The South African version of the Oracle Human Resources Management System (HRMS) has been accepted for incorporation into the Global Release of Oracle`s HRMS Product Suite.
"This means the ZA HRMS Suite will jump significantly in status and leapfrog into the international arena," says Gerhard Stegman HRMS product manager at Oracle SA.
"Incorporation now means we will be able to deliver our ZA HRMS suite with full global status [Tier One] to our SA customers."
Stegman says that after many man-hours and extensive beta testing, the SA product was developed according to the global Oracle development standards. "Our development efforts, coupled with successes and wins against local and international HR system vendors, made Oracle want to adopt our SA localised product into its global HRMS product suite."
"The local product has gained sufficient local market acceptance and 14 HRMS sites have been secured in South Africa.
Stegman says the incorporation of the ZA HRMS product into the global system also means a SA company which wishes to pay its employees in England in pounds can now do so and it can comply with the legislative requirements of the UK (or any other country).
He explains that all countries have to adapt to other countries` legislative requirements, such as tax structures and labour legislation. SA had to not only adapt to its own legislative requirements but to local cultural requirements as well, for example affirmative action or equity employment.
"Oracle SA has now gone to full localisation of HRMS in the country and its local product is one of three HRMS products to be adopted by Oracle global; the other two are UK and Japan HRMS."
Stegman further explains that the challenges in global human asset optimisation are numerous. Differences from one continent or country to another, in language, currency, culture, regulatory concerns, HR business practices, data interpretation, and reporting requirements make the development of a global workforce management infrastructure a complex task.
Accordingly, Oracle which faces the business dynamics of managing a workforce of more than 45,000 employees in 50+ countries every day, developed a global HRMS solution that is comprehensive and flexible. It is also 100%-internet based and designed specifically to manage the Oracle workforce on a global basis.
Oracle designed a `global core` or comprehensive set of HR, payroll, (including full Euro support) and self-service capabilities that are available on a `go anywhere` basis. It has leveraged its in-country expertise to add local functionality to the global core, country by country, to create what it calls localisation. The global core and standard localisations are available in a single instance environment.
"This means customers can think globally and act locally. They have the flexibility to accommodate local variations in business practice, data gathering, and reporting, for example, while still maintaining an ability to manage their workforce on a global basis."
Also included within the global core, Oracle delivers an extensive amount of `multi-style` data. This is data that can be used in any country or localisation, but exists in different styles depending on the country of origin.
This means that if companies are managing employees based overseas, they can record the bank details of the country in the local format that the bank requires. And, they can also record `home` payments in one currency and `host` country payments in other countries when an employee is travelling. All these multi-country business requirements are accommodated via Oracle`s multi-style data approach.
The Oracle HRMS suite (Release 11i) includes a comprehensive set of applications, such as HR, Payroll, Oracle Training Administration (OTA), HR Self Service and HR Intelligence.
"Orchestrating the daily operations of a multinational enterprise requires integrated business intelligence across all functional areas, including purchasing, accounts payable, accounts receivable, and order management. This is possible with Release 11i, which allows companies to run their entire worldwide operations from a central site, significantly lowering costs and unifying enterprise information," maintains Stegman.
He adds that Oracle SA is now in the process of enabling its local customers to upgrade Release 11i since HRMS Development UK and Oracle SA have agreed that Tier One status only applies from Release 11i onwards. Sales are also affected as only the Global HRMS and Version 4.0 of HR Self-Service can be sold in South Africa from now on.
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