How cloud changes the HR tools integration Landscape

Integration of HR tools is strategic for large companies and organizations. Cloud technologies enable these companies to easily integrate systems, and in fact, the “growth of Cloud HR is driving more standardised system integrations”.

In the following excerpt from the recently published Fosway Group / Docebo whitepaper entitled Integrating the HR landscape on the Cloud, we present how Cloud impacts the HR tools integration landscape. To read more, download the full whitepaper.

How cloud changes the HR tools integration Landscape

by David Wilson, CEO of Fosway Group

With many of HR systems moving to the Cloud, the integration landscape has changed significantly. This is not so much because the technical approaches to integration change, although they do slightly (but that is beyond the scope of this paper).

The biggest change is that:

• Cloud systems are located outside of the customer premises and accessed remotely via the Internet or a corporate intranet
• Cloud systems are configured not customized and therefore integration connectors can be more standardized

Both of the above impacts the way in which we integrate between systems. The external location of the system impacts both process and the controls. Both batch and transactional interfaces are still possible, but the way they work (and the type of procedure calls used) are slightly different. If the Cloud system is a Public Cloud, i.e. accessed by other companies as well, then clearly additional controls are required to ensure only the right people or processes have access or can update your data. If a Private Cloud, normal IT paranoia still probably dictates similar controls, but access to the network is theoretical more secure in the first place.

An example of cloud-integrated HR landscape:

The impact of the second is also important. Basically, Cloud-based learning and talent systems will always have to integrate with other people data, and do it through a standardized approach because they cannot be customized. So why not package the integration process into a standard connector that can be plugged into any appropriate source? This is a critical change and has led to the vendors creating standard connector tools used by each customer to connect to their HR data or talent systems.

The advantage for you the customer is these connectors simplify the work for you to create the interface, and are guaranteed to work, assuming you point them at the right data your end. The hard work to create the integration tool has been done already, and the connectors are supported directly by the provider. If there are any issues (other than for the quality of your data), the supplier has to fix them very quickly as they will impact many, if not all, of their customers.