An Inside View of the Growing Market for HR/Finance SaaS Technologies

Human Resource and Finance leaders looking for new technology solutions are increasingly casting their eyes to the cloud. According to the most recent ISG HR Technology and Service Delivery Survey, more than half of all new HR tech purchases will be cloud-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions. Analysis from ISG Insights™ also shows that more than 50 percent of CIOs and CFOs surveyed are considering replacing their current finance technologies. Longer term, ISG believes the market for SaaS-based finance solutions has the potential to be four times the size of the Human Capital Management (HCM) market.

This migration to the cloud should come as no surprise. The most recent ISG Index™ found the global market for As-a-Service solutions (SaaS and Infrastructure as a Service, or IaaS) grew 45 percent in the second quarter of 2016, and now accounts for more than one-third of the global sourcing market, nearly double its share since the beginning of 2014.

With so many HR and Finance heads in the cloud these days, ISG is delving deeper into leading cloud-based platforms for the benefit of its clients. Our latest move is to form a global strategic partnership with Workday, a leading provider of enterprise cloud applications for finance and human resources. The new alliance gives ISG deeper insights into Workday’s current solutions and product roadmap, knowledge that will help us better advise our commercial and public sector clients as they consider cloud-based HCM and Finance solutions.

Our partnership with Workday is the most recent in a series of alliances ISG has formed with leading technology providers to gain a broader understanding of their offerings and to enhance the independent advice we provide to our clients. Additional partners include SAP, Infor and Apptio, among others. We believe the deeper insights we’ll be gaining from our partnership with Workday will be of great benefit to our clients as we guide them on their digital journeys.

ISG provides deep subject-matter expertise, market data and financial frameworks to help organizations develop and execute HR/finance technology strategies that are right for them. Whether creating your business case for technology investment, selecting the best platform for your needs or managing the organizational and process change, ISG is committed to helping you achieve a successful transformation. Contact me to discuss further.

About the author

Deb leads ISG’s Human Resources Technology practice, drawing upon extensive in shared services, outsourcing and HR management to help clients define and implement their HR technology and service delivery strategies. Deb helps enterprises assess the business case for Human Capital Management software-as-a-service (SaaS) solutions, understand the capabilities and experience of leading HR SaaS providers and integrators, and formulate and execute effective negotiation strategies for HR SaaS software and implementation. She has authored ISG’s annual survey on HR Technology and Service Delivery Trends since 2014. Deb has 29 years of experience and has been involved in more than 150 HR engagements across HR administration, payroll, benefits, talent acquisition and HR technologies.