Ventana Research Releases Value Index for Workforce Management

    BEND, OR, January 24, 2017 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Ventana Research today released its 2017 Value Index for Workforce Management, the only quantified, research-based index evaluating technology vendors and products. The Workforce Management Value Index assesses software for workforce processes that support the role of executives and management, workers, managers, administrators, and IT professionals for serving workforce processes including absence, scheduling, task management, time and attendance, timeclock support, mobile, and analytics.

Using this Value Index, business and IT organizations - especially those in operations and human resources - will be able to evaluate existing workforce management software and examine software vendors' offerings in the context of their own human capital management requirements. Ventana Research's Value Indexes are the products of more than two decades of experience and knowledge of the market for human capital management market of applications. It provides an in-depth analysis of technology suppliers' products and evaluates their differences.

The Value Index for Workforce Management is based on a comprehensive examination of nine vendors' products in seven evaluation categories, five that evaluate the products' ability to support the breadth and depth of workforce management processes and two that address vendor validation and total cost of ownership/return on investment. The 2017 Value Index for Workforce Management identifies the companies that deliver the highest value, based on an overall weighted-evaluation. The Overall Value Index Leaders in the 2017 Value Index are Kronos, Ceridian, and WorkForce Software followed by six vendors: SAP SuccessFactors, JDA, Infor, ADP, SAP, and FinancialForce. Other vendors that are not included in this research were not willing to have their products thoroughly evaluated and thus are not included in the Value Index and should be questioned on their readiness to support the full range of workforce management processes.

Each Value Index is the result of a detailed evaluation of the suitability-to-task of each offering's capabilities as well as the product's support of usability, manageability, reliability and adaptability. These aspects of the evaluation reflect how organizations conduct RFI/RFP; they are unique to the Value Index report and are not covered in depth by other analyst firms' ratings, which often include limited (or no) evaluation of actual products. IT analyst firms rank vendors from an IT-only perspective; Ventana Research has designed the Value Index to provide a balanced perspective of vendors and products that is rooted in an understanding of business drivers and needs. This blueprint and RFP approach not only reduces cost and time but also minimizes the risk of making a decision that is bad for the business. Using the Value Index will enable your organization to achieve the levels of efficiency and effectiveness needed to optimize workforce management.

The Value Index also assesses the effectiveness of each vendor's support for the buying process and customer assurance. The Value Index is not just a selection of "cool" products; rather than evaluating a vendor primarily on its vision or market execution, the Value Index provides specific numerical ratings, both overall and for each of the seven components of the Value Index, for technology buyers to consider. Organizations can use the Value Index as a guide to assess existing technology providers and determine if their provider best meets their needs today and in the future.

"Workforce management covers a broad range of requirements to support the activities and processes to both manage hourly and salaried workforces," said Mark Smith, CEO and chief research officer of Ventana Research. "This category of business applications is the foundation for how organizations manage and operate their workforce but also to ensure the productivity in areas like scheduling, time and attendance, absence management, payroll as well as addressing the digital needs for analytics, mobility, collaboration and operating across cloud computing environments. The Value Index provides business the ability to assess workforce management software and determine the readiness of their existing and potential new vendors with a blueprint and RFP approach not found anywhere else in the industry."

This new Value Index is a fully independent, research-based undertaking. It is neither sponsored nor influenced by technology vendors and is conducted solely in pursuit of Ventana Research's mission to provide value to businesses and IT through benchmark assessments, workshops, and advisory services. Ventana Research's goal is to help guide organizations to optimal efficiency in their use of technology investments for business and IT. To learn more and receive a complimentary copy of the 2017 Value Index for Workforce Management market report, please visit www.ventanaresearch.com/WFMValueIndex/

About Ventana Research

Ventana Research is the most authoritative and respected benchmark business technology research and advisory services firm. We provide insight and expert guidance on mainstream and disruptive technologies through a unique set of research-based offerings including benchmark research and technology evaluation assessments, education workshops and our research and advisory services, Ventana On-Demand. Our unparalleled understanding of the role of technology in optimizing business processes and performance and our best practices guidance are rooted in our rigorous research-based benchmarking of people, processes, information and technology across business and IT functions in every industry. This benchmark research plus our market coverage and in-depth knowledge of hundreds of technology providers means we can deliver education and expertise to our clients to increase the value they derive from technology investments while reducing time, cost and risk.

Ventana Research provides the most comprehensive analyst and research coverage in the industry; business and IT professionals worldwide are members of our community and benefit from Ventana Research's insights, as do highly regarded media and association partners around the globe. Our views and analyses are distributed daily through blogs and social media channels including Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. To learn how Ventana Research advances the maturity of organizations' use of information and technology through benchmark research, education and advisory services, visit www.ventanaresearch.com.

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