This past December I was flattered to be interviewed by HR Magazine about Open Source HRIS solutions. After having an initial conversation, but before the interview, I did some research and wrote out a number of comments. Most of my comments were opposed to the open source applications on the market. Before my interview, I included three pages of quotes regarding issues I had with these systems. Frankly, I was honored to be interviewed by HR magazine. That pretty much all ended when I read the article.
In the last couple of issues of HR Magazine, there have been articles or statements that have led me to the opinion that HR Magazine needs to stop writing about HR technology or they need to find writers with experience with these systems and the profession as opposed to a career journalist.
My opinion on open source hr systems, based on what I have seen and heard from others, was not favorable. In time, these systems may be a viable alternative but that is not the case today. The exact comments which I forwarded to the author of “Open-Source Solutions for HR,” are contained in this earlier post, Open Source “Free” HR Software.
Here’s what was written in the article.
HRIS analyst Clay Scroggins has seen no demand for open-source HR software. “I have done needs analyses over the last 15 years for 1,000 to 1,500 organizations,” says Scroggins, president of CompareHRIS.com, a web site and consulting firm in Seminole, Fl., that offers comparative analysis of about three dozen HR management systems and generates leads for vendors. “There has been no interest expressed in open source, and rarely does anyone ask about getting access to the source code of commercial products.”
There are many issues with this article: First, my name is Clay Scroggin not Clay Scroggins. If there are two or more of us, then I guess it’s correct. I am not an HRIS analyst. I am the President/Owner of CompareHRIS.com. Truthfully, I have no idea where the author got this one because I have never been an HRIS analyst or labeled myself as such. We don’t have three dozen HRIS vendors on the site, we have 15. Maybe these glaring mistakes would bug others but truthfully, they don’t bother me. I am going to write a letter asking for a retraction but if they don’t, it’s no big deal.
What bothered me most was that I presented the author of the article with two pages of notes on mostly cons I had regarding Open Source HRIS solutions. Basically, what I said was that these systems, as of today, do not present a viable option to the large number of extremely well written HRIS systems on the market. About a week after the interview I spoke with someone who had used CompareHRIS.com and decided to go with an open source application. They came back to the site because he realized that the open source application did not offer any government compliance capabilities which are standard with most, if not all, HRIS systems on the market. He asked the open source software company about adding that functionality for government compliance and the programming cost exceeded the price to actually buy a system that already contained those features. He also indicated to me a number of additional issues pertaining to support of the product and documentation. These were all issues I presented to HR magazine. He dumped the open source system and went with HRnetSource for his HRIS needs. He dumped the open source application for many of the same reasons I presented in my prior post and which I presented to the writer of HR Magazine. However, all of my concerns, which I presented for the article, were ignored.
I think this a question of media bias. I am not talking about right or left political party bias. Open source seems to be the darling of journalists. You know, the small company beating corporate America type of thing. This is all well and good. But take a look under the hood and you will see what I have seen. These systems are not yet ready for prime time. I believe the author of the article approached the article in favor of open source applications and did not listen to, or present accurate arguments from, the industry expert he contacted for help with the article. That is what bothers me.
I have worked as an HR software consultant for 15 years. When I presented my comments to HR magazine, I presented them as a consultant. I presented the very real and glaring items that are currently missing from open source HRIS systems. If a company had hired me as a consultant and asked about open source, my answer would have been the same. In time, open source may be a viable alternative but in my honest opinion, I think that is at least several years away.
All of this is unfortunate because HR magazine is seen as an expert source of information pertaining to the HRIS software industry. In my opinion, this article damaged the trusted information reputation with anyone who has HRIS industry experience. I truthfully believe this article is a disservice to their subscribers.