3 Reasons Integration and Customization Are Set to Make Your HRMS Budget Overrun

Two words that can bring fear into the eyes of seasoned project managers are ‘Integration’ and ‘Customization,’ especially on HRMS projects where employee data can be complex as well as needed by many pockets in your organization. Have you covered your bases or are you setting yourself up for a budget overrun? Check out these reasons why complex integration and customization can cause HRMS budget overruns so that you can avoid them.

1) Integrations Involve Many Handoffs

When integrations work great, they’re a boon to system users. Getting them to that point however usually involves multiple project resources: HRMS users to define requirements for the HRMS, business analysts to design and document solutions, developers who build the solution and then everyone gets involved in testing it out. When so many people are involved in a process there’s more of a risk because if one person is out the whole process is halted. In addition, if the receiving system is outside of your organization (such as a benefits or payroll provider), it can be more difficult to influence the completion of tasks. Also, if your company uses offshore resources or works globally, time zones can also work against you with so many resources stuck waiting if one person is behind.

2) Customizations Can Have Far-Reaching Effects

While customizations are sometimes justifiable due to business impact, it’s important not to lose sight of the effort required to bring them to fruition. Extensive testing is required not only of the customization itself but also related items such as integration as well as user security access to the customization. Often the project plan has the development and testing listed, but these timings are frequently under-estimated, in particular when an item is sent back for rework and re-testing.

Recommended Reading: HRMS Selection Survival - Your guide to finding an HRMS with the right integration

3) Integration and Customization Often Require Approvals

Most companies have oversight, governance and procedures when it comes to integration and customization. Many project plans, however, do not take these processes into account so project tasks can become delayed when waiting for the green light. For example, an integration of employee bank account and birthdate to a credit card vendor may require a compliance, legal or data privacy review. A customization to accommodate a financial hierarchy in the HRMS may require review from an HR and IT committee as customizations such as these have a daily operational impact as well as a long-term financial cost. Without tight management of these activities, you may run over your timings and thus suffer an HRMS budget overrun.