11 Questions to Ask About HCM in the

Cloud

Moving an entire aspect of your organization’s infrastructure to the cloud might seem like a daunting proposition. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions are quickly becoming the standard across the business world, and deciding on the right one can sometimes be a more intensive, confusing process than actually implementing the solution.

There are many things to consider when debating the move of your HR and payroll functions to the cloud but don’t be intimidated. Having a cloud-based provider allows for more functionality and advanced technology than an on-premise solution, such as faster updates, artificial intelligence, and more.

SaaS solutions provide a number of unique benefits, advantages, and approaches to solving software dilemmas. This easy-to-follow guide will arm you with the questions you need to ask a cloud provider about the level and type of service they have to offer. As well as introduce several important questions HR and payroll professionals should ask when researching potential cloud providers for their organization’s people management.

Will I Still Retain Control Over My Data?

11 Questions to Ask Any HCM Cloud Provider

Organizations often worry if they will still retain control over their data if they switch to a cloud solution. Luckily, if you find the right provider, the answer to this question is a resounding “yes.”

A truly comprehensive solution, delivered by a single provider, will not require any sacrifice of control over your human capital management (HCM) data. In fact, in many cases, if you are switching from a “payroll servicebureau” model, you will gain more direct control over and access to your data 24-7. Furthermore, a solution with high configurability means that you’ll get the flexibility of an on-premise solution, without any of the headaches of on-site upgrades or in-house IT support.

When evaluating a cloud solution, be sure the provider discusses the solution’s configurability and explains how cloud technology makes tailoring the solution to accommodate your unique needs, quick and easy. Some vendors even offer a mobile app, so you can access your most important data regardless of where you are.

What Additional Functionality Can the Cloud Offer?One of the biggest advantages of any cloud solution is the expanded functionality that accompanies enhanced control of your data. Ask your potential provider what this entails for their solution.

For starters, any cloud solution should offer a big boost to self-service for both employees and managers. Your workforce may gain the ability to make changes to and review their payroll data, update contact information, submit and/or approve paid-time-off (PTO) requests, clock in or out for hourly pay, and more–all from anywhere. Solutions that have embraced current workforce trends will also enable as many of the tasks to be completed from a mobile device as possible.

The cloud also provides unprecedented potential for aggregating and harnessing “big data.” Drawing from as many channels of information as possible, best-in-class solutions can leverage employee trend data, and more to estimate employee engagement, identify top performers, and predict possible flight risks. These automated, actionable analytics give your managers more insight than would have ever been possible without the cloud.

There are also significant benefits to cloud delivery when it comes to direct employee sentiment analysis. No matter how diverse or geographically-distributed your workforce may be, the cloud empowers your organization to survey, compile results, and review response data from every single employee. With the right tools, you'll be able to slice and dice this data for comprehensive analysis, whether it's combining data from employees across the globe on the same team, or comparing a team average to the company as a whole.

What Kinds of Cost Savings Can I Expect with Moving to the Cloud?

One of the most compelling reasons to consider making the switch to a cloud provider is the potential for cost savings. Cloud-based HCM provides a number of advantages over an in-house model that your bottom line will love.

A best-in-class SaaS offering means no hardware costs (no in-house servers to store data), nor should you be charged for storage or maintenance—a huge improvement over a traditional system in which hardware costs can quickly skyrocket. There should also be no software licensing to contend with. You pay-as-you-go (typically on a per-employee-per-month basis) for only the services you need.

A leading global supplier of automotive partswas able to achieve savings of more than $500,000 per year switching from an on-premise to a cloud-based solution.1 Be sure to ask a potential HCM cloud provider what kind of savings your organization might be able to expect.

Many companies utilize a variety of separate business applications to achieve their goals. A unified SaaS solution should excel in ease of integration when it comes to the various third-party applications and vendors your organization relies on. A best-in-class cloud provider should be able to ensure that these integrations are just as functional, if not easier to use, than they were with an on- premise system. What’s more, you can control how and when your data is transferred from one system to another.

An ideal cloud provider will use a single HCM system-of-record that’s accessible anytime, anywhere in the cloud—delivered with Web services and pre-built integration templates for easy integration to your business ecosystem. Your provider should also utilize open integration standards that make connecting the separate systems a seamless process compared to licensed solutions, which may require proprietary integration tools.

Will a Cloud-Based Solution Still Allow Our Organization to Integrate with Other Applications We Currently Use?

Data protection and the security of private data are likely major concerns when considering a SaaS solution—especially when it comes to your company’s sensitive HR data. There are several official, standardized certification processes that you can look for in a provider to ease your security worries.

Be sure your cloud provider is ISO/IEC 27001 certified, the most widely recognized information security standard in the world. The in-depth auditing process required for ISO/IEC 27001 includes a systematic examination of risks and vulnerabilities and a comprehensive plan of information security controls. Management at an organization seeking this certification must adopt an overarching process to keep these controls up-to-date and continuously improving.

Additionally, SOC-1 certification reflects a successful audit by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA). This indicates a high level of confidence and effectiveness when handling sensitive data, and many companies will not consider working with a software provider lacking SOC-1 certification.2

You should also ask about data privacy. Cloud service providers that adhere to a very high standard for protecting Personally Identifiable Information (PII) will obtain ISO 27018 certification in addition to ISO/IEC 27001. Companies that have been certified as compliant with the EU-U.S. Privacy Shield Framework, concerning the export of confidential data from the U.S. to the European Union, as well as the APEC Cross Border Privacy Rules System (CBPS), are also very likelyto have strict, reliable privacy protections in place.

Finally, make sure that your cloud provider employs security professionals who have achieved CISSP certification (Certified Information Systems Security Professional) by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium. This globally recognized credential ensures that your solution is being handled according to strict, universal standards. The certification also includes specific training for security professionals on security just for cloud-based software.

What Certifications for Security and Data Protection Have You Achieved?

What Safeguards are in Place for Business Continuity?While interruptions to business processes are often a primary concern of those considering the switch from on-premise software, a competent cloud provider will offer multiple contingencies to take the headache out of ensuring business continuity.

Securely available 24-7 in the cloud, your database should be housed in state-of-the-art facilities that are constructed to withstand natural disasters, sabotage, theft, and power failures, with multiple levels of redundancy in place.

Your cloud provider should also perform regularly scheduled, secure backups of all your crucial data, while performing consistent in-house virus scans and security checks of internal firewalls.

Finally, disaster recovery should be substantially simpler and more painless than with an on-premise solution, because instead of hinging on your company’s own hardware infrastructure, your data will be securely storedin the cloud at a world-class data center.

What is the Average Speed to Begin Resolving Issues or Providing a Workaround?

This is a crucial question to ask any provider up front. Your cloud solution should make the upgrade process simpler and easier for your entire organization. If a potential provider doesn’t have a concrete process in place to do so, it’s a good idea to keep looking.

Since your data or software will no longer be stored on-premise, infrastructure maintenance and upgrades will be a thing of the past. You simply won’t have to worry about server capacity or processing power with your solution accessible through SaaS.

You’ll want to be sure to get a specific answer regarding software upgrades. A best-in-class solution will always provide these for free, automatically, at convenient, low-traffic times.

In addition, you should look for a provider that delivers major new features or functionality changes in a “dormant” state (meaning that you have the ability to decide when to turn those features on), so that you can plan to take advantage of new features and functionality at your convenience, on your schedule.

It’s also a good idea to ask about the communication and training available on new releases and upgrades. Does the provider offer clear documentation on what changes will be coming with each product upgrade? Are there webcasts or other resources you can listen to learn more about upcoming enhancements? Does the provider offer recorded training on-demand, live virtual training, and classroom training—at no additional cost to you—to learn how to take advantage of new features? All of these resources make learning about new upgrades and features much easier.

What Kind of Customer Support Can We Expect?

One of the most significant advantages a SaaS solution can offer is that, instead of having to rely on your in-house IT resources for support, you will have quick and easy access to a dedicated support team that can address your issues. Ideally, your provider will even have proactive monitoring in place to detect and address any potential issues with your data or performance before a problem arises.

In addition to support where you have a named representative vs. a call center, look for years of proven uptime and consistent testimonials from customers who have had their data in the cloud long-term. Ask if there are ways to communicate with other customers to share best practices. The more resources available for support, the better. Businesses that have had exceptional cloud support will collaborate with and gather ongoing feedback from customers, and will not be shy about sharing their successes.

When it comes to addressing potential problems that crop up, you want to look for a high degree of transparency in your cloud provider. Understand the ways that the progress of an issue will be communicated to your organization, as well as how often you will receive updates on that progress. Establish service-level agreements with expected timeline for issue resolution based on the severity of any given issue.

More than anything, you want to look for a consistent pattern of effective issue resolution. A great follow-up question would be: “do you have examples of customers that have been satisfied with their time-to-resolution in the past?” Providers with excellent customer service will often share testimonials from customers who are extremely satisfied with the support they receive. A best-in-class provider will also have extremely high customer satisfaction and retention rates.

Additionally, keep an eye out for solutions that provide robust user access to ongoing learning. This can empower your workforce to quickly resolve or avoid potential issues on their own before a support request is needed.

How Will I Be Kept Informed of Upgrades and Maintenance?

How Am I Assured of Solution Performance and Scalability?

Another important strength of the cloud: your company’s growth or the inclusion of additional data should have no impact whatsoever on your experience if your provider has a proper load-balanced, multi-tenant server environment in place. This ideal approach ensures server response times are as fast as possible and performance is optimized. Regardless of how much there is to process, you shouldn’t ever have to worry about scalability. This is a far cry from the constant race to keep your infrastructure ahead of your business needs with an in-house solution.

Also, ask if your provider can perform “in-line” calculations—complex calculations that do not need to be farmed out to an external engine or mainframe. Without having to go to a third-party for these processes, your provider can ensure reliable schedules, performance, and timing for even the most complex data operations.

One of the biggest HR trends today is leveraging artificial intelligence (AI). AI can help drive your organizational improvement by objectively analyzing your data to help you understand the voice of your employees, make better predictions about future business outcomes, and recommend actions to help you improve the employee experience. By having an Objective AI and machine learning tool, you can improve your retention rate, make smarter business decisions, and improve overall company performance.

Your provider should have years of experience handling hundreds of thousands of records in the cloud with no variation in standard response times or server stability. Ask any potential HCM cloud provider for average benchmark times for typical tasks such as processing payroll.

What Kind of Uptime Can I Expect Compared to an On-Premise Solution?Uptime is a critical concern for any business. Since your data will be secured in a state-of- the-art hosting facility with built-in redundancies and disaster protection, uptime using a cloud- based solution should typically outpace an on-premise system. Your data accessibility and software uptime will not be contingent on connectivity issues or weather conditions around your headquarters, or even the status of yourlocal servers.

Additionally, a SaaS solution can help your organization make more efficient use of the uptime you already have. Your full solution being accessible anytime, anywhere means enhanced productivity— there’s no need to wait for your IT department to access your data or make a change remotely.

While switching HCM vendors can be scary, being prepared with theright questions can make the process easier. By knowing which features to look for, you will be able to find the best provider for your company. Cloud-based solutions are cost effective, allow you to retain control of your data, and gain more accurate insights into your employees. Moving to the cloud may seem daunting, but once you make the switch, you'll never look back.

1. https://www.ultimatesoftware.com/Case_Study/20141/48/134 2. http://www.cloud-council.org/deliverables/CSCC-Cloud-Security-Standards-What-to-Expect-and-What-to-Negotiate.pdf

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