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INDUSTRY: | Hi-Tech |
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NUMBER OF EMPLOYEES: | 2,100 |
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NUMBER OF LOCATIONS: | 4 |
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MODULES LICENSED: | HR & Benefits, ESS, MSS, Recruiting Managment, Candidate Self-Service, Training, Performance Management,Succession Management, Compensation Management |
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CUSTOMER SINCE: | November 2006 |
DOING IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME
Westcon Group is a multi-national specialty distributor of networking technology products, helping over 10,000 resellers worldwide deliver comprehensive end-to-end solutions and services to customers in the small, mid-sized and enterprise markets. Westcon Group has carefully selected partners whose products represent today’s leading technologies in each complementary market category. This portfolio of products, combined with Westcon Group’s expertise, enables the company to deliver a powerful, comprehensive, flexible business solution to help its customers become more successful. Dealing with such a large network of resellers, Westcon Group sought to improve its own internal processes in ensuring accurate HR data, distributing information “on the fly” to finance, and defining process for increased HR efficiency on a global scale.
KEEPING AHEAD OF THE PACK
Weston Group wanted to evolve its manual processes, which included using excel spreadsheets and an HRIS system that was falling short of their needs. The company recognized it needed a global HR platform to maintain efficiency in light of its increasing growth.
“NuViewHR will change the way we do business and provides us with processes that we weren’t able to do before.” |
FINDING THE RIGHT VENDOR -- THE SEARCH PROCESS
Rather than spend an inordinate amount of time reviewing a large group of vendors, Weston Group sought the advice of Gartner Group and came up with a short list of three vendors that could meet their needs. Key considerations in the search included:
• Ability to handle multiple currencies
• Ability to handle multiple languages
• Ability to track budget and headcount against actuals
• Position control/management
Westcon initially considered ERP vendors, but shortcomings included significant cost, lengthy implementation times, and too many bells and whistles that would distract from the key driving criteria.
According to David DeLuke, VP of HR at Weston Group, “we focused on three vendors who met our key criteria, and asked them in for presentations. At that time, we invited the Finance, HR and IT groups, so that all groups could provide input in the selection process. We knew what we wanted from the beginning.”
AVOIDING BUMPS IN THE ROAD
Regardless of the vendor, there are going to bumps in the road during an implementation. Organizations cannot account for unforeseen changes in scope or requirements, delays in getting data, or taking time to re-engineer a bad process, rather than recreate it in the new system.
Many organizations spend so much time with the RFP process, looking at a long list of vendors, that they shortchange themselves on the time left to implement the system.
“Our attitude, from day one, was to take our time and do it right the first time” adds DeLuke. “No one wins with an unrealistic deadline, since this can hurt the internal momentum and undermine the whole project. We went through this with a previous vendor, learned from our past, and were determined to avoid a similar scenario from occurring"
THERE’S NO “I” IN TEAMWORK
Global projects add another layer of complexity to rollouts, especially when coordinating a global team. NuView Systems’s Project Manager and Westcon’s Global Team, with representatives from HR, Finance and IT, had weekly status meetings to review progress, assign tasks and discuss risks and deadlines. These 7:30am meetings (NY time) meant attendees were up at 5:30am in Colorado and 10:30pm in Asia. NuView Systems’s Project Manager received calls at all times of the day (and night) due to time differences. According to DeLuke, “these weekly meetings were very important in building a cohesive team. I know it was difficult, but it fostered a true team approach, and reinforced that Weston Group and NuView were partners in this.
“NuView’s Project Manager really drove the project, giving us our assignments and keeping us all on track.” |
NUVIEW SYSTEMS THE COMPANY
A product is only as good as the people and the company that stand behind it. DeLuke thinks highly of their assigned Project Manager. He also notes that “NuView’s CEO takes my call every time. That’s not the rule at very many companies, and provides us with an added layer of comfort, knowing that we have access to the Executive level."
DeLuke acknowledges that “NuView is a growing company, experiencing some growing pains, but key people are working double and triple time to ensure their happiness.” That all ties back to the “no I in Team”, with everyone working towards the same goal and outcomes.
NuView Systems training on the application was done both on-site (day time) and via web (for overseas locations) from 7pm to Midnight to accommodate a wide range of schedules.
CHANGE MANAGEMENT CONSIDERATIONS
Many times organizations do not consider the corporate change (change management) required when putting in an HRIS. Often the Executive Suite needs to be “sold” on the strategic value that the HRIS brings to the organization. Throughout the implementation, the HR Group needs to be reminded about the goals and outcomes. Says DeLuke “everyone is anxious for the project to be completed. It is a lot of work, but everyone realizes it’s a really good thing for them (and us) as a company.”
RESOURCE & TIMING CONSIDERATIONS
Internal resources, as well as timing of the implementation, both make a big impact on the project timeline. Westcon did not have dedicated project resources, unlike most other organizations. “We all continued in our jobs, making this above and beyond our normal responsibilities. Doing an Implementation in the summer is also a challenge with staff vacations”
adds DeLuke.
SINGLE BIGGEST IMPACT
When asked which part of the HRIS has the single biggest impact, DeLuke points to” ability to manage our budgets and reporting requirements for the financial side, and longer term, forecasting and position control. We realize we are just using a small piece of the HRIS right now, and look forward to using more of the system’s capabilities in the future.”
