2021
VENDOR
GUIDE
HR, PAYROLL AND TALENT
MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE
Enterprise Software Solutions for
Australian and New Zealand Companies
100% INDEPENDENT DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
EXPERTS AND ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE CONSULTANTS
© Solution Minds Consulting Pty Ltd 2021
HOW TO USE
THIS GUIDE
This guide is designed to provide an overall introduction to the top HR, Payroll and
Talent Management Software Vendors in Australia and New Zealand, to help you
narrow down the shortlist of Vendors that may be best suited to your company.
You may also wish to complete our Software Shortlist to get a more detailed Vendor
list from our 100% Independent Consultants.
UNDERSTANDING YOUR VENDOR OPTIONS
Many of the Vendors listed in this guide offer
a suite of HR solutions or modules to tailor a
solution to your company’s objectives.
Because of this, it is usually worthwhile to
conduct a rapid business process mapping and
improvement project prior to selecting a new
solution or platform.
This will help to ensure you buy a solution
that aligns with how you want to operate,
best meets you current and future
requirements and provides maximum benefits
to your organisation.
‘As organisations adopt cloud-first and post-modern ERP enterprise
software strategies (ie, no longer relying on a single integrated
solution but platforms with best of breed solutions), SaaS and
subscription-based cloud consumption models will continue their
rise, with licence-based software consumption plummeting in years
to come. Making the right choices has never been more important.’
- Jamon Johnston, Solution Minds Consulting CEO and Founder.
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2
HR AND YOUR
DIGITAL
TRANSFORMATION
JOURNEY
HR IS AN ESSENTIAL COMPONENT OF REMAINING COMPETITIVE AND RETAINING
TALENT IN A POST COVID-19 WORLD
Digital transformation is the process of
creating new business and operating models
by building a foundation to implement and
integrate digital technologies. The goal is to
gain new data insights and organisational
capabilities by transforming operational
processes and the user experience.
Continually finding new ways to leverage
digital technologies to improve ways of
working, and improve the user experience,
is essential for remaining competitive and
an unavoidable reality for all organisations.
This is because digital transformation is
no longer being driven by the organisations
themselves but by customers and this
includes employees as customers.
Today, employees expect relevant content
anytime, anywhere and in the format and
on the device of their choosing. They are
more informed than ever before and put
more emphasis on trust, engagement and
ease of transactions. Organisations who do
not adapt and leverage digital technologies
to improve the employee experience are
becoming less productive and finding talent
retention a competitive market.
Even the Australian government and
department of health have gone through
rapid digital transformations in recent times
with the COVID-19 pandemic, introducing
chat bots in WhatsApp and the newly
launched tracking app. In a world that has
become even more dispersed and socially
distant there is an increasing need to stay
digitally connected.
Organisations that do not do this in the
current environment will not be able to
compete. With reductions in face to face
interactions, digital communication is the
new normal. Only the organisations that
acknowledge this and leverage new ways of
working to improve their employees digital
experience will thrive over the next few years.
This is where HR solutions
are needed to assist in that
transformation journey.
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3
FINDING THE RIGHT
HR SOLUTION
Human resource (HR) software, also referred to as human resources information
system (HRIS) or human resources management system (HRMS), helps businesses
manage employee data related to contact details, attendance, payroll, training, and
benefits.
Most HRMS systems integrate with recruiting/applicant tracking and payroll
software. In addition, a number offer workforce management capability allowing
businesses with the rostering of personnel and the tracking of time and materials to
jobs/projects.
This guide will focus on integrated HR solutions. For a best of breed rostering and
workforce shortlist please download our Rostering Guide.
Below is an overview of the key functionality offered in leading integrated HR
platforms, best-of-breed solutions offer one or more of these functions.
Core HR
Workforce
Management
Recruitment &
On-boarding
Recruitment
Payroll
Time & Attendance
Performance
Management
Employee Self Service
Mobility
ESS Mobility
Learning
Management
Talent
Management
Rostering/ Schedule
Workforce
Career Development &
Succession Planning
Compensation &
Benefits Allocation
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4
CONSIDERATIONS
IN PURCHASING A
HR SOLUTION
EXTENT OF HR CAPABILITY REQUIRED
HR solutions are loaded with a number
of features, which can complicate the
purchasing process as to what is required
as core features from optional ones.
Key HR solution areas can be categorised as
follows:
✓ Human Resource Management (HRM)
✓ Core HR
✓ Recruiting
✓ Learning Management
✓ Performance Management
✓ Talent Management
✓ Career Development and Succession
Planning
✓ Compensation and Benefits Allocation
✓ Payroll
✓ Workforce Management (WFM)
Buyers should carefully identify the types
of HR software relevant to their businesses
and make purchase decisions accordingly.
INTEGRATED SOLUTION VS BEST OF
BREED
This may very much depend on the above
buying decision as to the scope of the HR
solutions required for the business, and the
associated complexity of requirements.
This may then lend itself to a more integrated
solution or taking a Best of Breed approach.
This decision is not typically made until the
key business requirements are understood
and then a market scan can be done to
confirm possible solution candidates.
DATA ANALYTICS
Apart from helping human resource
staff in their day-to-day activities, human
resource systems also help in formulating
hiring
and
employee
management
strategies by providing analytics-driven
reports. For example, reports on employee
performance across multiple areas can
help management assess the skill gaps and
help training management to plan trainings
accordingly.
Where the HR requirements extend into
WFM, the reporting on utilisation rates,
forecast demand etc, are key for future
hiring decisions to support pipeline work.
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5
HR SOLUTIONS
FOR ANZ
There has been a strong trend from HR solution providers towards Software as a
Service and for a greater focus on integrating specialist HR functions with core HR
and payroll functionality, especially talent management and WFM.
This guide is an introduction to the best integrated HR, payroll and talent
management solutions in Australia and New Zealand.
MARKET SCAN
HR SOLUTIONS FOR AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND
MARKET SCAN - ERP SOLUTIONS FOR AUSTRALIA & NEW ZEALAND
ENTERPRISE
TIER 1




>$500M Rev
1000+ Employees
Multiple Entities
High Complexity
MID-MARKET
UPPER TIER 2
 $250M - $500M Rev
 500-1000 Employees
 Multiple Business
Units & Industries
 Some Complexity
SMALL
MID-MARKET
LOWER TIER 2
 $20M - $250M Rev
 50-500 Employees
 Single entity &
Industry
SMALL
TIER 3
 <$15M Rev
 <50 Employees
 Accounting Package
or Basic ERP
© Solution Minds Consulting
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HR, PAYROLL
AND TALENT
MANAGEMENT
COMPARISON LEGEND
Fully Supported
Partially Supported
Not Supported
INTEGRATED BUYERS GUIDE
We have compared the top integrated HR solutions and
collated this information into the following comprehensive
buyers guide comparison table.
© Solution Minds Consulting
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COMPARISON LEGEND
Fully Supported
Partially Supported
Not Supported
© Solution Minds Consulting
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8
The SMC team brought a wealth of knowledge
to our decision making and implementation,
which has saved us significant time, energy
and expense.
- Keith Smith | Executive Sponsor - Activ Foundation
CHOOSING YOUR
IMPLEMENTATION
PARTNER
In our experience as independent consultants,
engaging the right implementation partner
for your digital transformation journey or
Enterprise Software project is critical to
success.
Conversely, select the wrong implementation
partner and your initiative could be destined
to fail from the outset.
If you have done some research you are likely
to be confused about the implementation
partner ecosystem in the Australia and New
Zealand market for the vendors in this Guide.
Software vendors may not provide the best
guidance either. Often they encourage you to
assess all the different companies out there
as best you can and make your own decision.
As a result of helping companies day in, day
out with selections of Enterprise Software
solutions and implementation partners,
we have built up a knowledge base of the
capabilities and experience of the vast
majority.
SMC can help you make the right
decisions!
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9
CASE STUDIES
HOW SMC HELPED THESE CLIENTS
Swick is one of the world’s largest mineral drilling contractors with
2000+ staff.
How we helped – Business Process Mapping, Requirements and
System Selection focused on HR, Payroll and Rostering/Scheduling.
Since 1951, Activ has grown to become WA’s largest NFP disability
service providers.
How we helped – Selection of a best-of-breed Rostering solution.
Have also provided Independent Trusted Advisory and Consulting
services for end-to-end enterprise wide systems refresh program.
Silver Chain is a care organisation delivering community health and
care services across Australia.
How we helped – Delivered a major business change program for a
NFP organisation with complex integrations across core ERP and HR/
Payroll systems.
Independence Group is a large WA based diversified miner.
How we helped – Requirements definition and HR/Payroll/Time and
Attendance system selection.
Mid West Port Authority manages Geraldton’s ports.
How we helped – BPI, requirements and HR/Payroll system selection
and implementation.
Ausdrill is a diversified mining services company which employs over
5,000 staff worldwide.
How we helped – HR, Payroll and T&A process improvement and
requirements analysis.
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10
ABOUT THE
AUTHORS
Jamon Johnston – SMC CEO and Founder
Business Consultant with 25 years of experience helping mid-market
and multinational companies across the world deliver successful ERP
and digital optimisation outcomes and achieve the benefits of new
technology and improved business processes. After 11 years with
global consulting organisations Andersen and then Deloitte Consulting
as a Director in Perth and London, Jamon realised the need for an
independent consulting firm that provided big four services for the
mid-market but more specialised and better value.
Cameron Elliott – SMC Director of Operations
Business Consultant with 18 years of experience working on
engagements across a range of industries. Cameron is highly
regarded for his broad and deep enterprise systems advisory
and consulting skills. He worked for Deloitte Consulting for seven
years where he was a Director before joining SMC in 2010 to focus
on ERP strategy, selection, business process improvement and
implementation.
Mile Dimkovski – SMC Director
Business Consultant focused on process improvement, ERP research
and selections and ERP implementations for 12 years. Mile has
worked with an extensive list of organisations through all stages of
the ERP lifecycle, including working with a mining ERP vendor prior to
joining SMC
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11
SMC's SELECTION
RESOURCES AND SERVICES
We have an offering to suit everyone's need with each one
progressively reducing your effort and risk.
Business Requirements
to save you time and effort
YOUR EFFORT AND RISK Our
business requirements have been refined over hundreds of
projects for Australian and New Zealand organisations. It's easy to
prioritise them and send to vendors for you to conduct a functional
fit analysis
YOUR EFFORT AND RISK
Software Comparison Report
will identify product weaknesses to you instantly
YOUR EFFORT AND RISK
Our report contains business requirements and vendor responses
from our unique software evaluation platform for instant functional
fit analysis. This will save you weeks of effort.
SMC Selection Accelerator Pack
for you to run an efficient and professional project
YOUR EFFORT AND RISK
This includes SMC's proven Selection Methodology with instructions.
A shortlist of three vendors; Business Requirements for your scope;
Software Comparison Report; Quality go-to-market documents (RFP
and RFQ), Demo scenarios; Advice to get the best commercial deal.
SMC Led Selection
providing you with a Best of Breed Solution
YOUR EFFORT AND RISK
For organisations who need a solution and a technology partner and
want help from an independent expert to make the best decisions
and get optimal commercial outcomes.
What selection package
is right for you?
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12
Thank you for taking the time to read our guide.
If you have any questions about enterprise software selection and implementation we invite you
to get in touch.
RAPIDLY EVALUATE
ENTERPRISE SOFTWARE AND
IMPLEMENTATION PARTNERS
We help companies become more streamlined, modern and competitive for the digital era
through improved business processes and modern enterprise platforms.
1800 SMC ANZ
(1800 762 269)
www.solutionmindsconsulting.com.au
© Solution Minds Consulting Pty Ltd 2021