There are specific technologies in specific areas, such as payroll, L&E, performance management, benefits management, recruiting and communication. In India, the HR space may be divided into three client segments. One is a typical MNC client segment, second is a large Indian setup and third is the mid to large size companies. Evolution of technology in these setups is different. The amount of sophistication in an MNC setup is far more, compared to the other segments. As we move through these three broad categories, the intent of the board room to spend on HR technology goes down gradually.

The most primary HR technology is payroll, which almost everybody is using. But now payroll is transforming from merely being a software to being a service. Many companies are looking at payroll either as an externally outsourced service or as an internal service. The larger companies are not looking at payroll only as a technology, for them it is rather a service. The technology space in India has transformed with the advent of products like Success Factors. In the CRM SaaS space Salesforce.com is the most successful product. Whatever Salesforce.com has done in the CRM space, Success Factors or workday has the potential to do in the HR space.

The Indian market is maturing very fast. The first category is already matured. In the second category, many of them have global ambitions, they are Indian based MNCs. The importance of people itself is proving a lot. The importance of information becomes very important and many organizations are moving to paperless HR. That segment is becoming much more active. The third segment is still in the process of maturing.

The players in the HR technology space can be divided into four categories: Outsourced services, SaaS, extensions of ERPs - like PeopleSoft and SAP and standalone HR (example in the L&D space). The criteria for choosing vendors would be different for each of these categories. In the first category, they would look at service level agreements. It also depends on the size of the company and financial strength. The second criteria would be usability as it is very critical. The third is integration of the business standpoint. Fourth would be cost and feature-set driven.