SAP’s acquisition of SmartRecruiters: what this means in practice for SuccessFactors customers

Armin Beyaert: “This acquisition means that SAP is significantly strengthening its Talent Acquisition capabilities within SuccessFactors. The stated aim is to bring greater capability to high-volume recruitment, automation, a significantly improved candidate experience, and of course artificial intelligence, all whilst integrating the product closely with the rest of the SuccessFactors suite.

For SAP SuccessFactors customers, this translates into an enhanced recruitment offering: improved process management, more AI, better analytics capabilities and a reimagined experience for recruiters, candidates and managers, with native integration into the HR core system and onboarding. This acquisition offers SuccessFactors customers a more modern and ambitious alternative for recruitment, particularly for organisations with advanced requirements in terms of volume, candidate experience and AI.”

"SuccessFactors Recruiting is not set to be replaced in the short term. SAP is currently positioning SmartRecruiters very clearly as its strategic solution for talent acquisition, and there is talk of a migration window of three to five years for SuccessFactors Recruiting customers to switch to SmartRecruiters."

“This does not pose an immediate risk of disruption: SAP states that existing contracts will continue to be honoured and that no forced migration has been announced at this stage. However, the real risk is a risk of strategic misalignment. SAP is now positioning SmartRecruiters as its flagship recruitment solution, with promises of AI, enhanced integration and a dedicated roadmap. A client who fails to anticipate this development runs the risk of being left with a module whose return on investment will decline.

My recommendation is to carry out a scoping exercise to make an informed decision: an assessment of the current situation, a review of the SAP and SmartRecruiters roadmap, an impact analysis, and then the selection of a pathway. The point is not to act in haste, but to avoid remaining passive whilst the SAP product strategy evolves."

“Migrating from an SAP SuccessFactors Recruiting ecosystem to SmartRecruiters isn’t just about moving data. Above all, it means changing your recruitment engine. There are several aspects to consider:

• Data: candidates, vacancies, recruitment history
• Configuration: business rules, workflows, forms
• Processes: who does what, at which stage
• Existing integrations in SuccessFactors Recruiting

SAP has announced migration tools, and we will need to follow the vendor’s roadmap in this regard. At Arago, we have a dedicated methodology and tools to facilitate this migration. We have dual expertise in SuccessFactors Recruiting for 15 years and SmartRecruiters for 9 years, which enables us to support this transition from start to finish."

“SmartRecruiters is integrated into the SuccessFactors suite to replace the current Recruiting module, meaning it sits between Employee Central and Onboarding. In this type of project, we are not simply integrating two tools: we are aligning two operational models around a clear and defined reference system.”

"The integrations to be implemented are all on the SAP roadmap, and some have already been delivered by the vendor.

 There are three main types of integration:

• Reference data imported from Employee Central to SmartRecruiters (organisational structures, roles, reference data)
• Integration from the Employee Central interface to generate a recruitment request in SmartRecruiters
• Re-hiring: sending shortlisted candidates from SmartRecruiters to Employee Central

In addition to these three workflows, the solution must also incorporate single sign-on, as well as other integrations specific to the client’s context.”

"The right approach is not to ask, 'What can we technically migrate?', but rather, 'What is legitimate to migrate, and under what conditions should this migration take place?'.

I always advise my clients to consult their legal department to confirm which data they are permitted to extract under the GDPR. We then have accelerators that enable us both to extract data from the SuccessFactors environment and to upload it to SmartRecruiters, under secure and traceable conditions.”

“One of the key factors to consider is the careers site. Generally, our clients want a single, unified careers site, which points towards a single, visible migration – and therefore a ‘Big Bang’ strategy. However, each case is unique and will need to be discussed based on the clients’ needs, their maturity and their organisation.”

“Above all, SmartRecruiters brings greater operational efficiency:

• For recruiters: less admin thanks to the automation of matching, screening, scheduling and job offers
• For managers: a simpler and more intuitive way to get involved in recruitment, with greater clarity on what is expected of them
• Overall: better collaboration and an improved candidate experience

SmartRecruiters doesn’t just offer more features. Above all, it makes recruitment more collaborative, more automated and more actionable on a day-to-day basis."

"An HR director can expect three main benefits: recruiting faster, recruiting better, and better managing the contribution of recruitment to the company’s performance.

We propose and implement a set of indicators and KPIs to measure the impact on recruitment:

• KPI de vitesse : Time to Hire, Time to Fill
• Quality KPIs: offer acceptance rate, retention rate, business manager satisfaction
• Financial KPIs: cost per hire, recruitment budget

"For me, success in this kind of project isn’t just about moving faster. It’s also, and above all, about improving the quality of recruitment, whilst making this impact measurable and visible to senior management."