incredibly excited about integrating Inform’s analytics tools with SuccessFactors’ Business Execution Software. We’re creating an even more powerful solution to help our customers better understand how their employees are impacting business performance – how the business as a whole is running so that they can make more strategic workforce decisions that directly affect the bottom line. No other company in the world can offer this.”

SuccessFactors’ and Inform’s combined solutions are immediately available to customers through an OEM agreement between the parties, enabling SuccessFactors to maximize cross-selling and up-selling opportunities and develop future versions of the integrated software quickly.

Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, SuccessFactors will pay $25.5 million in cash and approximately $15 million in SuccessFactors common stock for Inform, with additional contingent consideration payable based on the fulfillment of continuing employment and the achievement of specified growth targets.

The acquisition on a pro forma basis and excluding the write-down of the deferred revenue balance and any contingent consideration expense is expected to be neutral to SuccessFactors’ net income.

The acquisition is expected to close in Q3 2010, subject to customary closing conditions.

For more information please visit http://www.successfactors.com/inform/.
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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Newton Software and Minimax Consulting Enter a Joint Marketing Initiative…from Newton Software

February 3, 2010

 

Joel Passen, VP of Marketing and Co-founder of Newton Software will appear on the HRchitect WebMingle on December 11, 2009. If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation.

Newton Software, a leading provider of on-demand applicant tracking and recruiting software solutions, and Minimax Consulting, a leading provider of expert statistical analysis of employment decisions and employment litigation risk management, are pleased to announce a joint marketing agreement that will provide significant benefits to customers.

Stephanie R. Thomas, Ph.D., Director of the Equal Employment Advisory and Litigation Support Division (EEA/LS) of Minimax Consulting stated, “Our agreement with Newton will position both organizations to enhance service offerings to new and existing customers. We’re looking forward to introducing our clients to Newton, and to providing expert insights and analysis of EEOC and OFCCP compliance for Newton’s customers.”

“The services offered by Minimax’s Equal Employment Advisory and Litigation Support Division are a perfect complement to Newton’s capabilities,” said Joel Passen, Newton Software’s Co-Founder and VP of Marketing. “We have a growing number of customers that are relying on our EEO and OFCCP Compliance feature to capture, track and report critical employment data. Dr. Thomas and the Minimax team will now offer our customers the ability to analyze this data to make better employment decisions and to manage employment litigation risks.

For more information on Newton, please visit www.newtonsoftware.com
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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Kenexa Announces Financial Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2009…from Kenexa

February 2, 2010

 

HRchitect featured Kenexa in our May 2008 release of The Suite Life of Integrated Talent Management and also includes them in our list of top Talent Acquisition Systems and top Talent Management Systems vendors that businesses should consider. Kenexa participated in the Talent Management Systems panel and the Talent Acquisition Systems panel on June 10, 2009 as part of theHRshow event. Ron Hanscome, VP of Product Strategy with Kenexa appeared on the HRchitect WebMingle on June 26, 2009. If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation.

Kenexa (Nasdaq: KNXA), a global provider of business solutions for human resources, today announced operating results for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2009. 

For the fourth quarter of 2009, Kenexa reported total revenue of $39.1 million, compared to $45.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2008. Within total revenue, subscription revenue was $33.3 million for the fourth quarter of 2009, a slight sequential increase compared to the third quarter of 2009 and compared to $37.6 million for the fourth quarter of 2008. Professional services and other revenue was $5.7 million for the fourth quarter of 2009, compared to $7.1 million in the third quarter of 2009 and $7.5 million for the fourth quarter of 2008.   

“Our fourth quarter financial results were consistent with our expectations, and were highlighted by 29% year-over-year growth in deferred revenue and cash flows from operations that were again strong at approximately $13 million,” said Rudy Karsan, Chief Executive Officer of Kenexa. “As we enter 2010, we continue to believe that Kenexa’s financial performance will remain consistent with recent quarters as the unemployment rate approaches stability, which is currently expected to occur around the middle of the year. As this occurs, we believe that Kenexa is well positioned to begin scaling its quarterly revenue run rate.”

Karsan added, “With the combination of an expected improvement in the business environment and more favorable comparisons, we expect Kenexa to return to year-over-year growth during 2010. Moreover, we are confident in Kenexa’s long-term competitive position and believe our unique end-to-end value proposition mirrors the sweet spot of customer demand among the Global 5,000. As such, we plan on further increasing our investments in sales and marketing during 2010 in order to position Kenexa for market share gains.”

Non-GAAP income from operations, which excludes share-based compensation expense, amortization of intangibles associated with previous acquisitions, and non-controlling interests, was $3.3 million for the three months ended December 31, 2009. For the three months ended December 31, 2008, non-GAAP income from operations, which excludes share-based compensation expense, amortization of intangibles associated with previous acquisitions, restructuring charges, legal fees related to restructuring charges and a non-cash goodwill impairment charge, was $6.3 million. Non-GAAP net income available to common shareholders was $2.9 million for the three months ended December 31, 2009. Non-GAAP net income available to common shareholders was $0.13 per diluted share for the quarter ended December 31, 2009, which was consistent with the company’s guidance and compared to $0.27 per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2008.  

Kenexa’s income from operations for the three months ended December 31, 2009, determined in accordance with GAAP, was $0.8 million, compared with loss from operations of $166.1 million for the same period of 2008. GAAP net income available to common shareholders was $0.3 million, or $0.01 per diluted share for the three months ended December 31, 2009, compared to a net loss of $120.9 million and a loss of $5.36 per diluted share in the same period of 2008. GAAP loss from operations, net loss and net loss per share in the fourth quarter of 2008 included the impact of a $167.0 million goodwill impairment charge.

Kenexa had cash, cash equivalents and investments of $58.8 million at December 31, 2009, an increase from $50.2 million at the end of the prior quarter.  The Company generated cash from operations of $13.0 million during the fourth quarter, which was partially offset by capital expenditures. Deferred revenue was $50.0 million at December 31, 2009, an increase of approximately $5.8 million compared to the end of the third quarter 2009 and an increase of 29% from the end of the year ago period. 

Other Fourth Quarter Highlights

  • More than “30” “preferred partner” customers were added during the quarter (defined as customers that spend more than $50,000 annually).
  • The average annual revenue from the Company’s top 80 customers was greater than $1.0 million, consistent with the end of the prior quarter.
  • Continued global expansion with the opening of an office in Buenos Aires, Argentina, which includes an RPO Center of Excellence and support for Latin American and major multinational organizations.

Full Year 2009 Financial Results

For the full year 2009, Kenexa reported total revenue of $157.7 million, compared to $203.7 million for the full year 2008. Subscription revenue was $133.9 million and professional services revenue was $23.8 million for the full year 2009, compared to $163.4 million and $40.3 million, respectively, in the year ago period.  

Kenexa’s loss from operations for the full year 2009, determined in accordance with GAAP, was $29.0 million compared with loss from operations of $144.2 million for 2008. GAAP net loss was $31.1 million or $1.38 per share for the full year 2009, compared to net loss of $104.7 million or a loss of $4.60 per diluted share for the full year 2008. GAAP loss from operations, net loss and loss per share included the impact of a non-cash goodwill impairment charge of $33.3 million for the full year 2009, while the year ago period included a similar charge for $167.0 million.

Business Outlook

Based on information as of today, February 2, 2010, the Company is issuing guidance for the first quarter and full year 2010 as follows:  

First Quarter 2010: The Company expects revenue to be $38 million to $40 million, and non-GAAP operating income to be $2.2 million to $2.6 million. Assuming an effective tax rate for reporting purposes of approximately 20% and approximately 23.0 million shares outstanding, Kenexa expects its non-GAAP net income per diluted share to be $0.08 to $0.09. 

Full Year 2010: The Company expects revenue to be $160 million to $168 million, and non-GAAP operating income to be $14.5 million to $18.5 million. Assuming an effective tax rate for reporting purposes of approximately 20% and approximately 23.0 million shares outstanding, Kenexa expects its non-GAAP net income per diluted share to be $0.52 to $0.66. 

For more information on Kenexa, please visit www.kenexa.com
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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Fortune 100 Companies Will Unite at Peopleclick Authoria Global Client Conference to Discuss Business and HR Trends…from Peopleclick Authoria

February 1, 2010

 

Clients of Newly Combined Organization Will Share Industry Benchmarks and Examine Newest Best-of-Breed Suite Solutions Across Talent Lifecycle Suite

HRchitect includes Peopleclick in our list of top Talent Acquisition Systems vendors and Authoria in our list of top Talent Management Systems vendors that businesses should consider. If you are looking for a new Talent Management System, or any HR system, talk to HRchitect first. We have unparalleled knowledge of the HR and Talent Management vendor community and can save you time and money in selection and implementation.

Peopleclick Authoria, currently serving nearly 60 percent of the Fortune 100 with best-of-breed suite solutions for Talent Acquisition and Talent Management, will bring together its joint customer base in Charleston, S.C. from October 11-14, 2010 for the Company’s Global Client Conference. The Peopleclick Authoria Global Client Conference provides a forum for Human Capital Management (HCM) professionals to collaborate, discuss and learn how leading HR technology, closely aligned with key business and financial metrics, can effectively manage their entire workforce while delivering true business results.

“The Peopleclick Authoria business and growth agenda is driven by the needs and requirements of our powerful global enterprise customer base. In response to feedback from this important group, we have designed not only a rich set of programs and learning tracks for our client conference, but also some important key program elements created to accommodate and perpetuate the sharing of peer wisdom among our attendees,” said Charles S. Jones, Chairman and CEO of Peopleclick Authoria. “We are delighted to be hosting such an impressive group of companies in October and look forward to supporting their corporate growth and profitability initiatives in the coming years.”

Human resources, organizational development, procurement, compliance and other professionals from around the world will attend this four-day event that offers extensive educational training and breakout sessions and a chance to share best practices in Human Capital Management. The Company has built in valuable time for networking, information sharing, industry analyst reporting and benchmarking analysis, and it has focused extensively on the key benefits Peopleclick Authoria clients will experience from the combination of the two businesses — from joint product roadmap insights to an overview of the expanded integrated solutions that link key talent data with financial results and metrics. Attendees will be able to discuss a wide range of topics with Peopleclick Authoria experts, HCM thought leaders and leading industry analysts. In addition, clients will be able to attend comprehensive educational tracks that reveal how organizations can incorporate effective HCM strategies within their global workforce.

To learn more about Peopleclick Authoria, please visit www.peopleclick.com
Matt Lafata, HRchitect

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