IBM Kenexa Reviews

I used IBM Kenexa BrassRing for a number of years. It is a cloud-based system that helps manage the recruitment process. With BrassRing, we could easily keep track of job applicants, right from when they applied to when we hired them. One convenient feature is that it lets you integrate it with your other systems using single sign-on, making everything accessible in one place. We used it for all our international hiring needs outside of India and China. While BrassRing allowed us to customize our recruitment process to suit our needs, it has limited built-in connections to other systems, so if you need more advanced integrations, it often requires expensive custom development.

Using BrassRing was helpful because it made our processes more digital, which is important nowadays. IBM, in the beginning, provided great support and showed us how to connect with other tools, which was valuable. But recently, since the ownership changed, it hasn't been as innovative, causing some clients to look for better, more modern options.

The most valuable features of BrassRing are its ability to keep us compliant with local laws and its organized structure. It is great at making sure we follow all the rules in the places we hire, which is very important. The way it is set up, with requisitions and HR, just makes sense and works well, especially for big companies.

BrassRing needs improvement in a few areas. First, it should update how it tracks where candidates come from and avoid duplicate entries. Right now, it is not very flexible. Also, its way of making reports feels old-fashioned. It would be better if it could make reports with graphs and charts more easily from our questions. When it was with IBM, it had plans for innovation, but it seems that's not happening with the current company. So, it needs to update its reporting and analytics tools.

I have used IBM Kenexa BrassRing for eight years.

Despite its limitations, BrassRing is a reliable tool, especially for big organizations like ours. When we had problems, we found ways to make it work, even if it wasn't perfect. It is a system we can trust, and we rarely had downtime or issues during my eight to nine years using it. BrassRing's team always lets us know ahead of time if there is planned maintenance. In short, BrassRing has been dependable and useful.

Scalability with BrassRing is excellent. We began with just the US and expanded to over 32 countries. The ease of scaling is one of BrassRing's biggest strengths, making it a trusted choice for large companies. When I left the company, over 2,000 people were using BrassRing for different tasks. This included recruiters, hiring managers, approval teams, delivery staff, people from various countries and departments, HR, and onboarding teams. It was a widely used tool across the organization.

At first, when BrassRing was with IBM, their technical support was great, a four point five out of five. However, after the change of ownership, their support became less proactive. They started addressing problems only when they came up, rather than being ahead of the game. They still did their job, but the proactiveness dropped. I would rate the technical support a seven out of ten.

Neutral

Before switching to BrassRing, my previous company used SAP E-Recruiting.

The deployment of the solution took between six to eight months. When we introduced BrassRing at my company, we encountered several challenges. First, moving data from our old system to BrassRing was tough because it needed reformatting. Second, connecting BrassRing with our HR data was tricky due to manual processes for roles and departments. Third, setting up the workflow in BrassRing was complex. Fourth, configuring user access and approval levels was a detailed task. We also had to manage the change process, including running both old and new systems in parallel, communicating changes, and training users. Lastly, monitoring and reporting were needed to ensure data accuracy and proper system usage once everything was in place. We had a team of six to eight people managing the project from our side during the BrassRing deployment. I'm not sure about the size of the BrassRing team, and we also had our own technical team, which had three to four members. The solution required maintenance, particularly from my side as the administrator. Maintenance responsibilities were divided into two parts: some tasks we, as end-users, could control, while others were the responsibility of the BrassRing team. Payment-related tasks were a regular part of our responsibilities. I wasn't the only person maintaining the solution. There were three power users from Infosys, each responsible for a specific geography. My counterpart managed it in the US, and I, along with my colleague in India, managed it for other geographies.

We have seen a return on investment from using BrassRing, especially considering the scale of our operations. The number of hires made through BrassRing and the compliance requirements it helped us meet have contributed to a positive return on investment.

As a large company, we first bought the complete BrassRing package, which had various features. Later on, we paid extra for specific features like customer test management. When we integrated with third-party systems, it often came with additional costs. Simple integrations, like posting jobs on LinkedIn or Glassdoor, were free, but if we needed more complex integrations that shared candidate information between different systems, we had to pay extra charges. It is definitely a cost-effective solution. I would rate it a two out of ten in terms of costliness.

After evaluating several options, including BrassRing and Taleo, BrassRing was chosen because it offered the best balance of cost-effectiveness and compliance. While the other system matched compliance requirements, it was deemed too expensive in comparison to BrassRing, which made it a cost-effective choice while still meeting compliance needs.

My advice to people who are considering implementing BrassRing is to assess your company's needs. If you are a larger-scale company aiming to streamline and automate your processes digitally, BrassRing can work well for you. However, if you are seeking innovation and more advanced features, there may be better products available on the market. Overall, I would rate the solution a six out of ten.