APM ventures into the 'cloud'

Thai human resource consultancy APM Group is making a big move into the HR software business through its partnership with one of the leading providers of cloud-based HR solutions, Success Factors.

John P Didominic, APM’s executive director for client solutions, said the consulting firm aimed to have five “solid customers” for the new cloud-based HR services which will be offered in partnership with Success Factors by the end of this year.

The deal was the APM’s first foray into the HR software business, said the APM executive in an exclusive interview to The Nation.

Cloud computing refers to providing software, storage, computing power and other services to customers from remote data centres over the Web. Erik Berggren, the vice president of Global Research and Customer Results of Success Factors, who joined Didominic in the interview, said the global demand for cloud-based software was expected to rise 6-10 times faster than traditional or on-premise software products. This is because the overall cost of maintaining cloud-based HR application is about one-third or can be down to one-fifth of traditional software, while implementation time has also been shortened to an average 83 days, compared to 1-2 years of on-premise software, he said.

“Another benefit is ‘strategic agility’. [With cloud-based software] you can grow or shrink your businesses, adding or reducing users with just a click,” said Berggren.  

“Traditional software is kind of built for super users while we design the software to be easy to use and no training is required.” 

Didominic said cloud-based HR applications were relatively new in Thailand but about 15-20 multinational companies operating here such as Nissan, Toyota, Siemens, Shangri-La Hotel, Landmark Hotel, are already using this so-called software-as-a-service solution.

“Just because you are Thai company, I don’t know why you would hesitate,” he said.

APM sent 25 staff to train for delivering the Success Factors solutions in Thailand. Didominic said APM would work closely with SAP, which recently became the parent firm of Success Factors following a US$3.4 billion (Bt102 billion) acquisition.

Leong Yin Wah, senior solutions consultant at Success Factors, said Asean firms tend to have a mindset of fearing to be an early adopter. Nonetheless, Success Factors had founded its business in Indonesia and “exploded” with four customers – the first a bank with 23,000 employees – within the first year of official launching in 2010.

Berggren said he had just visited Success Factors’s Mumbai operations there, where it employed 98 staff (excluding staff working in research and development) and has 30 customers at present.

“I won’t be surprised if we double our businesses [in India] this year,” he said.

Globally, Success factors has been growing at an 85 per cent compound rate for the last 10 years, added Berggren.

Didominic said APM would adopt some Success Factors solutions in-house, including the goal-setting and performance management software and the “Jam” application, which allows the workforce to collaborate, learn on the job, and share information from anywhere and anytime.

“Success Factors was “born” because of its talent management software; its LMS or Learning Management System suite has been rated No 1 by Gartner and other research houses, its recruitment suite is so cool,” said the APM executive, citing some of Success Factors’ products.

Regarding some security concerns about cloud-based services, Didominic said “no matter how secure your data is at present, it will be more secured. Success Factors is in this business. They are not a public cloud [services] like Facebook or iCloud. They have a security audit. They make their data centre much more safe in the world. This is like the question of should you put your money in your safe in your house or at the bank?”

 

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