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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
18th
Ranking in Talent Management
19th
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 April 2026, in the Benefits Administration category, the mindshare of IBM Kenexa is 1.7%, up from 0.6% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Oracle HCM Cloud is 4.6%, down from 12.9% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Benefits Administration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Oracle HCM Cloud4.6%
IBM Kenexa1.7%
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

"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."
"Kenexa’s scalability has been great, as we can grow and expand our use no matter what and seamlessly incorporate our business process for new launches."
"I think one of the biggest benefits that Kenexa brings is the scalability."
"For us in particular, I love how configurable the system is; I can use the same technology for different parts of my business."
"The ability now to be able to take data, load it yourself, ask the business questions and get the answers on your own process with the business just made it a lot faster, and the cognitive solution gives us some insights for us to think about."
"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."
"We acquired a pharmacy retailer three years ago, and Kenexa enabled us to actually standardize our employee engagement across both of those organizations, helping us understand at an enterprise level what was going on and, most importantly, how people were starting to feel about being acquired and joining the broader company space."
"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."
"The solution's most valuable features are all the human resources aspects and access management, as well as the talent review. The solution's talent management is very, very good."
"Oracle HCM Cloud's most valuable feature is that it is user-friendly."
"Its drag-and-drop reporting is great."
"This solution is valuable because it's robust and very dependable."
"The product's most valuable feature is the centralization of data."
"HCM Cloud's most valuable feature is its ease of use - it's interlinked, so you can drill down into information."
"In my opinion, one of the most useful features in Oracle HCM Cloud is that we currently have so many things on the same screen—we don't need to click so many times to get the answers; on the same screen, we get a lot of information, which is really helpful."
"Oracle HCM Cloud adds the latest features on a quarterly basis to the cloud, which makes it very easy for customers to adapt to the new features."
 

Cons

"I would not recommend IBM Kenexa to others."
"The reporting feature currently is our biggest struggle point; getting the data we need and in the fashion that we need it is a current struggle point for us."
"Improved integrations: There are all kinds of issues with integrations, hires failing."
"The team didn't find the reporting tool that easy to use, in terms of pulling their own data, slicing and dicing it, combining groups."
"The downside is it's a system that was created many, many years ago and so it just evolves."
"IBM Kenexa has a lot of room for improvement. The solution is not advancing anymore in terms of the user experience and in the workflows."
"My rating is not higher because of the support, honestly; the global service center model."
"Maybe there's some room for improvement in the functionality around the actual tools that we build with."
"In some cases, the price may be lower depending on what is negotiated."
"Cloud learning can be improved."
"It would be very nice if we were able to roll back transactions from data that was loaded with the data loader."
"An employee needs training to apply for leave, something as simple as that. They shouldn't need training materials or user guides to navigate the system. We're moving towards empowering users, especially with end-user-facing systems. People should be self-reliant and not need to rely on manuals. Oracle HCM Cloud is very old-school in this regard."
"Exposure to users on the volume or utilization of servers and memory is necessary. Currently, when users hit the threshold, the system experiences a slowdown."
"The compensation module needs further automation."
"The tool's configurable side allows you to have more flexibility, but at the same time, it creates a lot of confusion that still has to do over so much of the configuration, which are areas that are conflicting in nature."
"I think some of the newer technology innovations, such as gamification and consumerization are areas that could be improved."
 

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."
"The cost of Oracle HCM Cloud is high, it could be reduced. There is an annual subscription and it is user-based."
"It is definitely super expensive. Oracle is very, very expensive for what they offer."
"On a scale from one to ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive, I rate the solution's pricing a five out of ten."
"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."
"Though I cannot comment on the solution's cost, a fixed cost is involved based on my understanding. The cost multiplies based on the number of users."
"According to the Turkish market, the pricing is a little bit expensive."
"I am not normally involved in the product's pricing since it normally involves the packages that a user chooses. Pricing differs based on a case-to-case scenario and client-to-client basis."
"The data traffic cost is expensive. The solution can scale up beyond my imagination, but the cost can rise up easily."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
12%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Financial Services Firm
9%
Manufacturing Company
8%
Comms Service Provider
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 Business25
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.
886,719 professionals have used our research since 2012.