Do micro services matter?

I am a big fan of an up and coming HRM service provider - DarwinBox - let me tell you why

First - a quick comparison for those who may get lost in cloud computing & HR data babble.. If you are aware of any previous industrial, cultural or global shift, you may think of archetypal scenarios. Think how useful a ‘buggy whip’ became in the time of gasoline driven cars, or the last time you dreamed of an external keyboard on your phone.

We live in a time of transformation - always! It may be cliche - but we forget. This shift is happening in the HRM market today. If you are designing your HR system for the problems of the early 21st century - your design will be behind the technology. We all may remember titles like ‘Netscape’, ‘Palm’, ‘America Online’ or even as recently - ‘BlackBerry’. I remember them dearly. Did you ever have to ‘beep’ someone? Where will HR technology be in even 5 years?

I have been lucky enough to be on the threshold of implementation & change management around HR Tech globally for two decades. The one thing that I am certain of: by the time I will be implementing something - what the business needs will be different from the initial proposal. It’s traditional software development problem solved by using new design & development practices such as Agile development. We need to implement Agile Development in HR.

How does HR go ‘Cloud Native’? Start with what Cloud Native means. There is a clear emphasis on: Process & Data Management, Microservces delivered by Applications, API integration & Information Security. These are not traditional HR professional strengths - DevOps, API Integration, & Data Governance. In a way - a new HR DevOps professional is emerging in response to the requirement, or this part of HR may get swallowed by IT Operations going forward.

Why I like the product in an otherwise competitive market?

The DarwinBox team understands Agile development & Cloud Native design well. I’m sure there are many wonderful developers at the big box providers, but in my experience it is a bit more difficult to re-direct a huge ocean liner than a 40 foot yacht. As the demands of HR leaders & companies shift to a cloud first IT infrastructure, tools like DarwinBox will be an important addition to any company between 500 and 5000 employees because of their adaptability.

Are there not Gartner preferred enterprise vendors have more experience than DarwinBox?

I’m sure there are. I’m not sure that is an element in my decision making. In the world of social media & Uber, ‘traditional’ ways of thinking might be safer, but may be un-necessarily cumbersome. I worry about ‘analysis paralysis’ more.

Does your HRM solution need to cost 1.5M USD and take 9 months to implement?

I don’t think that is the correct approach any more. In a world of micro-project integrations, quarterly reporting and rapid technology shifts - my recommendation would be to focus on specific projects - HR Core, LMS, Performance Management, Payroll, etc.. Each function is going to want the best technology and we need to update & integrate.

As a HR Data, Operations & People Analytics fan - the approach that DarwinBox takes is a clear outlier on the Gartner Magic Quadrant. This is the most effective way to design & develop a HR application infrastructure that will succeed by 2030 - which is probably when you will get to a place you can see over the next horizon.

note.. I may have been given a few drinks, but I’m not on the payroll for DB to write this article :)