Oracle beefed up its competitive position against rival SAP in the growing
human capital management market on Thursday with the acquisition of Taleo, which provides a cloud-based software system for managing talent in a corporate enterprise.
Based in Dublin, Calif., Taleo operates the Talent Management Cloud, which it says comprises scalable, elastic and secure infrastructure; an open, mobile and flexible software platform and a full suite of talent management applications. These include recruiting, performance management, compensation management, employee development and succession planning. Domino's Pizza and the Hyatt chain of hotel are among Taleo's customers. In a public statement, executive vice-president of Oracle Development Thomas Kurian said Taleo's talent management product will become a part of Oracle's Public Cloud offering.
Oracle's takeover deal, which is expected to close in the middle of the year, follows hot on the heels of SAP's acquisition of SuccessFactors for US$3.4 billion in December. SuccessFactors also operates a cloud-based human capital management (HCM) suite
Among all of the various SaaS categories, human resources management is "a very hot space," said Forrester Research analyst Liz Herbert. Since HR software touches so many users, SaaS brings clear benefits such as ease of use and accessibility of the technology, she said. As discussed in Forrester's recent report, "How SaaS Will Change Technology Sourcing Strategy," Herbert said she expects recruiting and talent management SaaS offerings from companies such as Taleo to dominate this HR software area in the next three years.
These companies also are focused on broadening their suites, hence Taleo's 2010 acquisitions of Learning.com and Worldwide Compensation, Herbert adds. IDC also gives a thumbs up to Taleo, naming it an integrated talent management market leader for 2011 in a vendor analysis report released in March.
-- with files from IDG News Service