IBM Kenexa vs SAP SuccessFactors comparison

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995 views|667 comparisons
90% willing to recommend
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18,795 views|12,461 comparisons
85% willing to recommend
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Executive Summary

We performed a comparison between IBM Kenexa and SAP SuccessFactors based on real PeerSpot user reviews.

Find out in this report how the two Talent Management solutions compare in terms of features, pricing, service and support, easy of deployment, and ROI.
To learn more, read our detailed IBM Kenexa vs. SAP SuccessFactors Report (Updated: May 2024).
770,428 professionals have used our research since 2012.
Featured Review
Quotes From Members
We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use.
Here are some excerpts of what they said:
Pros
"The ease of scaling is one of BrassRing's biggest strengths, making it a trusted choice for large companies.""IBM Kenexa is fairly stable. We don't have any downtime.""It is extremely user friendly. It is very flexible in managing recruitment, especially when you have thousands of applicants as we did. We easily had over 20,000 applicants within a year for some of our positions, so it made it very easy to manage a large application pool. It was very easy to customize by recruiter preference. When you open up someone's profile to see their experience, education, or other things, you can customize that for yourself. It was flexible in that, and each recruiter could set up their preferences. It didn't have to be set up so that everyone had to have the same landing platform, which was very helpful. As someone who trained other HR people on how to use the system, it was very easy to pick up and learn.""The most valuable features are that we can upload documents and download them on demand."

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"Scalability-wise, I rate the solution an eight out of ten...It is a stable solution.""The most valuable features of the solution are GUI and OData API.""I think it's perfect that every requirement has flexibility in how it is handled, and that there are several workarounds for any problem we are looking to solve. Each problem has multiple solutions, so it gives us a lot of flexibility in terms of processes.""This solution can be used for reporting related to employee information and contacts""It is a scalable solution. I would rate it a ten out of ten.""What I appreciate most about SAP SuccessFactors is that it has all the modules in one platform. SAP SuccessFactors is the best option in the market for HR use cases. I also find the solution user-friendly.""All of SuccessFactors' features are useful, but there are several modules within SuccessFactors that I find handy. You have Employee Central, which manages employee records within the system. It manages all the information about an employee, including names, addresses, account numbers, positions, org charts, etc. It also handles performance reviews and KPIs for employees within an organization. Then you have succession planning and development as well.""SAP SuccessFactors integrated solution, allows us to start the process from a recruitment marketing perspective and have our career site and candidate profile pull through into each other."

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Cons
"I would like to have a better and more user-friendly interface.""I would not recommend IBM Kenexa to others.""It needs to update its reporting and analytics tools.""The reporting tool is helpful, but it is not the easiest to train on or is not as understandable for other HR pros. Their Workbench site, which is the administrator site that you use to update your website, is not user-friendly. When updates are required, it is not that easy to manage because Workbench is not user friendly. It required more work from the admins. They have Workbench training, which actually was very unhelpful. It took eight hours to complete, and it was not very helpful. Their customer service when it comes specifically to their Workbench site is not helpful."

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"he user interface could be improved.""The solution needs more localization, especially for the Middle East and Russia.""The complete integration process between SuccessFactors modules is not at the level that all customers expect when it comes to complete HR user experience from all angles.""Its overall integration and user experience can be improved. SuccessFactors is a system that is built out of three different systems. The elements part was bought from Plateau, and the original performance dialogue was built by SuccessFactors itself. After that, SAP bought it, and it hasn't improved in the last few years. SuccessFactors is a perfect tool if you use it the way it is meant to be, but if you start building custom sessions and try to use it differently, then it is a total mess. It is not agile. It is like an old Mastodon truck or whatever. We don't have the Employee Central and Competence Management modules. Our company made the choice to not implement the Employee Central module. We also didn't implement the Competence Management module. We use the learning module to do some competence management, but I am not that fond of it. It would have been best to have the whole suite. SAP should never sell this without selling the whole suite because it just doesn't work. The biggest gain for me would be having the possibility of doing strategic personnel planning and managing internal mobility. If it could be used for social purposes, such as creating communities and connecting with media channels, that would be perfect. It should also have the possibilities for local admin and agile product development.""The GUI needs to be enhanced to be in line with the latest and complete version of the solution.""The stability could be a bit better.""They should be more user friendly and give us more tools to make it more flexible.""Everything, including the provisioning dependency, should be moved to the instance, and coding should be kept to a minimum. Wherever possible, coding should be minimized, and everything should be a drag-and-drop."

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Pricing and Cost Advice
  • "Kenexa was fairly priced. However, in 2019, before I left my previous organization, they significantly increased their pricing. It can be affordable, but their pricing is going up. It is not just licensing; it is how many applicants you have in your system on the database side."
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  • "The licensing fees are based on the number of modules that are being used, and the number of users."
  • "I don't want to comment on the license cost, to be honest. It could be about $1,000 approximately per customer. However, it's very flexible in terms of the licensing costs depending on the volume and depending on the deal of installation."
  • "If you go by best practices and do it right from the outset, the setup won't be a costly endeavor. In terms of setup, there is a lot of flexibility compared to three years ago."
  • "It could be cheaper."
  • "We have a yearly license. There are no additional costs."
  • "SAP SuccessFactors requires an annual subscription."
  • "It is not expensive because it is a complete suite with a module-based cost."
  • "For SAP, the product is pricey, both CAPEX and the OPEX. It's something that could be improved."
  • More SAP SuccessFactors Pricing and Cost Advice →

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    Questions from the Community
    Top Answer:The ease of scaling is one of BrassRing's biggest strengths, making it a trusted choice for large companies.
    Top Answer:As a large company, we first bought the complete BrassRing package, which had various features. Later on, we paid extra for specific features like customer test management. When we integrated with… more »
    Top Answer:BrassRing needs improvement in a few areas. First, it should update how it tracks where candidates come from and avoid duplicate entries. Right now, it is not very flexible. Also, its way of making… more »
    Top Answer:Differences between Workday, Oracle Cloud,w and SAP SuccessFactors:w Oracle: "simple interface and deep customization to suit the purpose." SAP: Multiple functionalities that increase process… more »
    Top Answer:When it comes to user experience, SuccessFactors is unquestionably superior, as it provides end users with a new experience and an advanced user interface. Additionally, the entire concept of SF is to… more »
    Top Answer:The tool is easy to use for performance management. We haven't experienced any issues with SAP SuccessFactors for performance management, which is great. However, since we're still learning to use it… more »
    Ranking
    22nd
    out of 86 in Talent Management
    Views
    995
    Comparisons
    667
    Reviews
    2
    Average Words per Review
    710
    Rating
    4.5
    1st
    out of 86 in Talent Management
    Views
    18,795
    Comparisons
    12,461
    Reviews
    40
    Average Words per Review
    492
    Rating
    7.7
    Comparisons
    Also Known As
    IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart
    SuccessFactors
    Learn More
    Overview
    Kenexa provides business solutions for human resources. We help global organizations multiply business success by identifying the best individuals for every job and fostering optimal work environments for every organization.

    SAP SuccessFactors is a valuable human resource management system (HRMS) solution that streamlines numerous HR tasks and activities, such as payroll, talent management, and people processes, to help make the entire HR process run more smoothly and improve the overall employee experience. It is primarily developed to meet the needs of enterprise-class organizations. SAP SuccessFactors can also help users to boost business processes and achieve desired outcomes.

    SAP SuccessFactors is cloud-based and built as a Software as a Service (SaaS) tool. It can integrate seamlessly with any existing ecosystem. This solution can easily be accessed from any web browser, from any location, with any device.

    SAP Success Factors Key Features

    • Improve core HR and payroll process: SAP SuccessFactors can help users improve productivity by simplifying everyday tasks, streamlining processes across the organization, establishing consistent business practices, and improving the bottom line by reducing risk. SuccessFactors core HR tools include time and attendance, payroll management, document management, and additional core HR services to meet regulatory and compliance needs.

    • Staff planning and HR analytics: SuccessFactors can facilitate an improved DE&I (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) environment using intuitive people data measurements. The solution can help create action plans to ensure that hiring goals are met in a timely manner, preventing critical staffing gaps and ensuring that productivity and profitability goals are consistently being achieved.

    • Employee welfare management: SuccessFactors allows users to respond in a timely manner to employee needs and concerns, to better understand employee motivations, to keep employees happy and involved, to specify employee dissatisfiers, and to help improve the overall employee experience. The solution will also facilitate employee performance using an intuitive holistic approach, improve employee benefits, and guide and administer the entire employee career growth. SuccessFactors provides valuable opportunities for employee growth through intuitive individualized learning and career development opportunities. It also rewards and recognizes good performance and provides pathways for successful career growth. The solution will help to attract and retain the best available talent in the marketplace.
    • Succession Planning: The solution can be used to assist with talent sourcing, candidate management, and improving the overall candidate experience to include new hire onboarding, offboarding, and more. SuccessFactors also provides action plans for performance and compensation management, education and career development, talent reviews, leadership planning, and even sales performance management, goal setting, and quotas.

    Reviews from Real Users

    “We are using it for a lot of things: HR, performance management, and learning management. There are a lot of features embedded in SuccessFactors. We recently implemented a learning platform that employs the individual staff to actually manage their own learning. They can do it at their own pace. SuccessFactors allows you to manage your team, have calibration for promotion, and you can generate reports and see how you're doing.” - Alaba O., IT Asset Management Lead at Dangote Industries Limited

    “SuccessFactors Talent Management tools help us in managing the entire employee journey. HR and managers can use the succession and development tool to create career paths and staff development plans. When combined with the learning tool, these development objectives can help employees gain the skills they need to advance their careers within the company.” - Yamen Z., SAP Project Manager at a manufacturing company

    Sample Customers
    Sweet Spot International (SSI), Leo Burnett Worldwide (LBW), Sika AG, Legacy Health, Apollo Group Inc., Regeneron, Transurban Group, National Health Service, New Zealand Police, Overland Footwear, Yealands, Johnson Controls, Allscripts, Kerry Foods, Masterpet, AMD, Balfour Beatty
    City of Cape Town, ADAMA Agricultural Solutions Ltd., TransAlta Corporation, Keolis, PT XL Axiata Tbk, National Football League (NFL), Plan International, Yoh, A Day & Zimmermann Company, China Talent Group (CTG TMO), Umicore S.A., Butterfield Bank, Skril
    Top Industries
    REVIEWERS
    Financial Services Firm19%
    Retailer19%
    Hospitality Company11%
    Engineering Company7%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Financial Services Firm14%
    Real Estate/Law Firm7%
    Retailer7%
    Computer Software Company7%
    REVIEWERS
    Manufacturing Company26%
    Computer Software Company17%
    Financial Services Firm9%
    Comms Service Provider8%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Educational Organization45%
    Computer Software Company8%
    Manufacturing Company6%
    Financial Services Firm6%
    Company Size
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business9%
    Midsize Enterprise3%
    Large Enterprise88%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business29%
    Midsize Enterprise13%
    Large Enterprise58%
    REVIEWERS
    Small Business22%
    Midsize Enterprise15%
    Large Enterprise63%
    VISITORS READING REVIEWS
    Small Business11%
    Midsize Enterprise50%
    Large Enterprise39%
    Buyer's Guide
    IBM Kenexa vs. SAP SuccessFactors
    May 2024
    Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Kenexa vs. SAP SuccessFactors and other solutions. Updated: May 2024.
    770,428 professionals have used our research since 2012.

    IBM Kenexa is ranked 22nd in Talent Management with 30 reviews while SAP SuccessFactors is ranked 1st in Talent Management with 90 reviews. IBM Kenexa is rated 7.6, while SAP SuccessFactors is rated 7.8. The top reviewer of IBM Kenexa writes "Suitable for larger-scale companies aiming to streamline and automate their processes digitally". On the other hand, the top reviewer of SAP SuccessFactors writes "Offers many useful modules and integrations, and helps companies adhere to best practices". IBM Kenexa is most compared with HR Software Solutions and Workday, whereas SAP SuccessFactors is most compared with SAP HCM, Workday, Oracle HCM Cloud and PeopleSoft. See our IBM Kenexa vs. SAP SuccessFactors report.

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