SAP SuccessFactors Reviews

I use SAP SuccessFactors for workforce management, in order to gain visibility into the employees in my company. 

I'm working with the latest version currently and it is one of several similar products that I have used in the Middle East, including Oracle Cloud Fusion, Oracle EBS on-prem, and the regional software from Naya Tech (which has a good position in the Middle East, and which is fantastic, by the way).

The conceptual structure of Core HR enables us to build whatever we need when it comes to the data that we need to collect from our employees. Overall, SuccessFactors allows us to monitor the progress of our objectives throughout the year, and gives us good visibility into the performance of the company and the different departments.

First of all, I must mention that SuccessFactors has many modules. The main modules are the Core HR and Payroll modules. Payroll is based on the concept that you can create whatever you need in terms of fields, or the characteristics of a field. You can change field types and the names of every field. And with Core HR, the structure of the software allows us the flexibility to build whatever we need in terms of the data we need to collect from our employees.

The second part of this is the integration points between the Core HR module and all the task management areas. This integration is very good and it gives management full visibility regarding performance and performance management. It's built on financial scorecards, so managers can assign the objectives of the company and they can cascade these objectives down from companies to departments, and then to individuals. It lets you monitor the progress of objectives all the way until the end of the year.

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.

Given these features, SuccessFactors is suitable for medium-sized companies as well as larger companies, assuming that the larger companies have simple enough enough processes in terms of workforce management. For very comprehensive processes, SuccessFactors might not be appropriate.

There is now also an overnight shift option. So it can work for blue collar workers, for manufacturing, or for any kind of industry that requires people to stay overnight till the second day. Users of SuccessFactors can manage all of this in terms of attendance or absence.

Beyond that, I think the recruitment features are good. In fact, more than good. And in the latest version there has been great improvements in the time management side of things. There is now a new module called Time Tracking, and this was something we sorely missed from the beginning of SuccessFactors. Now we can integrate SuccessFactors with a time attendance machine or biometric machine and I can assign clock-in and clock-out schedules to the GUI. Meanwhile, the databases that link to the biometric machine for time valuations connect with the data in the Payroll module. This is a great feature that has always been missing and now it's included.

To explain one feature that I would like to see in SuccessFactors, I must describe a similar feature as seen in Oracle. In Oracle, there's a feature called Workforce Prediction, and with this feature, we can predict some of the behaviors of any employee. For example, the software can attempt to predict whether the employee might resign in future, or perhaps if they will start to perform better. This is something that is missing in SuccessFactors.

Another thing that can be improved with SuccessFactors is that, although the reporting tool is not bad, there are often separate reports for different areas of the software. For management and other processes like onboarding, this is not ideal. For example, you may have separate technologies being used in the different modules, so the Payroll module may have a reporting system that is distinct from that used by the more basic modules.

What we are looking for is some way to unify the reporting tools with one technology because otherwise it gives us difficulties when we need to generate a more complete and encompassing report. How it works now is that if we need to get the report from the Payroll module, we must first ask someone with Payroll experience. And if we want to get data from the basic performance or recruitment modules, we must ask another person for that info.

I think that unifying the reporting features is the most important thing for us, which we hope to see in future versions. However, at least for standard processes, it does give us what we are looking for. We can work with cybernetics cloud integration, and that gives us very good insights. So it's not necessarily about making up a gap in the technology, it's more of a matter of being able to better handle who is responsible for what inside the organization.

I have been using SAP SuccessFactors for more than three years.

It is stable. 

It's scalable and very easy to do so.

My experience with the technical support has been good. There's something new with their support called Wizard Guide which is a type of knowledge base where you can search for a specific issue and it will give you some notes about it. If the notes aren't enough, you can then simply open an incident.

There are several tools for opening an incident. You can have a quick chat with a technical person directly, who you can exchange ideas with. This is usually for how-to questions.

Then, there's the ability to schedule meetings with the technical support. In a meeting, you can explain the problem you are facing, and they will either support you on the spot or you will have to open an additional incident ticket. For the new incident process, you need to classify which area of which module you're having a problem with and then wait for a response.

Within a maximum of three days, they will have an answer for you. If you need faster support, there's high priority support which is able to respond in one to two hours, but this isn't something we have used yet. High priority support is more for situations where a system cannot be reached at all, or where something has been greatly affected in the production system and you don't have any workarounds at hand.

They offer their support 24/7, answer very quickly, and they even call you to make sure that you are doing well. Sometimes, when you are enabling new features or facing issues, and you haven't even opened a ticket or anything, they will detect the issue and send an email to you directly to make sure you that you are coming along. For example, they'll tell you, "Please go to steps 1 to 3 to fix your issue." So they are very good and cooperative when it comes to technical support.

I have worked with Oracle before, but in Oracle OTL, Oracle Fusion, and Oracle Cloud, there's a lot missing in terms of time management. In SuccessFactors, it is much better, and even though there is still a way to go, they have already made some significant improvements in this area.

The initial setup can be easy or hard, depending on how you go about it. If you go with the best practices, then you hardly need any setup. You simply adopt the existing processes and this is very easy and straightforward.

If you go without the best practices, such as when the company asks for new processes that are not included, or if you have to do a complex setup right from the beginning, then it will take some effort. But overall, the setup is still very easy.

It all starts with the data model, and obviously this requires someone experienced in Excel, etc., but once it is up and running, you will have screens that can be managed through the SuccessFactors' system without using any XML process. This makes things much more flexible in terms of setup compared to before. For any new processes you'd like to add, you can go directly to the upgrade center and select whichever optional upgrades you want. Thus, enhancing the software is very easy and doesn't take much time.

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.

For any new process or for something already added to the SuccessFactors or SAP library, you can just go directly to the upgrade center, see the optional upgrade, and select it. Once you upgrade it, you have your setup, and you can work right away.

They say nothing is perfect, but honestly, the SuccessFactors product is essentially perfect in my eyes. It fits all the requirements we have and solves every problem we encounter. Whenever there is a problem we need to overcome, we can easily find a similar solution and adapt it to our situation. It's rare finding software that gives you lots of solutions for any particular problem you are thinking about.

The only reason I would not rate SuccessFactors a perfect ten is because if you do find yourself missing some feature that is relevant for your organization, you will have to go develop it yourself.

I would rate SAP SuccessFactors a nine out of ten. 

SAP SuccessFactors forms a key tool to our Employee Engagement pillar extensively leveraged by our HR function across the Group. Key processes around Employee Self Services, Learning and Development, Performance Goals and appraisals, Career Development, Succession Planning is run on SAP SF

UX, Intuitiveness of the System, Integration with SAP S/4HANA

SAP is heavily invested in bringing new features and functionalities in SAP SuccessFactors with every release. Integration with the core financial and HCM / Payroll systems is very critical. This is the area where SAP can leverage its own product portfolio like S/4HANA and provide a much seamless integration

I have been using SAP SuccessFactors for approximately four years.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I have found SAP SuccessFactors to be stable.

SAP SuccessFactors is a scalable solution.

We have 5,500+ employees using this solution in my organization.

We have had large-scale implementations of SAP SuccessFactors. The implementation is neither easy nor very difficult. If it's done right it can be easy and seamless but there's quite a lot of effort that is required. You need experts to do it.

The implementation lifecycle can be further reduced.

You require experts to be able to implement this solution.

An average 4-8 certified Consultants support with the Business as Usual activities

SAP SuccessFactors requires an annual subscription.

I rate SAP SuccessFactors an eight out of ten.

At present, we're utilizing specific components like attendance systems, employee payroll systems, and leave management systems. These are integral to our everyday operations within the organisation. These components include applications for managing employee attendance, payroll, leaves, and travel arrangements, among others.

The SuccessFactors learning applications within the SuccessFactors learning modules, as well as the performance management system, are highly beneficial for each and every employee in our organization. These tools eliminate the need for using Excel to manage data, allowing for direct input into the system. This streamlines the process, making it easier to view and analyze information. We can readily access our performance history, comparing our actions and achievements from the previous year. At present, we are consistently monitoring our day-to-day performance.      

Visual representations, in the form of graphs and charts, can be added. This is beneficial for both management and employees. Upon accessing the system, they should generate graphical representations on their dashboard. These visuals illustrate aspects such as company-wide training progress and current company training status. The information encompasses both company-related data and personal profiles. This approach makes it convenient to grasp the company's profile along with individual information.

I have experience with SAP SuccessFactors.

The product is extremely stable. 

I would rate the scalability of the solution nine out of ten. It has a high level of standardization across the various systems and processes and hence large organizations.

When we encounter something that requires attention, we submit a ticket on the SAP portal. Their response time typically falls within the range of twenty-four to forty-eight hours, as per their service level. Thus, there's no significant problem in the case of support.

The implementation and maintenance are done through vendors. 

I would rate the solution nine out of ten.

We're currently using this solution for recruiting and onboarding; we're implementing a central employee pay system. Everyone in our company uses this solution. We are customers of SAP and I'm an SAP solutions architect. 

SuccessFactors is generally flexible with a lot of good features. It's becoming our core HR system and is a business-critical system for us. Until now, outside of the recruiting and onboarding processes, it was a side system but going forward it's definitely going to be critical.

There are some limiting aspects to this product but I think it's just the nature of the game with any software as a service. From a business perspective, you're limited within a certain boundary. 

The solution is stable.

The solution is scalable.

We don't generally require any technical support. 

I'm not aware of licensing details but I believe it's on the expensive side. 

I recommend this product. Cloud solutions are the way to go, software and service solutions. It's just important to understand what you're going to be getting and keep expectations real. 

I rate this solution eight out of 10. 

SAP SuccessFactors is a human resources solution for businesses, such as workforce planning and analytics.

It can help companies with improving business operations.

The most valuable features of SAP SuccessFactors are onboarding, recruiting, marketing, and performance.

SAP SuccessFactors could improve learning management. The module is desperate and should be included in the primary solution. Additionally, it is missing some business use cases.

I have been using SAP SuccessFactors for approximately six years.

The stability of SAP SuccessFactors is great. I have not had any problems with the system.

The scalability of SAP SuccessFactors is good. We can add extensions to the customer's needs that are not available in the core features. Scalability is possible but some modules have limitations. For example, in Recruiting, I can have a lot of features using business tools, such as building the business role, and NDS meter data framework. However, in Performance, I have a lot of limitations.

I have over 12 customers that are using this solution. We have more customers coming in the near future.

The support from SAP SuccessFactors is good. They were able to solve customer problems regarding integration between modules or some deployments that had issues.

There are a lot of modules and integrations that need to take place while implementing the solution. It is complex to implement. For example, it can be difficult to enable specific groups of users to access certain modules or features.

Once we have the payment from the customer we can deploy the solution in six to eight weeks. This includes all the necessary modules and configurations suitable to the customer's needs.

I would recommend this solution to others.

I rate SAP SuccessFactors an eight out of ten.

SAP SuccessFactors is a cloud-based HR solution. It used to be called HCM, which means "Human Capital Management," but SAP has since changed it to HXM, which is Human Experience Management. SAP SuccessFactors manages the journey of an employee from start to finish. Everything is managed within a single suite.

I have six clients using SuccessFactors: Happy Canyon, HSDS in Abuja, Manager Delta, Reinsurance, Reinsurance Capital, and ECOM, which is a cultural company. 

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. 

There are several solutions built into it, like training and workforce analytics. From my own experience, I find the recruiting module to be fascinating because I've worked with it a lot. My company has deployed the recruiting module for a couple of organizations. For example, the African Union uses Human Capital and SuccessFactors. We deployed Employee Central and recruitment management for them. People can apply for a job, and you can track the applicant's progress within the same system, but you can't implement recruiting module as a standalone solution. You need to have Employee Central as part of the system as well. 

I have raised change requests for some modules within SuccessFactors. For example, when you're using Recruiting Management, there's a feature called Interview Central you can use to reach the candidates you're interviewing. I wanted to add a writing assessment when I select the competency on that platform. It varies from consultant to consultant, depending on what module they use.

The tool that SAP uses to integrate SuccessFactors into other applications is quite expensive. When I deployed the solution for the African Union, we used the cloud platform integration tool. They're now using a tool now called BCP, but you also have the CPI inside it, too. The integration is seamless, but there are other ways to perform the integration.  You want to use web services for integration and all of that. So regardless, you can always integrate into it. It's very easy to actually do that as well.

I first used SuccessFactors in 2017, so it has been five years. 

SuccessFactors is a highly stable solution.

SuccessFactors is scalable because they have different data centers across the world. As your data grows, the instance also grows. There's no failure on the platform. At most, you'll have a few hours of downtime on the weekend as they upgrade the system. 

I rate SAP support 10 out of 10. They have different levels of support. The first is the customer, the second is partner support, and the third is SAP. Inside SAP SuccessFactors you have a lot of built-in support that you can leverage without calling anyone. A system admin can log into the system and chat with SAP directly if they are facing any challenges. Real-time support is available within the system. 

Generally speaking, setting up SuccessFactors is straightforward, but some clients have complicated requirements. The standard SAP configuration is easy for consultants because they have a rapid implementation tool to deploy the baseline solution, so a client can have the system running in days. It depends on the client's requirements, but it is much easier for the end user than the consultant.

The total deployment time also varies depending on the modules. Let's say, you want to implement Employee Central plus the performance assessment and recruiting modules. This might be tricky depending on the size of the organization. Implementing this solution for a large organization requires a lot of data work to gather employee information. If you have all the employee records in place, you can deploy the solution in three months. When you don't have the data, you need to gather it and create templates. It can take much longer to deploy.

SuccessFactors is expensive but it could be cheaper depending on the customer. My company is a large value-added reseller. We buy from SAP and sell to other clients. We also have the power to give clients discounts depending on the size of their budgets and how eager we are to win their business. 

I rate SAP SuccessFactors nine out of 10 because the improvements are underway. They also have a Customer Influence platform where customers suggest ideas about ways to improve the system. They release new features every quarter.

We are using SAP SuccessFactors for our mandatory training.

SAP SuccessFactors is working on making beneficial changes but they are not fast enough. They can improve by making the improvements or updates quicker. Additionally, the user interface could improve, it is not something you want to return to when compared to a solution similar to Instagram.

I have been using SAP SuccessFactors for approximately three years.

SAP SuccessFactors is a very reliable and stable solution.

The scalability of SAP SuccessFactors is good. They are many modules that we could use. For example, they have the Employee Center module where we can expand our employee information, such as which skills we have and career aspirations.

We have approximately 20,000 employees using this solution in my organization.

We plan to continue to use the solution in the future. We do not have plans in our roadmap to change solutions.

I have not contacted the support from SAP SuccessFactors.

I have previously used Saga People, which is a learning platform. It's not the same as SAP SuccessFactors, it does not bring the same capabilities.

The implementation of SAP SuccessFactors is highly complex.

We are a pharma company and in this domain, it's very important to have mandatory training. All the inside notes and email that has been sent to the employees are very heavy and it's not easy to modify them because it's part of the suite. It is very complex to use. It's not easy to change things and if you would like to change things, we need to wait six months. We can wait for a long time, and if there are not any other customers that need the changes we will not receive priority.

We used a third-party integrator in Israel named AKT for the deployment.

This is a very heavy solution suitable for large companies, but not agile enough for my design needs to bring learning for employees.

I rate SAP SuccessFactors a six out of ten.

SAP SuccessFactors is used as its HR solution, to implement the SuccessFactors.

I implemented SuccessFactors' LMS and provided support and enhancements to Employee Central, Time Management, Recruitment, Performance Management, Goal Management, Reporting, and Analytics.

SAP SuccessFactors, in my opinion, is the best cloud-based HR solution tool for any size business.

Considering the entire suite, Learning is on the verge of many upgrades, but it still needs to be upgraded to such a scale that it almost feels tightly integrated with SuccessFactors because Learning is on Plateau, and SuccessFactors acquired Plateau, and later SuccessFactors was acquired by SAP. Learning is still based on another Plateau platform. Much more progress is required in the Learning space.

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.

UX and UI are already user-friendly, but there are some aspects that require some HTML or XML knowledge. It's not for everyone.

I have been working with SAP SuccessFactors for three and a half years.

SAP SuccessFactors is a stable solution.

SAP SuccessFactors is a scalable product.

Our entire HR solution is built on SAP SuccessFactors.

We are implementation partners. Not only is it implemented in our company, but it is also implemented for others.

I would rate technical support a four out of five.

Positive

NTT Data is a partner for SAP.

Every module in SAP SuccessFactors is complex in its own way. LMS and Time Management, in particular, require extensive configuration knowledge, experience, and hands-on experience. Only certified consultants are encouraged to apply.

If you have a large customer base with thousands of records to deploy, it could take three, four, or four to five months.

Maintenance is determined by the scope of the project. If it is a large company with more than 50,000 employees, 50 plus countries, and multiple locals, then at least four to five consultants are required because configuration changes, support, maintenance, and everything else will be required, and some of the aspects in SuccessFactors require extensive experience, hands-on, and knowledge.

They rely on certified consultants, of which there are two levels of certification: associate and professional. It is best to have a professional certified consultant.

It is not expensive because it is a complete suite with a module-based cost.

I am not sure about the pricing, but I understand it's a popular solution for mid-size, small-size, and large-size businesses. I don't see pricing as a challenge. I would rate their pricing a four out of five.

Always refer to the SAP standard, help guide, and help portals. It is preferred to use certified consultants from the implementation partners because it is very difficult to rework and reimplement once it is implemented and all the integrations are in place. It is better to get it done clearly and sound the first time. It's good. 

I believe that more and more organizations will choose a cloud-based solution.

I would rate SAP SuccessFactors a ten out of ten.