The last major Talent Acquisition, Acquisition was ADP's acquisition of VirtualEdge. The were questions on how that would impact the Talent Acquisition (ATS - Applicant Tracking System) market, and the reality is it has been a success, by all indications. Kenexa's acquisition of BrassRing is another one of note.

This was a good strategic move on Taleo's part, and what will make or break it in my mind, is how the customers of both organizations end up responding.

In addition to Vurv's compensation product, Taleo will evidently use its on-boarding and off-boarding products, plus the competency library Vurv acquired with InScope, now embedded in its own performance management product.

Taleo has bought one big problem that Vurv has been struggling with: How to get the first 100 or more customers off the customized versions Vurv originally wrote for them onto a standard product that is configurable, not customizable. And now Taleo will have to support them until it figures out how.

Also, when it comes time to migrate the Vurv base to Taleo (which I assume has to be the eventual plan) how will Vurv customers react to the sticker shock of the industry's most premium-priced product? Will Taleo maintain the same lower prices Vurv customers have enjoyed? And if not, how can they be kept in the fold?

Recruiting has experienced more churn than any other software category, probably since it has been hosted for at least 10 years. Every year for the last four, I have asked the HR Technology Conference audience whether they plan to change recruiting vendors in the next 12 months. And every year, half of those voting have said "yes." Vurv customers still have alternatives.

Also, what will this mean for Taleo Enterprise customers regarding the next release or two as they figure out how to pull in the technology from Vurv that they want to incorporate. The Taleo 7.5 upgrade was significant from a structural standpoint, and therefore much more complicated to implement than their previous upgrades that could pretty much be done in the background, allowing you to turn on new options only when you wanted to through configuration. We are not anxious for repeats of the 7.5 effort in the next few go-rounds.

Ultimately, I think the consolidation is a good thing and needs to happen, but there are always growing pains to live through.

One of the press releases claimed that the development groups from the two companies were coming together, "bonding", to create "synergy" and the greatest ever talent technology team.

This may be what will happen, but acquisitions rarely result in bonding. Instead, the event takes on the closing that it really is, with disruption and unpleasantness for all parties involved. I received my education in bonding together in third grade when my elementary school ‘merged' with another, and I ended up walking an extra mile to get to school each day.

The acquirer might state that they are preparing a sound upgrade path for their affected clients, but software platforms do not mesh easily. Soon the cozy pillow talk of mutual benefits subsides, and the nasty task of porting a client from one environment to another begins. This is a very tough task since even the best IT people tend to have trouble handling two distinct platforms at the same time.

These incompatibilities do not always surface at the beginning of the merger. In fact, things may begin with a honeymoon period during which top management declares that the acquired company will continue to run as a separate business entity. After three months or so, the rumbling begins to get loud, and after six months, a complete management change and exodus of staff takes place.

This may not happen here, but if it does fast moving competitors will move in to serve their neglected customers.

Gregg Dourgarian

CEO, Tempworks Software

Great for Vurv and Taleo's competitors due to the FUD created around the two platforms.

Anyone that goes with a best of breed platform other than Taleo right now will have the same problem. Taleo has alot of cash and they can buy anyone in the space....besides ADP VE. If I did the math right this acquisition still leaves Taleo with $90M.

Great for Vurv's management as they get to parachute out of a failing company.

There's varying parachutes. Certainly the C-level will be do fine...with Derek deservingly getting the lions share. He had put his all into creating a technology leader in his hometown.....which by the way is not San Fran or Austin. Many of the other managers will find themselves in small market Jacksonville with little choice but to relocate if they want to stay in the space.

Good for Taleo's bottom line generally as they capture Vurv's license revenue and installed base

Agree with increasing top line....bottom line should remain the same.

Bad for Taleo and Vurv customers over the short term as they deal with the uncertainty of not knowling whether their current platforms are still viable

Taleo customers will be fine....more than likely Vurv customers will be doing the platform change.....some of which desperately needing to be put out of their misery of being on a custom path....others will benefit from the R&D of many of the largest, most-complex organizations in the world.

I wonder if Taleo regrets all the time, treasure and energy it devoted to building their own Perf and Succession modules now. They added some nice bells and whistles but are almost assured not to recoup their investment for years to come when they "unify" the platform Sounds like Oracle Fusion on a smaller scale to me - and attempted by an organization without the financial resources of Oracle....hmm....

I doubt there will be any regrets. This is where the synergies will be HUGE. Both organizations have thought leaders in this area and my guess will quickly improve Taleo's Perf and Succession Products. The regret should be Successfactors which should have made this move before Taleo.

This is a debate page so let the discussion continue.......