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IBM Kenexa vs Oracle HCM Cloud comparison

 

Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Nov 4, 2024

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Kenexa
Ranking in Benefits Administration
16th
Ranking in Talent Management
17th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software (10th)
Oracle HCM Cloud
Ranking in Benefits Administration
4th
Ranking in Talent Management
4th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
75
Ranking in other categories
Cloud HCM (4th), HR Analytics Software (1st), Talent Acquisition (3rd)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of May 2026, in the Benefits Administration category, the mindshare of IBM Kenexa is 1.8%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle HCM Cloud is 4.5%, down from 12.7% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Benefits Administration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Oracle HCM Cloud4.5%
IBM Kenexa1.8%
Other93.7%
Benefits Administration
 

Featured Reviews

Karan Grover - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Suitable for larger-scale companies aiming to streamline and automate their processes digitally
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.
AanilaNanda - PeerSpot reviewer
Human Resources Intern at a government with 10,001+ employees
Provides unified access to multiple HR functions and reduces navigation effort
I am generally satisfied with the talent management capabilities in Oracle HCM Cloud, but as I mentioned, there are certain pages that really lag sometimes and there are a lot of bugs in talent management. Before, when it had a responsive UI, it was fine, but after it switched to Redwood, I feel there are bugs, and the functionality stated in the documents is not accurate. It takes some time to get that feature, and we need to raise product SR or ask in the community how it works. It's not easily understandable, especially in the talent management area. One potential area of improvement for Oracle HCM Cloud is that it lags. It takes time to reflect the pages, and the loading time now requires us to wait for the page to load. Earlier, we used to click and see the page immediately. However, now we need to wait for it to get loaded, which can be frustrating when working in a fast mode.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"It is extremely user friendly. It is very flexible in managing recruitment, especially when you have thousands of applicants as we did. We easily had over 20,000 applicants within a year for some of our positions, so it made it very easy to manage a large application pool. It was very easy to customize by recruiter preference. When you open up someone's profile to see their experience, education, or other things, you can customize that for yourself. It was flexible in that, and each recruiter could set up their preferences. It didn't have to be set up so that everyone had to have the same landing platform, which was very helpful. As someone who trained other HR people on how to use the system, it was very easy to pick up and learn."
"Scalability is great, as we use the system for everything from a very low-volume, high-touch corporate recruiting model to our tax office, high-volume approach, which is 80-100,000 people each season."
"Overall, from a recruiter's perspective, it is an excellent product and is probably one of the best recruitment products out there in terms of usability, ease of understanding, and management of large applicant pools."
"I like how we can copy a req as we have many duplicates, which saved a lot of time when opening reqs."
"As I said, IBM are doing a great job with us at the moment, but we're always looking and speaking and open to having conversations with other people because the market's changing and IBM are aware of that."
"I would say the support that we get from the CSMs is the most valuable for me right now, because I'm still leaning on them pretty heavily to understand everything that I'm doing within the system."
"The most valuable features are that we can upload documents and download them on demand, whether it is joining documents, employment screening, or your employment history, and it's easy enough to upload, find, and retrieve whatever you are looking for."
"The most valuable features are that we can upload documents and download them on demand."
"It has good navigation, and it is user friendly and secure. Every three months, there is an upgrade, and it has new features."
"What I like best about Oracle HCM Cloud is that its configuration is okay; I also like it in terms of updates, as product updates that take place from time to time improve Oracle HCM Cloud."
"The tool's implementation has resulted in significant time savings, ranging from 30 to 50 percent across various processes. Oracle HCM, particularly its payroll functionality, has proven to be highly valuable for our organization. Additionally, the ability to implement various customizations has proven valuable. The robust nature of Oracle HCM Cloud ensures high accuracy."
"The solution has good integration with other applications."
"The solution's most valuable features are all the human resources aspects and access management, as well as the talent review, and the solution's talent management is very, very good."
"The most valuable features in Oracle HCM Cloud are the employee and manager self-services."
"Pricing is competitive."
"Job postings and links to job boards are very helpful for talent acquisition."
 

Cons

"The downside of Kenexa is that they're constantly reinventing, so they have constant releases with new features and upgrades. The downside of that is that they do experience fairly regular issues with stability that they're not always as quick to respond to as we'd like them to."
"The reason I’m not rating it with five stars is because of its sheer size."
"The reporting tool is helpful, but it is not the easiest to train on or is not as understandable for other HR pros. Their Workbench site, which is the administrator site that you use to update your website, is not user-friendly. When updates are required, it is not that easy to manage because Workbench is not user friendly. It required more work from the admins. They have Workbench training, which actually was very unhelpful. It took eight hours to complete, and it was not very helpful. Their customer service when it comes specifically to their Workbench site is not helpful."
"I'm just taking over the account, so I'm still pretty new to the whole system."
"We're really looking forward to some of their enhancements to their onboarding portal, specifically for recruiters and hiring managers."
"Technical support was not always great. They tend to push you towards workbench admins or paid support."
"I would not recommend IBM Kenexa to others."
"The user interface could do with an overhaul."
"Cloud learning can be improved."
"I think they should have a larger data center in China, which would significantly increase the access speed from my current workspace."
"I would like to see improvements in the user experience, specifically reducing the number of clicks required to achieve desired outcomes. Additionally, enhancing the look and feel of the front end and allowing for a greater level of configuration would be beneficial. Its pricing should be less."
"The solution has much room for improvement in all the modules."
"The user interface, as well as the interfaces between modules, should definitely be enhanced."
"We're not receiving the proper support."
"Oracle's technical support is generally satisfactory yet lacks flexibility and rapid response times."
"Learning Management on cloud is relatively new and has scope for improvement."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Kenexa was fairly priced. However, in 2019, before I left my previous organization, they significantly increased their pricing. It can be affordable, but their pricing is going up. It is not just licensing; it is how many applicants you have in your system on the database side."
"It has a licensing cost. It has a cloud-based subscription, which is quite cheap."
"Licensing fees are on a yearly basis."
"I cannot comment on the cost, as this is handled by a different team."
"The price of Oracle HCM Cloud could improve. However, everyone would like the price of a solution they are using to be less expensive."
"There is a license required for the use of this solution and we are on an annual license."
"I haven't personally dealt with the cost details, but based on client feedback, Oracle HCM Cloud is considered expensive due to additional support costs on top of licensing fees."
"The cost of Oracle HCM Cloud is high, it could be reduced. There is an annual subscription and it is user-based."
"I rate the product's pricing a seven out of ten."
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893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
11%
Comms Service Provider
11%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Healthcare Company
7%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
8%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Construction Company
7%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business26
Midsize Enterprise18
Large Enterprise33
 

Questions from the Community

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What are the differences between Oracle HCM Cloud and PeopleSoft?
Although both are solutions to manage HR, their differences make each one suitable for different companies. Oracle Cloud HCM is a platform for connecting all human resource processes in your organ...
What do you like most about Oracle HCM Cloud?
The most valuable features of the solution are the core HR, absence, payroll, and recruitment modules.
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for Oracle HCM Cloud?
I feel the pricing for Oracle HCM Cloud is market competitive; other products are in the same range. Out of ten, I feel it's around six or seven. It's reasonable and not that much.
 

Also Known As

IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart
Oracle Human Capital Management Cloud
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sweet Spot International (SSI), Leo Burnett Worldwide (LBW), Sika AG, Legacy Health, Apollo Group Inc., Regeneron, Transurban Group, National Health Service, New Zealand Police, Overland Footwear, Yealands, Johnson Controls, Allscripts, Kerry Foods, Masterpet, AMD, Balfour Beatty
Kovaion Consulting India Pvt. Ltd., eVerge Group, Kalpataru, Logicalis Inc., Macmillan Science and Education, Drivestream Inc., Kamal Osman Jamjoom Group LLC, WAXIE Sanitary Supply
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Kenexa vs. Oracle HCM Cloud and other solutions. Updated: April 2026.
893,438 professionals have used our research since 2012.