Since the HR Technology Conference approximately three weeks ago in Chicago, IL; Knowledge Infusion has continually been asked questions about the Shootouts and Battle at the event.  Here are some of the questions that have come in through the COE and other avenues:

• I never knew Lawson had a HCM product

• Authoria's product looked so much easier than the one that I have installed at my site

• Why does SuccessFactors interface look so different than Vurv's?

• The Workday product looks amazing, why are more customers not using it

• Lawson said in a press release that they won the Battle; is this true?

• Why does Authoria always win yet they didnt make our short list?

• I thought Taleo had a performance/succession product; I guess it wasnt good enough to make it to the finals

I find all of these questions interesting, amusing, frustrating and intriguing all together.  Let me explain how Knowledge Infusion would recommend that you use data and opinions from these types of events:

1. These types of events are a great way to see vendors user interfaces and functionality at a 50,000 ft level.  The demonstrations are very scripted and often tied to the vendors strengths, not their weaknesses, and should be looked at through that lens.  One SHOULD NEVER make a vendor decision based on what is seen at these events.

2. The vendors presentations are a result of an amazing amount of work, scripting and at times; customization of their software.  You SHOULD NEVER think what you see on the screen at these events is what you get as a customer of these vendors.  In some cases it is, in many it is not.  What is true, is that with customization and configuration, the software can do what you saw.

3. Some of the vendors were showing products that are not generally available today.  This would explain why the look and feel might appear drastically different than the version that you are using.  Check with your vendor to see when the version they showed at the event will be available to you.

4. Don't read too much into a vendors press release saying that they WON an event.  I thought that there was a lot of chest puffing after this event that continues to add confusion to the enterprise client space.  Authoria was the only VOTED winner at HR Technology by the people in the room and remember even that was a group of approximately 700 that voted in a room after looking at 20 minutes of software.  Of course some analysts liked one vendor better than the other and even proclaimed a winner; but that is in the eyes of one analyst and definitely not the public.  Once again, should be seen as a opinion.

5. The best software in the world can be deployed wrong and be thought of as a terrible solution and the worst looking software can be deployed with excellence and seen asa great solution.  There is much more to think about such as integrations, supportability, true value creation and deployment to the workforce than what people saw on those screens.

6. The Shootout and Battle formats can tell you alot about the executives from an organization by their personae on the stage, but Knowledge Infusion recommends you truly understand the vendor and their executives personal goals and cultures before entering into a true partnership.

The Shootouts and Battles are great events.  They allow enterprise clients to see software that they would never get a chance to see without entering into a sales process.  THEY ARE NOT A VENDOR SELECTION, A SOFTWARE REVIEW, A FIT GAP, A TRUE BUSINESS PROCESS SCENARIO EVALUATION. 

Knowledge Infusion thinks that enterprise clients should attend and see as many of these types of events as possible and learn from what you see, but that is where it stops.  Don't overvalue the press releases and the hype; get to know the vendors, understand how they fit into your organizations culture and make a true process based decision.

Finally, there are many other vendors in the Talent Management and HCM space than who demonstrated at HR Technology 2007.  Stay tuned for more on this topic as Knowledge Infusion works to help you continue to understand this everchanging space.

Another infusion of knowledge...