Authoria’s (profile; site) president and CEO, Tod Loofbourrow, chatted with ERE about Taleo’s recent acquisition of Vurv. He says this acquisition, part of an ongoing consolidation from 45 recruiting technology vendors to a handful, represents what customers want: a complete talent management solution.
Three best-of-breed vendors, Authoria, Taleo, and SuccessFactors, are going after that market seriously, but he says pure-play recruiting software vendors will not survive.
Here he offers additional insights into this latest round of talent management drama:
ERE: Do you think these acquisitions aid, or simply confuse, the typical recruiter?
TL: Short term, the consolidation from 45 to a handful simplifies recruiters’ technology choices. But the factors driving the consolidation — the broader talent management opportunity — will force recruiters to go beyond a recruiting-only mindset, and come to grips with more strategic organizational needs and talent management opportunities such as quality of hiring; filling gaps in leadership pipelines; and retaining high performers.
ERE: What is “border-less HR” and how does it affect recruiters?
TL: Border-less HR is forcing recruiters to look beyond simply headcount metrics to business impact. In other words, successful recruiters already know that they must align to the business needs of the hiring manager. Likewise, next-generation recruiting approaches must be part of a more comprehensive approach to the full lifecycle to talent.
ERE: You say it’ll be a $2.3 billion software business in 2008. Where is it headed in the next 5, 10 years?
TL: Industry analysts agree that talent management solutions will remain one of the fastest-growing segments of enterprise software. Employers are inescapably drawn to the value of optimizing one of the last and largest assets classes within their organizations, their people.
ERE: How does Authoria differentiate itself in the marketplace?
TL: We have three key areas of differentiation. [First, a] focus on the manager’s success through simplicity and ease of use; breadth and depth of our comprehensive offering across Recruiting, Compensation, Performance, Development and Succession; and 11 years’ experience meeting the complex talent management needs of the world’s most demanding employers.
ERE: Any other insights you wish to share about the future of talent management?
TL: Authoria believes talent management will prove to be the largest software category ever. We see tremendous momentum with customers, and industry activity such as this is further evidence of the value organizations attach to optimizing talent.