An Unexpected Side Effect of ObamaCare

How regulatory pressure is driving a renewed interest in Workforce Management

Whether you support the Affordable Care Act (ACA and often known as ‘ObamaCare’) or not, as the law it is forcing businesses to meet a complex new set of regulations. And while this adds new regulatory pressures to companies, a positive side effect is emerging. Just as Y2K caused companies to overhaul IT and Sarbanes Oxley pushed them to revamp financial processes, the ACA puts a new focus on HR practices.

As a result many companies are taking a closer look at their Workforce Management (WFM) technology, which may have been neglected, as a means to meet compliance with the ACA. Consequently many companies now have strong motivation to reassess and streamline their HR infrastructure to better serve their overall business needs, too. They should consider three major factors in their upgrade decision: cloud, speed and integration.

In fact, the ACA pressure comes as companies continue to migrate enterprise software to the cloud. This allows them to evaluate new options and move to a delivery model that is more flexible and will enable continual upgrades. On-premise solutions are probably a Band-Aid at best, at this point. Still, companies must carefully consider which cloud solution is best for their needs. They should beware of ‘pretend’ or private cloud solutions that do not deliver the full value of the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) model. (See previous blog at https://nucleusr.wpengine.com/beware-of-cloud-ish-solutions/)

Speed is another key consideration, as companies seek ways to improve efficiency and productivity. WFM has not been a priority at many companies for quite some time. With pressure from the ACA to upgrade anyway, companies should optimize their ROI and get a solution that is fast, flexible and meets their industry needs beyond compliance pressures.

Integration of disparate data sets is perhaps the biggest consideration in assessing WFM applications. The whole point of WFM is to reduce the complexity and enable the company to meet and prove compliance in a timely manner. The more data sets and the more disparate the data sources, the more challenging this becomes. This is perhaps where the WFM vendors most clearly differentiate their offerings. While many vendors have expressed plans to consolidate their data models soon, a few already provide solutions with a streamlined single data set. They lead the pack, as seen in the latest Value Matrix for WFM (H1 2015 – link to report) from Nucleus Research.

For better or for worse, the ACA is in effect and driving many businesses to innovate their solutions to meet compliance. Since many companies will be upgrading anyway, they should leverage their investment for benefits beyond ACA compliance. This will likely include a move to a cloud-based solution that is faster, more efficient and integrates multiple data sources into one. What an unexpectedly positive side effect.