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IBM Kenexa vs Oracle Taleo comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Kenexa
Ranking in Benefits Administration
16th
Ranking in Talent Management
17th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software (10th)
Oracle Taleo
Ranking in Benefits Administration
8th
Ranking in Talent Management
8th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.5
Number of Reviews
20
Ranking in other categories
No ranking in other categories
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Benefits Administration category, the mindshare of IBM Kenexa is 1.8%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle Taleo is 2.3%, down from 2.5% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Benefits Administration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Oracle Taleo2.3%
IBM Kenexa1.8%
Other95.9%
Benefits Administration
 

Featured Reviews

Karan Grover - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Suitable for larger-scale companies aiming to streamline and automate their processes digitally
The deployment of the solution took between six to eight months. When we introduced BrassRing at my company, we encountered several challenges. First, moving data from our old system to BrassRing was tough because it needed reformatting. Second, connecting BrassRing with our HR data was tricky due to manual processes for roles and departments. Third, setting up the workflow in BrassRing was complex. Fourth, configuring user access and approval levels was a detailed task. We also had to manage the change process, including running both old and new systems in parallel, communicating changes, and training users. Lastly, monitoring and reporting were needed to ensure data accuracy and proper system usage once everything was in place. We had a team of six to eight people managing the project from our side during the BrassRing deployment. I'm not sure about the size of the BrassRing team, and we also had our own technical team, which had three to four members. The solution required maintenance, particularly from my side as the administrator. Maintenance responsibilities were divided into two parts: some tasks we, as end-users, could control, while others were the responsibility of the BrassRing team. Payment-related tasks were a regular part of our responsibilities. I wasn't the only person maintaining the solution. There were three power users from Infosys, each responsible for a specific geography. My counterpart managed it in the US, and I, along with my colleague in India, managed it for other geographies.
Raghu Varun - PeerSpot reviewer
Talent Acquisition Specialist at Autodesk, Inc.
Supports recruitment workflows effectively but requires better AI search and mobile capabilities
Oracle Taleo lacks AI right now when everyone is transitioning into AI. It is very limited with a single word search. A chatbot could be added to Oracle Taleo as most of the current existing tools have. Career site redirection could be more advanced with the user interface.AI-assisted search can help in the sourcing platform, which would be an added advantage compared to Oracle Taleo. The filters are good, but when trying to use a Boolean search or customize search options, it only takes a limited selection of keywords. AI could help in more advanced search capability, which might be a drawback for Oracle Taleo. Additionally, creating campaigns and bulk messaging is lacking.Regarding the mobile-friendly candidate experience, there are better options from other tools. You are limited to the approval part. Difficulties arise when wanting access to applications or dashboards connected to Oracle Taleo or viewing the transition on mobile.When it comes to stability and performance, there are prior communications about downtimes on Saturdays, but there are some issues during weekdays which are faced occasionally. The scalability aspect is not quite scalable.

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."
"The most important features are that the instrument can be customized, that we can get important and relevant data about our employees, and the responsiveness of our client team from IBM has been phenomenal."
"BrassRing, the applicant tracking system, has brought a high level of automation, specifically for our mass-volume hourly processes."
"Great value and flexibility in an ATS, mainly through the automation and the configuration through Workbench you can do to manipulate the candidate experience to really be something that candidates like and allows them to apply to your site easily and put them in a pipeline for recruiters to access and move through a process and get somebody hired."
"Overall, from a recruiter's perspective, it is an excellent product and is probably one of the best recruitment products out there in terms of usability, ease of understanding, and management of large applicant pools."
"The streamlined, simplicity approach of Kenexa makes it simple for me to navigate."
"The ability now to be able to take data, load it yourself, ask the business questions and get the answers on your own process with the business just made it a lot faster, and the cognitive solution gives us some insights for us to think about."
"I think one of the biggest benefits that Kenexa brings is the scalability."
"It's huge, as it is revenue for us as we sell our training to hospitals and hospital systems, as well as through e-commerce for individual purchases."
"ATS is used to track candidates. We've used it for job requisitions, getting candidates for those requisitions, moving them through different interview stages, and then handling their onboarding process."
"The Talent Acquisition and Headhunting features are good."
"I think we have faster on-boarding time, it is mobile and you can use it anywhere, and it's also more cost effective because it doesn't take as many people to do it."
"Performance and goal management are good to have, based on certain client requirements where the user base isn't too large, but the most workable domain of Taleo is the recruiting module."
"The workflow is good in Oracle Taleo, and the user interface has standard clear instructions and providers."
"The stability of the solution is good."
"Good integration capabilities and extensibility."
 

Cons

"I would like to have a better and more user-friendly interface."
"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."
"IBM Kenexa has a lot of room for improvement. The solution is not advancing anymore in terms of the user experience and in the workflows."
"The price can always be better. Right now, we can only do part of that, but not as much as I want to."
"It needs to update its reporting and analytics tools."
"The team didn't find the reporting tool that easy to use, in terms of pulling their own data, slicing and dicing it, combining groups."
"I think there is some administrative things that could be easier in terms of Workbench and streamlining that process; configuration of different things."
"Being in a silo of my own world, my wish would be that everything that's available in their legacy views would be moved into their new Talent Suite products, so we could move over to that."
"The solution should be more intuitive and user-friendly when navigating the different pages within Oracle."
"Taleo doesn't really provide us with the systems that we need."
"I don't remember a lot of CRM-type functionality for our salespeople."
"It would be beneficial if Oracle Taleo included AI-based CV screening, rather than just keyword matches."
"When editing some components such as requisitions, the solution does not respond quickly in terms of performance, maybe because of the technology in which the solution is currently built."
"I don't see very valuable features in this product because it has an old way of interpreting ATS. It should be more flexible in managing datasets and data searches."
"In terms of Oracle Taleo as a product, there are a lot of things which can be developed; most feedback which I have heard from customers is about the dashboard and the home page, both of which are quite basic."
"It would be ideal if we could integrate the solution with Olympia. It would be helpful if we could add another support desk for an IT person. It would be great if the product was more interdisciplinary and could include IT."
 

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."
"Oracle Taleo is an expensive solution."
"Whether you pay annually or on some other payment schedule depends on the license model you choose. Typically, clients pay a yearly subscription."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Comms Service Provider
23%
Financial Services Firm
12%
Healthcare Company
6%
University
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business4
Midsize Enterprise3
Large Enterprise14
 

Questions from the Community

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What needs improvement with Oracle Taleo?
Oracle Taleo lacks AI right now when everyone is transitioning into AI. It is very limited with a single word search. A chatbot could be added to Oracle Taleo as most of the current existing tools ...
What is your primary use case for Oracle Taleo?
I have been working with Workday for the last one and a half years, but prior to that, I was there for Oracle Taleo and SuccessFactors for almost six years. I migrated to Workday and Oracle HCM app...
What advice do you have for others considering Oracle Taleo?
When someone is trying to implement Oracle Taleo, they should look into the systems and what features can be integrated. Not every organization helps you in integration with third parties, and you ...
 

Also Known As

IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart
Taleo, SonicRecruit
 

Overview

 

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
ICA Fluor, Monsanto Company, Hitachi Consulting, Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital, Kalpataru Ltd, DELL Inc., JSR Micro Inc., Skanska AB, Acciona, Baloise Group, Zhejiang Geely Holding Group, Logicalis Inc., Garmin International, Intuit Inc, The Dow Chemical Company
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Kenexa vs. Oracle Taleo and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
895,891 professionals have used our research since 2012.