As Warren Buffett said, “Only when the tide goes out do you discover who’s been swimming naked.” Or, put another (potentially less embarrassing) way, you really don’t know the risks you’re taking until you’re tested by changing conditions.

There’s a lot of hype in the human capital management (HCM) software market today, not to mention vendor software investment (as I’ve mentioned) and mergers and acquisitions. (Here’s yet another very recent example in the talent acquisition space: Symphony Talent acquiring SmashFly.) Combine this with a continual focus on strategies to better attract, develop, and retain employees, and it gets confusing. And when it gets confusing, it gets risky.

To help you make sense of the HCM technology space we’re proud to release “The Forrester Tech Tide™: Cloud Human Capital Management, Q4 2019.” This report defines and examines the cloud HCM technology market, evaluates each market subsegment’s maturity, and helps clients make decisions on which areas to invest in. While not a vendor evaluation report, this report does list examples of vendors that provide capabilities in each segment.

Speaking of vendors, as discovered in the Tech Tide for cloud HCM, organizations are dissatisfied with their current HCM products and looking for alternatives. Only 41% of global software decision makers say they’re satisfied with existing HCM products and plan to keep theirs. Fifty-six percent are evaluating other products, either from existing or different vendors.

Clearly, the conditions for creating and managing effective people strategies and operations are changing. We hope this report will help you better understand the HCM market and inform your cloud HCM solution investment decisions.