Oracle PeopleSoft Human Capital Management review

Oracle hardly needs much introduction as it has been around since 1977 and was started in Santa Clara, California. It has since grown into the largest company in database management, with over $40 billion annually in revenue, and over 132,000 employees. It moved headquarters to the “Silicon Hills” of Austin, Texas in 2020.

PeopleSoft was originally a company founded in 1987, and acquired by Oracle in 2005. Under the PeopleSoft banner, Oracle offers a number of cloud-based software solutions, including the Human Capital Management (HCM), Campus Solutions, and Procurement and Supplier Management.

Plans and pricing

An area that falls short for Oracle’s PeopleSoft is in pricing. This is because the pricing is left off of the Oracle website and not indicated at all. Rather, company contact is required for a custom quote with your business credentials, which can be done either via a phone call, or a chat box.

Oracle is not really upfront about the pricing, with competitors providing this info easily findable on the webpage. Rather, Oracle really makes you work for it, but if you look high and low, you eventually find a “PeopleSoft Commercial Price List.” This reveals that the price is based on the modules selected. The choices are:

Note that each of the charges above are by the employee, but it is not specified if the first number is a one time fee, and then the second is a recurrent fee (and unclear if annually or monthly). The minimum is for all the employees to be enrolled, so unfortunately it does not work to apply this to just a single department, for example.

While there is no setup fee, PeopleSoft again falls short as there is no free tier, nor free trial. It is not specified if there are contracts and the potential duration.

Features

PeopleSoft HCM endeavors to streamline HR processes with a total solution to address all the needs for a busy HR department of an organization. Categories of the program include Benefits Solutions, Help Desk for HR, Global Payroll, and Time and Labor among a multitude of categories- each with a comprehensive approach and laden with features.

Let’s take a closer look at the module, Recruiting Solutions to get a better appreciation of the capability of PeopleSoft HCM through the challenging process of recruiting a candidate for a position. There is a Candidate Gateway that can “Create a personalized candidate homepage,” through which applicants can then save their CV, a job search, a profile, and also an application, which then provides a central location for tracking the applicant’s job search activities. 

Current job openings can be viewed by all- applicants, managers, and employees looking to transfer or promote. Resumes can be not only uploaded, but also created and updated, and also reviewed. The Candidate Gateway is designed for ease of use, as internal candidates can pull in their existing info for resume creation; external applicants also use the system but just need to create a new account. Furthermore, this Candidate Gateway meets all the US and European requirements for diversity in hiring. Once a candidate gets past the initial application, the Candidate Gateway continues to be useful for tracking the interview schedule, reviewing job offers, and being able to access documents online. An applicant even has the ability to accept or reject the job offer online!

Support

As might be expected for a larger provider, Oracle offers a variety of support options for this product. It starts with a toll free number, that can handle both technical, and non-technical issues, along with assisting with product downloads. Notably, there is also a Telecommunications Relay Service (TRS) for those that are hearing impaired. Then there is also the “My Oracle Support” portal. It requires an Oracle login, but then enables users to search the knowledge base, and also interact with the communities. There is also free, online training.

Oracle does point out that the benefits of a SaaS include that they take care of all of the updates, which are “Regularly delivered,” and can be both for maintenance, and also to introduce new features, which come out quarterly. There is also the opportunity to provide input for the PeopleSoft roadmap.

Not all of the support options are available as we did not find a fax number, a direct support email, nor a chat box.

Final verdict

Oracle PeopleSoft HCM is a mature, and comprehensive SaaS for a human resources department for an enterprise setting. The high points include the rich feature set such as the Candidate Gateway, the online support community with direct support via phone and online training options, and the frequent updates. The lows include the difficult to find pricing, the lack of some support options like direct email, fax and chat, and the pricing that can get expensive as multiple modules are selected to meet needs, rather than a more comprehensive package. Larger organizations should certainly take a close look at this solution if they want a mature, and well polished option.

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