This is disruptive. Work.com redefines what HR Software is.

This should be a wake-up call to work support specialists (Learning and Development, Organization Development and Human Resources) that “net work” has to be integrated. For vendors, the days of stand-alone learning, talent, or performance management systems are numbered. It should also be a clear indication that industrial/information age work structures, and the disciplines they begat, are losing. relevance. This is business technology that will continue to disrupt how traditional IT works as well. Who needs IT when you can buy this "off the shelf" and don't even need to install anything?

If systems like Work.com are integrated with the lines of business, there may be less need for specialized HR practitioners or at less fewer of them. Managers may begin to ask why they need HR, when they can manage 80% of performance management themselves. And performance management is just the start. Why not learning management, when the vast majority of learning happens on the job?

I played around with Rypple about a year ago. I really liked it. With Salesforce.com's acquisition and now launch of work.com (how much did they pay for the URL?), I think Salesforce is now positioned to do with HR systems with what they did with CRM years ago.

The work.com strategy is unique and powerful in many ways.

First, the whole system is completely integrated into the Salesforce portal – so the 150,000+ companies that use Salesforce can just “turn this on” and employees can start using it immediately. There is no new “HR portal” to login to.

Second, because the system is built on the Force.com platform, Salesforce can quickly add new features and leverage all the infrastructure in place for reporting and management. Goals can be tied to accounts, contacts, and other Salesforce objects, making this a truly “integrated” goal setting and work environment.

Third, the system is integrated into Chatter, Salesforce’s rapidly growing collaboration system – so everything you do can be shared (or not shared). People can give you badges, comment on your goals, give you private or public feedback, and collaborate around a goal – without the need to install yet another collaboration system.

The HR software market is red hot right now. SAP, Oracle, and IBM have just spent billions of dollars to buy their way into the market, and other companies like Workday and CornerstoneOnDemand are already capturing huge valuations. (Workday has not yet gone public, but its valuation will be well over 10X revenues).

These tools all play a vital role in helping HR and business leaders handle the administration and talent management processes for people. They are both back-office systems which help companies administer their people, and also employee-facing systems which give people tools to better learn and manage their teams.

Along comes Work.com from Salesforce.com with a compelling strategy to disrupt the entire market.

via Work.com Redefines what HR Software Is - Forbes.

Related articles

• Salesforce.com plans marketing cloud, deeper Workday links, and more HTML5 (infoworld.com)


• Introducing Work.com -- Transforming HR for the Social Era (blogs.salesforce.com)


• Dreamforce 2012: Salesforce.com Turns Rypple Into Work.com (techweekeurope.co.uk)


• Salesforce.com to Debut 'Work.com' at Dreamforce (pcworld.com)