Due to automation and escalation matrices and powerful rule settings using flexible formula builders; HRMantra will become nearly intelligent in years to come. System will become the king and it will become more and more HRD consisting of very few tech friendly HR professionals. Management will want the software to make insightful analysis on the performance data and advice on succession planning. Products will have to keep getting comprehensive yet simple to use and be fully scalable as the business grows horizontally and vertically. The days of customization layers will evaporate and every client will want parameterized software without being made to pay a Rupee for all the requirements of any client. HR software is being required to talk to any other software on real time basis without being made to do any duplicate entries. Firms will look for vendors who have deep expertise in HR and products which have been used for many years to avoid the issue of becoming guinea pigs. Clients understand that it is a collaborative world and they will take products or services from vendors who are leaders in this space and who are debt free and have simple transparent pricing models so that their time and money invested in implementing software does not get wasted by fly by night operators. Installing products on their own servers will become passé even for large corporates.

Till about 2003 there were mostly client server based payroll softwares with some employee database. After that came the era of web-based HR softwares and in 2006 we launched India’s 1st HR software on the SaaS model based on multi tenancy architecture. In 2009 we were the world’s HR software firm to have come out with a mobile version which can run on any internet enabled cell phone. We have added various other highly innovative approaches to enable true HR on the go-like attendance regularization through web cams and cell phones. We have received awards from NASSCOM & IAMAI for cutting edge research.

Earlier people were happy working on 4-5 different applications like attendance software, attendance cards, single user payroll software, some simple ESS workflows like leave and attendance workflows on their intranet or email systems, HR database on client server technologies or on excel and paper based performance management systems. Besides, there is always the jobsites to refer for downloading shortlisted CVs and following them through email or phones. Many IT firms used to conduct paper based tests and a lot of time used to get wasted in monitoring the time and correcting the scores. All these processes used to be messy and a lot of HR resources were required for such disconnected applications. PMS used to take over 3 months. There used to be multiple masters, multiple data entries and import –export hassles and errors in excel. The worst thing was nobody could figure out who did what change and you become eccentric.

In the last 7-8 years salaries have shot through the roof and expected to continue as the war for talent escalates. Firms are under tremendous pressure to get the maximum output from employees in minimal time and even freshers are expected to deliver rapidly as the attrition rate is galloping. So clearly the HR, admin, payroll and IT departments which are basically cost centers have become lean and mean and demand ROI from the HR software players. Everyone has to do multitasking and be tech savvy. All the HR transactions have to be automated so the HRD can focus on transformational issues. So the demand is clearly towards rapid software rollouts; integrated modules right from hiring till retiring with minimal data entries and maximum analytical help without the help of IT department.

Clients want to be updated immediately on their queries posted on the online request management system and want tight deadlines for their enhancement requirements, bugs fixations etc. Employees are supposed to be available 24*7 so sending structured SMSes to all employees is a must from the HR software as also being able to do a great amount of work on cell phones. We have made the software such that every employee can personalize it with his own color choices, web parts, naming conventions etc