HR Self Service Portals

ByAnita Lettink

The focus of enterprise information systems is shifting from information access to information delivery. A new technology – the enterprise portal – now allows companies to do what only full-scale system integration previously permitted: deliver information, in context, from a diverse range of sources to a diverse range of user groups. Portals are capable of doing this at a lower cost, over a shorter deployment period than other approaches.

  • Enterprise portals can be platforms for the delivery of services and information to employees throughout a company, within specific business units or divisions, or within departments.
  • They are particularly appropriate when information requirements are predictable and repetitive as is the case with many areas within HR, finance, corporate communications, etc.
  • They serve to integrate business applications and communications from multiple sources into a single information platform.

Three basic options: build, buy or outsource the process and/or infrastructures that support the ability to identify, attract and retain valuable employees and to cut HR systems costs. As a result most enterprises end up with a hybrid build/buy approach, where a services partner or partners delivers all or part of a customized HRIS infrastructure that the client then staffs and manages. Thus, such initiatives are frequently characterized by complex channel and back-office integration requirements involving legacy systems and information stores.

The ASP model offers applications and network services at a fixes price managed by a single vendor. The ASP is offered on a subscription basis providing a complete turnkey service that can be scaled up or down as a customer’s need change.

ASPs represent a new way of packaging, pricing and delivering the functionality inherent to existing packaged software in a service delivery model that promises to lower the customer’s TCO, increase the speed with which their solutions are implemented and allow companies to focus internal resources on core competencies.

As self-service hr programs mature, companies in nearly every industry are beginning to realize their benefits in terms of cost-savings and increased efficiency.