SAP SuccessFactors Reviews

We are using SAP SuccessFactors for many of its modules, such as payroll and recruiting.

The SAP SuccessFactors integration with old versions can improve. We are using an older finance module but we are having migration issues.

The problem we are facing is with our employee culture. It is difficult for some users to use the solution. 

I have been using SAP SuccessFactors for approximately three years.

SAP SuccessFactors is stable, we have not found any bugs or glitches.

The scalability of SAP SuccessFactors is good.

The technical support has been helpful.

SAP SuccessFactors is simple to set up.

I rate SAP SuccessFactors a nine out of ten.

My primary use case is the HR package. 

There is room for improvement in the pricing model. 

I have been using SAP SuccessFactors for one year. I am using the latest version. 

It is a stable solution. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten. 

It is a scalable solution. I would rate it a ten out of ten. 

The initial setup was easy. It is a user-friendly solution. 

It is not cheap, but it is reasonable. I would rate it a five out of ten. 

Overall, I would rate the solution a ten out of ten. I would definitely recommend using the product. 

We primarily use it for end-users. It has compulsory courses they need to self-enroll in. Our LMS administrator manages the system in terms of learning hours, training, and recording of those entered. They manage the courses. They update user profiles and assign courses where needed. They're also performing all of the call administration management.

The solution is good for helping users with courses, and administrators can manage the process. 

The solution is stable. 

The back end for the administration and the front end is too overtly complex and it's not aligned with our operations and learning needs.

Its entire front-end user experience needs improvement. All back-end administration functionality needs to be simplified. The whole interface needs to be revamped. 

We've used the solution for six years. We've used it since 2016.

This is a stable, robust solution. There are no bugs or glitches. It doesn't crash or freeze. I'd rate it eight out of ten in terms of the stability I've witnessed. 

We have 1,600 people using it in our company. We had one dedicated admin and seven people with access to the backend. 

I don't generally reach out to technical support. It's not that the system doesn't work; it's just that we don't understand how to optimize it. That's the only trouble we have. 

We are currently looking into other solutions in order to change to something else as this product is too complex. We'll likely move to Docebo. 

I did use a different solution, however, that was when I was at a different company. 

I was not involved in the initial setup, however, my understanding is it was likely complex. 

We've only seen a minimal ROI. It's likely 10% out of the entire project. 

The amount of value we are getting out of the solution is less than the price. We pay an annual subscription. I can't speak to the exact amount we currently pay.

I'm a customer and end-user.

I'm not sure which version we are using. It's likely the latest version. 

The product is different for everyone. New users need to look at thier own business needs first. If your own business needs require a system of this feature set, then you need to probably determine whether or not it fits into your stack and also your architecture. 

It all comes down to your requirements and how you would like the learning experience to be delivered and how you would like your L&D operations to be performed in your organization. If SuccessFactors is aligned to that, it's the right product for you. If it's not aligned to that, then no. There are organizations where SuccessFactors is suitable. It really depends on what kind of organization you are and what kind of requirements you have.

I'd rate the solution three out of ten based on the user experience and the backend administration.

The Admin Tools functionality in Employee Central is great. For a technical/functional associate within our IT team, we can accomplish many (but not all) of the requests from our business partners.

The role-based permissions functionality is beyond great (in my opinion) and is honestly more robust and flexible than any other security setup/process that we have with other business software that we use (and have the ability to maintain security roles with).

Prior to implementing SuccessFactors, we had nowhere to go for a single snapshot of our entire company. Today, we have our entire North America, Europe and Hong Kong businesses in the system and therefore easily accessible.

SuccessFactors allows us to have an online performance/review process that is consistent across the organization.

SuccessFactors has a workflow/approval process in place to ensure that updates are made/approved by the official ‘manager’ and 2nd level ‘manager’ for that associate. Prior, everything was done on paper and faxed to payroll for entry into the legacy JDE system.

All department/store leads now have the ability to see employee information for those reporting through them (initial level and cascaded down).

All department/store leads now have the ability to make change requests for anyone in their reporting tree without having to fill out a form and faxing to payroll.

The entire company now has a tool to view basic information (including associate photos) on their fellow associates.

I think the integration methods can be more user-friendly.

SuccessFactors modules must become more integrated than they are today (i.e., EC with Performance, Goals, Onboarding, Compensation, etc.).

SuccessFactors modules must become more integrated with other SAP products (i.e., SAP ERP, Concur, Fieldglass, etc.).

Would be nice to have more standard integrations created for SuccessFactors. Currently, we are aware of standard integrations with WorkForce Software Time & Attendance and BenefitFocus. Others would be good to have (i.e., ADP).

The new hire process should have direct deposit entry as part of the initial step; we had to custom build this to ensure that every associate had at least one direct deposit record upon hire (we are 100% direct deposit company).

We went live with EC, Performance, Goals and Compensation in May 2014; a little over 2 ½ years ago.

We have not really had any stability issues. During performance review time (i.e., August/September) there seemed to be data center issues where associates were all having system timeout issues, data was being lost from Performance Reviews documents, etc. This has been resolved, but was an issue at one time.

I am not aware of any scalability issues.

Technical support has been an issue since day one. We have made our concerns quite apparent. We pay extra for Premium Support (SAP Preferred Care) and honestly cannot see what we are really getting at times. We have an assigned CSM, but this is our 3rd one (although we like our CSM now). When a priority issue is sent to ‘Engineering’, it becomes a black hole of sorts. The priority of our case is no longer relevant as the CSM (and team) cannot do anything once it gets sent to the Engineering Team. This is a problem, since for us, SuccessFactors support is SuccessFactors support, regardless of what department/level the case sits in.

More direct interaction with the case specialist would be very helpful. When we occasionally have the ability to speak with the person actually working on the case (i.e., not CSM or initial support team), we find it extremely helpful (but unfortunately, doesn’t always happen).

We had no specific HR system. Employee data was housed in the payroll system and not available to anyone outside of HR Payroll. Performance reviews and comp were all manual with Excel and other Microsoft tools. The organizational chart was basically Excel and not always accurate.

Setup was straightforward, but that was only because our implementation team (IBM) did all of that for us and walked us through everything. Eventually, we realized how intuitive the process actually is.

The only other product we were going to use was SAP HCM On-Premise for HR and payroll with a connection to SuccessFactors for the Talent Management suite (i.e., Performance & Goals, etc.). That project never got started and once we saw Employee Central as a SaaS offering, we determined to keep the existing payroll process (it has since been upgraded to ADP) and go forward with the Employee Central/SuccessFactors integration (especially since SAP purchased SuccessFactors and should’ve had SuccessFactors/Employee Central fully integrated, which it wasn’t).

I would make sure they do their homework on an implementation partner, as that can make all the difference in the world.

I would make sure that all potential business changes are reviewed ahead of time so that the implementation partner can incorporate accordingly. For example, organization hierarchy changes, performance/goals modifications, job code changes (if necessary), etc.

Inquire about what all of your integration and reporting options are within SuccessFactors.

Inquire about how much you, as a customer, can do (i.e., Admin Tools) once implementation is completed.

We use this solution to provide HR application functions.

This solution is very user-friendly, and supports 60 plus languages.

There is not much scope for enhancements, personalization, or customization with the cloud-based variant of this solution, which could be improved.

We would like there to be better integration with this solution and our existing systems.

We would also like the option of whether to implement new features, or not, when they are released.

We have been working with this solution for four and a half years.

This is a very stable solution.

In our experience, this product is scalable and very adaptable.

We have found tehtechnical support team for this solution

Speaker 2:

Because they are responsive, they would be very approachable as well. But yeah, sometimes the SAP case, it goes across multiple geographies, across multiple points of contact, from development team to the product team or to the cross-functional teams. It floats around until a resolution or until it reaches out to the correct point of contact. So considering those cases, it may take a while for them to come up with a resolution for some cases. Otherwise, in most of the cases, pretty much the resolution is maybe in a latency of six to seven days it gets resolved.

Positive

The ease, or complexity, of the initial setup is dependent on the expertise level of the implementation partners, who will need to be certified in at least one module being deployed.

There are standard test cases, test scripts, best practices, implementation metrics, phases, timelines, and the way the project is generally executed. As long as these are adhered to, then the implementation is straightforward, but it is not admin-friendly and cannot be carried out solely in-house.

We would advise organizations that while this is user-friendly, in-house admin teams may find the technical dependencies of this solution to be challenging.

We would also suggest that that anyone involved in the implementation of this software becomes familiar with the best practice for this product, via the knowledge-base articles and help guides provided.

We would rate this solution a nine out of ten.

I primarily use this product for employee management. This includes an objective assessment of money made, creating performance reviews, and recruiting new employees and management.

It has improved my organization by enabling us to efficiently manage our personnel.

The features that I have found most valuable are the ability to set and review goals, and the ability to manage performance in general.

In terms of what needs improvement, in Employee Central, one of the features that I think SuccessFactors really lacks is the ability to view the time off of all employees at an organizational level. We have had instances where some of our clients wanted a version where at a glance, we can have an HR analytics that shows who is on leave, or has been on leave and when. You have that at a team level and at a peer level, but you don't have it at an organizational level. When you have to put together an agreement on leave with your client this is very lacking.

Also, it would be helpful if they could improve its ability to localize the product to Nigeria.

I have been using this solution since early 2017.

I think it's a stable solution. We have not had any issues with its deployment or use. It's been stable, so I don't know if there are any issues because we haven't had any challenges around it. 

My impression of SuccessFactors is that it is quite scalable. For example, we have clients who have slightly above 800 employees who are using it. We have clients that have over 1000 users using this. I also read online a few months back about a Russian bank that uses SuccessFactors with about 75,000 employees. It's the same product. All you need to do is to get different licenses.

If we had any issues that we were unable to resolve, we can always receive support from SAP. We raise an incident with them, and they respond depending on your priority. If you put priority one, it's almost an instant response. They reach out to you within an hour. On that call they asses the true priority level. If it's something we have to resolve as soon as possible, they will. While if it's something that is less of a priority, they will change the priority to something lower. But what I find is that at the end of the day, you always get a very good response from SAP.

Actually I haven't used a different solution.

The initial setup is straightforward because there are templates and best practices. We can just click on the button from the online center, deploy it into the system, and it sets it up for us.

The time it takes to deploy depends on the requirements and it depends on the number of modes that you deploy. As long as you have clear requirements from the client, it can take between three and four months. It doesn’t take too much time to deploy as long as you have clear requirements.

I work for a partner. I did the deployment with some of my team members.  

Before choosing SuccessFactors, we compared other industry solutions, including Microsoft. But Microsoft's HR product is really not top line in this part of the world.

I think the advice I'd give is that it's a nice solution. It's easy to deploy. It's so easy to use. You really don't need to know much about coding or be a highly technical team to be able to use it. It’s very easy to use. For example, for the traditional ERP that SAP had before, you had to be instructed to work with it. This one is really straightforward.

SAP is our ERP. On the cloud we only have SuccessFactors for the recruitment.

We are currently looking for a better solution enabling us to better analytics. So SAP on-premise is pretty old and while it allows a lot of flexibility, it doesn't give us the flexibility to integrate to other modules. We have many interruptions and disconnection points into processes, which is why we are looking to another solution. We are not so happy with the system. We believe we have in the market better solution, so we are looking for alternatives but so far the system has been used a lot. It's brought to our organization a big big improvement. We would give it a good rating. 

The analytics part could be improved. Analytics are pretty poor plus some usability parts need improvement but in the end, the process is covered. In some cases, we don't have the possibilities to reverse the workflow. Overall, the product is a good product, I'm not saying it's bad. We are just looking for an integrated platform and of course, SuccessFactors is one of the possibilities. We are evaluating several alternatives.

In the next release, I would like to have the possibility to reverse workflows. There should be better automation. On the scoring, it's pretty fine. It really depends on the way you manage your recruiting. We are a wide organization so we have these type of issues. But for the normal recruiting process, it's more than enough.

The system is pretty stable. We have not had big issues with that. 

Scalability needs improvement. 

I would definitely recommend SuccessFactors but I think the roadmap for a better product needs to happen. Our overall rating is good but I think there is space for improvement.

I would rate it a seven out of ten. 

We primarily provide this solution to our clients. It's an HTM solution and talent management is included within it.

Generally, it is quite an integrated product.  

In terms of user experience, it is quite good. 

There are quite a few features, such as AI, machine learning, et cetera, which are embedded right in the solution. The solution can interact with the cloud and you can do app development and tasks like that with it. 

It's pretty good for reporting. It's done pretty easily. 

I really like the integrity of the solution.

There are a few features that are missing. There are specific features on the HTM, such as telecom safety, that just isn't there. It's not a very detailed solution in that sense. However, it is maybe not expected to have those kinds of features on the surface level of the product.

We haven't used the solution for too long. We've only really used it for about a year or so now.

The solution is very stable. We haven't faced any issues in regards to bugs, glitches or crashes. We find it reliable.

We haven't heard anything about problems related to the scalability of the solution. It is quite scalable, in fact. Being on the cloud, the solution is definitely scalable. I believe Success Factors are implemented in many multi-national companies with large numbers of users. It's know to be a scalable solution.

Since it is on the cloud, the technical support required is pretty minimum for us. The technical support is provided by SAP and SAP Solutions it is generally okay. 

They don't need any technical people from their partners or the implementation company, due to the fact that it is provided by the product, which is the vendor who supplies the product.

Companies may need them near the beginning of the implementation, for setup purposes to discuss items with the client. However, once it's established, the need for technical support of any kind drops off.

The initial setup is quite straight forward. It's not complex due to the fact that it deploys to the cloud.

For us, it was what they expected, and it was very straight forward. 

We have our own team that manages the solution in house. For Success Factors, generally, if we use the standard solution, and there are not too many customizations, then it requires maybe a maximum of five people to maintain everything. Generally, maybe more in the beginning, it may be a few more people. However, as the system stabilizes, it's probably five maximum. Five to ten people, maximum, are needed.  That's quite a large acknowledgement, I would say, if I'm honest.

We are using a cloud service that has been assisting us. In our case, we just asked for the system and they deployed it for us.

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 people don't really accept the discount, they've always got other businesses that will discount, so pricing is very fluid and flexible for companies.

We are a platinum partner with the company.

The solution is a very good product. It's very stable. It has lots of great features and lots of support available from SAP. The product vendor has a great system connected to a lot of SAP systems overall. It's open to connectivity with other systems. 

I would recommend Success Factors any day.

I'd rate the solution seven out of ten. There are a few features missing overall. If they had a few more, I'd rate them higher.