Brassring vs. SilkRoad Recruiting

Other products in the same category as Kenexa 2x BrassRing would be Taleo and PeopleFluent. I would also look into Avature as an ATS option. I am currently on the sourcing side of the recruitment process and use Avature for tracking and candidate mining purposes. I would recommend getting any kind of demo possible since the user interfaces vary quite a bit between them. Ease of use and overall stability should be kept in mind when comparing ATS prices.

I think OpenHire is best for a small company (max about 2500 employees). The more employees you have the more HR people you should have and this can get expensive. I know most larger companies are using more advanced systems as well (Workday). During the selection process be sure to determine how many OpenHire users you would need. Ask whether your managers will be willing to work in the system as well or whether HR would have to own the entire process. If you are EEOC compliant, make sure you ask about diversity posting, APP tracking of applicants, and reporting needs. If you require an onboarding tool, SilkRoad offers RedCarpet. I found it to be very complex and hiring managers refused to use it. If you require an onboarding tool, definitely look into it. The demo may look great but there were a lot of implementation steps done to make it work and it just didn't fit our company culture. So make sure it fits yours.

Incentivized

• Kenexa allows Boolean key word search within a particular requisition so it makes sifting through a high number of applicants manageable and effective
• Kenexa can be tailored to meet individual business needs. During the time we’ve had Kenexa here I’ve used it in support of a few different business segments and for each the way the system was used to “position” candidate statuses have varied based on the individual need of the business. One example is when interviewing a high volume of applicants internationally, we were able to send qualified applicants through to the “event manager” and it would enable the candidate to select his/her interview date/time based on previously submitted options inputted by our Kenexa users.
• Kenexa allows one to customize and score questions for each open requisition that applicants complete as they apply. The system then sorts applicants according to the score of candidate answers allowing for easy sorting of top qualified candidates.

• The ease of use when it comes to create requisitions from a hiring managers side of things is definitely a positive. It's very much user intuitive and the specifications can be completely customized as to what a company would like to appear within said requisition.
• Candidate correspondence is an absolute breeze as you can custom load templates into the system that can be edited at any time through an administrator in your company instead of having to go through a technical support team on the other side of things.
• Overall, it's a pretty no muss no fuss system to use as there's not a great layer of complication about it and like most things, spaced practice and consistent exposure to it tend to iron out those rough edges. From an administration standpoint, adding in locations and hiring managers is incredibly simplistic along with reporting functionality.
• Candidate folders have come a long way in the system and are much more user friendly at this point than when I began using the system some four years ago. It's very easy to shift candidate profiles between folders and edit on the fly.

Incentivized

• Setting up integrations is extremely tedious. For instance, setting up an address feed would have required sending over 5 different spreadsheets on a daily basis (one each for every facility name, street address, zip code, state, country) and a 6th sheet to make the connection between the other 5 elements. We opted not to set up that integration as a result.

Incentivized

• We no longer use Silkroad largely because it caused me more work. There was no ability to make documents required in the application process. Although we said a resume, transcripts, a specific list of references and cover letter were required in the posting more than 90% of applications were missing something which forced me to correspond with thousands of applicants and wasted a lot of time.
• They lack integrity. We were promised customer support for applicants when we purchased Silkroad but it was yanked about a year later. It wasted even more of my time and showed a lack of integrity on the part of the company.
• It lacked some of the reporting we needed and every time we needed something special it was an extra cost.

Incentivized

I am confident that the Kenexa product will continue to evolve to meet the needs of our business in an ever changing work environment. The affiliation with IBM also plays a factor as we have a long standing successful relationship with IBM products. We will be looking to integrate other Kenexa products in the near future to streamline our HR processes.

It was a great solution for the company in all aspects, especially the cost. The company was not in a position to afford a solution such as Oracle PeopleSoft. The only reason we did not renew OpenHire was we got acquired by a much larger organization and started utilizing the tools that the parent company had available

Incentivized

There is nothing that a recruiter needs to do that they can't do with Kenexa 2XB but the proprietary, old fashioned UI is far from intuitive to use. I only rate 2XB this highly because the SaaS is up most of the time, performance is usually reasonable, and it does actually work.

It's not a bad system to use, there just seems to be so much click through to get one task achieved. Once you know all the little routes and pieces it gets easier.

Incentivized

Just slow for what we are doing here

It is a very basic system. It may be OK for entry level positions only. The practice of removing CVs while the recruitment process is ON is disturbing and there is no one to explain or to inform why it is being done. Even a routine mail is not sent to the client/consultant. I am surprised how this system is continuing without too many complaints.

The support for Silkroad is awful. I know they are working on it and it seems to be slightly better but it's still not great. I have had multiple cases I have never heard from them on, others I have had to follow-up multiple times and one that took a year

Incentivized

We purchased an out of the box solution and that worked well for us.

Incentivized

The primary reason of still going with Kenexa is because we have been using it for quite some time now. And considering it is used by more than 30 countries, it makes the training and communication about Kenexa easy. Also purchasing this license for a longer period (3, 5 years) makes it very cost effective as well.

Incentivized

OpenHire is not nearly as advanced as Kenexa and is probably more on par with iCIMS. I did find iCIMS had some additional functionality and was easier to use than OpenHire. OpenHire's system seems much more fragmented, requiring work arounds than either of the others. I also found iCIMS to have better customer service when in need of help using the system or requesting any changes. OpenHire was the selection at my previous company based on its global platform as well as cost savings. At my current company, OpenHire was selected prior to my joining, however, for the level of recruiting we do, the lack of sophistication isn't really an issue.

Incentivized

• Kenexa has assisted us in identifying top talent within our target market of applicants.
• Kenexa may exclude potentially good associates that don't test well.
• Kenexa clearly defines specific categories and general notes for training, development, & coaching of associates on areas of opportunity.

Incentivized

• OpenHire has very positively impacted our organization. It has allowed us to streamline our process and keep record of all of our recruitment electronically instead of in paper.
• It has allowed us to have a consistent recruitment process in all of our countries
• It has greatly increased the efficiency of our recruitment team.
• Only negative is that our organization has an expectation for reports and we are not able to always give them what they would like out of the system.

Incentivized