ERP Area: HR/Human Capital Management
Software:  Ultimate Software
Products Implemented:  HCM (HR Core),Payroll,UltiPro Time & Attendance
Company Size:  5 – 10k Employees  /  Industry:  Finance / Banking / Insurance
Regions in Scope:  North America,Asia Pacific & Japan
Reviewer Role:  Project Team Member

Consultant Recognized:  Dylan Dorsey; Heyda Gaona
Project(s) in Scope:  Initial deployment (Phase 1)

Systems Expertise  4 out of 5
Implementation Process  4 out of 5
Responsiveness  4 out of 5
Quality of Consultants 4 out of 5
Flexibility / Adaptability 5 out of 5

SPEED & COST
Speed vs. Expectations:  Right on schedule!
Cost vs. Expectations: 2x cost budgeted

SCOPING ACCURACY:
How well did your implementation partner scope the work and understand your needs during the pre-sales process?
Partner under-quoted the project and we had multiple change orders

Was the implementation team who actually performed the work the same team that was proposed?
No change

What “Lessons Learned” would you provide to others implementing with this partner / software? What else would you tell us about your project experience?
Bluewater Implementation Partner:
UltiPro Time & Attendance: Very knowledgeable, but just below system expert. Our consultant was very knowledgeable and provided many options on how to solve for system limitations to meet our company requirements. He was extremely patient and provided best practices. Lesson Learned with UTA is to ensure you have a reporting expert lined up to create reports needed to monitor timesheets. Out consultant provided the delivered reports in UTA and shared tips as to how to best use them, but received no training as to how to create, save, and schedule custom reports.

Ultimate Core HRIS:
Very knowledgeable at the end of the project, but was a learning curve. Our consultant was very knowledgeable at the end of the project and was able to answer any issues our company was witnessing; however, at the beginning of the project, most of the questions we had as to how to we can meet our company requirements resulted in needing to research and set up meeting with Ultimate Services themselves. Her knowledge and comfort with the automation our company was seeking developed as the project continued and became a great, knowledgeable partner the last few months.

Ultimate as a Software:
I do not recommend any company that is seeking automation and integrated systems to use Ultimate. It’s a very young software that is great for companies that are willing to have manual processes, but any company wanting automation, self-services, and integrations coming and going into the HRIS, be prepared to pay for it: Literally. Anything that does not come delivered in UltiPro is a custom you must buy. Our company spent additional $200K+ in customs for Ultimate to function the way our company required.

Software: Cornerstone
Modules Implemented:  Talent Management (Learning, Performance, Succession Planning, Social Collaboration)
Company Size:  0 – 1,000 Employees  /  Industry:  Finance / Banking / Insurance
Regions in Scope:  North America
Reviewer Role: Project Team Member
Project(s) in Scope: Phase 1: Initial Implementation / Go-Live,Training

Did you get the business value that you thought you would achieve from this project?
Some of our goals were achieved, but not all

Systems Expertise 4 (out of 5)
Implementation Process 4 (out of 5)
Responsiveness 3 (out of 5)
Quality of Consultants 3 (out of 5)
Flexibility / Adaptability 3 (out of 5)

SPEED & COST
Speed vs. Expectations: 1.75x the time we expected
Cost vs. Expectations: 1.5x cost budgeted

SCOPING ACCURACY:
How well did your implementation partner scope the work and understand your needs during the pre-sales process?  
Partner scoped and quoted the work well, but our needs changed during implementation

Was the implementation team who actually performed the work the same team that was proposed? 
Slight change in team

What “Lessons Learned” would you provide to others implementing with this partner / software? 
We had some road blocks with the Consulting Vendor skills and quality of work. It is important to clearly state your expectations upfront.

Software: Cornerstone
Modules Implemented:  Talent Management (Learning, Performance, Succession Planning, Social Collaboration),Recruiting / Onboarding
Company Size:  1 – 5k Employees  /  Industry:  Business / Professional Services
Regions in Scope:  Asia Pacific & Japan,Europe, Middle East & Africa,Latin America,North America
Reviewer Role: Decision Maker
Project(s) in Scope: Phase 1: Initial Implementation / Go-Live

Did you get the business value that you thought you would achieve from this project?
Some of our goals were achieved, but not all

Were there any integrations that were particularly important or problematic? 
Yes, we had a huge issue with the integration between ADP and Cornerstone. It involved GPS and required us to make changes to our original load file of employees.

Systems Expertise 4 (out of 5)
Implementation Process 4 (out of 5)
Responsiveness 3 (out of 5)
Quality of Consultants 4 (out of 5)
Flexibility / Adaptability 4 (out of 5)

SPEED & COST
Speed vs. Expectations: Right on schedule!
Cost vs. Expectations: Exactly what we budgeted

SCOPING ACCURACY:
How well did your implementation partner scope the work and understand your needs during the pre-sales process?  
Partner scoped and quoted the work well, but our needs changed during implementation

Was the implementation team who actually performed the work the same team that was proposed? 
Slight change in team

What “Lessons Learned” would you provide to others implementing with this partner / software? 
Because there are so many different ways of configuring Cornerstone, I would have extended go live another 4-6 weeks to give us time to set up the curriculum.

HR Software:  Cornerstone
Products Implemented:  Talent Management (Learning, Performance, Succession Planning, Social Collaboration),Compensation
Company Size:  0 – 1,000 Employees  /  Industry:  Computers (Hardware, Desktop Software)
Regions in Scope:  Asia Pacific & Japan,Europe, Middle East & Africa,North America
Level of Complexity:  6
Reviewer Role:  Project Leader

Project(s) in Scope:  Initial deployment (Phase 1)

Systems Expertise  3 out of 5
Implementation Process  2 out of 5
Responsiveness  1 out of 5
Quality of Consultants 1 out of 5
Flexibility / Adaptability 1 out of 5

SPEED & COST
Speed vs. Expectations:  4x+ time expected
Cost vs. Expectations: 1.25x cost budgeted

SCOPING ACCURACY:
How well did your implementation partner scope the work and understand your needs during the pre-sales process?
Partner did not identify issues that came up during implementation and we had some change orders

Was the implementation team who actually performed the work the same team that was proposed?
No change

What “Lessons Learned” would you provide to others implementing with this partner / software? What else would you tell us about your project experience?
Need a vendor “Success Partner” from inception as an ally for Customer when implementation partner is not responsive, nor focused on customer needs. the gap is when Sales hands off to implementation partner, then AFTER implementation the “Client Success person” comes into the picture- and things are already configured. there was no “Long-term relationship” vendor advocate between customer and implementation partner. client success should begin in the Sales cycle and be continuously supported through the project.

HR Software:  Cornerstone
Products Implemented:  Talent Management (Learning, Performance, Succession Planning, Social Collaboration),Recruiting / Onboarding
Company Size:  20 – 50k Employees  /  Industry:  Transportation / Distribution
Regions in Scope:  Latin America,North America
Level of Complexity:  8
Reviewer Role:  Decision Maker

Project(s) in Scope:  Initial deployment (Phase 1),Add-on deployment (Phase 2, and not in the original SOW)

Systems Expertise  3 out of 5
Implementation Process  1 out of 5
Responsiveness  1 out of 5
Quality of Consultants 2 out of 5
Flexibility / Adaptability 1 out of 5

SPEED & COST
Speed vs. Expectations:  1.25x the time we expected
Cost vs. Expectations: 2x cost budgeted

SCOPING ACCURACY:
How well did your implementation partner scope the work and understand your needs during the pre-sales process?
Partner did not identify issues that came up during implementation and we had some change orders

Was the implementation team who actually performed the work the same team that was proposed?
Team changed a lot

What “Lessons Learned” would you provide to others implementing with this partner / software? What else would you tell us about your project experience?
Have an implementation partner that is not recommended by the vendor and that will fight for your Companies interests and not the interests of HCM software vendor