2016-Anthology WEB HRX SuccessFactors

SuccessFactors and
SAP ERP HCM

Technical Tips and Integration Advice
An article collection from the publisher

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SuccessFactors
and SAP ERP HCM
Technical Tips and Integration Advice
SAP’s acquisition of SuccessFactors comes with a lot of confusion in the marketplace about what this
move means for current SAP ERP HCM users and how they can integrate SuccessFactors technology
into existing SAP landscapes. This anthology, a collection of articles recently published in HR Expert,
helps to clarify the confusion, answers your integration questions, and provides technical guidance on
how to properly plan for and use SuccessFactors in your organization.
Starting with a broad view of SuccessFactors and the history behind its acquisition, this anthology’s
articles narrow in scope as they progress. From providing technical details about the integration of
the two systems, to offering specific guidance for navigating Employee Central, and culminating with
deep technical information about the Metadata Framework and picklists management, these articles
cover a broad spectrum of information for readers looking to learn more about SuccessFactors and
SAP ERP HCM.
At HR Expert, our mission is to help you build your skills and achieve the business goals of the
organizations you serve. This anthology has been curated with this guiding principle in mind—to help
you advance your SAP and SuccessFactors knowledge and stay on the leading edge of SAP technology.
This anthology only scratches the surface. In HR Expert, you will find a plethora of SAP ERP HCM
information, as well as more technical content around SuccessFactors. Our offerings include short,
quick-tip articles as well as longer technical articles and video content to help you do your jobs better
and faster. All of the content is reviewed by a team of expert technical advisors, many of whom are also
contributors to HR Expert. To learn more about HR Expert, explore license options, and give us your
feedback, visit www.SAPexperts.com/HR.
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>>ANTHOLOGY Table of Contents
SAP and SuccessFactors — An Overview........................................................................................................................................................ 3

by Luke Marson, Chief Cloud HCM Architect, Hula Partners
In this exclusive in-depth report, learn about SuccessFactors and what the acquisition means for SAP ERP HCM and your business. Get a detailed,
comprehensive overview of SuccessFactors, SAP’s strategy, the future of SAP ERP HCM, and how the acquisition of SuccessFactors affects your
business. This report aims to dispel any myths or confusion around SuccessFactors and provide a solid grounding on SuccessFactors and its position in
the SAP ERP HCM family.
Understanding the SAP ERP HCM Reporting Landscape Today and in the Future.................................................................................. 33
by Danielle Larocca, Vice President Operations, North America, SpinifexIT
Gain an understanding of what the SAP ERP HCM landscape looks like today in simple, clear terms. Learn, from the author’s experience, where SAP ERP
HCM is headed in the future, and how you should be planning to meet these new challenges.
Integrating SuccessFactors Employee Central with SAP ERP HCM Master Data................................................................................... 39
by Priynk Gautam, SAP ERP HCM/SuccessFactors Consultant
Learn how to integrate SuccessFactors Employee Central with your SAP ERP HCM system. After successful integration, Employee Central becomes the
system of record for master data, and any changes to master data in Employee Central can be copied to the SAP ERP HCM system using iFlows.
Creating Metadata Framework Objects in SuccessFactors Employee Central........................................................................................ 51

by Jyoti Sharma, Vice President of Consulting & Services Cloud HCM, HRIZONS, and Luke Marson, Chief Cloud HCM Architect, Hula Partners
Learn how to create objects in the Metadata Framework to extend your SuccessFactors Employee Central system with custom objects, fields, rules, and
screens. Get an overview of what the Metadata Framework is, how it is used, and how to use it to bring more value to your SuccessFactors system.
Calibrate Employee Performance Through SuccessFactors....................................................................................................................... 68

by Prashant Rastogi, Associate Manager, Accenture
Learn how to configure the calibration capability in SuccessFactors, which helps to achieve objective and fair employee performance reviews.
How to Enable, Create, and Manage the New SuccessFactors Metadata Framework-Based Talent Pools.......................................... 79
Learn how to create and manage the new Metadata Framework-based Talent Pools introduced in the November 2013 release of SuccessFactors. Learn
how the Talent Pools work and how they can be leveraged for succession, development, and other business processes. In addition, find out how to
enable and configure Talent Pools in your system.
Picklists Management and Cascading Picklists in SuccessFactors......................................................................................................... 96

by Mohan Paul Varghese, Customer Success Manager, SAP/SuccessFactors
Learn how to create, edit, and update picklists and cascading picklists in SuccessFactors systems. Also, learn how to configure the picklists’ permission
in the administration tools.
Tips for Adding Additional Job Information Fields in the People Pool.....................................................................................................110
by Manjunath Bannur, SuccessFactors, Employee Central Consultant
It is not uncommon for HR users to request that additional custom fields be added to different portlets to capture the data related to their employees;
the Job Information portlet of SuccessFactors Employee Central is no exception. The Job Information section stores important data related to employees
to define the relationship of the employee to the organization. As such, additional fields are often required to satisfy HR manager or administrator
needs. Learn how to add extra and custom fields in the People Pool section of SuccessFactors Employee Central.
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HR Expert Anthology • www.SAPexperts.com/HR
SAP and SuccessFactors — An Overview

In this exclusive in-depth report, learn about SuccessFactors and what the acquisition >> Key Concept
means for SAP ERP HCM and your business. Get a detailed, comprehensive overview of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) is
SuccessFactors, SAP’s strategy, the future of SAP ERP HCM, and how the acquisition of the next generation of enterprise
SuccessFactors affects your business. This report aims to dispel any myths or confusion software offered as services in the
around SuccessFactors and provide a solid grounding on SuccessFactors and its position cloud. SaaS provides access to
in the SAP ERP HCM family.
enterprise software on a subscrip-
tion basis without the need to own
or maintain hardware or software.
On February 23, 2012, SAP acquired trend seen in the 1990s and 2000s. As
The software, and your data, is
the Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) HCM many of the vendors grew, they began
hosted remotely and accessed on
and Talent Management software to expand their portfolios and offer
demand from any location using
vendor SuccessFactors for $3.4 billion. other HCM services. Now, SaaS
the unique login credentials of
This acquisition turned SAP into a vendors are also pioneers of social col-
your organization. SaaS software
vendor of both on-premise and SaaS laboration software for businesses and
is multi-tenant, which means that
HCM software and a major player in mobile solutions. SuccessFactors is
many instances of the software
the competitive SaaS HCM market. considered a leader in SaaS talent man-
are accessed and are on the
agement and social collaboration
SaaS is considered to be the next-gen- same application version. Users
software and has been named a leader
eration platform for providing can choose which features and
in talent management in recent years,
enterprise software. While many functionality to use in the stan-
including Gartner’s 2014 Talent Man-
people feel uncomfortable with the dard solution and in the regular
agement Suites Magic Quadrant, five
concept of cloud computing, they may releases that are introduced by
IDC reports in 2013 and the 2014 IDC
not understand that they are already the vendor. Cloud, in this context,
MarketScape for Worldwide Integrated
using cloud-based software for every- refers to any software or service
Talent Management, and Forrester’s
day activities, such as email (e.g., that is hosted remotely and
2013 and 2014 Forrester Wave: Talent
Hotmail and Gmail) or document accessed over the Internet.
Management reports. In addition, they
storage (e.g., Google Drive and
were also positioned as a leader in For-
Dropbox). Almost any piece of soft- “business execution” (BizX) software
rester’s 2014 SaaS HR Management
ware offering a service over the for the Human Capital Management
Systems report.
Internet is SaaS and these offerings are (HCM) market. SuccessFactors was
now touching our daily lives. One of the key strengths of SaaS soft- formed by Lars Dalgaard and Aaron
ware is its web-orientated user Au in 2001, and is based in San Fran-
>> Note interfaces (UIs). The evolution of Web cisco, CA. The company has offices in
2.0 has enabled applications with rich more than 35 locations worldwide,
This in-depth report was originally
features and UIs to run over the Inter- including several countries in South
published in February 2013. It has
net, which was not possible before. For America, Europe, and Asia–Pacific. It
been revised and is current as of
more information on SaaS and its pros went public in November 2007 on the
November 2014.
and cons, see the sidebar, “Why SaaS?” NASDAQ stock market, under SFSF,
but in 2011 moved from NASDAQ to
The next step for SaaS is enterprise become the first company ever to be
Who Is SuccessFactors? triple-listed on the New York Stock
software. Originally many of the SaaS
vendors started with talent manage- Prior to the acquisition by SAP, Suc- Exchange, Euronext Paris, and Frank-
ment systems, following the growing cessFactors was a vendor of SaaS furt Stock Exchange.

Why SaaS?
SaaS software is not just software accessed via the cloud; it Enhancement Package version that is available, many of the
is a new model of delivery. SaaS offers a number of features issues faced are already known and fixes are available that
not available in on-premise software, such as: must be applied and tested. In the case of SaaS, this is not
as common an occurrence since the system is always the
• No hardware or maintenance required
latest version and it is kept current. In the case of Success-
• Subscription-based licensing model Factors Workforce Analytics, for example, it means that the
• Multi-tenant platform software can offer analytics benchmarks based on the aggre-
gation of the data in each tenant. This functionality cannot
• Regular releases, updates, and enhancements
be provided with on-premise software.
• Access from anywhere
SaaS software is considered to be more standard or a best-
Since the software is accessed from the cloud, there is no practice solution and has fewer customization possibilities.
need to host any software and thus hardware is not required. This provides frequent releases and updates without causing
Consequently there are no systems to maintain and users disruption, so customers can add new functionality regu-
can reduce their IT overhead and costs significantly. This larly, but it also means less flexibility in meeting complex
also means that users can access the software via a URL customer requirements. On the other hand, it means that
with most web browsers from any location that has an Inter- customers can avoid having heavily (and sometimes poorly)
net connection. The subscription model means that customized systems that require greater effort to maintain
customers only pay for exactly what they use (i.e., per user), and modify or enhance.
on a yearly basis. This means no large capital expenditure
Data is stored in a remote location, which legislation in
up front for perpetual licenses and, in addition, subscription-
some countries specifies must be stored within that territory.
based licenses can be classified as an operational expense.
Legislation within some countries has other facets that
From a financial or accounting perspective, there can be might act as a barrier to adoption. For example, data held in
many reasons why an organization might not want to have Swedish-based data centers is subject to legislation that
large capital expenditures or own and maintain assets that allows the government to access this data without a court
are not directly related to their core business. This type of order. Safe Harbor between the US and the European Union
licensing also makes managing expenditures much easier, means that US companies should address EU members’ data
since the upgrade, maintenance, and support costs are fixed privacy laws, although there is no validation of this program
in the subscription fee for an agreed-upon period of time. to ensure that it is being operated correctly.
On the other hand, some companies may not be able to
There are also rumors and inaccuracies that have been circu-
justify the expenditure on enterprise software that they
lated about some laws, such as the USA PATRIOT Act
cannot put on their balance sheet as a fixed asset. Recently
giving federal security agencies within the US the right to
on the Bill Kutik Radio Show, Thomas Otter, Vice President
access data stored in data centers of US companies without
of Research at Gartner, a leading analyst firm, discussed
a valid court order or subpoena, which is untrue. While
SaaS contracts and pitfalls that customers should avoid.
there is a shortage of global cloud regulations, it is inevita-
SaaS software is multi-tenant, meaning that all customers use ble that harmonized standards and regulations will be
the same instance of the software. Each licensee has its own introduced in the future. Cloud and SaaS are still in their
tenant (set of configuration) running on the instance. This infancy and so it takes time for the foundations for global
means that new releases and updates can be applied to the cooperation to be realized.
instance and all tenants have access to the enhancements or
Since SaaS software is, in effect, rented, then ending an agree-
bug fixes introduced. Secondly, it means that customer
ment may have implications over how data is, if at all,
systems are stable and each new implementation can benefit
returned. Some agreements state that data is simply provided in
from beginning with a stable system. Quite often many new
a spreadsheet, without providing any proprietary information
SAP implementations face a number of product issues that
around format, medium, or time frame. Organizations should
must be resolved throughout the project and often afterwards.
carefully review the terms and conditions for cancelling sub-
When a project begins on an earlier Service Package or scription-based SaaS contracts prior to signing any agreements.
Its business is focused around provid- tors was aiming to double its market Each of these acquisitions brought in
ing SaaS software services covering potential. applications that are now core parts of
core HR, workforce planning, talent the SuccessFactors offerings.
management, social collaboration, and SuccessFactors also focuses on its
analytics. Talent management, social ability to provide business execution,
reduce the total cost of ownership Inform Business Impact (previously
collaboration, and analytics are partic- called Infohrm) was a $40.5 million
ular strengths of SuccessFactors. (TCO), and use return on execution
(ROX) to evaluate the success of proj- acquisition made in 2010, and was the
Social collaboration underpins a lot of first purchase made by SuccessFactors.
the processes in the SuccessFactors ects (as opposed to the standard
measurement indicator, return on Inform Business Impact was a leading
HCM suite, while its vendor-agnostic provider of analytics software and its
analytics solution provides more than investment [ROI]). ROX, in its sim-
plest form, can be calculated with the assets formed the basis of the Success-
1,500 out-of-the-box analytics that Factors Workforce Analytics solution.
cover all solutions. Its talent manage- formula:
A few months later SuccessFactors
ment suite comprises solutions for all Net gain from improved execution / purchased Cubetree for $50 million.
the major process areas: recruiting, Net execution investment = Return on Cubetree produced a cloud enterprise
performance, goal management, com- execution (ROX) social collaboration and networking
pensation learning, succession platform of the same name that eventu-
planning, and development. ROX is meant to ensure that organiza-
ally became the SAP Jam solution. The
tions benefit more than just financially.
last acquisition of 2010 saw Success-
At the time of the acquisition, Success- In the report Return on Execution
Factors purchase YouCalc for an
Factors had more than 3,500 customers [http://www.successfactors.com/
undisclosed figure. This acquisition
in 168 territories using 35 different content/successfactors/en_us/down-
meant that SuccessFactors was able to
languages. This large customer base load.html?a=/content/dam/
offer real-time data analysis and calcu-
provided it with 15 million subscrip- successfactors/ en_us/resources
lation in the cloud—a first for any
tions and with revenues of $364 /white-papers/return-on-execution.pdf]
SaaS vendor.
million. Over time these figures have by Erik Berggren, Director of Cus-
increased as SAP has further developed tomer Results & Global Research, and
the suite and attracted a significant Lars Dalgaard, then CEO, it was sug- In 2011, SuccessFactors also made
number of new customers. Success gested by SuccessFactors that three more acquisitions, with the final
Factors has many recognized “bottom-line results are far more acquisition made after the announce-
companies within its customer list, dependent on execution (85% vs. 15%) ment of its deal with SAP. First, in
including 20th Century Fox, Adobe, than on strategic plans.” March 2011, SuccessFactors com-
Allstate, American Airlines, Astra pleted a deal to buy Jambok, a
Zeneca, the Department of Homeland provider of a social learning platform
Security, NASA, PepsiCo, Siemens,
Growth by Acquisition focused around content creation and
Sobeys, Starbucks, and Walmart. During its history, SuccessFactors has sharing, for an undisclosed sum.
made a number of acquisitions to Shortly after this acquisition, Suc-
Originally SuccessFactors focused on strengthen its existing portfolio. It has cessFactors purchased Plateau
performance management software, but acquired six companies for more than Systems, which at the time was a
in 2009 the company expanded its $400 million: leading learning management system
strategy to offer what it called “busi- vendor, for $290 million. Finally, in
ness execution” software. Success- • Inform Business Impact December 2011, SuccessFactors com-
Factors launched the business execu- pleted an acquisition of Jobs2Web for
• Cubetree
tion suite—originally known as the $110 million. This deal was announ-
BizX suite and now called the HCM • YouCalc ced after SAP had signaled its
suite—to extend its reach from mea- intention to buy SuccessFactors,
suring employee performance and goal • Jambok although SAP indicated that it was
setting to supporting companies in exe- • Plateau Systems SuccessFactors’ prerogative to make
cuting business strategy. By expanding acquisitions while it was still an inde-
its portfolio to full HCM, SuccessFac- • Jobs2Web pendent company.

Jobs2Web provided application-tracking areas. The suite is very strong in talent roll system for Employee Central
and social networking integration soft- management, social collaboration, and
• Performance and Goals – Per-
ware, which formed the foundation for analytics, and although its core HCM
formance and goal management
SuccessFactors’ Recruiting Marketing solution, Employee Central, is not yet
solution. One other acquisition was as mature as SAP ERP HCM, it has • Recruiting – Recruiting management
made by SAP after the closure of the grown rapidly since the acquisition has and marketing
SuccessFactors deal; the onboarding closed. Social, mobile, and analytics
solution vendor KMS was purchased • Onboarding – Employee onboarding
underpin a lot of the product functional-
to introduce new onboarding capabili- solution for pre- and new hires
ity across the suite. In the short term,
ties into the SuccessFactors HCM suite. • Compensation – Employee compen-
SAP hopes to migrate both Workforce
Planning and Workforce Analytics onto sation planning
Following these series of strategic
acquisitions, SuccessFactors was SAP HANA for increased speed and • Learning – Learning management
able to offer a full suite of HCM solu- processing capabilities, with the rest of system for training and learning
tions in the cloud, including the suite also being powered by SAP activities
comprehensive core HR, end-to-end HANA in 2014 and 2015. The graphic
talent management, social collaboration, in Figure 1 shows the application pro- • Succession and Development –
and analytics. cesses in the suite. Succession planning and employee
development
The SuccessFactors HCM suite contains
The SuccessFactors HCM the following applications: • Workforce Analytics – Compre-
Suite hensive analytics and reporting
• Employee Central – The core HRIS
SuccessFactors offers an HCM suite in • Workforce Planning – Workforce
the cloud, covering all major process • Employee Central Payroll – The pay- planning and resource allocation
Figure 1 The SuccessFactors HCM suite
• SAP Jam – Social collaboration and the SuccessFactors HCM suite—is a SuccessFactors Mobile provides
networking platform social collaboration platform designed employees throughout an organization
to enhance communication and with the ability to perform a number of
• SuccessFactors Mobile – Mobile sharing, onboarding of new employees, activities from their smartphones or
application to perform processes on and collaboration across an organiza- tablet devices. SuccessFactors Mobile
the go tion. It incorporates social-media supports iPhone, iPad, BlackBerry, and
Employee Central is the next genera- functionalities that Twitter, Facebook, Android devices and provides func-
tion core HRIS that covers and Google Plus users will find famil- tionality to view notifications, display
functionality such as personnel man- iar. SAP Jam provides users with the the organizational chart, manage
agement, organizational management, opportunity to upload documents, recruiting requisitions, manage learn-
workflows, self-services, and time off. create videos, create Wikis, create ing activities, and perform SAP Jam
SAP’s hosted payroll solution, groups, and automate group member- actions. Although part of the HCM
Employee Central Payroll, is an ship for individuals based on certain suite, SuccessFactors Mobile is not a
optional component of Employee attributes. SAP Jam is not an HR-spe- solution in its own right but a comple-
Central. As you might expect, it is cific solution and can be used in a mentary solution that supports all the
fully integrated with SAP ERP and variety of functions across an organiza- solutions in the suite.
third-party applications and underpins tion, such as sales or finance.
the rest of the suite as a central plat- The Acquisition by SAP
form for managing employees, Workforce Analytics offers a wide-
positions, organizational, and salary ranging collection of analytics and On December 3, 2011, SAP announced
data across multiple geographies, com- reports that covers all processes and that it had entered into an agreement to
panies, and reporting areas. Employee HCM suite applications. Workforce purchase the entire stock of SuccessFac-
Central has grown significantly since Analytics’ benchmarking analytics take tors for $3.4 billion via its subsidiary
the acquisition by SAP and has been all the data from all customer instances SAP America, Inc. The news sparked a
implemented by a number of global to create comparable benchmarks that huge wave of excitement over the early
organizations, such as PepsiCo and organizations can use for comparison December weekend as analysts,
Timken. Thomas Otter, a leading with their own performance. Predictive markets, and the HCM communities
industry analyst, was appointed Vice analytics are also cutting-edge func- were taken by complete surprise at the
President, Product Management for tionality offered within Workforce announcement.
Employee Central in 2013, and his analytics. Headlines is a new mobile
After a period of due diligence and
experience in both traditional and application available for smartphone
completion of formalities, the acquisi-
cloud-based core HR has been influen- and tablet devices that provides man-
tion was officially done on February
tial in this development. agers with relevant and targeted
23, 2012. Shortly after completion,
analytics for their area of responsibility
SuccessFactors’ range of talent manage- Lars Dalgaard, at the recommendation
in real time.
ment solutions—Performance and of Hasso Plattner, was appointed to
Goals, Recruiting, Onboarding, Com- run SAP’s newly formed Cloud Busi-
pensation, Learning, and Succession Workforce Planning builds on analytical ness Unit and joined the SAP
and Development—provide end-to-end data to provide customers with the Executive Board. As part of the acqui-
talent management that is integrated ability to identify current and projected sition, SuccessFactors remained a
with the other HCM suite applications. workforce needs, as well as the skills separate entity from SAP and was
These applications are the focus of and competencies to support the long- rebranded as “SuccessFactors, an SAP
SAP’s hybrid strategy, which is when term needs of an organization. In company.”
SAP customers use SAP ERP HCM on addition, it also features “what-if” mod-
premise for core HR and SuccessFac- eling capabilities to identify the For the first time SAP was able to offer
tors HCM suite for talent management financial impact of different workforce a full suite of HCM solutions both on
processes. scenarios and predictive workforce premise and in the cloud. It also pro-
planning functionality to forecast vided its customers with the opportunity
SAP Jam—formerly known as Suc- company growth, costs, and skills gaps to combine on-premise applications
cessFactors Jam and offered as part of based on current and previous data. with cloud applications from the same

vendor. At the time, many analysts saw success was the DNA of understanding management solutions, no further inno-
the acquisition as a defensive move and the business model in the cloud.” [http:// vations were planned for its suite.
cited the 52 percent above-market-value www.forbes.com/sites/sap/2011/12/07/ SuccessFactors Workforce Planning was
share price as an indication that SAP can-sap-and-successfactors-crack-the- also revealed as being the go-forward
was willing to pay more than was dna-code/] solution for workforce planning. A
needed to improve its footprint in the summary of the HCM solutions (also
growing SaaS HCM and talent manage- SAP’s Strategy for SAP ERP HCM known as Line of Business for Human
ment markets. The price alone was Resources or LoB HR) is shown in
and SuccessFactors
enough to provide SAP with a huge Figure 2.
level of exposure and signaled its intent On February 22, 2012, shortly after the
to focus strongly on cloud offerings in acquisition was completed, SAP and By “go-forward” SAP means that any
addition to its traditional offerings. SuccessFactors announced their joint customers who wish to purchase solu-
Unified Product Direction via press tions for these processes will be
SAP had previously invested a signifi- release. David Ludlow, SAP group vice positioned with the solutions high-
cant amount of money in developing its president for HCM solutions, used his lighted in Figure 2. SAP intends to
own cloud ERP suite, Business keynote address at the HR 2012 confer- focus its innovation investments in
ByDesign, but SAP had struggled to ence in Las Vegas in March 2012 to go these solutions. However, SAP will still
develop the offering. Business into more detail about the planned sell, improve, and support the remaining
ByDesign’s lack of success was com- strategy. Ludlow re-affirmed that Suc- on-premise solutions seen in Figure 2,
monly attributed to SAP’s lack of cloud cessFactors HCM suite (still called the and these on-premise solutions are still
expertise. As part of the closure of the BizX suite at that time) was to be SAP’s available to all customers.
acquisition, Jim Hagemann Snabe, go-forward solution for talent manage-
co-CEO of SAP, was quoted in Forbes ment and revealed that while continuous Despite SAP’s announcement of its
Magazine as saying that “I believe that enhancements will continue to be made intention to focus primarily on the Suc-
what we needed to accelerate our for on-premise talent cessFactors HCM suite for talent
Figure 2 SAP’s "go-forward" solutions for SAP HCM processes
management, SAP will continue to so that all HCM processes are run in the tionality. So far, SAP has lived up to its
support and invest in on-premise tech- cloud. Net new customers (customers promises made in this announcement.
nology. However, investment in talent who are not using any SAP HCM solu-
management solutions has been tions) and existing customers can Key Misconceptions About the
minimal since Enhancement Package 4 leverage full-cloud HCM to get a com- Acquisition
(EhP4) was released. SAP Organiza- plete and holistic suite of HCM
One key misconception that arose when
tional Visualization by Nakisa (SOVN) functionality within the cloud, with or
the SuccessFactors acquisition was
will remain as the complementary solu- without SAP ERP HCM as the system
announced was that mainstream support
tion for on-premise customers for of record. Because some organizations
for SAP ERP HCM on premise would
organizational chart visualization, orga- don’t want just talent management and
end in 2020. These fears arose due to the
nizational modeling, and data quality analytics in the cloud, SAP is able to
timing of SAP’s announcement in
auditing. SAP Talent Visualization by ensure that all of a company’s HCM
October 2011—just two months prior to
Nakisa (STVN) and SOVN will con- needs are realized in the cloud.
the announcement of the acquisition—
tinue to be sold and supported by SAP,
In a side-by-side deployment, a that it was extending mainstream support
although STVN is not part of SAP’s go-
company chooses to retain SAP ERP for its on-premise SAP Business Suite,
forward strategy for talent management. which includes SAP ERP HCM, by five
HCM as its on-premise system cen-
There are three deployment models for trally, but uses Employee Central across years (from December 2015 to Decem-
SuccessFactors HCM: talent hybrid, some of its business, such as at a sub- ber 2020). December 2015 was the
full-cloud HCM, and side-by-side. The sidiary or a regional office. Some original date that was set for the end of
talent-hybrid model refers to customers companies may not have a core HR mainstream support for ERP Central
using SAP ERP HCM on premise for system at one or more of its subsidiaries Component (ECC) 6.0 when it was
core HCM processes (e.g., personnel or regional offices, or they may want to released in 2006. As predicted, SAP
administration, time management, and trial Employee Central prior to a global announced in late 2014 that it would be
payroll) and using the SuccessFactors rollout. This model gives them the extending maintenance again, until 2025.
HCM suite for talent management and, opportunity to take advantage of inno-
As mentioned previously, David Ludlow
if required, workforce analytics. Within vations, fill business system gaps, and
was keen to highlight that SAP will not
this model SAP ERP HCM is an inte- explore how SuccessFactors works for
force any customers onto the cloud.
gral part of using the SuccessFactors their business. SAP has built packaged
While SAP is promoting the Success-
HCM suite. SAP has a detailed integra- integrations to enable companies to run
Factors HCM suite, particularly for
tion strategy and roadmap for the a side-by-side model with SAP ERP
talent management, it will continue to
talent-hybrid model (this is covered in HCM and Employee Central.
offer its on-premise talent management
more detail later in this report). Another key message that was revealed functionality. SAP will not pressure cus-
during David Ludlow’s HR 2012 tomers to rip and replace their core SAP
One reason that SAP offers a detailed
keynote address was that SAP would ERP HCM system for SuccessFactors
integration strategy for the talent-hybrid
not force customers onto its cloud offer- Employee Central, but they enable this
model is because many organizations
ings and that it would continue to invest possibility for customers who choose to
have already implemented a stable and
in and offer innovations for core HR. follow this path. SAP has publicly reaf-
effective core HR system in SAP ERP
The new HR Renewal release and Busi- firmed its commitment to allowing
HCM, but want state-of-the-art talent
ness Suite on HANA announcements customers to choose which technologies
management solutions. SAP considers
are two examples of innovations from they wish to use for different processes.
the SuccessFactors HCM suite as its
SAP. HR Renewal provides a host of
best-in-class talent management solution.
This fresh wave of talent management
new usability features to SAP ERP How SuccessFactors HCM
HCM, and Business Suite on HANA
solutions is still fairly new to the market-
provides revolutionary performance and
Suite Differs from SAP ERP
place and there is a high level of
processing that has been impossible up HCM
investment and innovation taking place.
until now. SAP would also accelerate its SuccessFactors HCM suite differs in a
Full-cloud HCM refers to the entire investment in SuccessFactors Employee number of ways from SAP ERP HCM.
SuccessFactors HCM suite being used, Central to ensure that it is rich in func- Although both solutions cover many of

the same process areas, this is largely that is characteristic of the advancements been earned, and the employee’s loca-
where the similarities end. The UI and in web technology over the last decade tion in the Org Chart.
design principles, administration and and transition to Web 2.0. When ECC
The badges shown in Figure 4 are one
data maintenance, configuration, licens- 6.0 was released, this type of interface
concept that is not found within the
ing, implementation, mobility, release was unknown in consumer and enter-
SAP system. These are used to reward
cycles, and support for SuccessFactors prise-level applications and is strongly
employees for a number of actions,
differ considerably from those with associated with the type of interface
including good performance or behav-
which existing SAP users are familiar. Apple introduced as part of its desktop
iors that provide value to a team or the
and smartphone operating systems.
organization as a whole. Other features
UI and Design Principles The UI of SuccessFactors HCM differs include Legal Scan, which scans user-
SuccessFactors prides itself on the “toy- greatly from both the SAP GUI and inputted text for words that may be
like” UI and the user experience of its SAP Enterprise Portal, as can be seen in illegal or inappropriate, and Tags, key-
applications. SuccessFactors’ design is Figure 3. words used to help identify employees.
in line with its own version of the
Users can navigate to different parts of SuccessFactors is focused more on the
SMART principles—social, mobile,
the applications from the tiles on the employee, as opposed to objects of differ-
analytical, rich, and toy-like —and with
homepage or to each module from the ent types as in SAP ERP HCM. Success-
extensibility in mind. Extensibility is a
navigation drop-down menu in the Factors is not strictly object-oriented, so
design principle that considers future
top-left corner of each screen. Since creation and maintenance of the enter-
growth of a system through adding,
the HCM suite is essentially a web prise is focused more around positions
extending, or enhancing system func-
application, it benefits from hyperlink and employees. The concept of organiza-
tionality. SuccessFactors is also
navigation to move between different tional units does not exist in
influenced by the principles behind
pages. The applications are also heavy SuccessFactors; rather positions can be
business execution strategy and there-
in their use of colors, graphics, and assigned attributes about their organiza-
fore considers these when building or
images to provide visually appealing tional assignment, including Company,
extending functionality. Mobility also is
features and emphasize particular Business Unit, Division, and Department.
often a key consideration when building
new functionality. functionality or information. Figure This gives a deeper granularity than in
4 shows the Public Profile of an SAP ERP HCM, where the standard
The UI of SuccessFactors HCM suite is employee, including the employee’s organizational assignment is focused
a modern-looking and sleek interface photo, background, “badges” that have purely on the organizational unit.
Figure 3 The home page of SuccessFactors HCM suite
SuccessFactors’ applications are tors Mobile application as part of the administration functions, including
designed with a mobile-first mentality. base license for the HCM suite. importing and maintaining organizational
This ensures that applications are created data, setting up new forms, creating and
with simple functionality. The iPhone SuccessFactors managing the home page tiles, managing
generation is joining the workforce and user passwords, managing permissions,
Administration and
is used to using simple and attractive and viewing administrative alerts such as
apps on their devices, so it makes sense
Configuration stalled workflow requests, people issues,
for the next generation of enterprise Administration and configuration is and HR data issues. Figure 5 shows the
applications to follow these design largely performed in the administrator home page for an Admin User with the
principles. Unlike SAP ERP HCM, tools, called OneAdmin. An Admin User different tiles that are available for this
SuccessFactors includes its SuccessFac- can be configured to provide general type of user.
Figure 4 The Public Profile of an employee
Figure 5 The Home page of SuccessFactors HCM suite for an Admin User

A large number of configurations can be whereas for other modules configuration partner or by a SuccessFactors
performed in OneAdmin (Figure 6) as tion files are downloaded and uploaded Professional Services consultant. Suc-
well as actions such as hiring new there. SAP customers do not have cessFactors is looking to move away
employees, managing pending hires, access to Provisioning—only select from this type of configuration so that
creating new positions, and maintaining implementation consultants or Success- companies are able to maintain the
organizational assignment data. This is Factors Support have access to system themselves through the UI rather
a fundamental change from SAP ERP Provisioning. The only implementation than rely on implementation partners or
HCM, in which the system is config- consultants who get access to Provision- SuccessFactors Support.
ured in the IMG and organizational data ing are those who have completed the
Introduction to Mastery training course, SuccessFactors offers another method
is created using transaction codes. In
and it can only be linked to companies’ of configuration, which is an object
SAP, HR data is organized into info-
instances for projects where they have model extensibility framework called
types, while in SuccessFactors it is
completed the Mastery course. This the Metadata Framework (MDF). The
organized by function. For example, in
ensures that only trained consultants can MDF enables companies to make
SAP ERP HCM, employee data is
implement SuccessFactors solutions. changes to the configuration of Success-
stored in and maintained via a number
Factors through the OneAdmin UI, such
of different infotypes, while in Success- There is a common misconception that
as modifying existing objects, creating
Factors Employee Central data is SaaS applications are not highly config-
new objects, creating or modifying
accessed and maintained in pages such urable, although the reality is quite
business rules, or creating new inter-
as Employee Profile or Employment different. Although SaaS applications
faces. New objects can be created with
Information. There is no concept of are not as flexible—or customizable—
various attributes, such as effective
infotypes in SuccessFactors. as on-premise applications, they still
dates, UI behavior, security, reporting,
have a high level of flexibility when
The SuccessFactors system itself is language-dependent texts and transla-
enhancing standard behavior.
largely configured via Provisioning, tions, rule-based validations and logic,
which is the back end of SuccessFac- For certain features, SuccessFactors and approvals. These new objects can
tors. The level of configuration varies supports configuration via XML files. be similar to traditional SAP objects,
by module; in some instances only However, this configuration is usually such as a new type of Work Center
functionality is enabled in Provisioning, performed by a company’s implementa- object, or simply new fields. Existing
Figure 6 The OneAdmin page
objects can have attributes modified to a-Service (PaaS). The Employee Central Support or a trained implementation
fit company-specific logic or behavior, extension package for HCP enables any partner. With the exception of third-
such as compensation logic or cost company application to be created and party extension products such as SOVN
center validations. embedded in SuccessFactors. These or SAP Employee File Management by
applications inherit the theme, leverage OpenText (SEFM), most SAP users are
This model allows users complete
permissions, and use data from accustomed to having their consulting
control over creating new objects
Employee Central. partner perform all the implementation
without performing any coding or
activities required during a project.
custom development. However, unlike
an on-premise SAP ERP HCM system, Licensing: SAP vs. Likewise, some consultants may not be
comfortable working with a third party
the objects created in SuccessFactors SuccessFactors during an implementation. SuccessFac-
can have attributes that are unique to One of the major differences between tors role is usually to provision the
those specific objects. There are no SAP and SuccessFactors is the licensing instance and to provide access to the
specific infotype controls or validity model. SAP solutions (e.g., HCM) are partner consultants, but it is not
restrictions. This is a principle that is licensed per user on a perpetual basis involved extensively unless support is
new to SAP on-premise users and ini- for a one-off license fee, plus an annual required.
tially the concept might seem alien or maintenance fee. In contrast, Success-
limited in its practical use. Factors solutions are licensed per user The role of a consultant during
on a subscription basis per year. No implementation of one or more Success-
One of the major advantages of the
additional maintenance is charged. Factors solutions differs from the type
MDF is that customer metadata is sepa-
of roles that exist during an on-premise
rate from the SuccessFactors metadata. The cloud-based licensing model used implementation. Quite often only a
Users can never overwrite what Suc- by SuccessFactors has its advantages single consultant is required to perform
cessFactors delivers, although they can and disadvantages. There is no large all project roles, and these tend to be
switch it on or off. Therefore, the chal- capital expenditure for licensing and focused on activities such as scoping of
lenges users can face with conflicts yearly charges are made for the exact customer requirements, configuration,
when going through enhancement amount of usage (i.e., customers are data-field mapping, and testing. In some
package or Support Package upgrades only charged for the exact number of instances an integration consultant may
simply do not occur when new updates users that use the system). Customers be required to perform the technical
are introduced into the SuccessFactors are also not tied into using SuccessFac- integration. Typically SAP ERP HCM
system. tors forever—they are able to exit the projects, depending on the solution,
When users enhance or extend the data contract at the end of the contractual have been staffed by multiple consul-
model in SuccessFactors using the period, which is usually for three years tants and in some cases have involved
MDF, they are creating objects that sit in length, without incurring additional multiple teams made up of several con-
next to the existing data model, rather licensing costs or losing part of the sultants. However, since SuccessFactors
than sitting within it. These new objects one-off licensing fee that would be paid is focused around best-practice configu-
work with the system as if they are part for an on-premise license. Although ration and accelerated time frames,
of the standard data model, without one-year contracts are available, the fewer resources are required to deliver a
creating errors or conflicts. These average contract for a large customer is project and they are needed for shorter
objects—no matter how many—lever- usually three years. periods of time.
age a single instance of components
In some cases, specialist SuccessFactors
(e.g., UI components, processing Implementation: SAP vs. consultants (those not working for
objects, and workflow objects) and SuccessFactors SuccessFactors Professional Services)
therefore performance is significantly
Implementing SuccessFactors is differ- work on multiple projects simultane-
greater than if every object had its own
ent from what many companies who ously, each on a part-time basis. This
unique instance of components.
have on-premise SAP systems are used change alone will cause a significant
Custom applications can be added into to. First off, the SuccessFactors HCM shift in the SAP ERP HCM consulting
SuccessFactors using the SAP HANA suite cannot be implemented without business over time, since the current
Cloud Platform (HCP), as Platform-as- the involvement of SuccessFactors level of revenues sourced from on-

premise implementations is not software itself. The importance of customers to review the configuration
sustainable for most consultancies. This including activities such as defining defined in the Define phase after the
benefits companies who choose to success criteria, risk assessment, and a first and second iterations, and tweak
implement SuccessFactors solutions by communications strategy cannot be accordingly. This gives customers flexi-
providing them with much cheaper overestimated in ensuring the ultimate bility in getting their system configured
implementations. smooth delivery of a successful as per their expectations. In many
implementation. implementations it is not an uncommon
SuccessFactors’ BizXpert experience for customers to get to the
The first phase, Sales, is not an official
Implementation Methodology testing phase and discover that some-
project phase, rather it is the period
thing doesn’t work quite like they had
Another difference in implementation prior to the project starting, but it is
expected. In many projects additional
projects is SuccessFactors’ own imple- helpful to understand how this period
changes to the original blueprint must
mentation methodology, which is called sets the foundation for the overall
be made via Change Requests, the
BizXpert. The BizXpert methodology project. This is where the scope and
result of which is very often additional,
can differ from the methodology used pricing and Statement of Work (SOW)
unplanned-for costs. This phase also
by consultancies for on-premise imple- are produced and the project is transi-
features the data migration and integra-
mentations, since many consultancies tioned from the sales team to the
tion designs.
use the ASAP or Agile methodologies, implementation partner or SuccessFac-
or a variation of these. With Success- tors Professional Services. The fourth phase—the Verify phase—is
Factors, the BizXpert implementation where the testing and training occurs
The second phase is the Prepare phase
methodology is used so that the imple- and the go-live activities begin. The
and is designed to establish the project
mentation is delivered quickly and the rollout activities include execution of
framework and project objectives,
outcomes are consistent with each the communications, training, and risk
orient the customer with SuccessFactors
project that is delivered. management strategies.
and the project team, define the success
The BizXpert methodology contains criteria for the project, and undertake Finally, the Launch phase is where the
five phases, many of which may seem the configuration workshops. Many go-live activities are completed, the
familiar to those who are acquainted projects do not have the success criteria company transitions to SuccessFactors
with the ASAP methodology. The five defined at the outset, despite how support, and the project comes to a
phases are outlined in Figure 7. important it is for customers to identify close.
what they deem to be the critical criteria
Each phase has a purpose, a set of
for the success of the project. Mobility
objectives, and a set of deliverables.
Many of the phases include best-prac- The Realize phase is where the configu- SuccessFactors has a strong focus
tice activities that often are excluded ration of SuccessFactors takes place. on mobility and has two offerings for
from customer projects. This is one of One major difference between the smartphones and tablet devices—
the benefits of the BizXpert methodol- BizXpert methodology and the ASAP SuccessFactors Mobile and
ogy—no SuccessFactors customer is at methodology is the inclusion of three Headlines—which it offers for free.
risk of missing out on crucial aspects of configuration cycles, rather than one. This is in contrast to the on-premise
a project that are not specific to the These cycles—called iterations—allow SAP system, which offers a range of
Figure 7 The phases of the BizXpert implementation methodology
mobile applications but has a myriad of SAP has also recently introduced SuccessFactors’ quarterly release cycle
licensing approaches and extensive Feature Packs for the HR Renewal means that rapid innovation can occur
technological prerequisites to get going, release in order to deliver functionality and regular enhancements can be intro-
such as SAP Gateway and Sybase on a quarterly basis. New releases by duced. While this can be overwhelming
Unwired Platform. While it can be diffi- SuccessFactors are made to all customer for some organizations, it can also mean
cult for SAP ERP HCM customers to instances, although, by default, all new that organizations can adopt new func-
build a business case for mobility, with functionality is switched off and so it is tionality without waiting for long
up to the users as to whether they wish development periods or costly and diffi-
SuccessFactors Mobile application there
to enable any of the new functionality. cult upgrade projects. New customers
is little reason not to roll it out across
might not even be aware that they have
the organization. Figure 8 shows the This differs from SAP ERP HCM, had new functionality introduced into
SuccessFactors Mobile application where implementing enhancement pack- their system.
initial screen. ages or Support Packages can be
time-consuming. Enhancement pack- SuccessFactors releases are released in
Release Cycle ages might only provide a minimal February, May, August, and November
amount of functionality versus the effort of each year. From early 2015 on the
SuccessFactors releases new functional-
to implement, depending on the func- releases will be made available in these
ity and bug fixes on a quarterly basis,
tionality used in SAP ERP HCM. months in the Test system, but they
as opposed to on-premise SAP, which
will not be pushed into the Production
releases new SAP ERP HCM function- In SuccessFactors, each release is system until one month later.
ality via enhancement packages approx- added to the system by SuccessFactors
imately every 18 months, and releases so there is no action needed from the This is to enable customers to perform
bug fixes ad hoc via SAP Notes or in system administrator if none of the new testing of the new features ahead of
bulk as part of Support Packages. functionality is required. release to the business.
Figure 8 SuccessFactors Mobile on the Android operating system

Support technical perspective. Like many web One of the fundamental differences in
applications, the SuccessFactors HCM architecture between SAP ERP HCM
SuccessFactors has its own support
suite is primarily built in Java and uses and SuccessFactors is that SuccessFac-
process and Support Portal for custom-
the J2EE specifications. Every page that tors HCM suite is a multi-tenancy
ers, although this may be incorporated
is accessed by the end user is dynami- platform. Multi-tenancy is the use of a
into SAP’s Support Portal in the near
cally produced by the application and single instance of software using a
future. The SuccessFactors Support
encrypted using SSL technology. The single database instance for all custom-
Portal allows users to perform activities
application is a stateless application,
similar to the ones on-premise SAP ers, in which multiple sets of config-
meaning that each request is an inde-
users can in the SAP Support Portal, uration (called tenants) exist. Each cus-
pendent transaction and unrelated to the
such as raise support calls and search tomer has its own tenant that contains
previous request. This is part of the
knowledgebase articles. In addition to its unique set of configuration and its
reason for good performance in the
their Support Portal, SuccessFactors own database schema within the data-
cloud—the memory required is signifi-
users also have the SuccessFactors base. This type of model differs
cantly lower than non-stateless app-
Community web site [https://commu-
lications (such as on-premise applica- significantly from the SAP ERP HCM
nity.successfactors.com/] to supply and
tions). world, where many differing instances
share information. This site provides
of SAP are on different versions, hard-
forums for general and product topics,
Application Architecture ware, operating systems, and databases
thought-leadership topics, training,
across the customer base. As a result,
support, and event information. The core application cannot be modi-
using a SaaS solution such as Success-
fied, nor can it be enhanced with a
Factors HCM includes the following
A Deeper Look into the built-in programming language such as
features:
ABAP. Like many other web applica-
Technical Aspects of tions, the behavior of the application is • Regular releases
SuccessFactors influenced with configuration through
The SuccessFactors HCM suite also XML configuration files. The applica- • Latest version of the software is used
differs from SAP ERP HCM from a tion architecture is shown in Figure 9. across all customers
Figure 9 SuccessFactors application architecture
• No hardware and licenses for operat- the vendor already will have ensured is worth noting that customers using
ing system and database required that it has the optimal hardware that is SuccessFactors Workforce Analytics
required for high-performance and the have the option to opt in or opt out of
• Optimal hardware and software com-
stable operation of its software. It is not having their data (anonymously) used in
bination
unknown for outsourcing organizations the application’s benchmark analytics.
• Consistent performance and stability to cut corners when hosting customer
For many companies, the inability to
systems on their hardware or for inex-
• More manageable and efficient sup- customize SuccessFactors HCM appli-
perienced consultants to incorrectly
port and maintenance cations can be a reason to stay with
advise customers when procuring hard-
on-premise. With SuccessFactors, if a
• Data mining and aggregation for ana- ware for SAP or related systems.
particular piece of functionality does
lytical benchmarking not exist then a company has to do
Having a consistent codebase makes
Because all users are using the same support an easier process for Success- without it. However, as mentioned pre-
application, they benefit from always Factors. Experienced consultants know viously, the SAP HANA Cloud Platform
having the latest features and bug fixes the pitfalls of having a number of com- provides the ability to add entire new
available—either as a new user or as an ponents in an SAP system on different applications into SuccessFactors, and
existing user. It also provides greater versions and patch levels; with so many the MDF can extend existing function-
stability because products naturally combinations of components it is inevi- ality. With SAP ERP HCM, specific
become more bug free as they move table that product bugs will occur for user requirements can often be
through their product life cycle. Of some customers that did not occur for accommodated by using either the
course, because of the nature of multi- other customers. Usually product bugs object-model and infotype enhance-
tenancy systems, one drawback is that require some level of investigation and ments, or by using one of the many
changes to the application code or sub- support from SAP Support, but it is not technologies that SAP has created for
stantial customizations are simply not unknown for users to create work- extending the system, such as user exits,
possible. Since talent management strat- arounds to avoid the support process. Business Add-Ins (BAdIs), and the
egies and processes are unique to and Experienced consultants also know that ABAP Workbench. This provides an
dynamic in many organizations, the new SAP ERP HCM installations can almost limitless number of methods in
inability to customize the HCM suite to contain bugs that have fixes in SAP which complex user requirements can
the same extent as SAP ERP HCM Notes, but for inexperienced consultants be met in SAP ERP HCM.
might be a sticking point for some com- this can lead to unnecessary Customer Another potential downside for SaaS
panies to move to the cloud. Support messages (known as CSS or customers is that any period of down-
OSS messages) being raised with SAP time, whether planned or unplanned
There are numerous direct and indirect
Support when a fix already exists. outages, affects all tenants. This is also
cost savings for customers using SaaS
Obviously, with a SaaS solution, only a possibility with any unexpected side-
software. There are the obvious cost
new and unknown bugs are likely to be effects of introducing new functionality
savings made from removing the pro-
discovered, but once identified they can or bug fixes. However, the restriction of
curement of hardware and associated
be fixed for all customers quickly. The SuccessFactors HCM being configu-
software. In the SuccessFactors white-
downside is that non-urgent fixes are rable but not customizable—at least in
paper, “The Cloud: When & Why?,”
only available in the next release. the same way as SAP ERP HCM—
[http://www.successfactors.com/en_us/
A unique feature available to SaaS cus- ensures that all tenants comply with the
lp/the-cloud-when-and-why.html] it was
application’s data model and application
demonstrated that, on average, 19 tomers is the ability to have analytics
framework.
percent of the cost of implementing an benchmarks based on aggregated data
on-premise HRIS was for hardware from all customer tenants. Until the
costs and database licenses. However, invention of SaaS, this type of data was Security in SuccessFactors
there are also the cost savings that are impossible to provide. Now, customers One of the biggest concerns for compa-
passed onto customers by the vendor using SuccessFactors Workforce Ana- nies when they are considering a SaaS
from the economies of scale that they lytics have the option to compare their solution is security. While many feel
achieve from streamlining their hard- analytics to benchmarks formulated that they have complete control of
ware resources. As the system owners, from the data of multiple customers. It security only when using SAP ERP

HCM, it is worth highlighting that sub-processors that may have access to • FIPS 140-2 level 3 certification
SuccessFactors has a strong number of user data. One example is a supplier of
• U.S. government FISMA accredita-
security standards and mechanisms in database administration services to Suc-
tion (OPM/DHS/NTIS)
place to protect its systems and its cus- cessFactors and who is considered a
tomers’ data. There is a widespread sub-processor. SuccessFactors has spe- • Safe Harbor certification
perception that data is less secure in the cific contractual clauses in the contract
that are modeled around EU data SuccessFactors has various security
cloud, yet, in reality, the opposite is
clauses and the supplier must also be protections at each of the layers of its
more likely to be true. This is generally
Safe Harbor-certified. SuccessFactors service and infrastructure, including the
because, although the larger customers
also audits the supplier on a yearly basis physical site, database, middleware,
using SAP ERP HCM may have dedi-
to ensure that it complies with Success- application, and network and communi-
cated security teams, a number of
Factors’ own security and privacy cation channels.
smaller customers do not have the
resources to dedicate a specialist team standards. The outcome of this audit is SuccessFactors has a number of data
to manage security in the same way that both logged and described in a 300- centers around the world, including
a cloud vendor like SuccessFactors page report.
locations in the United States, Canada,
could. SuccessFactors, like SAP, audits against Netherlands, Germany, China, and
and assesses its own security standards Australia. As well as providing the Suc-
Internally, SuccessFactors classifies
on a regular basis. It aims to have trans- cessFactors services, the data centers in
security as a product itself and it has a
parent standards so that customers can each region act as a disaster recovery
strong focus on data handling, privacy,
not only trust that SuccessFactors secu- backup for each other, and data replica-
and protection. SuccessFactors is a spe-
rity standards are adequate, but also tion between the two data centers runs
cialist in processing and protecting
ensure that they do not have to perform in near real time. All data centers are
customer data. Since providing secure
their own audits of SuccessFactors’ high-availability, network access pro-
software services is the core business of
security standards. SuccessFactors also tected, and ANSI/TIA/EIA-942 Tier
SuccessFactors, it has in-house exper-
performs ongoing application and infra- III+ rated facilities connected by IPSEC
tise to provide the correct level of
structure penetration testing. Secure Tunnels. Each server has Host-
protection that is required to safeguard
Based Intrusion Detection System
users’ sensitive data. SuccessFactors security standards are
(HIDS) server protection, plus a host of
based on the strict UK BS10012
When it comes to handling customer leading antivirus, anti-hacking, and vul-
standards for data privacy and the
data, contractually SuccessFactors is a nerability detection software that runs
ISO27002 framework for security stan-
data processor and not a data controller. on a daily basis. In addition to these, the
dards. The UK BS10012 standards have
It has no rights or warrants to customer data centers have a number of physical
been adopted by Germany to govern its
data and can only perform actions with security measures including 24-hour
data privacy standards. SuccessFactors
their users’ data that are specified in the security guards, closed-circuit camera
also sits on various cloud security com-
contract between the two parties. The monitoring, and adverse-weather pro-
mittees and complies with a host of
customer always retains ownership of tection. The administrators of pro-
continental and global security stan-
its data and can, at any point, download ductive systems at SuccessFactors are
dards and certifications, including:
a CSV file of all its data from subject to compulsory multi-factor
SuccessFactors. • EU Directive 95/46/EC (also known authentication.
as the Data Protection Directive)
SuccessFactors separates between sub- On the database layer, SuccessFactors
contractors and sub-processors within • Payment Card Industry Data Security has numerous controls for activity mon-
its infrastructure and only sub-proces- Standard (PCI DSS) itoring and blocking, data-change
sors potentially have access to data, logging, and auditing on its databases,
• ISO27002
although this doesn’t necessarily mean and all stored data is encrypted with
they will access it. SuccessFactors • BS10012 AES at a minimum of 128 bits. All
ensures that the contractual obligations changes to data are logged in encrypted
• SSAE-16 SOC2
that it has with its customers are part of and unalterable log files with a variety
the agreements that it has with all of the • ASIO-4 of attributes. Additionally, data is also
backed up on a nightly and weekly experience in configuring authorizations To monitor and quantify application
basis. The middleware layer—the plat- and security should be able to configure performance, SuccessFactors simulates
form that SuccessFactors runs on—has RBP in SuccessFactors. the end user experience every 15
various authentication security provi- minutes from 10 different locations. The
sions that include single sign-on (SSO), For complex or global organizations performance of each server is monitored
federated identity management, SAML that use dotted-line or matrix manage- in real time and the application source
2.0 Assertion, and segregation of duties ment, the matrix manager concept of code is monitored in real time by a
(SoD). SuccessFactors may be sufficient to source code profiler. Internal network
provide multiple access points to traffic is also limited so that only the
Applications in the SuccessFactors data maintenance as an alternative to data required by the application is trans-
HCM suite comprise the application structural-based authorizations. Organi- ferred internally.
layer, and the built-in role-based per- zations with a strong need for structural
missions (RBP) mechanism is the main authorizations should take into consid- Integration Between
form of security used. RBP is similar to eration whether SuccessFactors can SAP ERP HCM and
the authorization roles used in the SAP meet their security requirements during
authorization concept. Using RBP
SuccessFactors HCM Suite
evaluation of the HCM suite.
Integration is one of the hottest topics
means that security is managed at all
The network and communications layer when it comes to SuccessFactors. SAP’s
levels of SuccessFactors applications,
uses well-known standards for transfer- integration strategy is focused on pro-
including the function, transaction,
ring data, including VeriSign-certified viding packaged integrations for each of
field, and data levels. Like roles, the
SSL/TLS, SFTP, and SSH. the deployment models discussed previ-
RBPs are often based on activities that
ously. Packaged integrations provide the
must be performed by the user for
programs, logic, reports, IMG nodes,
whom the role is defined. As a result, System Availability
and tools required to integrate specific
roles can be managed centrally in the
SuccessFactors contractually promises a data and processes in SuccessFactors
same way that they are within on-prem-
minimum of 99 percent system avail- with SAP ERP HCM or other systems.
ise SAP systems.
ability to customers outside of regular
SuccessFactors also requires that users and emergency maintenance windows Integration Strategy for SAP ERP
and, as a result, has carefully considered
have a minimum set of privileges to HCM and SuccessFactors HCM
perform certain functions, so it is not the steps required to maintain high
Suite
possible to accidentally provide access availability in each of their data centers.
And because SuccessFactors’ applica- SAP’s integration strategy focuses on
to a certain function by granting of one
tions are accessed through the cloud, three main areas of integration:
type of privilege. SuccessFactors’ appli-
cations are designed to automatically performance is also a critical factor for 1. Data – Data foundation so that Suc-
log the user out after 30 minutes of high user satisfaction. cessFactors applications can use SAP
inactivity. Passwords are sent to the ERP HCM data
In each data center, the servers used for
application server from the client
tier of the service (e.g., network, data- 2. Process – Integration of specific end-
machine using SHA-1 hash encryption.
base, and application) are clustered and to-end HR processes with SAP ERP
SuccessFactors does not have a struc- load balanced to spread traffic demand HCM
tural authorization concept, which some and act as a failover to prevent interrup-
3. User experience – Unified access and
organizations may consider to be a limi- tion or loss of service. Fallback
seamless navigation for end users
tation or barrier to adoption. Access is servers—replicas of the active produc-
based on an area of responsibility and tion servers—are on standby in case of Data integration sets the foundation for
RBPs are assigned easily by a systems an upsurge in usage. SuccessFactors point-to-point integration with Success-
administrator rather than a security creates forecasts of future demand Factors so that SAP ERP HCM data can
expert. RBP is flexible and can be easy based on historical usage and new sub- be used in the various talent manage-
to configure compared to SAP authori- scriptions on a monthly, quarterly, and ment applications in the SuccessFactors
zations while still offering a great deal yearly basis to ensure that adequate HCM suite. The hybrid model SAP ERP
of flexibility. In fact, someone without servers are in operation and on standby. HCM is the system of record for

employee and organizational master NWBC). SAP’s intention is for users to ogy: file transfer and middleware.
data, so SAP intends to deliver access the different systems without SAP’s first talent-hybrid packaged inte-
integration to upload this data to realizing that they have left one applica- gration relied on a flat-file transfer,
SuccessFactors on a periodic basis. The tion and entered another. It is also although from the second service
main aim is to ensure that data is not SAP’s intention that SAP Enterprise package (Service Package 2), middle-
entered into two systems twice. Portal or SAP NWBC and SuccessFac- ware integration was offered via SAP
tors applications can be accessed from Process Integration (PI) and SAP
Process integration is ensuring that data
within the same drop-down menus and HANA Cloud Integration (HCI). Figure
produced in talent management pro-
screens. This includes the use of SSO, 10 displays the integration technology
cesses in SuccessFactors, such as unified navigation structures, and inte- options for the talent-hybrid model.
compensation or recruitment, is stored grated menus.
back in the SAP ERP HCM system and Dell Boomi AtomSphere is the integra-
used in the various dependent processes, SAP wants to prevent segregated access tion platform used between SAP ERP
such as payroll or hiring actions. Provid- for different applications so that the user HCM and SuccessFactors Employee
ing loosely coupled integration, rather experience is seamless enough for users Central, which is part of the full-cloud
than full real-time integration, is strategi- to not even notice that multiple systems HCM and side-by-side deployment
cally designed to enable hybrid processes are used. The biggest challenge SAP models. For SAP Jam, the Social Media
to be executed without creating changes faces here is that the SuccessFactors UI ABAP Integration Library (SAIL) is
to SAP ERP HCM data prior to the point differs from the SAP Enterprise Portal provided by SAP.
at which they are needed. and SAP NWBC both in layout and
design, despite the theme configuration SAP’s flat-file integration option is
User experience integration is about that can be done in both platforms. delivered as part of the first packaged
providing a fully unified experience for integration and provides a single direc-
end users when accessing SuccessFac- tion upload of employee and
tors applications from Employee
Technology for Packaged organizational data from SAP ERP
Self-Service and Manager Self-Service Integrations HCM to SuccessFactors using an SAP
in the SAP Enterprise Portal and SAP SAP’s integration strategy is based program and FTP server, as demon-
NetWeaver Business Client (SAP around two types of integration technol- strated in Figure 11. This integration
Figure 10 Integration technology options for talent-hybrid integration
option is free for all SAP ERP HCM HCI will be priced at 7.5 percent of the up implementation capabilities for part-
customers. More details are covered subscription fee of the SuccessFactors ners. Figure 12 is an overview of the
later in this article when the integration application. At the time of this writing, architecture for the middleware-integra-
packages are examined. it is currently available for Performance tion platforms, which are represented by
& Goals, Compensation, and Recruit- SAP Integration Technology.
SAP PI, previously called SAP
ing. Initially only SAP Professional
Exchange Infrastructure (SAP XI), is a
Services will be able to implement SAP Dell Boomi AtomSphere is a PaaS inte-
middleware-integration solution used to
HCI, although SAP does plan to open gration solution that is used for
integrate and transfer data between dif-
ferent SAP technologies. Around 35
percent of SAP ERP HCM customers
use SAP PI and therefore can benefit
from leveraging this technology to use
SAP’s integration packages. Since Suc-
cessFactors is considered an SAP
system, there is no additional licensing
for companies wishing to use their
existing SAP PI installation to integrate
SAP ERP HCM with SuccessFactors.
However, companies that do not have

SAP PI would have to invest in licens-
ing and implementing SAP PI to
integrate SAP ERP HCM and Success-
Factors if they do not wish to wait for
the release of SAP’s upcoming cloud-
based middleware integration solution,
SAP HCI. HCI is a PaaS integration
solution that will be used for integrating
a number of SAP’s new cloud solutions
with SAP on-premise solutions. Figure 11 Architecture of flat-file integration
Figure 12 Architecture of middleware integration for recruiting process integration

full-cloud HCM and side-by-side inte- also released a Cookbook for configur- This file contains 29 pre-defined fields
gration. This technology has been used ing SSO, a Rapid-Deployment Solution and up to 15 company-specific fields, all
by SuccessFactors to integrate a number (RDS) for compensation integration, of which can be selected from standard
of on-premise HCM systems with and a Cookbook for integrating multiple SAP fields or defined via a company-
Employee Central. It has a graphic UI SAP ERP HCM systems to SuccessFac- specific BAdI (for both the pre-defined
with drag-and-drop workflows and tors. Currently the packaged integ- and company-specific fields).
wizards for easy data modeling. The rations cover the following data and
There are also 30 extractors to extract
Dell Boomi AtomSphere license is process integrations:
data for use with SuccessFactors
included in the base SuccessFactors
1. Employee data Workforce Analytics. Full details of
Employee Central subscription and SAP
the fields, reports, and security roles
has specified that Dell Boomi Atom- 2. Analytics extractors
can be found in the Administrator Guide
Sphere should not be used in any other
3. Compensation process integration on the SAP Service Marketplace
SAP integration scenarios other than
[https://websmp206.sap-ag.de/~form/
integrating SAP ERP HCM with Suc- 4. Recruiting process integration sapnet?_SHORTKEY=0110003587000
cessFactors Employee Central.
5. Qualifications integration 0747094&_SCENARIO=011000
Therefore, Dell Boomi AtomSphere is
35870000000202&] under Release &
not used for talent-hybrid integration
Future packages are planned for vari- Upgrade Info > Installation & Upgrade
scenarios unless licensed separately. In
able pay, onboarding, and succession. Guides > SAP Business Suite Applica-
the future, SAP HANA Cloud Integra-
Figure 13 shows the available and tions > SAP ERP Add-Ons > Integration
tion HCI may be offered as an
planned integrations for the talent- Add-On for SAP ERP HCM and Suc-
alternative to Dell Boomi AtomSphere.
hybrid model. cessFactors. The package currently has
an end-of-mainstream-maintenance date
Talent Hybrid Packaged The first packaged integration, Integra-
of June 30, 2014. The technical name of
Integrations tion Add-on 1.0 for SAP ERP HCM and
this add-on is SFIHCM01. Delta han-
SuccessFactors, was released for
SAP delivers a number of packaged dling was introduced in Service
Ramp-Up on May 11, 2012, and went
integrations to provide the integration Package 1, which also includes some
on general availability on August 10,
scenarios that are set out in its strategy. new fields, a report to remove inactive
2012. This package provided point-to-
These packages are available on the employees, and a number of SAP Note
point integration using a flat-file upload
SAP Service Marketplace web site. corrections for the initial package.
mechanism. It works through an SAP
In additional to the packaged integra- report that generates a CSV file that is Support Package 2 for Integration
tions that have been released, SAP has uploaded to SuccessFactors via FTP. Add-on 1.0 for SAP ERP HCM and
Figure 13 Available and planned integrations for the talent-hybrid model
SuccessFactors was released on Novem- that, even though middleware integra- management module from SAP—is not
ber 5, 2012, and was quite significant tion is used, the integration does not use required because the sole application for
because it was the first package to real-time or near-real-time data transfer. performing compensation management
support the use of middleware integra- While many users might find this in this scenario is SuccessFactors Com-
tion and the first to introduce process unusual, the decision by SAP to refrain pensation. Several subsequent Support
integration. The focus of this Support from using real-time integration was Packages have been released for Inte-
Package is to introduce the transfer of influenced by their co-innovation com- gration Add-on 1.0 for SAP ERP HCM
employee and organizational data via panies. Because the compensation and SuccessFactors to introduce bug
one of the middleware platforms and process is a step-by-step approval-based fixes and—on occasion—additional
introduce bi-directional data transfer to process, it made sense for companies to functionality.
support the compensation process have data pulled back to the SAP ERP
Integration Add-on 2.0 for SAP ERP
(known as pay-for-performance). This HCM system once the compensation
HCM and SuccessFactors was released
process integration involves transferring process was completed in SuccessFac-
for Ramp-Up on March 18, 2013, and
salary and pay data to SuccessFactors tors Compensation.
went on general availability on August
and then transferring the resultant com-
For this package it is important to 16, 2013. The technical name for the
pensation data back to SAP ERP HCM,
note that one of the middleware plat- packaged integration is SFIHCM02.
where it must be activated to be written
forms is a prerequisite for transferring The packaged integration includes
to the infotypes used in payroll and pro-
the compensation data, although it is attract-to-hire process integration for
duction of compensation statements.
not a prerequisite for transferring the SuccessFactors Recruiting. This allows
This process is shown in Figure 14.
employee and organizational data as the hiring and transfer actions to be started
The process integration supports
flat-file mechanism is still available. in SAP ERP HCM once an employee
approved merit increases, bonuses, and
Another important point is that config- has accepted a job offer in SuccessFac-
lump-sum payments with integration
uring or implementing any part of tors Recruiting. The end-to-end process
with SAP ERP HCM Payroll.
Enterprise Compensation Management covers the recruiting process from plan-
One of the striking factors for users is (ECM)—the on-premise compensation ning vacancies through to filling a
Figure 14 Architecture of compensation process integration

vacant position. Support Package 2 was planned for general availability in SAP_BASIS component. Although no
released on September 6, 2013, and December 2014. This packaged integra- integration packages have been
introduced define-to-hire process inte- tion introduces qualification integration released, SAP released the SAP JAM
gration for the recruiting process. This so that either the SuccessFactors HCM ABAP Integration Configuration Guide
enables requisition requests to be suite or SuccessFactors Learning can be in November 2012.
created in SuccessFactors Recruiting used to manage qualifications (as the
In addition to these packages, SAP has
using employee, organizational, and qualifications system of record) and
also released two Cookbooks:
vacancy data from SAP ERP HCM, transfer both qualifications and qualifi-
which completes the end-to-end recruit- cation-to-employee assignments back to • Integration of SuccessFactors
ing process. Figure 15 shows the SAP ERP HCM (to be viewed only). Business Execution into the SAP
process integration flow. Figures 16 and 17 show the integration Enterprise Portal via Single Sign-On
process for the SuccessFactors HCM
This package is significant because it • Integration of Multiple SAP ERP
suite and SuccessFactors Learning,
has various integration points between Human Capital Management Systems
respectively.
SAP ERP HCM and SuccessFactors with SuccessFactors Business
Recruiting Management. Data flows The release of the rapid-deployment Execution
from one system to the other depending solution package SAP ERP HCM
on the stage of the recruiting process, Integration to SuccessFactors rapid- Both of these provide instructions to set
unlike the compensation process in deployment solution followed the up integration of SSO and integration of
which data is transferred from SAP ERP release of Support Package 2. This multiple SAP ERP HCM systems with
HCM to SuccessFactors Compensation rapid-deployment solution provides SuccessFactors.
and then back from SuccessFactors users with a rapid implementation of
Compensation to SAP ERP HCM once the integration package by either SAP Technical Information and
it has been used in the compensation or an SAP partner. Prerequisites for a Talent-Hybrid
process. Integration Scenario
The SAIL technology is used to inte-
Integration Add-on 3.0 for SAP ERP grate SAP ERP HCM and SAP Jam and All the integration packages have the
HCM and SuccessFactors was released is part of SAP NetWeaver from specific same prerequisites, with the exception of
for Ramp-Up on June 23, 2014, and is Support Package Stack releases of the the initial package, which does not have
Figure 15 Architecture of the Recruiting Management process integration
Figure 16 Architecture of qualification process integration with the SuccessFactors HCM suite
Figure 17 Architecture of qualification process integration with SuccessFactors Learning

any middleware prerequisites because it Full-Cloud HCM Integration • Payroll providers, such as ADP
only supports file-based integration. Packages GlobalView or NorthgateArinso
EuHReka
SAP ECC 6.0 is the minimum release As mentioned previously, Dell Boomi
for using the integration packages and AtomSphere is the integration technol- • Time and attendance systems, such as
there are no enhancement package ogy used to support integration between WorkForce Software EmpCenter or
SAP ERP HCM and SuccessFactors Kronos Workforce Central
prerequisites.
Employee Central.
For the various Support Package Stack • Benefits providers, such as AON
SAP released packaged integrations for Hewitt or Benefitfocus
requirements, companies should consult
a full-cloud HCM model, known as the
the Administrator’s Guide on the SAP A standard integration template is also
Employee Mini-Master. The first pack-
Service Marketplace. provided for each of these processes so
aged integration was released for
They should also review SAP Note Ramp-Up on November 30, 2012, and that integrations can be built to systems
1708986 (Installation of SFIHCM01 was released on general availability on where a packaged integration is not pro-
February 15, 2013. This package repli- vided. Future integrations are planned
600). Within the SAP system, configu-
cates employee, job, work contract, and for SAP Environment, Health, and
ration of the integration packages is
payroll data in SAP ERP HCM from Safety Management (EHS); SAP Cross-
done centrally in the IMG.
SuccessFactors Employee Central. This Application Time Sheet (CATS); SAP
For middleware integration using SAP enables employee data to be used in Governance, Risk, and Compliance
PI, the following minimum prerequi- many SAP ERP processes and in (GRC); and the SAP ID Service (IDS).
sites apply: Employee Central Payroll. Additional SAP’s packaged integrations are being
packaged integrations have been enhanced on a quarterly basis.
• SAP PI 7.0 released to replicate organizational
objects and assignments to SAP ERP
• Enterprise Services Repository (ESR)
HCM from Employee Central, replicate
Integration Challenges
content for the add-on The pre-delivered integration from SAP
cost centers from SAP ERP FICO to
• HTTPS communication Employee Central, replicate employee is a big step forward for SAP ERP
data from SAP ERP HCM to Employee HCM users and provides benefits to
The integration packages are delivered users wishing to use the talent-hybrid
Central (for a side-by-side scenario),
in eight languages: English, German, and integrate Employee Central with approach. Despite this, there are still
Spanish, French, Portuguese, Russian, third-party systems. Figure 18 shows some challenges remaining for compa-
Chinese, and Japanese. the current and planned integrations nies using SAP ERP HCM.
between Employee Central and SAP
However, the documentation found on SAP has communicated large parts of its
ERP HCM.
SAP Service Marketplace is largely in strategy, but since this strategy is con-
English, with some documentation also Third-party integrations enable stantly evolving it has not been possible
in German. Employee Central to be integrated with: to provide details far in advance of
Figure 18 Current and planned integrations between Employee Central and SAP ERP HCM
release dates. SAP has taken the opportu- Key Misconceptions begin to offer Employee Central as the
nity at major events to provide updates system of record instead of SAP ERP
Some misconceptions exist around addi-
about their strategy, but many users tional licensing for integration. The HCM, but at the present time this
simply do not have access to or know integration packages are all license-free should not be of great concern to SAP
what channels to look at for this informa- and for customers leveraging SAP PI ERP HCM users as SAP offers both
tion. Users should be proactive about there is no additional licensing required options.
trying to stay well informed about for middleware integration. For SAP The major changes will come in the
coming changes; this is discussed in more HCI, however, there are additional talent management area, where SAP is
detail in the “So, What Does This Mean licensing costs. investing significantly in innovation and
for SAP ERP HCM Customers?” section.
It has also been rumored that much integration. Talent management is
While users who already have an SAP integration content is still required. widely seen as the next era of HCM and
PI installation in house can benefit However, the first integration add-on numerous studies have shown a clear
immediately from SAP’s integration covers all the basic employee data correlation between organizational
packages, those who do not have to required for all talent management success and a sound talent management
invest in an SAP PI implementation and processes and for the SuccessFactors strategy. To support this, SAP has
the associated licensing costs. Those Employee Profile that is used in invested in a new wave of talent man-
users also have the choice of using SAP Employee Central, and as a central agement applications in its enhancement
HCI, but this has an on-going subscrip- component for talent management solu- package 4, which was released in 2008.
tion cost that may not be desirable tions. Module-specific integrations are
With this in mind, companies should
versus the one-off implementation cost available for recruiting and compensa-
strongly consider that across the suite,
for SAP PI. tion but need to be built for the other
SuccessFactors applications are likely to
solutions.
Customers using concurrent employ- offer more functionality-rich features
ment should understand that there is Other rumors have circulated that more than on-premise talent management
additional maintenance for employees standard integration is crucial for the now and especially in the future. While
who have multiple employment con- success of a SuccessFactors implemen- it is not true for all the talent manage-
tracts. For the integration process to tation. However, for many companies ment applications in the HCM suite,
recognize employees on concurrent integration is not a new topic and is not this is likely to change as SAP invests
employment, the personnel number of always a critical aspect of an implemen- further in the HCM suite. The R&D
the main contract must be maintained in tation. In some instances this may be budget available to SuccessFactors has
infotype 0712, with subtype SFSF. This the case, but for some companies who increased significantly since the acquisi-
acts as a Central Person ID in Success- do not need to transfer data between tion and this drives huge innovation in
Factors. The integration package report different systems, integration is not all of SuccessFactors’ products, not just
in the SAP system then reads the critical. talent management. While companies
Central Person ID and all related per- should consider this, they should also
sonnel numbers, but the personnel So, What Does This Mean for investigate each solution’s functionality
number defined in infotype 0712 is used and integration effort before making a
SAP ERP HCM Customers?
as the central employee number. decision. For companies who use a
Based on the previous information, I number of SAP’s talent management
Another consideration is that the email believe that there are certainly a number solutions already and do not require
address field is compulsory in Success- of ramifications for SAP ERP HCM additional licenses, then staying with
Factors and therefore all employees users and, in the long term, the SAP
SAP ERP HCM may be the most attrac-
must have an email address maintained. ERP HCM landscape is likely to look
tive and practical proposition.
Since a BAdI implementation can be very different than it does today. I
used for determining the email address, believe that on-premise will remain sig- Companies that are using and wish to
it can be possible for organizations to nificant for the foreseeable future, and continue using SAP ERP HCM’s on-
write some ABAP code to generate this. SAP ERP HCM is central to SAP’s premise solution should not be overly
However, this solution does not work hybrid model as the core system of concerned by SAP’s strategy. SAP con-
for all organizations. record. In the longer term, SAP may tinues to invest in core HCM and

analytics, particularly around usability • SAP’s strategy, roadmap, and innova- deal of flexibility. As a result, compa-
and SAP HANA. SAP has made multi- tion focus areas nies need to examine whether a
ple investments in HCM analytics trade-off is needed between modern
• Legal restrictions and local legislation
solutions recently and, I expect, will recruitment techniques and the flexibil-
continue to invest in the technology that • Implementation partners ity that SAP e-Recruiting offers.
can assist customers who wish to invest
While there are many reasons why an SuccessFactors Learning is based on
in HCM analytics. More recently, SAP
organization might move to the cloud, I Plateau Systems’ learning management
announced that the SAP Business Suite
am not going to discuss them in detail system (LMS), which SuccessFactors
is now certified to run on SAP HANA
here. However, I examine some of the acquired in 2011, and therefore it has a
[http://www.news-sap.com/sap-busi-
SuccessFactors-specific factors that comprehensive set of leading LMS fea-
ness-suite-on-sap-hana-launch/], which
companies can consider. tures. SAP Learning Solution (LSO) is
indicates SAP’s commitment to on-
not as strong as the SuccessFactors
premise ERP.
Functionality solution and requires the additionally
licensed SAP Learner Portal and SAP
Implementation Within SuccessFactors there is, as one
Learning Assistant mobile app to
would expect, a great deal of overlap
Considerations enhance the learning experience. Suc-
across many solutions. Employee
Companies looking to implement talent cessFactors Learning has a strong focus
Central is the least mature of Success-
management solutions or extend their on social-media integration and collab-
Factors solutions, but SAP has and
talent management portfolio may wish orative recruiting processes, as well as
continues to invest heavily in bringing it
to evaluate their strategic direction to built-in analytics and complementary
up to the same level of functionality as
incorporate SaaS. Whether they want to mobility functionality. Customers
SAP ERP HCM. Employee Central has
leverage their on-premise investment or should investigate if SuccessFactors
now reached a maturity level where it is
move to the cloud depends on a number fit for enterprise. On the opposite end of Learning Solution offers all the func-
of factors. These factors can include: the scale, SuccessFactors Performance tionality found in SAP LSO.
and Goals and SuccessFactors Work- When it comes to compensation man-
• Organization culture and readiness for
force Analytics are two of the most agement and succession planning, both
the cloud
feature-rich solutions in the HCM suite. the on-premise and cloud solutions have
• Internal SAP strategy and roadmap similar features and functionality. For
SuccessFactors Performance and Goals
contains a number of social and gamifi- compensation management it is worth
• Existing customization and enhance-
cation features to ensure that the evaluating if ECM is a viable solution if
ments within SAP ERP HCM
performance management process is SAP Performance Management is used,
• Existing investments in talent man- more attractive to both users and man- since they are used in complementary
agement or SOVN agers. While these might be considered processes, have a similar look and feel,
fluffy features, the core functionality is and require no additional licensing.
• Existing infrastructure and technolo- strong and matches what is offered in Customers should look at their pro-
gy the SAP Performance Management cesses and what key functionality they
module. need to support those processes. This
• Projected maintenance and support
activity will vary from customer to cus-
costs of extending on-premise usage SuccessFactors Recruitment features a tomer, but should be evaluated
standard UI that far outstrips SAP’s thoroughly. The development planning
• Management of capital expenditure
standard offering, with attractive themes
versus subscription costs functionality offered by SAP in SAP
and controls. Although SAP’s recruiting
Enterprise Portal is not integrated with
• SAP ERP HCM and SuccessFactors engine—like its performance manage-
other solutions and is fairly rigid, limit-
functionality versus business needs ment engine—is one of the strongest
ing the value of automated objective
and requirements around, e-Recruiting does lack usability,
setting and measurement of an employ-
presentation, and social media integra-
ee’s long-term development plan.
• Level of integration effort between tion. However, SAP e-Recruiting is
SAP ERP HCM and SuccessFactors highly customizable and has a great For workforce planning and for analyt-
ics, the on-premise solutions from SAP has made integration a key advan- integration that is not provided with the
SAP—BusinessObjects Strategic Work- tage of using its software previously SAP standard packages. Depending on
force Planning and BusinessObjects for and now it is pushing a solution that has the level of customizations within the
HCM Analytics—both rely on Bus- relatively weak integration when com- on-premise SAP system, this effort
inessObjects technology, and both Suc- pared to the solutions that have been might be considerable and could add
cessFactors Workforce Planning and offered historically. This is not to say more maintenance to what might be an
SuccessFactors Workforce Analytics that integration will not get better; on already complex SAP landscape. On the
should be seriously considered irrespec- the contrary, SAP is investing signifi- other hand, should an organization’s
tive of whether BusinessObjects is cantly in introducing standard talent processes be closer to best prac-
running. In particular, SuccessFactors integration scenarios for SAP ERP tice then using the standard SAP
Workforce Analytics features more than HCM and SuccessFactors while also integration scenarios would be an effi-
1,000 predefined analytics and benefits providing users with a foundation to cient way of adding SuccessFactors
from benchmarks that are not available develop their own integration scenarios. solutions to their SAP landscape.
in any on-premise solution. For compa-
However, in addition to the information Potential users should be advised to
nies that currently don’t have HCM
provided previously in this report, users monitor SAP’s integration roadmap and
analytics or SAP Business Warehouse
must be aware of the challenges that releases on a regular basis to understand
(SAP BW), then it makes sense to look
they may face in creating and maintain- whether appropriate content is released
at SuccessFactors Workforce Analytics.
ing integration between SAP ERP HCM from SAP that enables simple and easily
For social collaboration, SAP Jam is and SuccessFactors for the hybrid maintainable integration. Once the SAP
SAP’s go-forward solution, ahead of the model. At this time, the integration is HCI platform is released and additional
existing solution—SAP StreamWork. fairly limited for the hybrid approach details are known, then users who do
Although these solutions share a and is restricted to selected talent man- not currently have SAP PI can make a
number of common social-media- agement processes. better-informed decision about the path
related features, SAP Jam offers more they wish to choose for integration.
features and its overall usability, despite Integration for full-cloud HCM has
existed for some time with Dell Boomi
being similar, could be considered supe- SAP’s Strategy, Roadmap,
rior to SAP StreamWork. For example, AtomSphere and integration for SAP
Jam is already available. If SAP PI is
and Innovation Investments
the layout, UI design, and social collab-
oration features in SAP Jam make it not implemented, then either an Companies that have an existing invest-
easier and more engaging to use than implementation of SAP PI or an implement in SAP ERP HCM on premise
SAP StreamWork. In addition, some of mentation of the forthcoming SAP should not be overly concerned by SAP’s
the features for Wikis, blogs, and video HANA Cloud Integration platform is focus on SuccessFactors as this is largely
recording found in SAP Jam certainly required. An implementation of SAP PI focused on talent management and bring-
bring new benefits to customers who would require both a license for PI and ing Employee Central up to the same
want to use a social collaboration plat- the additional costs of an extended level of functionality as in SAP ERP
form. As a result, new customers implementation project that could take HCM. In fact, companies should be
seeking a social collaboration solution upwards of six weeks. Interestingly, encouraged by SAP’s focus on investing
should look at SAP Jam rather than although SAP has stated that Boomi in innovative talent management solutions
SAP StreamWork, as the focus of SAP’s AtomSphere should only be used for that provide additional business value. For
integration with SuccessFactors both solutions, SAP still recommends
innovation investment has shifted exclu-
Employee Central, SuccessFactors using SAP ERP HCM as the system of
sively to SAP Jam.
offers Boomi AtomSphere for integra- record and SAP will continue to invest in
functionality and usability for on-premise
Integration Considerations tion with all modules. Customers should
solutions. Although new innovations in
first confirm that SAP supports this type
One the biggest areas of concern for on-premise solutions, such as the new on-
of integration method so that there are
SAP users should be around integration. premise feature and usability add-on HR
no integration surprises at a later date.
With SuccessFactors, it appears that Renewal 1.0, were planned before the
SAP has traded integration—one of its In addition to this, customers would acquisition of SuccessFactors, SAP will
biggest selling points—for innovation. also need to design and configure any continue to invest in them going forward.

Despite the purchase of SuccessFactors, Talent Management Solutions has a number of similarities with Suc-
there is still a strong demand for on-prem- cessFactors Compensation and therefore
Companies looking to implement talent
ise SAP ERP HCM solutions and this is an investment in additional licenses
management solutions or extend their
likely to remain the case in the foresee- might not warrant a return on invest-
talent management portfolio may wish
able future. Additionally, SAP has no ment versus the cost of implementing
to evaluate their strategic direction to
plans to force companies onto ECM, especially since there are no
incorporate SaaS. Whether they want to
SuccessFactors. additional licenses for using ECM.
leverage their on-premise investment or
One of the impacts that the acquisition move to the cloud depends on a number Users might also find that SAP ERP
has already had on SAP is the change in of factors. Since SuccessFactors is HCM can deliver all the functionality
its release cycle. Like SuccessFactors, where SAP will invest most of its inno- that they require.
SAP is now releasing new functionality vation budget for talent management, Customers should examine their exist-
on a quarterly basis with the Feature then companies looking to implement ing talent management landscape, the
Packs that are part of HR Renewal. one or more talent management solu- functionality within SuccessFactors
While all SuccessFactors users have the tions should take this into consideration
versus SAP ERP HCM, and whether
functionality in the latest release avail- along with the following factors:
there is a significant return on invest-
able to them, SAP users must already
• Existing investments in SAP’s talent ment in purchasing licenses for
have enhancement package 6 and HR
management solutions SuccessFactors versus the additional
Renewal 1.0 implemented to benefit
functionality and adoption that would
from this new release strategy. Although • Functionality of talent management
this quarterly release cycle mirrors that be obtained.
solutions in SAP ERP HCM versus
of SuccessFactors, it is still an open SuccessFactors
question whether the HR Renewal Legal Restrictions and Data
• Available integration between SAP
Feature Packages will deliver the same Protection
number of innovations as is delivered ERP HCM and SuccessFactors
Despite strong data protection laws that
with SuccessFactors.
• Planned innovations and mid- to exist, some companies in some territo-
long-term developments ries may have legal restrictions or a lack
Core HR
For organizations without any talent of legal protection for their data. As the
Customers who are looking to revitalize digital age outgrows legislation that was
management solutions, SuccessFactors
their core HR processes may want to put in place in the past, some organiza-
consider implementing SuccessFactors is worth considering, despite the inte-
gration concerns. If a phased approach tions may face restrictions from moving
Employee Central. Although at this
is used for the talent management solu- to the cloud that may exist until up-to-
stage, it is not yet suitable for all cus-
tions in SuccessFactors, then in due date legislation is brought into law
tomers, it does meet the needs of a
course it is likely that SAP will deliver within their territory or region. Organi-
significant proportion of customers and
integration scenarios to cover the solu- zations should make sure they are fully
it will continue to be enhanced.
tions that are not yet implemented. aware of the legal implications of their
SAP has and continues to invest exten- data.
sively in the development of Employee Companies with existing talent manage-
ment solutions must consider whether SuccessFactors does have strong data
Central into the next generation core
HR system. Appointing Thomas Otter moving to the cloud is suitable for the protection mechanisms, policies, and
from Gartner to oversee the strategy of new processes. Since SAP’s talent man- standards for protection of data. Their
Employee Central was a defining move agement solutions are designed to be data centers are located in various terri-
in the future of the product. With a integrated processes, it might not make tories that afford solid protection for
growing roadmap and increasing inte- sense to move one or two internal pro- customer data and can protect against
gration points, customers are advised to cesses to SuccessFactors while keeping unauthorized parties accessing data. For
look at what Employee Central can others on SAP ERP HCM. In some most companies there are unlikely to be
offer them, even if they are unsure cases, there might not be additional any repercussions of moving to the
whether it can meet their business needs functionality in SuccessFactors than is cloud. However, companies must ensure
at the present time. found in SAP ERP HCM. SAP ECM that they do their homework.
Implementation Partners implementation partners do not have group [http://www.linkedin.com/

specialist skills in either change or risk groups?gid=4278743&trk=hb_side_g]
When looking for a partner to support
management. This means that any to keep abreast of the latest information
them, companies should be aware that a
framework for these topics may be and news in this area. The SAP Com-
great many consultants and consultan-
underused, inadequately designed, or munity Network’s SAP ERP Human
cies are illegitimately claiming expertise
ineffectively implemented. When defin- Capital Management (HCM) [http://scn.
in SuccessFactors. While a great
ing success criteria for a project, even a sap.com/community/erp/hcm] space is
number of consultants and consultancies
nominal level of support can be effec- also an excellent place to get detailed
can assist organizations without having
tive in ensuring that the right goals are information on SuccessFactors topics.
implemented SuccessFactors, many
cannot, and companies should examine identified. It is critical for the success of
Twitter is also a first-rate tool with
the credentials of the individuals who an implementation that an effective
many resourceful individuals to follow.
will be supporting them very carefully. change management strategy be
Both the @SAPHCM twitter handle and
The reality is that many SAP ERP defined and implemented. This is not
#SuccessFactors hashtag are very good
HCM consultancies will not make the just specific to implementations of Suc-
ways to catch current SuccessFactors-
transition—partially or fully—to Suc- cessFactors solutions.
related information.
cessFactors. Companies can check with
SAP and SuccessFactors about whether Staying Informed The yearly SAPinsider HR conferences
a potential implementation partner has [http://www.wispubs.com/sap/confer-
With all of this information in mind,
experience or is part of the SuccessFac- ences.html] in the US, Europe, and Asia
you are advised to ensure that you stay
tors partner program (although include a dedicated SuccessFactors
current with the ongoing changes and
SuccessFactors partners will soon be track featuring sessions from SAP, Suc-
innovations in the SAP landscape when
moved over to SAP PartnerEdge). cessFactors, and other experts. Of
it comes to SuccessFactors. Companies
course, many experts also share their
Companies that prefer to use contractors should look to analysts, thought leaders,
expertise via HR Expert [http://sapex-
should be aware that SuccessFactors and experts who can provide valuable
perts.wispubs.com/HR] and SAPinsider
only offers training to partners, so it can insight, information, and assistance in
publications [http://sapinsider.wispubs.
be difficult to source independent con- creating a clear roadmap and sound
com/Channels/HR] in reports like this,
tractors who have training or experience strategy with regard to choosing
and articles, blogs, Q&As, and videos,
in implementing SuccessFactors. While between continuing with SAP ERP
among other content offerings.
some independent contractors have HCM on premise or moving to the
made the transition to SuccessFactors, cloud. When it comes to implementing Other HR Expert SuccessFactors-related
many have not and companies should SuccessFactors, both SAP and Success- resources that I think readers will find
ensure that they obtain and thoroughly Factors can provide support in finding helpful include:
check references with both previous the right partner to support your imple-
customers and SuccessFactors. Due to • “How to Configure and Manage
mentation, although it is wise to do
the nature of Mastery training and Pro- Workflows in SuccessFactors
some homework and review bidders to
visioning access SuccessFactors will not Employee Central,” by Luke Marson
ensure they have the right credentials
allow an untrained resource to imple- for project success. This should be the • “How to Enable, Create, and Manage
ment SuccessFactors solutions so same for any project, irrespective of the the New SuccessFactors Metadata
customers will, in this sense, be software or vendor. Framework-Based Talent Pools,” by
protected. Luke Marson (page 79)
In August 2013, my new book about
The BizXpert methodology that Suc- SuccessFactors, entitled SuccessFactors • “Leveraging the SuccessFactors
cessFactors uses for its implementations for SAP ERP HCM, was published, Employee Central Rules Engine to
provides a framework for change man-
which covers the entire SuccessFactors Meet Solution Requirements,” by
agement and risk management, as well
HCM suite as well as integration, the Mark S. Jackson
as defining success criteria. While an
UI, and leveraging the MDF.
organization is capable of defining • “Perform and Reward – Best
success criteria itself, it is widely recog- If you use LinkedIn you can join the Practices for Building a Performance
nized that many organizations and SAP and SuccessFactors LinkedIn Strategy in SuccessFactors,” by Amy

Grubb (a video of her HR 2014 pre- has a solid foothold in the SaaS HCM different from the way it looks today.
sentation) market and can provide companies with With the highest level of innovation
continuous innovation and a 21st-cen- occurring in the cloud, users should
• “Integrating SuccessFactors
tury suite of enterprise-level talent make sure that they bear this in mind
Employee Central with SAP ERP management, workforce planning, and when making decisions over which soft-
HCM Master Data,” by Priynk analytics applications. In the future,
Gautam (page 39) ware to use for their core HCM and
SAP will also be able to offer compa-
talent management needs.
nies full-functionality core HCM and
Summary payroll applications in the cloud. With After reading this report, both users and
the release of the new HCI platform consultants should have a solid under-
SAP has invested significantly in Suc-
there should be opportunities for afford- standing of what SuccessFactors is, why
cessFactors to bridge the gap between
able integration scenarios to be they were acquired, what solutions they
its own talent management functional-
available to all SAP ERP HCM users,
ity and the innovation found in SaaS offer, what the technical implications
rather than just those who have an SAP
solutions such as SuccessFactors, to are, how the software is integrated,
Process Integration installation. With
bring cloud DNA into SAP, and to what challenges they face, and ulti-
plans to move SuccessFactors Work-
fend off the encroachment into its mately what this means for their
force Analytics onto SAP HANA, there
market share from other SaaS vendors is potential for cost-effective, real-time, business and their future. SaaS is not a
such as Workday and Cornerstone and predictive analytics specifically for trend, but a growing and flourishing
OnDemand. In doing so, SAP has sig- HCM customers. market of solutions that are the future of
naled its intent to become a leader in not just HCM, but also of enterprise
cloud HCM solutions and to provide Of course, the cloud isn’t for everybody
software. Users should now understand
companies with options for both on- and for some users there may be no
what SuccessFactors is within this
premise and cloud HCM. However, the business case to move from a stable and
robust on-premise installation. context, but they will still need to
acquisition has not been without some
However, there is a growing trend to understand how their culture can be
less-than-positive growing pains for
move towards SaaS solutions and there changed to eventually move to the
SAP.
is likelihood that in 10 years the enter- cloud as SaaS software becomes more
In purchasing SuccessFactors, SAP now prise software market will look very prominent in all areas of business. n
Luke Marson is Chief Cloud HCM Architect at Hula Partners, where he is responsible for overseeing the SuccessFactors busi-
ness and all Employee Central implementation activities. He is an author, blogger, speaker, technologist, strategist, leader, and
widely recognized expert in SuccessFactors and SAP ERP HCM. Luke is a Certified Professional in SuccessFactors Employee
Central and co-author of the book SuccessFactors with SAP ERP HCM and author of Talent Management with SAP ERP
HCM. You can find him on Twitter at @lukemarson or contact him via email at lukemarson@hotmail.com.
Understanding the SAP ERP HCM Reporting

Landscape Today and in the Future
by Danielle Larocca, Vice President Operations, North America, SpinifexIT
Gain an understanding of what the SAP ERP HCM landscape looks like today in simple, >> Key Concept
clear terms. Learn, from the author’s experience, where SAP ERP HCM is headed in the Cloud-based technology is soft-
future, and how you should be planning to meet these new challenges. ware that is not locally installed
on a computer, but accessed via
the Internet (for example, Gmail).
With the introduction of cloud-based SAP’s core ERP system has long been You do not need to be at your
technologies and SuccessFactors it’s a an on-premise solution. The servers are computer to access it but can
confusing time in the SAP ERP HCM usually located somewhere within your access data remotely via mobile
world today, so much so that even long- office building and users each have the devices, such as iPhones or
time SAP professionals are finding it SAP GUI installed locally on any iPads, or on public computers
hard to keep up. This article is an machine that they wish to use to access (such as library PCs).
attempt to simplify the key terms you the SAP data. SAP used to be purely an
need to know and to provide you with on-premise solution for all SAP ERP
future (to learn more, visit http://www.
an understanding of what SAP ERP HCM modules; however, in December
sap.com/pc/tech/cloud.html).
HCM looks like now and where it’s 2011, SAP acquired SuccessFactors,
headed in the future, and, most impor- whose software was largely designed on
tantly, how you as the user should be a cloud or SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) >> Note
planning accordingly. platform.
The on-premise Talent Manage-
SAP’s focus since then has been on ment solution in Figure 1 refers to
On-Premise, Hybrid, and delivery of their combined solutions in the pre-SuccessFactors SAP ERP
HCM versions of E-Recruiting,
Cloud Infrastructures both on-premise and cloud-based plat-
forms. Those companies that use only E-Learning, Performance Manage-
Let’s start with the basics, which is the traditional SAP ERP HCM solutions ment, and Compensation that SAP
where the technology resides, either on- (for example, HR, Payroll, Organiza- will continue to support through
premise or in the cloud. On-premise tional Management, Benefits, and Time 2020.
refers to any technology that is locally & Attendance Management) are consid-
installed on hardware that resides in ered on-premise. A good majority of
your physical location. Real-world companies, however, currently use on- The Five Deployment Options
examples of on-premise technology premise for their core SAP systems but for SAP ERP HCM
include Microsoft Windows, which have also started to investigate and Near- and long-term SAP ERP HCM
may be installed on your PC or laptop. deploy SuccessFactors cloud-based users fall into one of the following cate-
Cloud-based technologies do not solutions. This is called the hybrid gories listed in Table 1 (on the next
require a local installation and are run model (a diagram is shown in Figure 1 page).
via the Internet and can be connected to on the next page). The word hybrid
any PC that has access to the Internet. refers to any SAP use where there is at
A real-world example of cloud technol- least one module on-premise and at
On-Premise Reporting for
ogy would be Gmail, which may be least one in the cloud. SAP continues its SAP ERP HCM
accessed via the Internet from efforts to move towards developing Reporting options for SAP ERP HCM
anywhere. purely cloud-based solutions in the on-premise have not changed much in

the past 10 years. They include several Excel, or Access. Real-time reporting payroll or time information, the
different types, including real-time in SAP ERP HCM has always been a Ad-Hoc Query to retrieve master data,
reporting using custom ABAP reports, challenge because it requires the use of and then you often have to take that
Query Tools (e.g., Ad Hoc), wage type multiple tools to get the data you need data offline and consolidate it back
reporters, SE16, or offline via a data (Figure 2). For example, you use the into a single file to get a single report.
warehouse like SAP BW, Microsoft wage type reporter utility to extract It is for this reason that third-party
Figure 1 On-premise (SAP ERP HCM) vs. cloud (SuccessFactors) platforms
Category Platform description Reporting platform

SAP ERP HCM on premise All SAP technologies reside on premise. No Because of the limitations of SAP on-premise
intention of moving to anything cloud based. reporting, companies should look to streamline
Companies will use existing technology and may existing reporting where they can, using third-
investigate the SAP HANA database platform if party solutions.
performance becomes an issue.
Hybrid: Mostly SAP ERP HCM Similar to the first option; however, they will Companies require a solution for each platform.
on premise with some talent add at least one talent management-based For on-premise reporting, companies should
management data in the cloud SuccessFactors application (i.e., performance and look to streamline existing reporting where they
goals). can, using third-party solutions. For cloud-based
reporting, companies can streamline existing
reporting using SuccessFactors Workforce
Planning and Workforce Analytics.
SAP ERP HCM in the cloud No on-premise solutions. Intend to deploy For cloud-based SuccessFactors Talent
SuccessFactors Employee Central and cloud Management solutions, companies can leverage
Payroll, and use SuccessFactors Workforce SuccessFactors Workforce Planning and
Planning & Analytics for management reporting. Workforce Analytics.
(However, operational and payroll transactional
reporting, reconciliation, and interfaces would still
require using reporting in the payroll engine area.)
Table 1 Different on-premise and cloud hybrid implementation and reporting options
reporting tools are so popular for SAP BW is popular for those organi- The limitation of SAP BW reporting
HCM reporting. zations that are combining some of is that only certain segments of data
their SAP ERP HCM data with data are extracted from the SAP database
Where Does SAP BW Fit In? from other modules like SAP Finan- and fed to the external SAP BW data
Offline SAP ERP HCM reporting in cials or non-SAP external systems. repository for reporting. Often that
data is limited to summarized infor-
mation and not the operational or
>> Note transactional data that is so critical
The Payroll module of Employee Central listed in Figure 1 is scheduled to be for HR and payroll operational
released in late 2014. Employee Central integrates with Employee Central reporting.
Payroll (hosted) for 23 countries, versus SAP on-premise Payroll which has
roughly 7,000 customers worldwide. You can read more here: http://www. Hybrid and Cloud Reporting
successfactors.com/en_us/solutions/bizx-suite/core-hr-cloud/payroll.html
Employee information and projections
and here http://scn.sap.com/community/erp/hcm/blog/2013/10/13/my-
for the future of the workforce is becom-
thoughts-on-successfactors-employee-central. Designed to compete with
ing a key business driver for organiza-
Workday, it is still in development at SAP/SuccessFactors: http://www.suc-
tions all the way up to the boardroom
cessfactors.com/en_us/solutions/bizx-suite/core-hr-cloud/payroll.html.
level. Being able to effectively plan the
Figure 2 The various modules and reporting solutions for on-premise SAP ERP HCM

drivers of performance and retention and SuccessFactors Workforce Analytics facility to report on the transactional
the use of statistics to decide whom to collects data from your on-premise payroll and time data. Therefore, as of
hire and analyzing how pay correlates to SAP system, cloud-based Talent Man- this writing, on-premise reporting solu-
performance, and so forth, is critical to agement modules, and, as needed, tions are still required. It currently
organizations. Following are the details from other external sources, to provide doesn’t make sense to move transac-
around the various hybrid and cloud a comprehensive strategic reporting tional reporting into the cloud, partly
reporting options. solution. It is the first real cutting-edge due to the offline nature of the data,
dashboard view of HR standardized but also due to the complexity of the
metrics, benchmarking programs, and payroll data. You can read more about
SuccessFactors Workforce
a very robust visualization experience. it here: http://www.successfactors.com/
Analytics en_us/solutions/bizx-suite/hr-analytics-
SuccessFactors Workforce Analytics
One of the most exciting advancements as is an advanced analytical tool that is cloud/workforce-analytics.html.
part of the SuccessFactors acquisition is integrated with SAP BizX Suite and
the availability of a new reporting solu-
>> Note
BizX Mobile for comprehensive talent
tion in the cloud called SuccessFactors management reporting. SuccessFactors The first phase of any Workforce
Workforce Analytics (sometimes referred Analytics implementation begins
Workforce Analytics, however, is not
to as WFA; follow this link to read more with the Core Workforce & Mobility
specifically designed for payroll or
about this solution: http://www.success- Metrics Pack, which takes
time reporting or for transactional or
factors.com/en_us/solutions/bizx-suite/ between three and four months to
operational reporting. Data and its
complete. This base metrics pack,
hr-analytics-cloud/workforce-analytics. repository of data may not be real-time
which is fed via an interface or
html). It contains the advanced features Although it does a remarkable job of
interfaces from your on-premise
and functionality of an SAP BW type of reporting on so many of the key areas
SAP solution, consists of 150
solution with the robust charts, graphs, of HR turnover, succession planning
metrics bucketed into operational
and drilldowns of a truly revolutionary and compensation management, for
measure categories.
HR cockpit or dashboard (Figure 3). example, it currently does not have the
Figure 3 The Workforce Analytics foundation, from the SAP Press book SuccessFactors with SAP ERP HCM [used with permission]
SuccessFactors Workforce or an aging workforce. You can learn the SAP Financials modules and not for
Planning more at http://www.successfactors.com/ SAP ERP HCM. Some good resources
en_us/solutions/bizx-suite/hr-analytics- for learning more about this can be
Another robust solution as part of Suc-
cloud/workforce-planning.html. An easy found here: http://bit.ly/1jayU54. I
cessFactors Analytics technologies is
distinction between the two similarly believe it is fair to speculate that in the
Workforce Planning. Workforce Plan-
named SuccessFactors solutions— future SAP BW will not be used for
ning is a solution designed for business
Workforce Analytics and Workforce HCM reporting.
execution that enables “what-if” sce-
Planning—is that Workforce Analytics
nario planning and analysis, data
is designed to analyze today’s talent Another question is where will transac-
modeling and simulation, trending,
data and Workforce Planning is tional Payroll and HR reporting occur
forecasting, and analytic summary-
designed to help you identify, build, and (including payroll results and time data)
based reporting (Figure 4).
retain tomorrow’s talent pool. if it is not currently available in Suc-
Designed to help you plan for the cessFactors Workforce Analytics and
future, Workforce Planning allows you My Thoughts About the Future of Workforce Planning solutions. The
to make predictions of the future of answer is that currently traditional on-
SAP ERP HCM Reporting
your workforce to reduce uncertainty premise technologies will remain in use
and identify the right workforce strate- Understanding the future direction of for transactional, operational, or pay-
gies to put in place today to be prepared SAP’s reporting landscape opens up roll-related data until such time as SAP
for the future. Perhaps the most for- some obvious questions, including what reconciles its cloud challenges, when it
ward-thinking planning solution for is the future for SAP BW for SAP ERP can be revisited. SAP’s cloud chal-
SAP ERP HCM, it helps you manage HCM? Many experts believe that SAP lenges for payroll and time data are
your organization’s exposure to signifi- BW, although a robust technical report- related to the ability to efficiently
cant risks from global talent shortages ing mechanism, is largely designed for access payroll and time data within the
Figure 4 SuccessFactors Workforce Planning helps manage risk, from the SAP Press book SuccessFactors with SAP ERP HCM
[used with permission]

cloud environment. In SAP on-premise What is SAP HANA? SAP’s definition for SAP and I suspect it will be a few
technology, this data is not stored in states that SAP HANA converges data- years before this is sustainable. There
tables; rather, it is stored in clusters. A base and application platform capabilities will also be those companies that are
large project is underway (called the de- in-memory to transform transactions, resistant to putting their company’s
clustering project by SAP) to ensure analytics, text analysis, and predictive most personal payroll information into
that data is accessible in the cloud and and spatial processing so businesses can the cloud. In the meantime I anticipate
the data is de-clustered from the tables. operate in real-time. A simpler definition that most SAP-based companies will
However, the complexity of the Payroll is that is a faster database platform on remain in hybrid mode for the next
results remains and this continues to be which your SAP system will run instead several years.
a challenge for Payroll reporting with of the legacy platforms like Oracle or
retroactive reporting, and in the com- DB2. In summary, although confusing, it’s
plexity of the table structures (for exciting to have new areas to explore in
example, links to determine costing The final question is: will all things SAP ERP HCM, especially around
details, and country-specific logic such SAP ERP HCM ever migrate to a com- reporting, which is long overdue.
as how to determine tax authorities). pletely cloud-based solution? If you Regardless of whether you are currently
My thought here is that much of this were to ask SAP this question, they solely on-premise or on a hybrid model,
reporting will continue to remain on- would say yes and direct you to their there are some exciting new reporting
premise, but customers will be able to global payroll-hosted option (which option developments. Please be sure to
use the SAP HANA database for faster comes integrated with SuccessFactors evaluate each reporting requirement
access to the data. Employee Central). This is a new area accordingly to see what is possible. n
Danielle Larocca is an executive SAP consultant who specializes in SAP reporting and the Human Capital Management
module. She has four published books on SAP: Teach Yourself SAP R/3 in 24 Hours (Volumes 1 and 2), Teach Yourself SAP
R/3 Reporting Tools, and SAP Query Reporting. She is a regular contributor to SAP Experts and SAP Professional Journal,
and a frequent speaker at SAP conferences. Danielle is the vice president of operations for SpinifexIT, a company in Charlotte,
NC, that makes HR and payroll reporting solutions for SAP. You can reach her via email at me@daniellelarocca.com.
Integrating SuccessFactors Employee

Central with SAP ERP HCM Master Data
by Priynk Gautam, SAP ERP HCM/SuccessFactors Consultant
Learn how to integrate SuccessFactors Employee Central with your SAP ERP HCM system. >> Key Concept
After successful integration, Employee Central becomes the system of record for master For integration between the Suc-
data, and any changes to master data in Employee Central can be copied to the SAP ERP cessFactors and on-premise SAP
HCM system using iFlows. systems, there is a standard pre-
built connection, maintained and
supported by SAP called iFlows.
Integrating SuccessFactors Employee HCM system, companies can configure iFlows are pre-delivered integra-
Central with SAP ERP HCM allows their SAP systems based on country- tion packs that provide data
companies with existing SAP systems, specific requirements. The entire mappings, connections, API calls,
who are considering implementing or integration process requires careful routing, and security. Once iFlows
have already implemented SuccessFac- analysis and planning up front, includ- are configured and deployed, rep-
tors Employee Central, to support their ing requiring project managers with lication of master data can be
business processes (such as payroll) by experience integrating SuccessFactors run. SAP also releases upgrades
continuing to run these processes on with SAP ERP HCM. to iFlows that are delivered auto-
their existing SAP ERP HCM systems. matically, saving companies time
I discuss each step in the process as
follows: and resources. Companies also
This process is initiated when HR have the ability to change the
• How to create a mapping entry in an custom data mapping to meet
master data is sent from SuccessFactors
SAP table their business requirements.
Employee Central and updates the cor-
responding infotypes in the SAP ERP • How to filter master data integration
HCM system. Since different countries by country and infotype
have different payroll requirements and employee attributes to the SAP
• Extensibility (creating custom fields)
need different sets of data (e.g., info- organizational structure, company
types) to be copied from SuccessFactors • How to map various Employee structure, or personnel structure
Employee Central to the SAP ERP Central foundation objects and
>> Note Creating a Mapping Entry in

To successfully achieve this integration you need the assistance of:
an SAP ERP HCM Table
1. SuccessFactors Professional Services, who act as the main point of When you start integrating Success
contact for the entire implementation and integration process, and work Factors Employee Central to the SAP
closely with the internal SAP ERP HCM end users ERP HCM system, you need to identify
2. Middleware consultants, who provide support for setting up the required what data needs to be mapped manually,
middleware (at the current time, Dell Boomi is included with Employee as the naming conventions, format, and
Central and is recommended by SAP for the integration of SuccessFactors codes may be different for Employee
and SAP; however, there are several other available integration platforms). Central and SAP ERP HCM. Before
starting to map Employee Central code to
3. SAP ERP HCM users, who are responsible for configuring the SAP ERP
SAP codes, you need to know the Global
HCM system in accordance with the requirements and successful master
Data Types (GDT) name, the code list
data replication
ID, and the list agency ID codes.

The GDT name determines which data restriction in place and the employee and the infotypes you want to maintain
types are being mapped. If you have data from all countries (not just the one for each country. Follow menu path
defined custom fields or use different specific country) is copied from IMG > Personnel Management > Per-
external codes than what was delivered Employee Central to SAP ERP HCM. sonnel Administration > Interface and
in Employee Central or in SAP ERP To create an entry, execute menu path Integration > Integration of SAP ERP
HCM, you must use table PAOCFEC_ IMG > Personnel Management > Per- HR Master Data and SuccessFactors
MAP_CC for your custom mapping. sonnel Administration > Interface and Employee Central > infotype Filtering >
You can find the entire standard code Integration > Integration of SAP ERP Filter infotypes, which opens the
mapping from Employee Central to HR Master Data and SuccessFactors PAOCFEC_infotype _FILT configura-
SAP ERP HCM in table PAOCFEC_ Employee Central > Country Filtering > tion table.
MAP. (Refer to the latest Employee Restrict Employee Master Data Replica-
By default, the following infotypes are
Central Payroll Implementation Hand- tion to Certain Countries. This opens
always copied regardless of what you
book for more details on mapping the PAOCFEC_COUNTRY table view
define in this customizing activity:
entries.) screen (Figure 1) where you can add an
entry for the country for which integra- 0000 Actions
tion is being done. 0001 Organizational Assignment
How to Filter Master Data
0002 Personal Data
Integration by Country and Infotype Filtering 0003 Payroll Status
Infotype Different countries have different 0709 Person ID
In the following sections, I discuss how requirements for running payroll. For
to replicate master data filters by example, each country may require a Creating Custom Fields
country and infotype. different set of data (e.g., infotypes) that (Extensibility)
need to be copied to successfully meet
Since custom fields are not supported
Country Filtering the payroll requirement. If you want to
through a standard connector, extensibility
replicate only certain infotypes for a
If you want to replicate employee allows you to define customer-specific
given country, then you must define
master records for only specific coun- fields in Employee Central and replicate
those infotypes and countries in config-
tries, then you must maintain those them to the SAP system via table
uration table PAOCFEC_infotype _
countries in the configuration table PAOCFEC_V_EXTMAP. Follow menu
FILT. If you do not define any infotypes
PAOCFEC_COUNTRY. If you have path IMG > Personnel Management >
in this customizing activity, all info-
multiple countries on your SAP ERP Personnel Administration > Interface and
types and their subtypes are copied.
HCM platform and in Employee Integration > Integration of SAP ERP HR
However, if you are integrating multiple
Central, but want to integrate master Master Data and SuccessFactors
countries, but only defining one country
data for only one country, then you Employee Central > Extensibility > Define
in this customizing activity, only this
must create an entry for the country for Extensibility of Field Mapping, and then
country is copied.
which you are integrating Employee execute transaction code SPRO. This
Central with SAP ERP HCM. If you do If you are integrating multiple coun- opens the PAOCFEC_V_EXTMAP table
not maintain this table, then there is no tries, you must define all the countries (Figure 2).
Figure 1 Replicate the master data for the US
In my example, the work schedule field to map various foundation objects and employee’s Position, the Position (S) to
(custom_string1) is a custom field in employee attributes from Employee Cost Center (K) A/B 011 relationship is
Employee Central. You want to map the Central to the SAP ERP HCM organiza- created in the SAP ERP HCM system.
work schedule in Employee Central to tional structure, company structure, and Since cost centers are created and main-
infotype 0007 (work schedule rule, personnel structure codes. This is tained by the Finance team, they are
SCHKZ). needed if the naming conventions, copied from the SAP ERP HCM system
format, and codes are different for to Employee Central. In other words,
When doing this, keep in mind that: Employee Central and SAP ERP HCM. cost centers are copied from SAP ERP
• Only custom fields are supported for HCM to Employee Central since they
extensibility. Standard fields from Map Employee Central Cost Center are not created in Employee Central.
Employee Central cannot be mapped to SAP ERP HCM Cost Center If the external codes of your cost
here.
In Employee Central, the cost center is centers in Employee Central do not
• Only job information, personal infor- represented by an instance of the foun- match your SAP ERP HCM cost center
mation, and compensation informa- dation object Cost Center. For every codes, then you need to map these in
tion portlets from Employee Central cost center in your SAP on-premise table PAOCFEC_KMAPCOSC. Follow
are supported as of the 1408 release. system, you need to create a corre- menu path IMG > Personnel Manage-
• Only infotypes 0001, 0002, 0007 and sponding cost center in Employee ment > Personnel Administration >
0008 are supported as of the 1408 Central. The cost center assignment of Interface and Integration > Integration
release. the employee resides in the Job Infor- of SAP ERP HR Master Data and Suc-
mation section in Employee Central. cessFactors Employee Central > Key
Whenever there is any change in the Mapping of Organizational Terms >
Mapping Employee Central cost center of the employee, it will be Assign Cost Center Keys, and the
Foundation Objects and copied to the SAP ERP HCM system PAOCFEC_KMAPCOSC table opens
Employee Attributes automatically. (Figure 3).
In the following sections, I discuss how Since cost center is associated to the In this example, the Employee Central
Figure 2 Map a custom field from Employee Central to an SAP ERP HCM infotype field
Figure 3 Map the Employee Central cost center codes to the SAP ERP HCM cost centers

Cost Center CC_USA1000 maps to four-character company code, you a corresponding Department ID is
SAP Cost Center 1000, which is only need to map these in table PAOCFEC_ created in the Employee Central system.
valid for Company Code 1000. KMAPCOMC. For example, Employee
The Department to Organizational Unit
Central Legal Entity LE_USA1000
mapping is maintained in table SFIOM_
Map the Employee Central Legal maps to SAP Company Code 1000.
KMAP_OSI. Whenever there is any
Entity to SAP ERP HCM Company Then, add the entry as shown in
update to an existing Department in
Code Figure 4.
Employee Central, the SAP ERP HCM
In Employee Central, the company code system checks this table to see if there
is represented by an instance of the Map the Employee Central
is an existing entry. If there is already
foundation object Legal Entity. For Department ID to SAP ERP HCM
an entry for the corresponding depart-
every company code in your SAP ERP Organizational Unit
ment, the SAP ERP HCM system
HCM system, you need to create a cor- The Employee Central Department ID updates the existing Organizational Unit
responding Legal Entity in Employee is mapped to the Organizational Unit in mapped with that Department ID. If the
Central. Follow menu path IMG > Per- the SAP ERP HCM system. The system does not find an entry, it creates
sonnel Management > Personnel Department ID assignment of the a new Organizational Unit in the SAP
Administration > Interface and Integra- employee resides in the Job Information ERP HCM system and adds the entry in
tion > Integration of SAP ERP HR
section in Employee Central. Whenever this table for the newly created Organi-
Master Data and SuccessFactors
there is any change to the Department zational Unit to be mapped to the
Employee Central > Key Mapping of
ID of the employee, it is copied to the corresponding Department ID in
Organizational Terms > Assign
information contained in the SAP ERP
Company Code Keys, and the Employee Central.
HCM system. Since the Department ID
PAOCFEC_KMAPCOMC table opens
is associated with the employee’s posi- In this example, Department DE10001
(Figure 4).
tion, the Position(S) to Organizational in Employee Central maps to Organiza-
If the external code of your Legal Entity Unit (O) A/B 003 relationship is created tional Unit ID 31001910 in the SAP
does not match the SAP ERP HCM in the SAP ERP HCM system whenever ERP HCM system (Figure 5).
Figure 4 Map the Employee Central Legal Entity codes to SAP ERP HCM company codes
Figure 5 Map the Employee Central Department to the Organizational unit ID in SAP ERP HCM
Map Employee Central Job Code to system. When positions are created in in Employee Central is mapped to Per-
SAP Job Code the SAP ERP HCM system, the rela- sonnel Area (US01) and Personnel
tionship between the Position(S) to Subarea (U001) in the SAP ERP HCM
Job code is represented by the instance
Person(P) A008 relationship is also system using table PAOCFEC_
of the Employee Central foundation
created. KMAPPEST.
object Job Classification. Whenever
there is any change in the job code of
Replicating the Personnel Area and If you have defined custom fields in
the employee in Employee Central, this
Employee Central that map to Personnel
change is copied to the SAP ERP HCM Personnel Subarea from Employee
Area and Subareas in the SAP ERP
system. Since job code is associated Central to the SAP ERP HCM
HCM system, then extensibility table
with the employee’s position, the System PAOCFEC_V_EXTMAP is used to map
Position(S) to Job (C) A/B 007 relation-
As of the SuccessFactors 1408 release, these. Note that in this case, the
ship is created automatically in the SAP
the standard functionality is to map the Employee Central Personnel Area and
ERP HCM system. Job code mapping
work location in Employee Central to Subarea external codes must exactly
can be done in table SFIOM_KMAP_
the Personnel Area and Personnel match the codes from the SAP ERP
OSI. The functionality works the same
Subarea in the SAP ERP HCM system. HCM system, since the standard con-
as for the Department and Organiza-
Follow menu path IMG > Personnel nector does not support custom field
tional Unit, as detailed previously.
Management > Personnel Administra- mapping. In the example in Figure 7,
tion > Interface and Integration > custom fields have been defined in
Replicating a Position from Integration of SAP ERP HR Master Employee Central that map to the Per-
Employee Central to SAP ERP HCM Data and SuccessFactors Employee sonnel Area and Subareas in the SAP
Every new hire in Employee Central is Central > Key Mapping of Organiza- ERP HCM system. External codes from
assigned a unique position ID. When- tional Terms > Assign Place of Work Employee Central must exactly match
ever there is a new hire in Employee Keys, which opens table PAOCFEC_ the codes in SAP ERP HCM to use an
Central, the employee and position are KMAPPEST (Figure 6). In this extensibility table; otherwise, you have
copied over to the SAP ERP HCM example, work location WL-USA1000 to follow the approach, above, where
Figure 6 Map the Employee Central work location to the Personnel Area and Subarea in SAP ERP HCM
Figure 7 Map Employee Central custom fields to SAP ERP HCM Personnel Area and Subarea

the Employee Central work location is for your custom mapping. In addition, if Replicating the Employee Subgroup
mapped to the SAP ERP HCM Person- you have defined custom codes for from Employee Central to the SAP
nel Area and Personnel Subarea. employee class based on your compa- ERP HCM System
ny’s needs, you have to map these in
Replicating the Employee Group table PAOCFEC_MAP_CC. Follow The employee subgroup is copied from
from Employee Central to the SAP menu path IMG > Personnel Manage- the Employee Central employment
ment > Personnel Administration > type. If the Employee Central external
ERP HCM System
Interface and Integration > Integration code values do not match the SAP
In the standard connector, the Employee of SAP ERP HR Master Data and Suc- codes, mapping is required in table
Group is copied from the employee cessFactors Employee Central > PAOCFEC_MAP_CC. Follow menu
class in Employee Central. You must Assignment of Code Values > Define path IMG > Personnel Management >
ensure that the Employee Central exter- Mapping Code value Lists (Figure 8). Personnel Administration > Interface
nal code values match the SAP ERP
and Integration > Integration of SAP
HCM system codes. You can find the
In this example, instead of using the ERP HR Master Data and Success
mapping of all the standard Employee
standard Employee Central external Factors Employee Central >
Central codes to SAP ERP values in the
codes (where M= Employee and E = Assignment of Code Values > Define
PAOCFEC_MAP table.
Expatriate), I decided to use a custom Mapping Code value Lists (Figure 9).
If the standard mapping in table picklist value where EC01 = Employee
PAOCFEC_MAP does not meet your and EC02= Expatriate. In order to do In this example, employment type sala-
requirement or if you are using custom this, I need to map from the Employee ried (E000) is mapped to employee
codes for any of the data elements, then Class external codes to the SAP ERP subgroup salaried (00) in the SAP ERP
you can use table PAOCFEC_MAP_CC HCM Employee Group codes. HCM system.
Figure 8 Map Employee Central employee class external codes to SAP ERP HCM Employee Group codes
Figure 9 Map the Employee Central employment type external codes to the SAP ERP HCM Employee Subgroup codes
Mapping Employee Central Payroll tors Employee Central > Assignment of in the table PAOCFEC_MAP_CC.
Group to the SAP ERP HCM Payroll Code Values > Define Mapping Code Follow menu path IMG > Personnel
Area value Lists (Figure 10). Management > Personnel Administra-
tion > Interface and Integration >
The Payroll Area is represented by an In this example, the Employee Central
Integration of SAP ERP HR Master
instance of the foundation object Pay Pay Group Weekly (PG0000) maps to
Data and SuccessFactors Employee
Group in Employee Central. For every Payroll Area weekly (U0) in the SAP
Central > Assignment of Code Values >
Payroll Area in the SAP ERP HCM ERP HCM system. The entries you
Define Mapping Code value Lists
system, you need a corresponding Pay need to maintain in table PAOCFEC_
(Figure 11).
Group in Employee Central. If your MAP_CC are shown in Figure 10.
Employee Central external code In this example, Employee Central Pay
matches the SAP ERP HCM code, then Mapping Employee Central Pay Component Basic Salary (PC-US0001)
no mapping is required. Component to SAP ERP HCM Wage maps to Wage Type 1000 (Basic salary)
Type in the SAP ERP HCM system.
If you are using a Pay Group with a pay
group code longer than two characters In Employee Central, wage types are Recurring pay components are used to
or a code other than SAP ERP HCM represented by Pay Components, which update either infotype 0008 (Basic Pay)
code, you need to map the code in table may be recurring or non-recurring. If or infotype 0014 (Recurring Payments/
PAOCFEC_MAP_CC. Follow menu the Employee Central Pay Components Deductions). Non-recurring Pay Com-
path IMG > Personnel Management > external code matches exactly with the ponents are updated on infotype 0015
Personnel Administration > Interface SAP ERP HCM wage type codes, then (Additional Payments). These Pay
and Integration > Integration of SAP no mapping is required. If the codes do Components need to be assigned to
ERP HR Master Data and SuccessFac- not match, then you need to map these the infotypes so the system correctly
Figure 10 Map the Employee Central Pay Group external code to the SAP ERP HCM Payroll Area code
Figure 11 Map the Employee Central pay components external codes to the SAP ERP HCM wage type codes

identifies the recurring pay components (e.g., base salary is always mapped to Wage Types to infotypes, which
from non-recurring pay components and infotype 0008 [basic pay] in the SAP opens table PAOCFEC_WTP_ADPY
updates the corresponding infotype in ERP HCM system). In the second (Figure 13).
SAP. example, Employee Central Pay Com-
In this example, the Employee Central
ponent Mileage Reimbursement
Table PAOCFEC_WT_PROC is used to Pay Component New Hire Bonus (PC-
(PC-US0020) maps to wage type 1300
assign wage types to infotypes to ensure (Mileage Allowance) in the SAP ERP US0027) maps to Wage Type 1400
that pay components are copied to the HCM system. Since mileage reimburse- (new hire bonus) in the SAP ERP HCM
SAP ERP HCM system under the right ment is a recurring payment, this should system. Since this is a one-time
infotype. Follow menu path IMG > Per- be mapped to infotype 0014 (recurring payment, this should map to infotype
sonnel Management > Personnel payments/deductions). 0015 (additional payments).
Administration > Interface and Integra-
Any combination of country and non-
tion > Integration of SAP ERP HR Replicating Pay Scale Type and Pay
Master Data and SuccessFactors recurring wage types can be assigned to
Scale Area from Employee Central
Employee Central >Wage Type Process- infotype 0015 (additional pay) or info-
to SAP ERP HCM
ing > Assign Wage Types to infotypes type 0267 (additional off-cycle
payments). Follow menu path IMG > Pay scale type and pay scale area are
to open table PAOCFEC_WT_PROC
Personnel Management > Personnel standard fields in the Employment
(Figure 12).
Administration > Interface and Integra- Central Job Information portlet and are
In the first example, Employee Central tion > Integration of SAP ERP HR part of standard employee master data
pay component Basic Salary (PC- Master Data and SuccessFactors replication to SAP ERP HCM infotype
US0001) maps to wage type 1000 (base Employee Central > Wage Type Pro- 0008 (basic pay). If the Employee
salary) in the SAP ERP HCM system cessing >Assign Nonrecurring Payment Central Pay Scale Type and Pay Scale
Figure 12 Map wage types to infotypes
Figure 13 Assign wage types to infotypes
Area match exactly with the SAP ERP Map Employee Central Event to cessFactors Employee Central >
HCM codes, then no mapping is SAP ERP HCM Action Assignment of Code Values > Define
required. Mapping Code value Lists (Figure 15).
An event in Employee Central has a
picklist ID associated with it. An action
In this example, instead of using the
Pay Scale Group and Pay Scale is represented by the Event field in
SAP-delivered Action 01(hire) code,
Level Replication from Employee Employee Central. These events need to
I used a custom Action ZA (hire)
Central to SAP be mapped to their corresponding SAP
code in the SAP ERP HCM system.
The standard employee master data ERP HCM actions.
This needs to be mapped with the
replication to SAP ERP HCM does Refer to table PAOCFEC_MAP and Employee Central Event Hire (External
not support Pay Scale Group and Pay GDT Name = PERSONNEL_EVENT_ Code = H from Picklist). Sometimes
Scale Level. If you would like to TYPE_CODE for default event-to- SAP-standard Actions may not fulfill all
use Pay Scale Group and Pay Scale action mapping. If these do not meet of the company requirements and it may
Level in your replication from your requirements or if you have be more work to customize all the Info-
Employee Central to SAP ERP HCM defined custom actions (action codes), Sets and InfoGroups rather than
to maintain the entire pay scale struc- then you need to do the mapping in creating a client-specific Action from
ture in SAP ERP HCM, you have to table PAOCFEC_MAP_CC. Follow scratch. As a bonus, with custom codes,
create custom fields in the Job Infor- menu path IMG > Personnel Manage- companies know exactly what they are
mation portlet and use extensibility ment > Personnel Administration > building when doing this. The required
table PAOCFEC_V_EXTMAP to map Interface and Integration > Integration entries to maintain table PAOCFEC_
them (Figure 14). of SAP ERP HR Master Data and Suc- MAP_CC are shown in Figure 15.
Figure 14 Map Employee Central custom fields to the Pay Scale Group and Pay Scale Level in infotype 0008
Figure 15 Map from Employee Central event codes to SAP ERP HCM action codes

Map Employee Central Event system you have two separate actions to Figure 18, instead of mapping it to a
Reason to SAP ERP HCM Action distinguish between Termination and Termination event in Employee Central.
Reason Retirement. However, in Employee
Therefore, when the Event Reason
Central, you only have one event—Ter-
The Event Reason field refers to the TERRTMNT that has a Payroll Event
mination—so you use different Event
respective foundation object. Employee assigned to it (Z001) is selected
Reasons to distinguish between termina-
Central Event Reasons are mapped to in the Job Information portlet,
tions and retirements (Table 1).
SAP Action Reason in table Employee Central sends the Payroll
PAOCFEC_MAP_CC (Figure 16). If you were to do the mapping exer- Event to the SAP ERP HCM system
cise, you would have to map one and triggers a Retirement action
Here, the Event Reason new hire instead of a Termination action
Employee Central event to two SAP
(NEWHIRE) and re-hire (REHIRE) (e.g., the TERRTMNT event reason
ERP HCM actions. This is not allowed.
map to action reason 01 (new hire) and is automatically mapped to the
Instead, use the Payroll Event field in
02 (re-hire). Termination action).
Employee Central (Figure 17). In the
Retirement event reason, add a payroll Map Employee Central Employment
Understanding Payroll Event Event code and assign this Payroll
Functionality Date Types to SAP ERP HCM Date
Event code to the SAP ERP HCM
Types
A Payroll Event in Employee Central action Retirement in table PAOCFEC_
lets you break down a particular event MAP_CC (Figure 18). Dates can be replicated from
into more specific events. Payroll Employee Central to the SAP ERP
A connector checks to see if there is a HCM system. Standard date fields, as
Event is assigned to Event Reasons in
Payroll Event for the Event Reason. If it well as custom date fields, can be
Employee Central and then mapped
finds that a Payroll Event has been copied from Employee Central to info-
to an Action in the SAP ERP HCM
assigned to an Event Reason, it auto- type 0041 in the SAP ERP HCM
system.
matically maps it to the SAP ERP HCM system. Follow menu path IMG >
In this example, in the SAP ERP HCM Action 14 (Retirement), as shown in Personnel Management > Personnel
Figure 16 Map from the Employee Central Event Reason Codes to SAP ERP HCM Reason codes
SAP ERP HCM Action (SAP ERP HCM code) Action reason (SAP ERP HCM code)
Termination (20) No show (17)
Retirement (14) Retirement (18)
Employee Central Event (EC Code) Event reason (EC Code)
Termination (26) No show (NOSHOW)
Termination (26) Retirement (TERRTMNT)
Table 1 An example of how retirement actions can be captured in Employee Central and SAP ERP HCM using event and event
reason codes
Administration > Interface and Inte- Code Values > Assign Date Types In this example, there is a custom_date1
gration > Integration of SAP ERP HR (Figure 19) and maintain table (Rehire Date) in Employee Central. This
Master Data and SuccessFactors PAOCFEC_MAP_CC with the needs to be mapped to the Rehire Date
Employee Central > Assignment of date entries. type in infotype 0041. Make the entries
Figure 17 Add a payroll event to create a custom retirement action in Employee Central
Figure 18 Map payroll event Z001 to the SAP ERP HCM retirement action
Figure 19 Map standard and custom Employee Central date fields to SAP ERP HCM Date Types

Figure 20 Map the Payment Method Bank Transfer(05) to Payment Method type Bank Transfer (A)
in table PAOCFEC_MAP_CC as shown (infotype 0027) for an employee in the Direct Deposit portlet is copied to
in Figure 19. Alternate Cost Distribution portlet. infotype 0009 (Bank Details). The
The maximum number of cost centers mapping for Payment Method
Alternate Cost Center (Infotype you can maintain in the Alternate type needs to be done in table
0015) and Cost Distribution Cost Center portlet is 12. To achieve PAOCFEC_MAP_CC if the external
(Infotype 0027) this, you need to ensure that the
code of the values from Employee
Employee Central Cost Center codes
It not uncommon to assign some non- Central do not match with the
are mapped to their corresponding
recurring payments to Alternate Cost SAP codes.
SAP ERP HCM Cost Centers, as
Centers (infotype 0015). In Employee
discussed previously. In this example (Figure 20), the
Central, you have the option to assign
Alternate Cost Centers to any non- Payment Method Bank Transfer(05)
recurring pay components. Similarly, Direct Deposit Payment Information maps to Payment Method (ZLSCH)
you may also assign Cost Distribution In Employee Central, data from the type Bank Transfer (A). n
Priynk Gautam has been working with SAP ERP HCM for more than four years, specializing in the SAP ERP HCM
modules of Personnel Administration and Organizational Management, as well as SuccessFactors Employee Central. His
prior experience includes working with SAP Talent Visualization Solution by Nakisa. You can contact Priynk via email at
priynkg@gmail.com.
Creating Metadata Framework Objects in

SuccessFactors Employee Central
by Jyoti Sharma, Vice President of Consulting & Services Cloud HCM, HRIZONS, and Luke Marson, Chief Cloud HCM
Architect, Hula Partners
Learn how to create objects in the Metadata Framework to extend your SuccessFactors >> Key Concept
Employee Central system with custom objects, fields, rules, and screens. Get an overview The Metadata Framework is the
of what the Metadata Framework is, how it is used, and how to use it to bring more value functionality in SuccessFactors to
to your SuccessFactors system. extend the system so that users
can create and use company-spe-
As with SAP ERP HCM, Success mance or stability. It also means that cific objects. It is primarily used in
Factors Employee Central users often users can get a great deal of flexibility SuccessFactors Employee Central,
need to create and use company-specific within the system without compromis but is also leveraged partially in
objects in their system. Also like SAP ing operation or upgradability. SuccessFactors Succession &
ERP HCM, SuccessFactors Employee Development, SuccessFactors
Central offers users the ability to create The objects created in the Metadata Compensation, SuccessFactors
these objects (called Generic Objects) Framework are Generic Objects. Recruiting, and is planned to be
and use them within the system through Generic Objects are used to store data expanded across the suite in
its Metadata Framework functionality. for a number of use cases, including the future. It allows the object
This provides users with some of the employee data. They are also leveraged model to be extended using meta-
extensibility required to support their for standard SuccessFactors functional data, rather than creating or
business processes within Employee ity such as Time Off and Deductions. modifying objects themselves.
Central. In this article, we cover all These differ from Foundation Objects The concept of extending a Soft-
aspects of creating Generic Objects that are cross-organizational and used to ware-as-a-Service (SaaS) system
within SuccessFactors Employee set up the organization, job, and pay without customizing it is called
Central using the Metadata Framework. structures. extensibility.
Each Generic Object can have up to 200

called Associations.
custom fields added (in addition to the
Concepts of the Metadata standard fields) and comes with its own
Framework generic user interface (UI). Multiple Generic Objects are created and
Rules can be assigned at various points managed in OneAdmin by an adminis
The Metadata Framework is a frame in the transaction flow of a Generic trator. However, they can also be
work to extend the object model of the Object or to a field of a Generic Object. created and managed by other users
SuccessFactors system using metadata. These points are called Hooks. Rules through Role-Based Permissions.
Metadata is simply data that describes can be used to define how a Generic Before the various Metadata Framework
data. As part of the Metadata Frame Object or field behaves, as data valida options can be accessed in OneAdmin
work, a single instance of a generic set tion, or used to propagate (populate) they must be enabled in Provisioning by
of components exists within the system other fields based on the data selected. an implementation consultant. Then an
that is re-used by multiple objects. Their Rules are created in the Rules Engine of administrator must grant privileges to
behavior can be configured using meta the Metadata Framework. Like objects enable access to the Metadata Frame
data, which means that multiple custom in SAP ERP HCM, Generic Objects can work activities. The various options are
objects can be created or modified in have relationships created with other available under Company Settings and
the system without affecting perfor objects. In SuccessFactors these are Employee Files, which are referenced

throughout the article. Some features Assgmt PreRequisite. (Figure 2).
that are built on the Metadata Frame
work (e.g., Time Off) have their own Creating Generic Objects The first three attributes—Code, Effec
options in OneAdmin. tive Dating, and Label—define the
The first step in creating a Generic
object ID (i.e., whether the object is
Examples of Generic Objects used by Object is to create the definition, which
effective dated and the name of the
users include Positions, Time Off is done in Configure Object Definitions
object that is displayed to the end user,
objects, Competencies, Message Defini in OneAdmin. In the Configure Object
respectively). By default, the system
tions (for Rules), and Work Schedules. Definitions screen (Figure 1), select
adds the prefix cust_ to the value that is
Object Definition from the Create New
In this article we look at creating a entered in the Code field. By selecting
drop-down field options.
Generic Object for a Global Assignment the globe icon next to the Label field,
prerequisite. This object is called Global This opens the Object Definition form the label can be entered in each of the
Figure 1 Create a new Generic Object definition
Figure 2 Define the new Object Definition form
languages available in the system. For the new Global Assgmt PreRequi the remaining attributes are accessed by
site object, enter the following details in clicking the Details hyperlink to the
The following three attributes in Figure
the fields in Figure 2: right of the respective field (Figure 3).
2—Workflow Routing, Pending Data,
and Todo Category—define the work • Code: globalobject The attributes are:
flow properties of the object. These
• Effective Dating: Basic • Name: The technical identifier of the
define the Workflow configuration to
use, whether data subject to a Workflow field
• Label: Global Assgmt PreRequisite
must be approved before being dis • Data Type: The type of data to be
played, and—if Pending Data is set to • Workflow Routing: Leave this blank
used in the field, such as String,
Yes—in which category on the homep Number, User, or Foundation Object.
• Pending Data: No
age Todo tile the Workflow should
appear. • Todo Category: Generic Object • Maximum Length: The maximum
Change Requests length of the field input
Ideally the Workflow should be created
before the Generic Object is created, Under this section you can define any • Valid Values Source: This is used to
although a Workflow can be created and fields for the object. There are several define the source of the values when
assigned to the Object Definition after attributes that can be defined for each the Data Type value is set as Picklist,
the Object Definition has been created. field. The first three are visible, while Generic Object, Foundation Object,
Figure 3 Additional attributes available to each field

or Enum. For this new object you need to con • Search Fields: Leave blank
figure three custom fields. Configure
• Hide Old Value: This determines • Security: Leave blank
each of the fields with the values dis
whether the old value of a field is dis
played in Table 1. The default value • Rules: You want to assign a Rule, but
played with strikethrough (No) or is
is used for any fields not included in haven’t created the rule yet; leave this
completely hidden (Yes) when it’s
the table. field blank and you will come back
changed
later to assign your rule to the
Note that for your object the following
• Decimal Precision: The decimal pre OnSave event.
attributes have default values (Figure
cision when the field’s Data Type Now that your Object Definition is
4): Maximum Length, Hide Old Value,
value is Decimal complete, click the Save button. If
Include Inactive Users, Visibility, and
• Required: Whether the field is Rules. Security is set to Yes then the object
required for input or not must be permissioned for the relevant
Once the fields of the object have been Permission Role(s) in OneAdmin in Set
• Visibility: Whether the field is defined, there are four other sections of User Permissions > Manage Permission
displayed and editable (Editable), attributes to be defined: Roles > Miscellaneous Permissions.
hidden from display (Not Visible), • Associations: Defines any associa
or displayed but not editable tions between the object and other Adding a View in Employee
(Read Only) Generic Objects.
Files for a Generic Object
• Label: The name of the field on the UI • Searchable Fields: Defines the fields Once a Generic Object has been
• Field Criteria: Select this to restrict that can be used to search for the created you may then wish to add a
the value of a field dependent on object. new View in the Employee Files so
another field that records may be displayed and, if
• Security: This section defines if the
required, edited by employees. Figure
• Rules: Here one or more Rules can be object is subject to Role-Based
5 shows a screenprint of a View that
assigned to the object; this is the Permissions and, if so, in which sec
has been added.
tion of the Role-Based Permissions
onChange event that is referred to
menu the object will be located. This is the primary method for allowing
later in this article.
employees, managers, or administrators
• Rules: This section defines where
Like Workflows, Rules can be defined to view or edit Generic Object records
Rules can be assigned for onInit and
prior to creating the Object Definition when the object is created for employee
onSave events (see below).
or they can be added afterwards. data. Generic Object records can also be
For each of these attributes, define the created and edited in Manage Data in
There are two standard fields on each
following settings: OneAdmin, although usually most
Generic Object that should not be
employees would not have access to
changed, except for the label of the • Associations: Your object has a this screen.
fields. The standard fields are external Composite, One-to-Many association
Code and externalName. These refer to with another generic object called There are a number of steps you need
the ID and name of each instance of Global Contract Data (this is covered to complete to add a new View. The
the object. in more detail later in this article). first step is to create a Config UI in
Name Data type Valid values source Required Label

externalCode User Blank Yes Global Profile
externalName String Blank No Global Profile
effectiveStartDate Date Blank Yes Effective Start Date
cust_globalcostcenter Foundation Object costCenter No Global Cost Center
cust_globalpernr String Blank No Reference Personnel Number
cust_workscouncil Picklist workscouncil Yes Works Council Member
Table 1 Configure these fields to be used in your new Object Definition
Figure 4 The Generic Object definition for your Global Assgmt PreRequisite object
Figure 5 A custom View added in Employee Files for your Global Assgmt PreRequisite object

OneAdmin in Employee Files > Portlet seen in Figure 6.
>> Note
Manage Config UI. In the Manage Con
Some aspects of the screen layout The auto-generated UI uses the same
figuration UI screen that results (Figure
and individual fields in the layout as in View or in Manage Data.
6) click the Create New button. This
Manage Configuration UI screen Click the Save button to save the con
opens an additional row with the Id and
can be modified using the Edit figuration UI.
Select Base Object input fields. Here
you enter the code for the Config UI in Properties button, as seen in The next step is to create a View and
the Id field and select your Global Figure 7. This appears once the assign the Config UI to it. This is done
Assgmt PreRequisite object as the base mouse hovers over the UI. Addi- in OneAdmin in Employee Files >
object. When the object is selected from tional fields or Rules for fields can Configure Employee Files. In the Con
the Select Base Object drop-down also be added this way. However, figure Employee Files screen, click the
options, the UI designer is displayed the specifics for doing this are not Add New View button at the top of the
underneath with an auto-generated UI. screen. This opens the screen in
covered in this article.
This is the Global Assgmt PreRequisite Figure 8, where you click the Insert
Figure 6 The UI designer with the auto-generated UI
Figure 7 The additional properties pop-up
Portlet button (highlighted) on the left you enter the title of the Portlet in the earlier. The screen should look similar
in the User Elements section. Portlet Title text box (e.g., Global to the screen in Figure 10.
Assignment Prerequisite). You also
In the next screen, scroll down and Click the Save button to save the Portlet.
enter the name of your Global Assgmt
click the Create & Add button next to This takes you back to the View screen
PreRequisite object. An optional Portlet
the Live Profile MDF Information where you enter the name of the View in
Description also can be added. Select
hyperlink (Figure 9).
the Config UI from the MDF Screen ID the Dashboard Name text box (Figure
This opens the Admin Tools screen in drop-down options; in this case, you 11 on page 59). You can also add an
Figure 10 (on the next page), where select the Config UI that you created optional description in the Description
Figure 8 Click the left-side Insert Portlet button
Figure 9 The Create & Add button to select the Config UI you created

text box. arrow icons in the Sort Order column to bottom of the screen (not shown) to save
change the order that the View is dis the changes and return to OneAdmin.
Click the Save Dashboard button to
played in the Employee Files Now the View needs to be permissioned
return to the Configure Employee Files
drop-down. Your new View should in Set User Permissions > Manage Per
screen (Figure 12). Here you check to
display in in a similar way to the mission Roles under the Employee View
make sure that the check box is selected
screenprint in Figure 12.
in the Show/Hide column for the new permissions. Once this is completed,
View Name, and use the up or down Click the Save Changes button at the then the View can be accessed from the
Figure 10 The Portlet screen showing your configuration
Figure 11 The View screen showing your configuration
Figure 12 The new Global Employee Profile View in the Configure Employee Files screen

Global Employee Profile drop-down edit records for the Global Assgmt edit a record for the object.
under Employee Records (Figure 13). PreRequisite object, depending on
Now let’s look at creating rules and
By selecting a View from the screen the Permissions granted to the user. validations using the Metadata Frame
in Figure 13, users can now view or In Figure 14 the user can view and work’s Rules engine.
Figure 13 The new Global Employee Profile
Figure 14 The new View with a record of the Global Assgmt PreRequisite object
Creating Rules and Information, or Personal Information Since you have created a new Global
screen. Assgmt PreRequisite object, you now
Validations
need to apply rules to control its behav
Now that you’ve created your Generic It is important to know which event you
ior when a record is saved. This is done
Object, let’s look at creating and assign are going to assign your Rule to and in
in Configure Business Rules under
ing some rules using the Metadata which screen your object or field Company Settings in OneAdmin. In
Framework’s Rules Engine. Rules allow appears when creating your Rule. For Configure Business Rules, the user has
business-specific logic to be applied to example, when adding a Rule to the the option to select an existing Rule
different field change events, data prop Add New Employee screen, your Base from a drop-down or create a new Rule
agation, warnings and messages to Object must be Employee Information using the Create New Rule button. In
display, and calculate field values on Model. this example we are using the option to
the fly when a page is opened. create a new rule by selecting the
Rules are defined in a two-step
There are three different events on Create New Rule button (Figure 15).
approach using conditions. First, the If
which a Rule can be triggered: condition defines the conditions to Clicking the Create New Rule button
• OnInit: Triggers a Rule when the trigger the Rule. Then the Then condi opens the Rule Portlet screen. Here you
portlet or Add New Employee screen tion defines what actions should be must define four attributes for your new
is loaded for the user taken when the Rule is triggered. For rule:
example, if the If condition Job Code is
• OnSave: Triggers a Rule when the • Rule ID: The ID of the Rule object
equal to ENG3B, then set the Weekly
portlet or screen (e.g., Add New Working Hours to 38. It is important to • Rule Name: The identifier of the Rule
Employee, Employment Information,
note that the field(s) or object in the object
or Personal Information) is saved
Then condition must always refer to
after the user has modified it • Base Object: This determines which
fields of the object on which the Rule is
object (Foundation Object or Generic
• OnChange: Triggers a Rule when the triggered. However, the fields used in
Object) this Rule must be used for
user changes a field value on the Add the If conditions do not need to refer to
New Employee, Employment fields of the same object. • Rule Type: The category of the rule
Figure 15 Creating the Workers Council Rule in the Rules Engine

has no function in Employee Central, the If and Then Portlets appear. Figure Works Council field in our Global
although it is used for other 15 shows the configuration for the Rule Assgmt PreRequisite is Part Time, so in
SuccessFactors applications attributes and the If and Then the If Portlet you enter the information
conditions. shown in Figure 16.
For a Generic Object the Base Object
value is that object, but for other use The second part of configuring a Rule is Now that you’ve defined the If condi
cases and event types the value may be configuring the If conditions that trigger tions, you must define what happens
different. See the summary in Table 2 the rule. In the If Portlet, multiple con when the Rule is triggered (i.e., if the If
for more details. ditions can be set to meet the desired conditions are met). This is done in the
The Manage Parameters hyperlink next conditions required. The Rule itself can Then Portlet. The options of the Then
to the Base Object field provides addi be set to always be true using the Portlet are similar to those in the If
tional options for specific Rule uses, Always True check box so that the Then Portlet, although in addition it is also
such as Time Off, period-end process actions are always triggered when the possible to raise a message, create a
ing, and accruals. This can be seen in Rule is triggered. new object instance, or delete an exist
Figure 15. ing object instance.
There are a number of options that can
Since you want your Workers Council be defined for each If condition, such as Select Raise Message and select the
Rule to raise a message when the user the field to check, whether the value messageDefinition object that you
selects Part Time in the Works Council should be equal to or not equal to, and a created earlier (a messageDefinition
field, input the following information: value (depending on the data type of the object is a Generic Object). The Raise
field). There are a number of functions Message condition has a number of
• Rule ID: globalwkcouncil
available for number and date fields, severity levels:
• Rule Name: Workers Council such as various arithmetic and date
calculation functions. Multiple If con- • Error: Displays a warning message
• Base Object: Global Assgmt
ditions can be used with either AND or and does not allow processing to con
PreRequisite
OR operators. tinue
• Rule Type: Global Assignment
In our example we are looking for the • Warning: Displays a warning message
After the Base Object has been selected, rule to trigger when the value for the but allows processing to continue
Event type Screen Base object

OnInit Add New Employee Employee Information Model
OnInit Manage Organization, Pay and Job Structure Foundation object on which to trigger the Rule
OnSave Add New Employee Employee Information Model
OnSave Employment Information Object on which to trigger the Rule
OnSave Personal Information Object on which to trigger the Rule
OnSave Manage Organization, Pay and Job Structure Foundation object on which to trigger the Rule
OnChange Add New Employee Employee Information Model
OnChange Employment Information Object on which to trigger the Rule
OnChange Personal Information Object on which to trigger the Rule
Table 2 Different event types
Figure 16 The If Portlet showing Works Council Member is equal to Part Time
• Info: Displays a message and allows between an object and other objects, Here you are creating an Association
processing to continue similar to SAP ERP HCM relationships. between your Generic Object and
Within SuccessFactors, associations another Generic object that you already
Because there are additional activities
define a parent–child relationship or created, Global Contract Data. To do
required to make changes in the
define whether another object record this, go back to your object definition in
employee’s work schedule after a record
must exist for an associated object. An Configure Object Definitions. Under the
has been created, select the Warning
example of an association within Suc Associations heading there are seven
condition. Figure 17 shows the config
cessFactors may be a Legal Entity, which attributes required to define the Associ
ured Then conditions.
can have many Business Units associated ation (Figure 18).
Once your Rule is defined, click the with it (One-to-Many association) but
The following attributes exist for an
Save button to save it. Now that you’ve does not require a child Business Unit
Association:
created your Rule you can assign it to object to exist.
our Global Assgmt PreRequisite object • Name: An identifier for this specific
in Configure Object Definitions. At present, Generic Objects can be association configuration
associated to other Generic Objects and
• Type: Defines whether the type of
to Foundation Objects in the Metadata
Creating Associations relationship is:
Framework. In order to create an asso
Between Generic Objects ciation between a Foundation Object –– Composite: The instance of the
With your fully functioning Global and a Generic Object, an implementa associated object can only exist as
Assgmt PreRequisite object you can now tion consultant needs to perform the a child of the current object (e.g., it
associate it with other objects. Associa configuration in the Corporate Data cannot be an independent object in
tions define the hierarchical relationship Model. its own right).
Figure 17 The Then Portlet with your message condition configured
Figure 18 The details of an Association configuration

–– Valid When: The object can exist maintained) Creating Instances of a
with or without the existence of an
instance of the associated object
• Visibility: Editable (you want the user Generic Object
to be able to add records) Instances of Generic Objects – also
• Multiplicity: Defines whether the known as records – are created and
• Label: Assignment Contract Data
relationship can have multiple viewed in OneAdmin in Manage Data,
records, such as: Your configuration should now look although, as previously stated, they also
like the screen in Figure 19. can be created in Employee Files if
–– One-to-One: Defines that the object
can only be associated to one other Now your Global Assgmt PreRequisite added to a Config UI and an Employee
object object has been associated with the Files View. Similar to how Foundation
Global Contract Data object. This Objects and Generic Object Definitions
–– One-to-Many: Defines that the
allows you to create Assignment con are created, the Generic Object is
object can be associated to multiple
tract data every time a record of the selected in the Create New drop-down.
objects
Global Assgmt PreRequisite is created Select your Global Assgmt PreRequisite
• Destination Object: The object to be for a user. Figure 20 shows the associa object. The Object Definition form is
associated with tion in a record, with two associated then presented for the object (Figure
records. 21).
• Required: Determines if the associa
tion is required (Yes) or not (No) Now that you’ve created an association, Here you can enter details for a record
(from the August 2013 release (1308) let’s take a brief look at creating records of the Global Assgmt Prerequisite
on this can be determined using a for your Generic Object. object. When completing the form the
Rule based on other values)
• Visibility: Defines whether the asso

ciation can be modified (Editable), is
hidden on the UI (Not Visible), or is
visible but cannot be changed (Read
Only)
• Label: The label visible on the UI for

the association
For your Association, enter the follow

ing details:
• Name: cust_contractdata
• Type: Composite (because you need

Contract data only if a user has a
record of the Global Assgmt
PreRequisite object)
• Multiplicity: One-to-Many (because

you need to be able to enter more
than one record for Global Contract
data)
• Destination Object: Global Contract

Data
• Required: Yes (if global assignment

data is being maintained, then you
need at least one global contract to be Figure 19 The details of your Association with the Global Contract Data object
Figure 20 The details of your Association with the Global Contract Data object
Figure 21 The Object Definition form for the Global Assgmt Prerequisite object

various fields behave as per the config externalCode must always be User. If system to function as expected. The
uration in your Object Definition. Your you fail to do this then the Configura best way to do this is to delete the
Rule takes effect when you save the tion UI linked to your base object existing Configuration UI and create
record (Figure 22). does not appear in the drop-down a new Configuration UI with the
options when you go to Configure same ID.
Since your Rule was configured as a
Employee Files > User Elements >
Warning, the system allows you to 4. Rule Type is a standard picklist in the
Insert Portlet > Create and Add Live
proceed and create the record when you Metadata Framework. You can create
Profile MDF Information.
click the Yes button. This results in the custom values in this picklist by
screen shown in Figure 23. 2. When a Metadata Framework object going to Configure Object Defini
is created with Effective Dating, the tions > Search > Picklist > Rule
Now you have completed the steps to
system creates a number of auto-gen Type. In the example in this article
create a record for your Global Assgmt
erated fields. If you need to change the Global Assignment Rule Type
PreRequisite object.
an Effective Dated object to a non- was created before assigning your
Effective Dated object, then we Rule to it.
Tips and Tricks recommend that you create a new
5. In a View, it is not possible to select
Here are a few tips and tricks to keep in object instead of changing the exist
different dates for Effective Dated
mind when working with Metadata ing Effective Dated object.
records. The current active record
Framework objects.
3. I f you change any associations with always shows. If you select Edit and
1. When creating a Metadata Frame your base object after the Configura enter the date of a future or past-
work object to be used in the tion UI has been created, you need to dated inactive record, then it is
Employee Files, the data type of the re-create the Configuration UI for the displayed on screen.
Figure 22 The new Workers Council Rule being triggered when saving the Global Assgmt PreRequisite object
Figure 23 A record of the Global Assgmt PreRequisite object
We’ve covered creating a Generic Object. We’ve also shown how you can objects, how validations and associa
Object in the Metadata Framework, cre create these within your system step-by- tions can be leveraged to influence
ating rules for validation of the object step. You should now have an under- behavior of your objects, and how these
and its fields, and associating the standing of what the Metadata Frame can be assigned to objects within the
Generic Object with another Generic work can offer, how to create your own SuccessFactors system. n
Jyoti Sharma is an accomplished author, speaker, and SAP/SuccessFactors subject-matter expert. In her current role as Vice
President, Consulting & Services/Cloud HCM at HRIZONS, she is responsible for expanding and managing the Cloud
HCM practice across all regions. Jyoti has been implementing core HR solutions with SAP and SuccessFactors for over
eight years across many industries, including higher education, manufacturing, oil & gas, pharmaceuticals, and utilities.
Recently she has focused exclusively on implementing SuccessFactors Employee Central. Jyoti is a co-author of the book
SuccessFactors with SAP ERP HCM, and she has spoken at numerous events on SAP HCM and SuccessFactors topics. She
can be reached via email at jyoti.sharma@hrizons.com.
Luke Marson is Chief Cloud HCM Architect at Hula Partners, where he is responsible for overseeing the SuccessFactors busi

Calibrate Employee Performance Through
SuccessFactors
by Prashant Rastogi, Associate Manager, Accenture
Learn how to configure the calibration capability in SuccessFactors, which helps to achieve >> Key Concept
objective and fair employee performance reviews. Compa-ratio is short for compara-
tive ratio. It is calculated by
dividing an employee’s current
For talent-driven organizations, per- employees by best—and worst— salary by the current market rate.
formance is the biggest factor in deter- performers, and reward them Compa-ratios are position spe-
mining an employee’s success within accordingly.) cific. Each position has a salary
the company. As a result, the perfor- range that includes a minimum, a
2. The pay-for-performance strategy is
mance review process has become midpoint, and a maximum, and
ineffective because the underlying
increasingly vital as an evaluation tool. these three values represent
performance review process is
A big challenge facing these companies industry averages for the position.
tainted.
is how to keep these important For example, a compa-ratio of
employee performance reviews fair and 3. Managers introduce bias into the pro- 1.00 (or 100 percent) means that
balanced. SuccessFactors’ employee cess when evaluating the performance the employee is paid exactly what
performance review calibration func- of their own team members, either by the industry average pays and is
tionality makes this process objective being too tough or too soft when at the midpoint for the salary
and removes any bias. awarding ratings. range. A compa-ratio of 0.75
means that the employee is paid
Performance reviews have a wider 4. Employee performance is not com-
25 percent below the industry
impact than just measuring the perfor- pared fairly with their peers or col-
average and therefore is at risk of
mance of employees. Since promotions, leagues who are doing similar work
seeking employment elsewhere at
increments, bonuses, and other key across the organization, either on the
a higher pay that is perceived as
career decisions are based on the results same or different teams.
equitable. A compa-ratio of 1.15
of the performance-review process, it is 5. There is no way to accurately iden- means that the employee is paid
important that consistent and equitable tify top performers; as a result, above the industry average.
measures are used throughout the orga- top performers are not rewarded
nization to rate all the employees fairly. appropriately. strong and fair employee calibration
A well-designed calibration process process is in place to rate employees
can ensure that this happens. Here are 6. There is no succession plan in place
objectively and fairly, as well as clearly
some problems that can crop up when for the organization.
communicate the expectations and goals
evaluating employees when a strong for the employee.
7. Opportunities for growth are not
performance calibration process is not
identified and shared with employees
in place: SuccessFactors BizX suite offers a lot
during the performance-review
of this functionality in the talent man-
process.
1. Managers not following a bell-curve agement space. Calibration is one such
process consistently when rating These problems can create a situation of out-of-the-box capability offered by
employees. (The bell-curve concept is distrust and have a very negative effect SuccessFactors, which, when used with
commonly used by companies when on morale throughout an organization the Goals and Performance Manage-
rating employee performance; it and demotivate employees. This poten- ment, Compensation Management, and
enables them to track and rate tial damage can be avoided when a Succession Planning modules, ensures
that the kinds of problems listed above appraisal forms should have reached the SPRO. For any kind of SuccessFactors-
do not occur. In addition, calibration stage at which ratings awarded to related configuration, you need to
through SuccessFactors is made very employees can be used for calibration. access the admin tools option inside the
simple with a minimum amount of This stage can be configured as Com- given instance. Then you need to select
configuration. pleted or Calibration or something else the required module in order to start
depending on company policy. The configuring (Figure 2) — for example,
This article focuses on SuccessFactors’ appraisal functionality of SuccessFactors Performance Management, 360 Review,
ready-made calibration capability and has to be implemented in order to do this. Compensation, or Learning.
its required configuration.
Configuration Manage Calibration

Prerequisites Templates
Calibration has to be enabled through Admin tools (Figure 2) is in the back
Company Settings for your own end of SuccessFactors. This is the place You first need to create different cali-
instance in the provisioning account where administrators complete the con- bration templates. SuccessFactors has
figuration. Drawing an analogy with an the capability to allow calibration for
(Figure 1).
on-premise SAP ERP HCM solution, the Performance, Compensation, and
For performance ratings calibration, admin tools is comparable to transaction Succession Planning processes.
Figure 1 Enabling SuccessFactors’ calibration capability
Figure 2 Configuration capabilities of the different modules

Click the Manage Calibration Templates
>> Note Example 1: Activate the
option (Figure 2). This activity asks Performance Ratings Calibration
you to configure four different pieces of Data is one of the sub-configura- Process
information for a calibration template tion activities for managing
(Figure 3): calibration templates. In this In step 1 in Figure 4 you choose the
context, the word data refers to performance template (which acts as a
1. Basic Info source of performance ratings) for cali-
selecting the source of the data
2. Data elements (performance, compen- bration by selecting the Data option.
sation, or talent) you want to Here you must also choose the appraisal
3. Views
calibrate. process step where the form’s perfor-
4. Advanced mance ratings are considered for
Figure 3 Configuration required for creating calibration templates
Figure 4 Example of configuration of template for calibrating Performance Ratings
calibration. This can be done by select- Figure 4 are standard and cannot be
>> Note
ing the appropriate routing, highlighted changed to include company-specific
in Figure 4. In my example, the routing options. It is important to keep in mind
step selected is Calibration, which that these guidelines are purely
3. You can specify the distribution informational; therefore, they do
means that the employee performance
guideline as an optional step when not trigger error or warning mes-
rating from the appraisal template only
defining the source for the perfor- sages if the actual performance
can be used once it is at the calibration
mance ratings. However, it makes rating distribution is different than
stage.
more sense to define the guidelines in the distribution shown by the
In step 2 in Figure 4 you select a rating such a way that managers stay within guidelines.
from the appraisal template that needs specified limits when rating employ-
to be calibrated. In my example, the ees. This way, the final performance brated. This step also requires you to
Overall Form Rating check box is ratings follow the bell curve when pick a routing step (highlighted in
selected, which means that the system they are distributed. Although this is Figure 5) in the compensation planning
pulls the ratings configured with the an optional activity, I advise that it process, where the amount for the salary,
appraisal template selected in step 1 of always be configured to ensure the
stock, or bonus elements are set for cali-
Figure 4. best result. This means, as shown in
bration. This means that employee salary,
Figure 4, that only 10 percent of the
The calibration of performance ratings stock, or options can only be used in the
employees under a particular manager
provides out-of-the-box functionality to calibration process when you reach the
can receive a rating of Unsatisfactory
drag and drop employee names in order Complete Compensation Planning status
and 20 percent can get a rating of
to change their final performance in the compensation planning process.
Needs Improvement, and so on.
ratings. For example:
Step 2 in Figure 5 requires you to pick
1. The performance appraisal ratings Example 2: Activate the a salary, stock, or bonus element to be
shown in step 2 of Figure 4 are pop- Compensation Calibration Process calibrated. This step also involves
ulated based on the template chosen
In step 1 in Figure 5, you choose the setting up the range group amount for
in step 1.
compensation plan, which acts as a the salary, stock, or bonus element
2. The options shown in step 2 of source for the salary elements to be cali- selected.
Figure 5 Example of configuration for calibrating the compensation template

user. Views can be one dimensional or
>> Note >> Note
two dimensional. You can select the
Unlike the calibration of perfor- Enable Drag and Drop option (Figure Employees can only be moved
mance ratings, compensation 6) to change the ratings when calibrat- vertically to change their perfor-
calibration does not have a drag- ing employee performance. This option, mance ratings; they cannot,
and-drop feature to move people however, is disabled by default when however, be moved horizontally. In
from one compensation ratio to calibrating employee compensation addition, any changes to their
another or from a lower range elements. compensation at this stage have
group of merit to a higher range to be done through individual
group. Changes to employee com- In the example Pay vs. Performance compensation sheets, discussed
pensation elements in the view configuration (Figure 7), the later in this article.
calibration chart can be made by X-axis calibration element has Compa-
navigating directly into the ratio and Y-axis calibration element has 1. Grant permission to users, facilitators,
employee’s compensation sheet performance ratings stored in the and managers and to calibration ses-
and making them there. The employee profile by the managers. This sions that are in progress or have
salary, stock, and bonus elements is for plotting the nine-box matrix for been approved.
shown in step 2 of Figure 5 are employees, shown in the bottom of the
populated based on the template 2. Select the fields that appear for each
screen in Figure 7. Each of the boxes
chosen in step 1 of Figure 5. employee when you are searching for
has a name (Label) and can be color
Unlike in the previous step for participants and subjects to be dis-
coded for ease of use. These features
setting up a calibration template cussed during a calibration session.
allow managers to quickly identify
for performance ratings, the com- employees who may have incorrect
pensation guidelines can’t be compensation amounts in relation to Manage Calibration Sessions
specified by the salary, stock, or their performance appraisal ratings; for
bonus elements selected. example, high performers who are In this step (managing calibration ses-
being paid too little or low performers sions), administrators or super users can
who are being paid too much. create a calibration session and make it
Views active. This session also can be used by
There are several options for setting up owners and participants for calibration,
how users can view the calibration Manage Calibration Settings but only after it’s been activated. A cali-
options for Performance and Compensa- bration session would typically need the
You would make changes to the inputs listed below before being
tion Management.
Manage Calibration Settings configura- activated:
Views are used to graphically represent tion (Figure 8) because you want to do
selected calibration elements to the end one of the following: 1. Calibration template
Figure 6 Example of Performance Rating chart view (one dimensional)
Figure 7 Example of Pay vs. Performance chart view (two dimensional)
Figure 8 Search Results Fields configuration while creating calibration sessions

2. Name of the session administrators and super users should automatically become participants and
keep in mind when creating calibration individual contributors reporting to
3. Owner of the session (typically the sessions. First, there is no limit on the these managers would become subjects.
department head) number of calibration sessions that
can be created by administrators or Participants and subjects also can be
4. Participants (leads reporting to picked from the organizational charting
department heads) super users.
tool. Simply start with the name of the
5. Subject or employees to be discussed owner entered by the administrator
Choosing the option Select subjects and (Figure 10).
during the calibration session (either participants automatically according to
direct or indirect reports to the leads) the owners (Figure 9) adds participants Participants and subjects also can be
6. Facilitators (HR representatives for and subjects to a calibration session added into a session manually by
the department) automatically based on which owner is searching for employees based on filter
selected. This means that managers criteria such as division, department,
There are some important features that reporting to a session owner would location, first name, user name, and job
Figure 9 Example of the configuration to derive participants and subjects automatically from the owner’s name
Figure 10 Picking employees to be calibrated from the organizational structure
code (Figure 11). Unlike on-premise 2. Division, department, location, and be in the process as configured in
SAP ERP HCM, these SuccessFactors’ job code are the foundation objects the calibration templates
predefined search criterion can’t be cus- defined in the Employee Central (EC)
module of SuccessFactors.
tomized, removed, or supplemented How to Use the Calibration
with other customer search criteria. This 3. Before activation, SuccessFactors Functionality of
is because SuccessFactors solutions use
a no-customization approach unless the
validates the newly created calibra- SuccessFactors
tion session against:
change has broad appeal and is desired After configuring the calibration
• The appraisal forms (in case of process in admin tools (the back end of
by a majority of users.
performance rating calibration) of SuccessFactors), it is now time for end
Depending on the need, administrators subjects or employees users to perform the actual calibration.
and super users can create individual • The inactive or active employ- The following lists the steps end users
calibration sessions for different catego- ment status of subjects and need to take in the SuccessFactors’ cali-
ries, such as division, department, employees bration process.
location, or job code. • The individual employee calibra-
tion status within the system to The Performance Calibration
Keep these key details in mind when
determine whether subjects or Process
managing calibration sessions:
employees are part of any other The Performance Calibration process is
1. Calibration sessions also can be creat- active calibration session where managers discuss and compare
ed from the end-user interface direct- • The appraisal process stage for employees with similar backgrounds,
ly for direct as well as for second- or employees to determine whether job responsibilities, or teams using
third-level reports of the logged-in appraisal forms of subjects or various parameters to identify best and
manager. employees are where they should worst performers.
Figure 11 Manually picking employees to be calibrated based on different selection filters

Managers can view calibration sessions performance rating calibration through that they have to normalize — calibrate
prepared for them by administrators or the bell-curve-like distribution shown — the ratings in such a way that they
super users on the calibration dashboard on the right side of the screen. Manag- match management guidelines.
(Figure 12). Managers can view only ers can calibrate ratings according to
Employees or subjects with similar
those calibration sessions where they guidelines set by management (and con-
competencies or work goals are evalu-
are designated as owners or facilitators. figured by administrators).
ated in order, with managers referring to
By clicking any of these sessions in the For managers, the objective of the cali- the individual performances exhibited
first column (Figure 12), managers can bration exercise is to match the actual throughout the year. Employees can
go inside a particular calibration session also be rated using a stack-rank view,
ratings given (dark gray bars) with the
and execute the associated activities. and relative comparisons can be made
guidelines set (light gray bars). For
for overall ratings and competencies
Figure 13 shows the dashboard view example, the guideline set for the Meets
(Figure 14).
for a manager (Carla Grant, in my Expectations performance rating is 40
example). The dashboard view can be percent, and there are only 30.4 percent Sometimes discussion may lead to a
activated when creating the calibration of employees who received this rating change in performance rating for
templates. You can summarize the (Figure 13). This lets managers know employee. Discussions between
Figure 12 Sample calibration dashboard
Figure 13 Dashboard view of performance calibration bell-curve distribution
managers or supervisors and HR help in employee with highest rank can be discussions. Any changes to perfor-
ranking employees with similar perfor- moved to a higher rating, where the mance ratings are only made effective
mance ratings. In cases where there are guidelines’ settings allow only a fixed after the Finalize button (Figure 15) is
across-the-board examples of employees number of additions or deletions. Suc- clicked in the calibration screen.
overshooting the established guidelines, cessFactors has a drag-and-drop
the employee with the lowest rank can functionality to move employees to dif- Individual performance contracts can
be moved to a lower rating or the ferent ratings based on these calibration also be edited through the view shown
Figure 14 Stack-rank view of selected employees
Figure 15 Snapshot of performance rating distributions and guidelines

Figure 16 Sample compensation calibration chart
in Figure 15. Each rating box groups The Compensation Calibration and only when there are no set com-
employees with similar performance pensation guidelines. However,
Process
ratings (defined through the calibration managers can directly edit compen-
template). Guidelines are also shown Figure 16 shows a sample chart
sation plans for employees through
with an indicative numbers of employ- where an employee’s compensation a link on the calibration chart
ees to be added or removed to suit can be calibrated. As stated previ- (Figure 16). n
management-defined guidelines for a ously, compensation can only be
department or group. changed in the calibration chart itself,
Prashant Rastogi works at Accenture as an associate manager. He has been working in SAP ERP HCM for the past seven
and a half years on various assignments. Prashant has experience in implementing ESS, MSS, SAP ECM, Performance
Management, Succession Planning, Talent Management, OM, PA, and Nakisa. Prashant has also started working in various
SuccessFactors functionalities. Prashant has an MBA (HR) along with a master’s degree in law and labor welfare. He is
also an engineer in IT. Prashant can be contacted via email at Prashant.rastogi@gmail.com.
How to Enable, Create, and Manage the New

SuccessFactors Metadata Framework-Based
Talent Pools
Learn how to create and manage the new Metadata Framework-based Talent Pools intro- >> Key Concept
duced in the November 2013 release of SuccessFactors. Learn how the Talent Pools work In the November 2013 (1311)
and how they can be leveraged for succession, development, and other business pro- release of SuccessFactors, new
cesses. In addition, find out how to enable and configure Talent Pools in your system. Talent Pool functionality was
introduced that leverages the
Talent Pools offer organizations a way cessFactors introduced the Talent Pools Metadata Framework (MDF) func-
to manage groups of talented individu- functionality that is based on the new tionality. Talent Pools are used to
als. Talent Pools can cover many differ- MDF. This introduced a flexible, configu- manage groups of talented
ent topics, disciplines, employee types, rable, effective-dated, object-based Talent employees that can be used as a
and job functions, but, ultimately, they Pool concept with an easy-to-use and pipeline of talent for succession
enable organizations to manage the dif- manageable user interface (UI). planning or for development
ferent types of talents for their different activities.
talent needs. The Talent Pool functionality is built
around the TalentPool Generic Object. • Create Talent Pools
Using a Generic Object, users can con-
figure the TalentPool Generic Object • Modify details of existing Talent
Concepts of Talent Pools Pools
to behave as they wish. For example,
and the New Metadata they can:
Framework (MDF)–Based • Change field labels
• Add members to Talent Pools
Talent Pools • Change assignment details of Talent

• Add field label translations
Until the November 2013 (1311) release Pool members
of SuccessFactors, Talent Pools were • Add custom fields
generic and inflexible labels given to The Talent Pools application is accessed
• Assign rules
employees. Previously, Talent Pools could from within the Succession application.
be created only against a Position, but Additionally, the concept means that Once enabled, Talent Pools appear in
now they are independent groups that can you can create multiple Talent Pool the list of menu options, as displayed in
be used for any talent-related purpose. records to represent the different Talent Figure 1 (on the next page). Each
From the November 2013 release, Suc- Pools that employees use within the Talent Pool is displayed on the screen in
SuccessFactors systems, and assign two columns and displays up to nine
>> Note employees to multiple Talent Pools as photos of members of the Talent Pool.
needed. You can view details of each Talent
Role-based permissions must
Pool by clicking the Talent Pool. You
be enabled and used in
can also create a new Talent Pool by
SuccessFactors to use the new Features and Functionality of the
clicking the Add a Pool hyperlink, or
MDF-based Talent Pools. I go MDF-Based Talent Pools delete a Talent Pool by clicking the X
into this in more detail later in
The MDF-based Talent Pools enable (both in the top-right corner of the
this article.
you to: screen in Figure 1).

In my example I create a new Talent Active or Inactive defined for the Talent Pool, such as:
Pool by clicking Add a Pool on the
Talent Pools screen. This opens the • Code: The ID of the Talent Pool • enableReadiness: Whether a readiness
value can be assigned to each mem-
New Talent Pool screen (Figure 2).
• Name: The name of the Talent Pool ber assigned to the Talent Group
The left side of the screen is where the
• Description: A description of the • effectiveStartDate: The start date of
attributes of the Talent Pool are defined.
Talent Pool the Talent Pool
These are:
• Type: This is either Succession or Clicking the Advanced Options hyper- • Owner: The person that is responsible
link opens the Advanced Options for the Talent Pool
Default
TalentPool pop-up screen (Figure 3) in
• Status: Whether the Talent Pool is which the additional attributes can be Notice that this screen (Figure 3) con-
Figure 1 Talent Pools in SuccessFactors
Figure 2 Add a new Talent Pool
tains some of the details defined in the • Code: ENG In the screen in Figure 5 new members
New Talent Pool screen (Figure 2). can be added or attributes can be edited
Click the Save button (Figure 3) after • Name: Engineers for existing member assignments. You
your details have been entered. can also switch between other Talent
• Description: Talent Pool for engineers
For my example, I create a Talent Pool Pools by selecting the button with the
in the company
for the engineers in the organization. name of the Talent Pool on it (in the top
For it, I define the following attributes left section of the screen—Engineers, in
I do not define any additional attributes
(Figure 4): my example). This action opens a drop-
in Advanced Options. Click the Add
button to create the Talent Pool. In the down list that displays all the other
• Type: Succession
next screen you see your new Talent Talent Pools. There you see the Readi-
• Status: Active Pool (Figure 5 on the next page). ness labels on the left side. These are:
Figure 3 Talent Pool Advanced options
Figure 4 The New Talent Pool screen with the new information

• Emergency Replacement employee names to be added). To add name in the search box. A list of
one click Take Action in the top-right matches for the search criteria appears
• Ready Now
corner of Figure 5 to expand the drop- (Figure 6).
• 1–2 years down options. Click Add an Employee
from the drop-down list of actions. The John Kim is a talent Engineer within the
• 3–5 years organization. In this example I select
Add an Employee search box opens in
There are no employees nominated in which you can search for an employee him. This opens up the nomination form
the Talent Pool (e.g., there are no to nominate by typing the employee’s (Figure 7).
Figure 5 The new Engineers’ Talent Pool
Figure 6 Use the search box to find employees to nominate
Figure 7 Nomination form for nominating John Kim to the Engineers’ Talent Pool

John is talented, but management has Requires some development) in the shows John Kim in the 1–2 years box in
decided he isn’t fully ready to take on a screen in Figure 8. the Talent Pool (Figure 9).
more senior position within the organi-
Click the Update button to submit the Let’s repeat this process for another
zation. Therefore, select the yellow 1–2 nomination. This action adds the new employee, John Miller. I add him as
years button and enter a comment (e.g., information to his nomination and Ready Now (Figure 10).
Figure 8 John Kim’s nominating information details
Figure 9 The Engineers’ Talent Pool showing John Kim’s status
Figure 10 The Engineers’ Talent Pool showing John Kim and John Miller’s statuses

Now that you are finished nominating You can also change nominations for opens the same form shown in Figure
employees to the Engineers’ Talent employees who have been nominated 8 and, as when nominating employees,
Pool, go back to the Talent Pools in each pool. For example, an individ- the appropriate Readiness is selected.
screen by selecting Talent Pools at ual’s readiness may have changed due When an employee has more than one
the top (Figure 10). The next screen to their personal development in the Talent Pool nomination, each Talent
displays the Engineers’ Talent Pool last year. You can change this data by Pool for which the employee is nomi-
with the two nominated employees opening a Talent Pool and then click- nated is displayed in this window
(Figure 11). ing the employee’s name. This action (Figure 12).
Figure 11 The Engineers’ Talent Pool showing two members who have been nominated
Figure 12 Editing the nomination for John Miller
Mapping Talent Pools to Job Pool is a source of successors for the In the drop-down menu, select the Set
mapped Job Role. Up Families and Roles option. This
Roles option displays all the job families set
You can map Job Roles—both legacy Mapping Talent Pools to Job Roles up in the system. Click the Roles tab to
Job Roles and Job Roles created with Created with the Job Profile Builder display all the job roles set up in the
the Job Profile builder—to Talent Pools system (Figure 14).
In OneAdmin, go to Manage Job Profile
so that Talent Pool assignments can be Content in Company Settings. This Select the desired Job Role from the list
displayed on the Succession Org Chart. action opens the Manage Job Profile by clicking the job title in the Role
This chart also indicates that the Talent Content screen (Figure 13). Name column. In my example I select
Figure 13 View the job profile and manage it
Figure 14 Display the job roles in the Manage Job Profile Content

the Sales Engineers job role. This action the Talent Pools to which the user has which the new mapping is displayed
takes you to the Edit: Role page access (Figure 16). (Figure 17). Click the Save Role button
(Figure 15). On the Edit: Role page to save the new mapping.
Select the Engineers Talent Pool by
click the Mapped Talent Pools tab and
clicking the Engineers check box. After The next step is to test the new mapping.
then click the Map Talent Pools button.
you click the Save button, the system Navigate to the Succession Org Chart in
A pop-up window appears that lists all
returns you to the Edit: Role screen in the Succession module (via the main
Figure 15 Mapped Talent Pools tab for the Sales Engineers’ job role
Figure 16 Mapping a Talent Pool to the Sales Engineers’ job role
navigation menu). In the Succession Org In Figure 18, the Engineers’ Talent Pool Engineers hyperlink to go to the Engi-
Chart search for a position that has the is shown at the bottom of the Sales neers Talent Pool.
Sales Engineer Job Code assigned to it Engineer position box as a hyperlink
(since the Sales Engineer Job Code is (Engineers) with the number of talents in Next, I show how to map legacy Job
assigned to the Sales Engineer Job Role). the Talent Pool listed above it. Select the Roles.
Figure 17 The Sales Engineers’ job role showing the new mapping
Figure 18 The Succession Org Chart showing the Engineers’ Talent Pool on the Sales Engineer position

Mapping Talent Pools to box for the Engineers’ job link under paper) next to the desired job Role to
Legacy Job Roles the Family column (Figure 19), which open the Edit pop-up window for the
opens the job family screen (Figure Sales Engineers’ job (Figure 21).
In OneAdmin, go to Manage Job Roles
in Company Settings (not shown). This 20). Here you see all the job roles in the
From the Talent Pool drop-down menu
action opens the Families & Roles job family (e.g., Mechanical Engineers
select the Engineers Talent Pool. Click
screen in which the job families are dis- and Sales Engineers).
the Save & Close button at the bottom
played (Figure 19).
In my example I want to edit the Sales of the window to save the new
Select the desired job family from the Engineers job Role. In the Action mapping. This new mapping can now
list. In my example I select the check column, select the edit icon (pencil and be tested in the same way as testing was
Figure 19 All the job families
Figure 20 All the job roles in the Engineers’ job family
Although succession plans track candi- • Employees who may not fit into a
>> Note
dates who could be considered conventional workplace (e.g., they
Only one Talent Pool can be successors for the position, often orga- cannot work a 40-hour week or need
selected for a legacy job role.
nizations need to track successors or to telecommute)
However, the same Talent Pool
potential successors in different ways.
can be used with more than one • Other individuals that have specific
For example, companies may use Talent
job role. The Talent Pool function- value to your organization
Pools to track:
ality supports job roles mapped to
only the Job Code field. • High-potential talents Once Talent Pools are defined and
• High-performing talents managed they can be used for a number
done for the job roles created with the
of different activities. For example:
Job Profile Builder. • Job function-specific talents or
employees (e.g., engineers, manage- • Sourcing for succession plans
Use Cases for Talent Pools ment candidates, or forklift operators) • Sourcing for vacant or new positions
Talent Pools provide a number of use • High-risk employees (e.g., at high
cases for businesses to track talent • Assigning to training (e.g., for
risk of loss or have a high impact
across the organization. Talent Pools are potential managers and for health
of loss)
flexible and can be used as and how the and safety purposes)
organization requires. In addition, • Strategic pipeline (e.g., executive
• Developing long-term career and
employees can be members of multiple potentials or leadership talents)
development plans
Talent Pools and thus can be tracked
• Employee types
according to the different disciplines • Grooming individuals outside of suc-
and skillsets that they have. • Upcoming retirees cession pools
Figure 21 Edit the Sales Engineers’ job role

Both these lists are not comprehensive, Enable MDF-Based Talent Pools in In OneAdmin, navigate to Configure
and they also do not provide a full Provisioning Object Definitions in the Company
range of possibilities that Talent Pools Settings menu. In the Search drop-
Before the new MDF-based Talent
offer. However, they do provide a down menu select Object Definition
Pools functionality in SuccessFactors
broad overview of how these Talent and in the drop-down next to it select
can be accessed, it needs to be enabled
Pools can be used. the TalentPool Generic Object
in Provisioning. In Company Settings
(Figure 23).
select the two settings shown in Figure
22, and click the Save button (not This displays the object definition for
Enabling and Configuring shown) to enable these features. the TalentPool Generic Object
the New Talent Pools (Figure 24).
Functionality Enable Permissioning of the
TalentPool Generic Object Scroll down to the Security heading
There are four steps required to
in the Name column, under which
enable the MDF-based Talent Pools Once the MDF-based Talent Pools have
nothing should be defined. If this is
functionality: been enabled in Provisioning, you need
the case, then this part of the screen
to enable permissioning in the Talent-
1. Enable MDF-based Talent Pools in should look like the one shown in
Pool Generic Object. This means that
Figure 25.
Provisioning the object can be permissioned to Per-
mission Roles in the Role-Based If the security definition is not
2. Enable Permissioning of the
Permissions framework. defined, then scroll to the top of the
TalentPool Generic Object
Object Definition screen (Figure 24),
3. Localize Any TalentPool Generic >> Note select the Take Action hyperlink, and
Object Fields click the Make Correction button (not
To perform this task, administra-
shown). This action opens the object
tors must have permission to
4. Permission the TalentPool Generic definition for editing (Figure 26 on
access the MDF.
Object for the Appropriate Users page 94).
Figure 22 Select these Provisioning settings to enable the MDF-based Talent Pools
Figure 23 Select the TalentPool Generic Object
Figure 24 The object definition screen for the TalentPool Generic Object
Figure 25 The default definitions for the TalentPool Generic Object

Scroll down to the Security heading like the screen shown in Figure 28. Pool Generic Object may need to be
(Figure 27). changed or a local language added,
The object has now been configured so
depending on user requirements. For
Change the values to: that permissioning is enabled.
example, a company may need to trans-
• Secured: Yes If the Security definition is already late the fields into the language of a
defined—as seen in Figure 28—then subsidiary that is not provided by the
• Permission Category: Miscellaneous the TalentPool Generic Object already standard system. These revisions are
Permissions has permissioning enabled and you are made in the same way that any field
Scroll down to the bottom of the screen ready to localize the TalentPool Generic labels are changed or additional language
Object fields.
and click the Save button (not shown) translations are added to field labels.
to save the changes and return to the Although I do not cover these activities
Object Definition screen for the Talent- Localize Any TalentPool Generic in this article, refer to the HR Expert
Pool Generic Object. If you scroll down Object Fields article, “Creating Metadata Framework
to the Security heading, it should look Sometimes the field labels of the Talent- Objects in SuccessFactors Employee
Figure 26 Edit the definition for the TalentPool Generic Object
Figure 27 The Security heading on the edit Object Definition screen
Figure 28 The configured Security definition for the TalentPool Generic Object
Central,” on page 51 for details on per- configured, you need to add to the assigned to different Permission
forming these activities for Generic Permission Roles the users who have Roles by restricting the target popula-
Objects. access to the MDF-based Talent tion for the TalentPool Generic
Pools functionality. As defined in the Object to each Talent Pool required
Permission the TalentPool Generic previous steps, the TalentPool by the individuals who are assigned
Object for the Appropriate Users Generic Object is located in the Mis- the Permission Role. More detail
Once the object definition for the Tal- cellaneous Permissions group. about Role-Based Permissions is
entPool Generic Object has been Individual Talent Pools can be beyond the scope of his article. n
Luke Marson is Chief Cloud HCM Architect at Hula Partners, where he is responsible for overseeing the SuccessFactors busi-

Picklists Management and Cascading
Picklists in SuccessFactors
by Mohan Paul Varghese, Customer Success Manager, SAP/SuccessFactors
Learn how to create, edit, and update picklists and cascading picklists in SuccessFactors >> Key Concept
systems. Also, learn how to configure the picklists’ permission in the administration tools. Picklists are the data files that
can be configured to create drop-
down lists in some SuccessFactors
I show you how to update your Suc- method can be used for a variety of
modules, such as Employee
cessFactors system with new picklists options (e.g., employee address, educa-
Profile, Employee Central, Succes-
and cascading picklists based on these tion, or certification), but I focus on the
sion Planning, and Recruiting.
new picklists. This method helps you Geographic Mobility option.
Cascading picklists reduces long
manage and organize your picklists in a
lists of picklist values to a more
more efficient and helpful way. To illus- First, I explain what a picklist and a
manageable size by linking the
trate my points I use the Geographic cascading picklist are. In this example I
picklist values to a parent value in
Mobility field option in the employee link the picklist ID region to the picklist
another field.
transfer record in SuccessFactors as my value (Figure 1) to cascade the picklist
example. With this functionality, Suc- (Figure 2). I configure what values are
example, the West region (5144) con-
cessFactors gives employees the option in which region (West, East, South, and
to record if they are willing to be trans- North in my example). tains the cascading district values for
ferred from one job location to another. region 5144 (e.g., Washington, Oregon,
In addition, employees can select which In Figure 1 I add the possible picklist California, and Nevada, shown in
specific regions to which they are region drop-down values (5144, 5094, Figure 2). The system generates these
willing to be transferred. With this 5145, and 5146) to the picklist IDs. This option IDs, and they are unique identifi-
example, I show how you can easily action creates the drop-down options ers for the picklists. Therefore, in this
create picklists and cascading picklists under each district in the region for the example, the region is the picklist, and
to achieve your company’s goals. This picklist. Based on these settings, for the district is the cascading picklist.
Figure 1 Example of picklist values
Figure 2 Example of cascading picklists
Why Use Picklists? cess in SuccessFactors that allows users that you can assign child values (the
to download the field values from the cascading picklist) to the existing
Picklists are the definitions used for the
system. In this article, this refers to picklist (the parent value). You also
drop-down options for fields in a Live
downloading the existing picklists from can create a new set of picklists (par-
Profile in SuccessFactors. They are used
the SuccessFactors system to the user’s ent value) and create a cascading
to validate the background and personal
local hard drive, where users can make picklist (child values) to the value.
information data for employees. They are
changes to the picklist values.
also reportable options that can be used
in ad hoc search reports and talent 3. Import the modified picklist file.
Step 1. Access Picklist
reports. Using picklists enables users to Importing the picklist is a process in Management
reduce data entry errors (saving time and SuccessFactors that allows users to There are two ways for accessing pick-
effort) and also standardizes the entries. upload a modified file into the system. list management permissions:
In this article, this refers to uploading
>> Note all the new cascading picklists’ values 1. Through administrative privileges
My instructions apply to all from the user’s local drive back into 2. Through role-based permissions
releases of SuccessFactors and the SuccessFactors system.
are release independent. Here’s how you can configure these two
4. Create cascading picklists. In the options.
downloaded file, you can create par-
Create and Cascade Picklists ent–child relationships. This means
Option 1 – Administrative Privileges
There are three steps for creating a
picklist, and then one additional step to >> Note The first step in managing the picklists
cascade them. They are: In SuccessFactors terminology, is to give users access to the picklists to
export means to download a file make changes. You can access this
1. Access picklist management. In this
from the SuccessFactors system through the administration tools screen
step you give users permission to
to your local hard drive. Import by following menu path Administration
access the picklists so that they can
means to upload a file from your Tools > Set User Permissions > Admin-
manage them.
local hard drive into the Success- istrative Privileges. In the screen that
2. Export the picklist file and edit the Factors system. appears click the System Properties link
picklist. Exporting the picklist is a pro- (Figure 3).
Figure 3 Access the administrative privileges screen

In the permission page (Figure 4), you (highlighted in Figure 4) and click the based permissions:
can modify, create, and import or export Save Admin Permission for Selected
picklists for the selected user or a group Users button. • Create a new permission group
of users. If you need to give access to a
• Create a new permission role
picklist to a large number of users, you
Option 2 – Role-Based Permissions
can group them by using a filter, such First, I show how to create a permission
as location, district, or job code. In this Role-based permission allows you to group. You can this via the administra-
way, all users with the same job code, add as many roles as needed for your tion tools screen. Follow menu path
for example, get permission to add, company to perform their activities. Administration Tools > Set User Per-
modify, or delete these picklists. In this Role-based permission provides each missions > Manage Permission Groups,
example I give permission to an indi- role with a different access level. which opens the screen in Figure 5.
vidual user to access the picklists.
Select the Picklists column check box These are two steps for creating role- To illustrate this step I create a Full
Figure 4 Get permission to access the picklists
Figure 5 Manage the permission groups
System Administrator group, and I (e.g., based on user ID [admin]). This required permission. You can access this
assign one user (role) to this group means that the user with the user ID through the administration tools screen
based on the User Name. This can also admin is part of this permission group by following menu path Administration
be based on other, multiple attributes— (Figure 6). Tools > Set User Permissions > Manage
parameters such as job, location, Permission Roles (Figure 7).
Next I show how to create a permission
division, or department. For the purpose role; for this I create a Full System Permission can be given as follows.
of this article I make this a simple rule Administrator role and give it the Click the new Permission Role name
Figure 6 Assign people to the permission group
Figure 7 Create a permission role

link (in this case, Full System Adminis- Since you want to grant access to pick- access picklist management.
trator). This opens the Permission list management, click the Manage
settings screen (Figure 8). On the left System Properties option. In the screen As the last step in this process you want
of the screen, under Permission Role that opens on the right, select the Pick- to assign the permission role you
Details, click the Permission… button list Management and Picklist Mappings created to a group. In this example, you
and all the possible transactions that can Set Up check box. Then click the Save need to assign the Full System Admin-
be assigned to this role are displayed (in Changes button and the Full System istrator role to the permission group
the middle of the screen in Figure 8). Administrator role has permission to Full System Administrator. Follow
Figure 8 Assign permission to the role
Figure 9 Assign the permission role to the group
menu path Administration Tools > then click the Done button to save
>> Note
Set User Permissions > Manage Permis- your changes.
sion Role, which opens the screen It is a good practice to version-name
shown in Figure 9. Click the Add… each file as there are often multiple
Step 2. Export the Picklist File downloads and uploads and version
button to assign the Full System
Administrator role to the permission In the previous step you gave permis- control helps you identify the correct
group Full System Administrator and sion to the user to get access to the files to modify and upload.
picklist. In this step, you change the
existing picklist, so first you need to Select the Export data format radio
>> Note export (download) the existing picklist button and then click the Submit button.
Role-based permissions cannot be from the SuccessFactors system. Follow This action downloads the picklist to
configured in the instance unless menu path Admin Tools > Company your local PC or laptop. Once it’s been
this is made available in the Provi- Setting > Picklists Management. In the
successfully downloaded, you can
sioning system. This can be screen that appears you can export (or
locate the file where it is saved on your
achieved by the implementation import) the picklists (Figure 10).
computer. Figure 11 shows the file I
partner team.
In this example, you export the picklist. have downloaded for this exercise.
Figure 10 Import (or export) your picklist file
Figure 11 Picklist is downloaded into an Excel-formatted spreadsheet

Double-click the name of your down- • Change the labels. You can change ple, they can be in alphabetical order
loaded picklist file (Figure 11) to open the label of your picklist by editing or by region.
the Excel picklist spreadsheet shown in the appropriate language directly in
• Delete items. Delete any field from a
Figure 12. Here you see the regions and the .csv file. Users may want to
picklist. First, change the status of the
the districts that are listed in the pick- change the existing label or may want
picklist item to be deleted. Simply
lists. In this spreadsheet you can make to correct a data entry error using this
type DELETED in the status column
changes to your picklists to create the method. Users can change labels sim-
of the picklist work sheet (Figure 14)
cascading picklists functionality. ply by overwriting the old label with
and save your new .csv file. I recom-
the new label in the existing file and
mend that you do this when a mistake
saving the change (Figure 13).
Step 3. Edit and Import the Picklist has been made to a picklist during
File • Add a new item. You can add new setup. Deleting an item breaks any
items to the picklists by adding an links to or from any data using that
You can make changes to the file that
additional line item. For example, item. Once the item is deleted, you
was exported from the SuccessFactors
you can add a new district or region can start over again, and you don’t
system. Once the changes are made you
to your list (e.g., the region could be have to worry about any incorrect or
can save your new picklist, and this file
South and the district could be broken links in the system.
can be imported (uploaded) into the
Albany) simply by entering the
system. • Mark an item obsolete. Make a pick-
appropriate fields (e.g., ^picklistId,
list ID obsolete by changing the sta-
Change Options for Picklists minValue, maxValue, value, status,
tus. This can be done simply by typ-
and labels).
Before you import your picklists, you ing OBSOLETE in the status column
have the chance to make changes to • Change the order. You can reorder the of the picklist worksheet (Figure 15).
your picklists. Your options are: rows in your picklist items; for exam- This action keeps the data you previ-
Figure 12 Example of a downloaded picklist Excel file
Figure 13 Change your picklist label
ously selected intact, but does not picklist file, you can import it into the
>> Note
display the entry in the drop-down system.
options for anyone to select moving Once you choose the parent field
forward. The difference between To import the file to your system, select value, it automatically displays the
doing this and deleting an item is that the Import picklist(s) radio button and appropriate child value, but it can’t
when it’s marked obsolete it still search for the file using the Import be entered the other way around
shows up in past individual records, Field browse function (Figure 16 on the (e.g., you can’t choose the child
but it is no longer a drop-down option next page). Click the Browse… button value to display the parent value).
for current and future picklists. When and select the new picklist template that
an option is deleted (as discussed pre- you created in the previous step. Select Step 4. Create Cascading Picklists
viously), it is treated as if that value the No radio button and click the A quick fix to speed up the picklist
were never an option, and breaks all Submit button. This action imports your functionality is to reduce the number of
the links to the data. new picklist into the system. Once the drop-down options by cascading the
picklist is successfully imported, the picklist files to reduce the long list of
Import Picklists system displays the message shown in drop-down values to a manageable size.
Once you make the changes to the .csv Figure 17 (on the next page). You can do this by creating a parent–
Figure 14 Delete a picklist value
Figure 15 Make a picklist value obsolete

Figure 16 Import the picklist files
Figure 17 Confirmation that your new picklist template file has been successfully imported
child relationship in the picklist .csv file. can share picklists across modules. The by the system. After you update the file
SuccessFactors Succession Planning with the new picklist values, you can
For example, in the Geographic module is delivered with a standard import it into the system.
Mobility field the company may want picklist that you can export (download)
After you update the picklist file with
region to appear as the parent in the and modify.
your new parent values, you import it
drop-down menu options, with city or
There are two steps for creating a creat- back to the SuccessFactors system
office appearing as the child drop-
ing a cascading picklist. First, you (Figure 19 on the next page). Select the
down menu option. (Table 1 lists
create the parent value and then you Import picklist(s) radio button and choose
some common parent–child drop-
create the child value to attach to it. I the No radio button option as at this point
down options.) The Geographic
discuss how you can do both in the fol- you are only editing the picklist, not
Mobility field is a field in the person-
lowing sections. importing it. Then click the Browse…
nel information section of the
button and select the .csv file you want to
employee record in which employees
Create the Parent Value import from local system where it is
can record if they are interested in saved. Click the Submit button to import
being relocated to a different region Here you want to add the new picklist
it. After you import (upload) the new file,
of the company. Using cascading values (the parent values) to the .csv file
it replaces the existing file with the newly
picklists you sort the picklists by the that was previously exported (down-
modified or updated file in the Success-
different districts within the region loaded) from the system (step 2). Figure
Factors system.
and reduce the total number of 18 shows the list of the parent values I
picklists. want to create. The ^picklistId value in Once the file is imported a status mes
row 1 under column A is the field name sage appears in the next screen that lets
In this example I use the geographic for the regions (parent values): East, you know that you have successfully
mobility function of the SuccessFactors West, North, and South, in this example. imported your edited picklist file with
Succession Planning module to show Leave the OptionId value in row 1 under the new parent values (Figure 20 on the
how to cascade picklists. Note that you column B blank as this is generated later next page).
Region (parent drop-down value) State or district (child drop-down value)

East Ohio, New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania,
Washington, DC
West Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada
North Montana, Dakota, Minnesota, Wyoming
South Miami, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana
Table 1 Example of picklist values with parent and child drop-down options
Figure 18 The .csv file with the picklists’ values

Figure 19 Import the picklist .csv file
Figure 20 Message telling you that that your new picklist file has been successfully imported
Next, you need to verify that the newly the new values have been created in the tem-generated OptionID for the parent
created picklist (the parent values) has system. file. When creating the child file, leave
been created successfully in the Suc- the OptionId field blank for the district
cessFactors system. As shown in the Create the Child Value and link the appropriate parentOptio-
Excel spreadsheet in Figure 21, all the nId values with the child.
Now it’s time to create the parent–
new picklists have system-generated
child (cascading picklist) .csv file (for Next, you need to link the parent value
OptionID numbers listed in the B
OptionID column (e.g., 5143, 5144, linking the parent value to the child to the child value. In this example, the
5145, and 5146). Figure 21 is a snap- values). When creating the child .csv parent ID option for East is 5143, so
shot of the .csv file that was exported file, you must link the child values you want to link all the districts that
from the SuccessFactors system. Note with the parent values. In the Excel need to fall under the East region to this
that all the new values are created with spreadsheet shown in Figure 22, parent ID. Add Ohio, New York, Penn-
OptionIDs for the parent values. When create the ^picklistId district (child) sylvania, and Washington, DC, to the
you imported this file (Figure 18), it that comes under the region (parent- East region. This you do by modifying
did not have the OptionIDs. Once you OptionId). You created the parent the .csv file that was downloaded from
see the OptionIDs listed you know that previously and already know the sys- the system (Figure 22).
Figure 21 Newly created picklists
Figure 22 The new cascading picklists with parent and child linked .csv files

Follow the same steps (listed in step 2) Configure the Data Model (Figure 24), but you can make changes
to export the new .csv file into the to the code to reflect the new labels.
The last step for cascading your pick-
system (Figure 23). The figure shows
lists is to configure the data model .xml After you enter the new code in the data
the new values for the regions and dis-
tricts that were imported using the new for background element geographic model, you can save the new code in
.csv file. (e.g., each region shows the mobility. The data model .xml code is the provisioning system. This action
appropriate districts linked to it). delivered by the SuccessFactors system results in the final output of the config-
Figure 23 The new cascading picklists with the linked region and district values
Figure 24 Data model .xml code for mobility
Figure 25 The cascading picklist view in the front end
uration in the front end for the users configured functionality to select the regions and districts to which they
(Figure 25). Users can use this newly whether they are willing to relocate, and are willing to relocate. n
Mohan Paul Varghese is a Customer Success Manager with SAP/SuccessFactors in Toronto, Canada. He has helped clients implement
SAP ERP HCM for more than 13 years. He has been involved with large, full-scale SAP ERP HCM implementations using the breadth
and depth of SAP modules. You can contact Mohan via email at editor@hrexpertonline.com.

Tips for Adding Additional Job Information
Fields in the People Pool
by Manjunath Bannur, SuccessFactors, Employee Central Consultant
It is not uncommon for HR users to request that additional custom fields be added to different portlets to capture the data related to their
employees; the Job Information portlet of SuccessFactors Employee Central is no exception. The Job Information section stores important
data related to employees to define the relationship of the employee to the organization. As such, additional fields are often required to
satisfy HR manager or administrator needs. Learn how to add extra and custom fields in the People Pool section of SuccessFactors
Employee Central.
In my other HR Expert article, “Manage can add customized and additional from the Employee Files section. Then
Mass Changes in SuccessFactors fields to your People Pool screen from click the Create New button. The
the Job Information portlet.
Employee Central,” I show how to use Manage Mass Changes screen (Figure
SuccessFactors Employee Central to 1) appears where you can configure the
Go to the Admin Tools section of Suc-
manage mass changes to HR master cessFactors Employee Central and Manage Mass Changes according to
data. With this quick tip, learn how you select the Manage Mass Change option your requirements.
Figure 1 Mass change configuration screen
When you click the Create link next to Information under the Job Information for filtering employees in Employee
Employee Group field (Figure 1), the section, this can be done as explained Central. In this example, I am adding
Employee Group screen appears where below. the standard field Job Title and a
you can configure the grouping of the custom field (Flexible to Travel,
employees for the transaction. In the Under the Succession Data model with the custom-string10 hris-field)
People Pool drop-down field (Figure code (e.g., one of the .xml codes from the Job Information section, as
2), several different Job Information where Employee Central is config- options in the People Pool drop-down
Portlet fields are offered for mass ured), there is a section of code menu. Add this code <hris-field-ref
changes. If you want to add any stan- starting with <dg-filters>. This helps refid=”job-title”/> and <hris-field-ref
dard or custom fields from Job you add the fields to the People Pool refid=”custom-string10”/> under the
Figure 2 Employee group People Pool filter

Figure 3 Add new fields to People Pool
Job Information hris-element-ref (the SuccessFactors portal where the under the People Pool drop-down
code. Once you add this code and code is loaded each time the code is options in Figure 3. n
load the data model from Provisioning changed), these new fields appear
Manjunath Bannur has been in the IT industry for more than 14 years working in various areas of HR, including SAP ERP
HCM (for seven years) and now SuccessFactors Employee Central. He is experienced in implementing SAP ERP HCM
and Employee Central globally. Manjunath can be reached via email at mbannur@gmail.com.
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SuccessFactors and

SAP ERP HCM

An article collection from the publisher

>>EDITORIAL >>PRODUCTION AND LAYOUT Wellesley Information Services

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SAP and SuccessFactors — An Overview........................................................................................................................................................ 3

Creating Metadata Framework Objects in SuccessFactors Employee Central........................................................................................ 51

Calibrate Employee Performance Through SuccessFactors....................................................................................................................... 68

Picklists Management and Cascading Picklists in SuccessFactors......................................................................................................... 96

>> DISCLAIMER >> TRADEMARKS

SAP and SuccessFactors — An Overview

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Figure 1 The SuccessFactors HCM suite

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Figure 2 SAP’s "go-forward" solutions for SAP HCM processes

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Figure 3 The home page of SuccessFactors HCM suite

Figure 4 The Public Profile of an employee

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Figure 6 The OneAdmin page

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Figure 7 The phases of the BizXpert implementation methodology

Figure 8 SuccessFactors Mobile on the Android operating system

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Figure 9 SuccessFactors application architecture

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Figure 10 Integration technology options for talent-hybrid integration

However, companies that do not have

Figure 12 Architecture of middleware integration for recruiting process integration

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Figure 13 Available and planned integrations for the talent-hybrid model

Figure 14 Architecture of compensation process integration

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Figure 15 Architecture of the Recruiting Management process integration

Figure 17 Architecture of qualification process integration with SuccessFactors Learning

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Implementation Partners implementation partners do not have group [http://www.linkedin.com/

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Understanding the SAP ERP HCM Reporting

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Figure 1 On-premise (SAP ERP HCM) vs. cloud (SuccessFactors) platforms

Category Platform description Reporting platform

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Integrating SuccessFactors Employee

>> Note Creating a Mapping Entry in

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Figure 1 Replicate the master data for the US

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Figure 12 Map wage types to infotypes

Figure 13 Assign wage types to infotypes

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Creating Metadata Framework Objects in

Each Generic Object can have up to 200

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Figure 1 Create a new Generic Object definition

• Visibility: Defines whether the asso

For your Association, enter the follow