A rich roadmap
Ultimate is not shy of laying out an ambitious development agenda. The company already built a new recruiting module, first presented at the HR Tech show in fall of 2013 (my takeaways are here). Consequently a new Onboarding module is coming, key to keep the applicant and new employee experience consistent. As if not enough on the Talent Management side – Ultimate plans to ship a new Compensation Management module this year, too.
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| Roadmap slides as presented in the UltiConnect Product Keynote |
But Ultimate is not only operating on the sundeck – but is also going back to the HCM engine room with a revision of the employee / person model and the addition of a new person rules engine. And even one level deeper Ultimate will add additional cloud integration services, allowing customers to tie their Ultimate HCM product together with other cloud services. On that note it is key to account for Ultimate’s customization framework, too – which allows significant but robust configuration and customization of its implementations.
Moreover Ultimate plans to expand its analytical capabilities with a high performer and high potential predictor, next to its already existing flight risk predictor. On the handheld product side Ultimate is adding time clock capability to the existing and acquired (with EmployTouch) capabilities of the Touchbase mobile device. Last but not least Ultimate accounts for the globalization trend with the addition of 40 localizations and more languages.
More to come in 2015
And Ultimate does not plan to slow down in 2015. On the Talent Management side Performance Management will be improved as well as Succession Management. The new Onboarding module of this year will receive global capabilities as well as the [Personnel] Developer module. By 2015 Ultimate should also have seen enough traction on its new Recruiting module to ship analytical capabilities for Sourcing and new hire predictors.
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| The Talent Gateway in UltiPro |
And last but not least the company plans to add additional localizations and new languages (Chinese being mentioned).
New Onboarding
We had the chance to take a look at the new Onboarding functionality and the module looks well designed, easy to use and most importantly in synch with the user experience of the recently release Recruiting module. That makes it a consistent user experience for new hires, which is certainly desirable. It was also encouraging to see more density in the HTML5 user interface, a trend we see overall in the industry and welcome as most of the early HTML5 user designs were featuring a lot whitespace and an excessive need of scroll navigation.
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| Screenshot of the new Onboarding Solution |
Real Analytics make a difference
It was very valuable to get an insight into the work that Ultimate is doing on the analytics side. First of all it's key to state that Ultimate is providing real analytics - those analytics who do something or at least suggest something (the current offerings are mainly in this area). With the current retention predictor Ultimate has catered to the still popular topic of flight risk. It is good to see that Ultimate tests the prediction quality and keeps tuning the models (not disclosed) behind the predictor. Not surprisingly Ultimate is expanding the data its models will run on - a good step for a young analytical model.
As a next analytical model Ultimate is adding a high performance predictor, which complements the retention predictor nicely - as enterprises may not worry too much about low performers exhibiting a high flight risk.
New Technology Stack moves in the right direction
In parallel to the rich functionality agenda, Ultimate has also embarked into the creation and adoption of a new technology stack. The new Recruiting module has already been built on this new technology stack. So Ultimate has not only provided the stack and has it working, it also has mastered the probably larger challenge of operating old and new stacks in parallel while maintaining a seamless user experience. And while the details of the new technology stack were under NDA, both database, application and user interface technology choices are robust and should deliver well.
As with all HCM vendors we see a departure from proprietary technology stacks to more open source technology components – and Ultimate is no exception here.
Usability, usability, … key for successful HCM
Ultimate is also not resting on the so important usability aspect of HCM software. You can get architecture, functionality right, sell and implement customers – but if user adoption is weak or slow – not only vendors are in trouble – but also the executives who made the buying decision for that vendor. |
| The new UltiPro homepage |
With its people first DNA Ultimate is making a strong push for persona driven usability approach. It is good to see the company equally embracing an agile, iterative approach to UI development, allowing customers to test drive the new UI concepts and provide direct feedback. The familiar approach seen in the industry of here it is, use it - is mostly an approach from the past. In conversations with customer it was clear, that they value the approach and are thrilled to be part of the process. A good place to be.
Excited and loyal customers are an Ultimate Asset
The other key impression for me was how loyal (almost devoted) Ultimate customers are to the vendor and to the company values. Usually you find more engaged customers visit user conferences, but UltiConnect had a higher portion of highly satisfied and motivated customers than other conferences we have attended in the last quarters. Maybe it’s the longer term perspective that Scott Scherr takes to building an organically grown company, and the sincerity and tradition to people first values. For example, very few companies pay 100% of benefits for their employees.Implications, Implications
Implications for Ultimate customers
It is always exciting to see the vendor of choice making progress and innovating at a rate like Ultimate is. But that should not carry customers away, they still need to look at the cost benefit equation of adding new modules or countries to a roll out plan. Customers should also take advantage of the new sandbox capabilities that Ultimate has added – it is always good to see software, and maybe even use it on small but representative scale – before customers decide to implement (and pay for) it. Customers should have an eye on the user experience remaining consistent and if inclined, should participate actively in the usability projects Ultimate is undertaking. When Ultimate will replace existing functionality on its new technology stack, customers need to make sure that key functionality they have been using and continue to use, is available on the new platform.Implications for Ultimate competitors
Ultimate makes no secret of the fact that it invests consistently over 20% of revenue into R&D.. That allows for an ambitious roadmap that competitors need to try to match. We also see Ultimate with an aggressive sharing of the roadmap (as well as Ceridian, that recently shared till 2016), forcing competitors to start providing a longer term outlook, too. Competitors may not like that, but customers (and prospects) certainly value the longer term perspective (and commitment), which allows them to align their internal HCM rollout plans and transformation needs with the product roadmap of their vendor.Implications for Ultimate
Ultimate is off to a good start to build out its next generation offerings. It is now execution time and key to keep the momentum going to fill the ambitious next years with highly functional and working software. The company should maintain its eye on differentiation as it has done with the new Recruiting module. Easier said than done, especially when the clock is ticking – and we will see with the next deliverables if Ultimate cannot only deliver new – but also differentiated new software functionality in the HCM automation arena.MyPOV
A great user conference for Ultimate. Very loyal customers were a last important observation – I have never seen so many customers wearing the conference shirt ever, and on a closing day. Nonetheless great advertising and customers willing to wear a vendor shirt on a travel day is certainly a strong loyalty testament.Ultimate now needs to show it can deliver quality product for the next quarters to come – not only from a technical, but also a differentiation perspective. It will also have to address the Learning component of Talent Management (right now partnering e.g. with Infor) and some components in its functional landscape that maybe coming of age in the not too distant future.
But Ultimate is off to a good start and now needs to deliver consistent intermediary times for the long race with a modern, user base engaging and functional complete suite across Core HR, Payroll, Talent Management and Workforce Management.
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More on Ultimate from me:
- First Take – 3 Key Takeaways from Ultimate’s UltiConnect Conference Day 1 keynote – read here.