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Why Platform Integrations are the Future of HR Tech

Why Platform Integrations are the Future of HR Tech

The term “Best-In-Class” is a common claim made by many companies, especially technology companies. You’ve likely heard it before and may have dismissed it as marketing jargon.

In this article, we’ll unpack the meaning of the term Best-In-Class and how we understand it in terms of HR Technology now, and into the future. BusinessDictionary.com defines “best in class” as “the highest current performance level in an industry, used as a standard or benchmark to be equaled or exceeded”. That’s a high bar.

What is Best-in-Class in the HR Tech Space?

Since the rise of Zenefits, an increasing number of HR Tech firms have gone to market with all-in-one HR, Payroll and Benefits Administration solutions, and have made Best-In-Class claims for their products. There is, however, an issue with this: HR Tech crosses many different industries, from recruitment through human resource management, payroll, and benefits admin. There are a lot of unique spaces to be mastered.

From our experience, the HR Tech leader that recognized this issue and took advantage of it best was BambooHR, which has, since its inception, built out an integrated partner marketplace so that BambooHR customers can leverage the Best-In-Class solutions available from different vendors for their specific needs.

Achieving True Best-in-Class Solutions

So what is an integration? Put simply, it is a way for two different software systems to talk to each other. Integrating systems means that users don’t have to duplicate data entry between them. Some modern platforms, like BambooHR have application programming interfaces (APIs), that facilitate communication with other platforms efficiently. While other platforms rely on file transfers to pass information back and forth. But beware, some older systems can make integration difficult if not impossible.

The BambooHR integration marketplace continues to grow and other HR Tech firms are increasingly moving to this approach. The reason for this trend is simple: HR, Payroll and Benefits Admin are not the same industry, and so for an all-in-one solution to be Best-In-Class, it would have to be the highest current performer in 3 industries… which is no easy task. Each of these industries is continuously being driven by high end market participants.

This trend is continuing to accelerate as customers, who were at first excited by the seamless experience promised by all-in-one solutions, are realizing that it is difficult for one platform to be the best in class for all industries at all stages of a company’s life cycle. For example, a company may really like one aspect of its HR Tech, like its payroll system, while dreading its bolted-on benefits admin system.

As the availability of integrations becomes greater, a company’s management can begin to ask the correct question, that is:

What is our Best-In-Class solution?

 


Learn more about how Effortless Admin’s integrates with other best in class solutions.

Further Reading