A Truly Personalized User Experience for Enterprise-Level

Talent Acq uisition Software

Cloud Computing, a World of Apps and anIndependent GUI Combine to

Give Users Total Freedom

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IntroductionTo date, enterprise-level talent acquisition solutions have not been user-oriented, nor have they offered

features and functionality that would allow users to truly personalize their individual experience and

workflow to meet their needs and style.

This has been the case primarily because enterprise-level talent acquisition solutions have failed to

leverage the combination of key technological advances on the one hand with a keen sensitivity to the

user’s real-life needs on the other. Enterprise-level talent acquisition solutions have failed to combine the

following:

• The technological advantages of enterprise cloud computing, open architecture application

functionality and an independent graphical user interface layer.

• Ground-level, successful experience and awareness in recruitment and talent management

acquisition.

A talent acquisition solution like the newest release of MrTedTalentLink, the Cloud 9 release, exemplifies

how combining these computer architecture features with a user-oriented approach to the software

application’s design can result in a user experience that is authentically personalized by and for each user,

with:

1. An independent GUI layer

2. Role- and user-specific workspace orientation for increased productivity

3. Intuitive, dynamic menu interface

4. Portable application-based system; library of application modules

5. Plug and play connectivity

6. A wealth of experience in recruitment and talent management acquisition.

The Current State of AffairsTalent acquisition solutions have offered only restricted ways for a user to achieve a consumer-friendly,

user-based experience. The result has been that enterprise talent acquisition solutions have ultimately

created on- demand software for the vendor or the end user’s organization at best, rather than creating

user-friendly, on-demand software for the user.

Systems to date have failed to leverage the power of enterprise cloud computing.In brief, cloud computing is any subscription-based or pay-per-use service that, in real time and over

the Internet, extends IT’s existing capabilities.1 It relies on a Web application that either (1) provides

a service that you access from your computer, without having that service’s software loaded onto your

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computer’s hard drive (or onto your organization’s network infrastructure), or that (2) stores data that is

not in your computer’s memory that you can retrieve and use in some application or another.

Unfortunately, most talent acquisition solutions that rely on enterprise cloud computing have been

hamstrung by failing to take advantage of a powerful

technological opportunity. They have kept dependent on

each other a system’s data layer (which obtains data from

various sources), business logic layer (which processes

that data), and graphical user interface, or GUI, layer

(which presents the data to the user in the workspace).

In most systems, these layers are still tied together

by the design of the system. This seriously limits how

user friendly the program can be because of its lack

of integration among data sources: what you see from the vendor is what you get. Similarly, because

configurability of data is difficult or completely lacking, the user’s workspace is almost completely

controlled by the vendor’s design, from reports to applications to presentation on the screen.

These systems have failed to leverage the power of portable, task-specific applications that cloud computing offers.An application module (app) is a program that deploys an independent software application or

functionality. Cloud computing – and particularly open architecture – can allow apps to be designed by

both internal and external developers and be made available to end users for various functionalities.

A major vision for open architecture computing within enterprise cloud computing is encouraging third-

party developers who have a strong understanding of the certain needs of a user or user community to

design application modules that can specifically address that need. End users are no longer dependent on

the system vendor to determine what applications are available for use of the system.

As with the presentation experience to date, this degree of user-based personalization and configurability

has been hampered by the classic dependence of the database, business logic and presentation layers,

compounded by the development logic behind the design to base the user experience on the role and

organization charts (rather than on the actions of an individual user).

1 InfoWorld. http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/what-cloud-computing-really-means-031. Last accessed Aug. 13, 2009.

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Most enterprise-level talent acquisition systems are behind the curve in making enterprise-level talent acquisition solutions consumer friendly.As many as 80 percent of all companies today have a talent acquisition system, and most of those

companies are displeased with their systems, recent studies confirm. In general, the displeasure stems

from a poor experience with the system, process inefficiencies or a lack of configurability and usability. All

of which boils down to lack of a user-friendly experience.

Programming and design limitations, even among many Software-as-a-Service talent acquisition solutions,

restrict the way users can manipulate and view their data, quite simply because the presentation layer –

the GUI – is dependent on the business logic layer and the database layer of the architecture.

They have offered rigid functionality and workflow driven by the concepts of the vendor, without allowing for configurability and functionality based on the needs and processes of the user.The inability of a talent management system to adapt to the workflow of its users is one of the reasons

cited most often for a systems lack of user acceptance. Too often, a system only offers end users

a prescribed regimen of processes and procedures. Even when a system is designed with the user

experience in mind, the processes have classically been driven only by role and organization charts, not

by the user’s actual actions.

Until now, in enterprise cloud computing talent acquisition solutions, data could not be independently

stored at sites or systems that the user chooses. Or, if the data can be stored independently, the way it

can be used by the HR or recruitment professional is dependent on the talent acquisition’s business logic.

The business logic layer – the actual processes that turns the data into usable information – is meanwhile

dependent on which databases the solution provides access to. The two are developed and designed to

rely on each other and to work dependently on each other.

A Consumer-Friendly, Enterprise-Level User Experience: MrTedTalentLink, Cloud 9 ReleaseMrTedTalentLink, Cloud 9 release, exemplifies how an enterprise-level talent acquisition solution

can be authentically user friendly by combining the potential of enterprise cloud computing and

open architecture with a keen understanding of the entire talent management acquisition process.

MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 release puts much more of the configurability of the user experience directly in

the hands of the user.

Bersin & Associates, in a September 2009 assessment of the state of the talent acquisition market, said

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MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 “brings the next generation Talent Acquisition Solution towards the market, (as

it) will fully embrace the cloud computing technology and enhance its partnerships.”

An independent GUI layerAn independent GUI layer, as offered with MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 release, presents the next generation

of super-easy usability and total flexibility for both the end user and a system’s IT support.

“With today’s technology, the parts of the talent management solution’s architecture that receives and

processes the data – the work behind the scenes, so to speak – can be totally separated from how that

data is presented to and managed by the user,” said Jerome Ternynck, Chief Executive Officer with MrTed

Ltd. “That means the world is wide open for allowing the end user to manipulate the data, view it with

apps that they choose and using drag-and-drop functionality, and tapping into similar presentation-level

features.”

For example, a user can access the data through their iGoogle portal, through their SAP HR portal, their

talent management portal … it doesn’t matter.

With a dynamic GUI, individual users can truly customize

their workspace for a completely personalized experience. A

truly customized workspace lets users configure what they

see on the monitor by selecting their favorite application

modules (apps, explained below), arranging them on

the screen, and even personalizing the navigation. The

navigation is easy to follow and manage with drag-and-drop

functionality, making the user’s life easier.

This creates a unique creation of the user interface; a user can display only the data and functionality

that are relevant to their tasks and optimize the space to fit their work style.

Role- and user-specific workspace orientation for increased productivityMrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 in essence allows each user to determine what components and processes fit

their needs and workflow, and then use that specific software. This type of system defines Features on

Demand.

The combination of service-oriented architecture (SOA) and open architecture can be truly leveraged for

the most efficient and expedient end-user experience when the user has the option of deciding how the

information from the database and business logic layers are presented, or how they are “rendered” on

the monitor. MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 brings consumer personalization to SOA and open architecture.

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It has a dynamic graphical user interface that is state of the art, including what is called dynamic

navigation.

As a result, this talent acquisition solution reinvents enterprise software to cater to each user’s individual

role, workflow and work style.

Intuitive, dynamic menu interfaceMrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 reinvents enterprise software to

cater to each user’s individual role, workflow and work

style by fully leveraging the potential of the independent

GUI layer and being designed with a state-of-the-art,

personalized workspace with dynamic navigation menus.

MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9, for example, offers single-page

navigation. It brings all of the data and functionalities

relevant to the user to the screen complete with dynamic overlay functionality. As many as 80% of the

end user’s tasks can be presented or accessible on a single page on their monitor.

The combination of its approach to making everything for the user configurable, and applying true cloud

computing and modular applications, comes together in an intuitive user interface, putting the features

and data the user most often needs just a click away.

Specific benefits to the user include:

• Personalized workspace

The user can freely configure their own workspace by selecting their favorite application

modules, arranging them on the screen, and even personalizing their navigation experience

(via the dynamic navigation menu, explained below), whether they are MrTed apps or external

apps, including their own featured library of applications.

• Interactive Workspace, Dynamic Navigation Menu

MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 introduces a new paradigm in dynamic interactivity for the HR and

recruitment field. The user interface actually adapts to individual use patterns. Applications

and other features can be resized, dragged, dropped – even layered – for an engaging user

experience, even while accessing large amounts of data.

Through the design of Smart Menus, the MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 interface adapts to each user’s

navigation patterns with Smart Menus. User-specific dynamic navigation menus slide in and

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out from the side of the screen – the menus and tasks most often used are easily and readily

accessible.

• Smooth, with Overlay Functionality

The interface supports asynchronous data retrieval. For example, in the background, behind

every candidate’s name, a complete candidate record is pre-loaded, allowing instant retrieval of

information and possible actions – without sending a request to the database.

This technology design makes everything for the user one click away, operating more like a

simple “Start” navigation menu rather than the more traditional path/module-based navigation

that requires a user to follow a link or a path.

Making MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 even more user-friendly is the incorporation of overlay

functionality, which presents the user with this retrieved data from “behind” or “below” the first

layer of data on the screen as the user’s mouse is rolled over the screen. The user can click on

URL links within the overlay to drill down deeper and access data in layers within the overlay.

Portable application-based system; library of application modules

MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 leverages the potential of open architecture and applications by presenting

business processes to the user as portable application modules, offering a world of applications that the

user is free to use or not. Based on a user’s role in their organization, these applications can be turned

on, turned off, or rearranged at the pleasure of the user to create a truly personalized experience. Each

task or group of tasks has a modular application, giving users specific functionality for their specific uses.

Each user builds his or her package of features based on the relevance of those features to them.

Just like the benefits derived from a role- and user-specific workspace and an independent GUI layer, a

system like MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 that is app-based can give the end user greater power and flexibility

to configure their experience as best serves them. Cloud 9 includes apps for all major business processes.

MrTed doesn’t hide these powerful, task-specific applications somewhere inside the system for users to

track down if they want to use them. Enabled by its open architecture approach to cloud computing,

independent presentation layer, and intention to create a truly user-friendly experience, MrTedTalentLink

Cloud 9 is able to package business processes as apps and present them as portable application modules.

The intention and ability to manifest in a consumer-based, user-friendly way the features and possibilities

of both service-oriented architecture and open architecture lies at the heart of MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9

and is what takes it into a new level of cloud computing:

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1. Talent Hub

2. Initial apps/unlimited potential for apps

3. Portable applications

4. External applications

Plug and play connectivity Plug and play connectivity has the same meaning in the world of enterprising cloud computing and system

architecture as it does for nearly everything else in

consumer electronics or computer software: The end

user or business organization can take the product out

of the box (or download the program from the Web, or

upload it from a disk) and immediately begin using the

hardware (or the software program) without buying or

needing any additional parts (or programs or software).

MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 is designed as an enterprise

solution with plug and play connectivity to leverage

the full power of its Web-based functionality, service-

oriented architecture and open architecture, and

independent database, business logic and presentation layers. In fact, it is the very independence of

the layers and the open architecture that enables a user to plug in MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 easily and

be quickly connected with talent management suites, HRMS, performance management applications,

compensation solutions, ERP, job posting software and more, further enhancing the user-friendly

experience.

A wealth of experience in recruitment and talent management acquisitionFounded in 1999, MrTed is a leading provider of on-demand talent acquisition solutions designed to

help companies of all sizes optimize the process of acquiring local talent on a global scale. Architected

as a SaaS company from its inception, MrTed pioneered enterprise talent acquisition solutions and soon

became the leading solution provider outside of North America.

The user-friendliness of MrTedTalentLink Cloud 9 is the direct result of bringing this experience in on-

demand talent acquisition solutions to the potential of enterprise cloud computing.

ConclusionUntil now, enterprise-level talent acquisition solutions have not offered a truly user-based, consumer-

oriented and user-friendly customer experience.

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Enterprise-level talent acquisition solutions have failed to leverage the potential of enterprise cloud

computing, open architecture application functionality and an independent graphical user interface

layer when all of that is combined with a wealth of experience in recruitment and talent management

acquisition.

MrTedTalentLink, the Cloud 9 release, exemplifies how combining these computer architecture features

with a user-oriented approach to the software application’s design can create a user experience that is

authentically personalized by and for each user.

A talent acquisition solution like the newest release of MrTedTalentLink, the Cloud 9 release, exemplifies

how combining these computer architecture features with a user-oriented approach to the software

application’s design can result in a user experience that is authentically personalized by and for each user,

with an independent GUI layer; role- and user-specific workspace orientation for increased productivity;

an intuitive, dynamic menu interface; a portable application-based system; a library of application

module; plug and play connectivity, and a wealth of experience in recruitment and talent management

acquisition.

About MrTed MrTed is a leading provider of on-demand talent acquisition solutions designed to help companies of all sizes

optimize the process of acquiring local talent on a global scale. Through innovation, passion and focus, MrTed

provides the world’s most effective recruitment solutions, ranging from MrTedTalentLink, an enterprise-class

global talent acquisition solution, to SmartRecruiters, a free and easy applicant tracking system. MrTed was

founded in London in 1999 and supports over 1,500 clients in more than 100 countries to find and acquire the

most coveted talent in the world.

To learn more about MrTed and SmartRecruiters, please visit,

www.mrted.com | www.smartrecruiters.com