No more typing reviews! Try our Samantha, our new voice AI agent.

IBM Kenexa vs Sage People 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)
Sage People
Ranking in Benefits Administration
17th
Ranking in Talent Management
25th
Average Rating
7.8
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
15
Ranking in other categories
Cloud HCM (21st), HR Analytics Software (8th), Talent Acquisition (16th)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of June 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 Sage People is 2.3%, up from 0.8% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Benefits Administration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
IBM Kenexa1.8%
Sage People2.3%
Other95.9%
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.
Anastacia Mahachi - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior HR and Payroll Consultant at a tech services company with 11-50 employees
Allows for storing comprehensive employee information
The most valuable features are employee historical information and reporting capabilities. Sage People is a comprehensive system that allows for storing a lot of employee information. Apart from basic details like name and surname, you can add links to other employee information such as cloud or team accounts, medical aids, and pension funds. You can also store historical data like position changes and salary increases. This information is valuable even for inactive employees. The reporting features are also very valuable because, on top of 300+ reports available on the system, you can also customize quite a number of reports. So you can even build your own reports on top of the internal reports out of there. And on the reports, you have legally compliant reports available. So you won't even have to copy it. The auditors will give you a sample for reports. Those reports are already available in stage three and video group modules.

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."
"Great value and flexibility in an ATS, mainly through the automation and the configuration through Workbench you can do to manipulate the candidate experience to really be something that candidates like and allows them to apply to your site easily and put them in a pipeline for recruiters to access and move through a process and get somebody hired."
"Now, having provided this, amongst many other things, we have a much closer relationship to the business."
"It allowed for truly global listing for all open positions."
"I just think it's a good tool, with great flexibility."
"Of all the current talent analytics offerings on the market today, IBM Kenexa Talent Insights is the most comprehensive end-to-end, data-agnostic analytics tool."
"It has definitely improved my organization by being able to help the recruiters move candidates through the interview process."
"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."
"The most valuable feature of Sage People is the integration with our payroll system."
"Compared to the other HR systems I have used in the past, I can say that Sage is in my top five when it comes to recommendations."
"The solution's initial setup was straightforward."
"Without a doubt, the most valuable aspect of this solution is the reports, as it offers endless possibilities for report customization. You can easily build any report you can imagine with this system."
"We are now able to visualize global team structures, and as we rollout other features, the organization will benefit from an easy to use system and standard processes."
"Compared to the other system that we were using, I think Sage is more friendly. As an administrator, Sage's dashboard is visually friendly and many tasks are easier to accomplish. Another feature that we've liked since we started using Sage is the reporting. With the other system, we needed to configure a lot of things manually when it came to reporting, but with Sage the reporting tasks are much simpler."
"The most valuable features of Sage People are the reports that are useful for decision-making and the API that can be integrated well. Additionally, the solution can be accessed from mobile devices onto the cloud."
"The solution provides the ability to trace back records, is reliable, makes life easy, and is secure."
 

Cons

"In the past year, there has been a significant increase in the amount of internal errors that are displayed."
"It was a little rocky, as they always are, but we went live on time and that's all that matters."
"There were functions we couldn't customize and needed to."
"Maybe there's some room for improvement in the functionality around the actual tools that we build with."
"My rating is not higher because of the support, honestly; the global service center model."
"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."
"The downside is it's a system that was created many, many years ago and so it just evolves."
"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."
"There is a mash-up of Visualforce and apex triggers which bear down heavily on the system."
"There were a couple of things that we wanted to customize, but we couldn’t do it ourselves."
"The product lacks several features available in more mature products."
"The integration with our payroll system could improve. However, it is managed by another company."
"Its stability could be better."
"Within the absence screens, we have it set up to automatically allow up to five days holiday to carry over. If staff members are allowed to carry over, it’s a bit difficult to add it in easily."
"The budget module does not work. Sage People need to maybe make it more user-friendly."
"The automation in Sage People could improve. The solution is the best used for data storage but the automation could be better to have more functionality."
 

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 price of the solution is reasonable."
"Its cost is moderate for a multi-group licensing model."
"From an SME standpoint, I wouldn't necessarily describe it as expensive. However, for the average startup, it may not be affordable since our current annual expenditure on the system, which supports approximately 210-220 users, amounts to approximately £15,000 to £18,000."
"I believe we pay licensing on a yearly basis, but I can't comment on the total amount that we pay on licensing."
"There is other software on the market that can do similar functions to Sage People that could be better in price. Some solution allows you to do your payroll processes by month or by the process. Small companies could benefit by using another solution."
"The pricing is reasonable."
"The cost of Sage People varies depending on the financial resources of the organization. While it may be affordable for middle-level companies, it may be more challenging for young companies to bear the cost."
"I think it's reasonably priced. But in comparison to other systems, I would choose them over Sage People, regardless of their prices."
report
Use our free recommendation engine to learn which Benefits Administration solutions are best for your needs.
902,495 professionals have used our research since 2012.
 

Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Construction Company
16%
Manufacturing Company
12%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Comms Service Provider
9%
Construction Company
16%
Comms Service Provider
15%
Marketing Services Firm
9%
Outsourcing Company
8%
 

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 Business3
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise6
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart
Fairsail
 

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
Rocketship Education, Monitise, u-blox, SolarWinds, Mitsubishi, SmartStream, Canonical, Betfair
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Kenexa vs. Sage People and other solutions. Updated: June 2026.
902,495 professionals have used our research since 2012.