Jon Wilcox looks at the contenders for this year’s Software Satisfaction Awards; will Octopus get its tentacles around another award?
The nominations for the Sift Media Software Satisfaction Awards 2009 have been unveiled, revealing the HR software solutions looking to pick up a coveted award at this year’s ceremony. Taking place at the Royal Courts of Justice on 8 October, the awards will see a number of new rivalries ignited amongst the HR categories.
In the ‘payroll software’ category, Payroll Manager is vying for a hat-trick of wins. Having seen off the likes of QuickBooks Payroll and IRIS in recent years, the payroll solution from MoneySoft finds itself going up against 2008 runners-up, 12Pay and Pegasus’ Pegasus Opera II Payroll and HR. Will the chequered flag be flying for a third time for the Hampshire developer?
The SME category sees another past winner, Octopus HR, attempt to win an award following its 2008 success in the now-defunct ‘mid-range’ category. Octopus finds itself a new rival in Select HR. The multi-tentacle software company also finds itself nominated in a second category this year, the inaugural web-based HR award, where Cascade HR awaits it. The question of course is whether Octopus can pull off a double victory?
Like its web-based HR rival, Cascade HR also finds itself up for two awards in 2009. Besides its SaaS nomination, the Yorkshire firm features in the ‘enterprise’ category. It’s rival? SnowdropKCS, the now amalgamated HR software acquired by Sage two years ago. Like several of the non-HR categories at this year’s awards, the enterprise category promises to be a battle between SaaS and on-premise software. It’s almost a battle of ideologies, and will no doubt be hotly contested come October.
2009 will see a new winner crowned in the ‘talent management software’ category, as 2008 runner-up iCMIS finds itself up against Carbon360, from Element 78 Solutions. Will the Bristol-based Carbon360 be as hard as diamond in its David vs. Goliath battle against its multi-national rival? Like the SaaS/on-premise fight in the enterprise category, the talent management war will surely prove one to watch in October.
To view the shortlist in full, click here.
