Why Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is Important in Recruiting
Why is SaaS Important in Recruiting?
A true SaaS foundation is especially crucial in recruiting where timing and immediate access to data can make the difference in getting the right candidate to engage. SaaS is important in recruiting because:
- Technology innovation in support of recruiting occurs almost daily. A SaaS solution gives employers a clear line of sight to take advantage of new enhancements, without business disruption. With a SaaS implementation, upgrades and enhancements happen behind the scenes with little to no required actions by the user.
- Interactive Recruitment Marketing technology promotes and supports your Employment Brand. That brand is only as good as the last experience a candidate had with your business. Reliability, scalability and sustainability are key attributes to ensure you can deliver on the promise of your Employment Brand.
- Budgets in recruiting continue to be tight. A true SaaS implementation will be more cost-efficient both in the short-term and long-term.
Interactive Recruiting Technology has achieved “must-have” status rather than just “nice-to-have.” For many recruiting organizations today, using internal Marketing/IT resources is not an option because recruiting is last in line and not the primary “customer.” Finding partner in the vendor/agency community for technology is the only alternative. Yet, buyers beware. Not all vendors/agencies offering technology are the same. There are some things you should know and ask of your vendors/agencies when considering an Interactive Recruiting Technology investment. Beyond selection criteria about specific features and functions, you must uncover how they will implement, support and execute enhancements for the technology. Some would argue that to build a sustainable competitive advantage, these are the most important questions to ask. For that reason, Jobs2web has always adopted and deployed its capabilities via a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. Not all vendors/agencies presenting you with technology options have adopted the SaaS model and in the selling process will likely do everything they can to draw your attention away from asking some very important questions.
The Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) Approach
SaaS is a software delivery model where the business logic (functions) and the associated data are hosted centrally. Typically, hosting centrally occurs in the Internet “Cloud” and users access the software capabilities using a web browser over the Internet. True SaaS solutions are also based on a multi-tenant architecture. This characteristic allows for a single version of the application with a common configuration to be used by all clients (“tenants”). When upgrading software for one client, it “raises all boats in the water”, giving all clients the benefit of the enhancement. Lastly, SaaS providers are able to support the ongoing growth of your business and desired service levels without any business disruption. This is achieved through what’s called horizontal scaling where, based on the desired performance, the SaaS vendor can install the software on multiple servers behind the scenes in a completely transparent manner to your operations.
SaaS is simply a streamlined, more effective way of delivering software solutions to you. Rather than going through a cumbersome, expensive software installation or customizing/building software for individual clients, SaaS offers unconfined access to software and data, easily and continually upgraded without any manual intervention on your part. And since a SaaS solution is completely hosted and can be securely accessed anywhere at any time, you achieve economies of scale and cost-reductions not typical with more traditional technology models. Additionally, you benefit from the collective thought leadership of hundreds of clients and their ideas to improve the solution set.
Here are some of the questions you should ask your vendors/agencies when being presented with a technology solution:
| Question | SaaS Vendor | Non-SaaS Vendor |
|---|---|---|
| How will you provide maintenance & support? | Professional developers in an engineering role with well-defined bug fix and resolution processes provide maintenance and support. The cost associated with that support is included in the subscription fee. Response times and resolution expectations are well documented and predictable. | Maintenance and support can be contracted as a separate line item, usually a percentage of the entire investment (which might include the time to build the technology for your use). Maintenance and support varies from client to client and is often inordinately dependent on the original project team that implemented your technology. Very quickly, the number of individuals that are familiar with your implementation decreases and puts your implementation at risk. |
| How many versions of your software are clients currently using? | One | The number of versions can vary but most often, because each client has unique needs and the vendor has no common configuration to build upon, it can equal the total number of individual clients. The bottom line is that this should be a very easy question to answer if they are a SaaS provider - one. |
| How will new enhancements be implemented? | Releases occur multiple times through the year. When a release is rolled out, clients are systematically informed and made aware, but are required to do nothing to ensure that new enhancements are available. All of the enhancements are tested meticulously to ensure they operate as designed but more importantly, enhancements do not negatively impact other functions of the application | Custom agency solutions require billable hours to upgrade functionality, which typically occurs at longer intervals. The performance of the enhancement is limited because of unique customizations that might exist, resulting in unexpected behavior when trying to retrofit an implemented solution with new enhancements. |
| How will you manage my solution for performance? | SaaS providers (including Jobs2web) proactively optimize your implementation to your business and environmental demands, scaling indefinitely. Managers at Jobs2web systematically monitor and optimize your solution to prevent outages with a sophisticated console designed for this purpose. | Non-SaaS providers need significant upgrades to accommodate growth. Because there is a lack of mature processes and technology to monitor your implementation, non-SaaS vendors will depend on YOU to tell them when you’re having a problem and then they must find a way to respond. With an inability to control your site remotely and systematically, the client needs to pay for enhancements to improve performance. |
| How fast can you get me started? | SaaS application frameworks like the Jobs2web Recruiting Marketing Platform enable fast implementation times. By using a common framework across all clients, best practice methodology is continually tuned to help clients rapidly go live. Project teams are measured and compensated on the speed with which clients go live. Implementation is included in the subscription price. | Non-SaaS, more customized solutions require significant setup time, customization resources, ongoing maintenance costs and resource requirements. A lack of mature implementation practices makes the process more painful and unpredictable. Additionally, the cost of implementation is billed to the client as an add-on charge. |
| What are your standards for security and privacy? | SaaS providers adhere to industry standards in this area. Providers with a SaaS architecture will be more likely to have met and been certified to adhere to technology, security and privacy standards. A SaaS vendor should provide documentation upon request. | Non-SaaS providers, like agencies, tend to focus on hosting as a revenue source, not a core competency, so security, privacy and reliability can be an afterthought. Additionally, the software architecture and sustainability of that architecture does not provide the key privacy controls to achieve a trusted provider or Safe Harbor status. |
Certified privacy and security
Jobs2web has partnered with Rackspace, a SAS 70 Type II certified hosting provider, to provide enterprise-class reliability. We’ve also taken steps to gain important data privacy certifications (available upon request).
TRUSTe Cloud platform certification
As of May 2011 Jobs2web has been awarded TRUSTe's Privacy Seal, signifying that our privacy policy and practices have been reviewed by TRUSTe for compliance with TRUSTe's program requirements including transparency, accountability and choice regarding the collection and use of your personal information. The TRUSTe program covers information that is collected through the website jobs2web.com, Recruiting Marketing Platform sites we host on behalf of our clients and information behind the log-in for our service.
European Union (EU) Safe Harbor Framework
Jobs2web also complies with the US - EU Safe Harbor Framework and the US -Swiss Safe Harbor Framework as set forth by the US Department of Commerce regarding the collection, use and retention of personal information from European Union member countries and Switzerland. Jobs2web has certified that it adheres to the Safe Harbor Privacy Principles of notice, choice, onward transfer, security, data integrity, access and enforcement. To learn more about the Safe Harbor program, please visit http://www.export.gov/safeharbor/.
An optimal, crucial blend of technology and strategy
Given that so much recruiting occurs through various interactive sources on the Web, you need a dependable, reliable and scalable technology infrastructure to help you market your jobs. Potential candidates and visitors along with recruiters are sophisticated Web users requiring an ever-growing set of rich media and sharing capabilities. Recruitment Marketing has not had this technology available…until now with Jobs2web’s SaaS technology foundation.
Having the best technology alone, however, will not help you gain a sustainable competitive advantage; a more comprehensive approach is needed. Success is achieved through a sound strategy, with great creative executed through reliable interactive technology. Jobs2web's top performing client implementations are characterized by all three components: strategy, creative and technology. This is why we've designed the Recruiting Marketing Platform to complement your strategy and associated creative expression of that strategy. By working with our Client Services teams, each Jobs2web client can find the right balance of strategy and creative. All programs and campaigns are then continuously tracked through an optimized experience for the candidate. And importantly, recruiters gain a complete line of sight to monitor candidate and source behavior.
