Kenexa vs SuccessFactors
March 09, 2025 | Author: Adam Levine
0★
IBM Kenexa delivers talent management solutions across the entire employee lifecycle that are backed by behavioral science insight and the unique combination of content, technology and services. Where other companies focus on just one piece, we bring them all together to create the best picture for each company’s success.
13★
SAP SuccessFactors’ time-tested, analyst-recommended solutions drive goal execution across your business from top-to-bottom like no other alternative. By focusing on the three pillars of Business Execution excellence—Business Alignment, Team Execution and People Performance—SuccessFactors Business Execution Software delivers real business impact. It provides the foundation for organizational success by giving you the tools to put the right people in the right place to work on the right things.
Kenexa and SuccessFactors are both large, cloud-based HR software systems, which is a bit like saying both a hammer and a screwdriver are tools—true, but only helpful if you know whether you're trying to build a spaceship or fix a wobbly chair. They both specialize in talent management, helping companies hire, evaluate and train people in the most efficient way possible (which, as anyone who's worked in HR knows, is about as straightforward as convincing a cat to fill out a tax return). They also come with analytics, reporting tools and integrations, which means they can talk to other software systems in a manner slightly more coherent than most middle managers.
Kenexa has been around since 1987, which in software years makes it something of an ancient relic, though IBM decided it was still young and interesting enough to acquire in 2012. It started off with a strong focus on recruitment, assessments and the sort of deep hiring analytics that make people wonder whether a computer actually knows more about them than they do. If you're looking for something that will scientifically determine whether your next hire is a strategic genius or just someone who's good at filling out multiple-choice tests, Kenexa might be the thing for you. It also used to have an on-premise option, for those who enjoy the nostalgic charm of keeping their data physically close, like a Victorian-era gentleman clutching his pocket watch.
SuccessFactors, on the other hand, is the younger, flashier cousin, born in 2001 and promptly scooped up by SAP in 2011. It’s not just about recruitment—it wants to handle your entire workforce, from payroll to global HR management, ensuring that every employee is smoothly tracked, measured and optimized in a way that sounds suspiciously like assembling IKEA furniture. It integrates deeply with SAP’s vast empire of business software, meaning if your company already runs on SAP, SuccessFactors will fit in like a slightly overeager new hire who already knows the office lingo. Unlike Kenexa, it's been purely cloud-based from the start, because who wants to deal with hardware when you can store all your hopes, dreams and employee performance data on someone else’s servers?
See also: Top 10 Intranet Portals
Kenexa has been around since 1987, which in software years makes it something of an ancient relic, though IBM decided it was still young and interesting enough to acquire in 2012. It started off with a strong focus on recruitment, assessments and the sort of deep hiring analytics that make people wonder whether a computer actually knows more about them than they do. If you're looking for something that will scientifically determine whether your next hire is a strategic genius or just someone who's good at filling out multiple-choice tests, Kenexa might be the thing for you. It also used to have an on-premise option, for those who enjoy the nostalgic charm of keeping their data physically close, like a Victorian-era gentleman clutching his pocket watch.
SuccessFactors, on the other hand, is the younger, flashier cousin, born in 2001 and promptly scooped up by SAP in 2011. It’s not just about recruitment—it wants to handle your entire workforce, from payroll to global HR management, ensuring that every employee is smoothly tracked, measured and optimized in a way that sounds suspiciously like assembling IKEA furniture. It integrates deeply with SAP’s vast empire of business software, meaning if your company already runs on SAP, SuccessFactors will fit in like a slightly overeager new hire who already knows the office lingo. Unlike Kenexa, it's been purely cloud-based from the start, because who wants to deal with hardware when you can store all your hopes, dreams and employee performance data on someone else’s servers?
See also: Top 10 Intranet Portals