Earlier this year, Oracle executives were doubtless among those who chortled as the Software-as-a-Service battle plans of Lars Dalgaard, SAP‘s head of cloud and former chief executive of its SuccessFactors acquisition, were laid bare in a leaked internal document.
But the boot is now on the other foot as Oracle’s sales strategy for its human capital management applications has been publically exposed in a document on its own website.
The 48-page work entitled ‘Fusion HCM and Taleo: GTM [go-to-market] Strategy and Partner Playbook’ has now been pulled from public view. But it was dated this month and lays out the sales pitch and positioning for the vendor’s technology, its selling guidelines and scenarios, and its discounting information.
The document – intended only for the eyes of Oracle staff and partner companies – identifies two "mega trends" that are driving the HCM applications market: employee experience and migration to the cloud.
However, the most interesting point for HR directors perhaps is the apparently good deals that can be gained with a bit of negotiation – the Playbook states that Oracle intends to employ heavy discounting to win contracts.
These discounts will vary according to size of the customer, however. Those with fewer than 2,500 employees can expect a 20% "HCM SaaS Base Discount". But if you have more than 150,000 staff, you could be in for a tasty 64% price cut. Those in the middle can expect to get about 52% off.
Here’s a case in point for Taleo:"Example: Customer with 10k employees buying Recruiting with a 10% Field Discretionary Discount (10,000 EE’s) * ($1 Platform + $2 Recruiting) * (1 – 40% Volume Discount) * (1 – 10% Discretionary Discount) * (12 months) = $194,400 Notes: Additional promotional discounts (e.g. 30%) may be applied in carefully defined, approved cases".
Stumping competitors
But with its own Fusion HCM offering and the Taleo system that Oracle acquired earlier this year, its Playbook also confidently boasts that the supplier now "stumps competitors".
It is not above offering its partners guidance on how to approach potential customers and with what offerings, however. For example, if an organisation is a likely prospect for a full HCM suite, partners are advised to lead with Fusion HCM but include Fusion Performance and Compensation along with Taleo Recruiting and Taleo Learn in the pitch.
On the other hand, "full talent suite" deals should lead with Taleo Performance Suite and must include all Talent modules (Recruiting, Learning, Performance and Compensation) – although, seemingly, it’s also "OK to lead with Fusion Performance in a full suite case if install base is Fusion HCM, or E-Business Suite HCM, or PeopleSoft HCM."
Meanwhile, Oracle’s future HCM product roadmap includes integration between Taleo and PeopleSoft as well as its own E-Business Suite and Fusion HCM. Ultimately, the Playbook says, this will lead to the creation of a "superset performance product" that includes the best of Fusion HCM and Taleo.
The document notes, however, that Fusion HCM "will remain on controlled availability and require development approval" until October. Taleo Performance and Compensation is likewise on controlled availability.
