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IBM Kenexa vs PeopleStrong comparison

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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 Talent Management
17th
Ranking in Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software
6th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Benefits Administration (12th)
PeopleStrong
Ranking in Talent Management
13th
Ranking in Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software
7th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
6.9
Number of Reviews
8
Ranking in other categories
Cloud HCM (13th), Talent Acquisition (11th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of September 2026, in the Talent Management category, the mindshare of IBM Kenexa is 1.6%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of PeopleStrong is 1.8%, up from 1.3% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Talent Management Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
PeopleStrong1.8%
IBM Kenexa1.6%
Other96.6%
Talent Management
 

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.
Vibha  Mishra - PeerSpot reviewer
Global L&D Lead at Tieto Sweden AB
Provide performance management and HR operations but lacks AI capabilities
Using PeopleStrong, uploading modules, and downloading reports was very easy. The process was hassle-free and user-friendly. We use PeopleStrong for performance management and HR operations, such as storing data and handling documentation when a new person joins the company. For learning and…

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."
"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."
"Now, having provided this, amongst many other things, we have a much closer relationship to the business."
"This tool is very powerful and the ability to tweak it in order to meet desired processes and controls is valuable."
"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."
"Without this solution, we would have more administrative functions and would need to hire more HR employees."
"We like IBM; IBM has been great partners for us, they're really invested in our success, and they see us as a valuable client."
"It has definitely improved my organization by being able to help the recruiters move candidates through the interview process."
"The mobile responsiveness is strong."
"The UI and UX are fantastic."
"With PeopleStrong, you will be able to do all of those things while working at home."
"PeopleStrong Alt is flexible because it allows customization and the user's experience is very good."
"It is priced low."
"The product has valuable flexibility for customization, user interface, and search capabilities."
"The hiring process is good. It will create a process-oriented procedure in terms of hiring, promotion, the movement of people, and other related HR tasks."
"Some of the most valuable features are the onboarding experience of new employees, the employee service portal, and the entire performance management system."
 

Cons

"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."
"2xO was created by brain-damaged monkeys in front of keyboards."
"My rating is not higher because of the support, honestly; the global service center model."
"Being in a silo of my own world, my wish would be that everything that's available in their legacy views would be moved into their new Talent Suite products, so we could move over to that."
"Once-a-year engagement kind of seems to be a little bit lagging in terms of how we can actually shape and improve organizations, so I was looking forward to understanding a bit more where IBM Kenexa's thinking is going in terms of pulsing with the employee voice and how that kind of integrates and works with tell-it-as-it-is, and the other two applications we have; it's just too early to know."
"Technical support was not always great. They tend to push you towards workbench admins or paid support."
"The downside is it's a system that was created many, many years ago and so it just evolves."
"We have about 50 requests for enhancements in the system right now."
"They had challenges getting the performance management system up and integrated with our systems."
"It would be helpful if you could work offline because sometimes, we have problems with internet connectivity."
"They could improve talent management capabilities."
"The solution's workflow can improve by adding more customization at the organizational level."
"Sometimes, we feel that we should have an API-based integration aspect."
"The global scalability and support could improve."
"They could include a sort of collaborative platform where employees are able to work together with a chat mechanism like WhatsApp and video chat."
"PeopleStrong could make it AI-friendly."
 

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 product has reasonable pricing."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"It's very reasonably priced. It is paid per employee."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Outsourcing Company
16%
Construction Company
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
19%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Computer Software Company
9%
 

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 Business2
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise5
 

Questions from the Community

Ask a question
Earn 20 points
What is your experience regarding pricing and costs for PeopleStrong Alt?
It is priced low. I rate the product’s pricing a three out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive.
What is your primary use case for PeopleStrong Alt?
Using PeopleStrong, uploading modules, and downloading reports was very easy. The process was hassle-free and user-friendly. We use PeopleStrong for performance management and HR operations, such a...
What advice do you have for others considering PeopleStrong Alt?
It offers multiple options since it’s a comprehensive platform. You can detail any session and create custom reports tailored to your needs, rather than relying solely on pre-generated reports. Ove...
 

Also Known As

IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart
PeopleStrong Alt
 

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
Hyundai, Amara Raja, Air Asia, Tata Motors, Aviva, Schneider Electric, JLL Business Services, Schindler, Tata AIG, novo nordisk, Cipla
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Kenexa vs. PeopleStrong and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
912,930 professionals have used our research since 2012.