The response to the first couple of articles in this series is interesting. Significantly, a number of credible market leaders think that the game is locked. Companies (vendors) who enter the Recruiting Software market will end up having to deliver ATS functionality if they want to stay in the game. Companies (customers) know how to buy job ads, ATS products and screening and assessment tools. So, that’s what they buy.

The hundred or so ATS vendors are stuck within the limits of customer purchasing policies and protocols..

The rush to Talent Management Systems, aggressively championed by the analyst community, doesn’t seem to have caught fire just yet. Lots of buzz but few sales.

Another group suggests that buyers segregate along three lines: Value, Early Adopter and Functional. The Early Adopters and Functional buyers focus on performance while the Value buyer concentrates on cost savings. HR buyers are prototypically Value Buyers. Innovation and the political risk associated with embarrassment are not for them. For this group, innovation

• It is the platform for all Human Capital Management systems because it is the first place that data about an employee hits the organization,
  or
• It is a buffer between the organization and the outside world where legal defensibility is established.