SuccessFactors

05.08.25. SAP acquired AI-recruiting software SmartRecruiters



SAP has acquired recruiting management software developer SmartRecruiters. In its press release, SAP says that SmartRecruiters' "powerful, easy-to-use interfaces and workflow engine" will complement SAP's existing HR tools (apparently referring to the SAP SuccessFactors). The system is also known for its AI assistant called Winston, which automates most routine tasks and generates useful analytics. With the acquisition, "SAP customers will be able to manage the entire candidate lifecycle - from sourcing and interviewing to onboarding and training - all in a single system, making things easier for recruiters. SmartRecruiters was founded in 2010 and has raised $225M in funding over 15 years.


2016. Microsoft implements SAP SuccessFactors to manage 114K employees



Microsoft is implementing the cloud-based talent management system SAP SuccessFactors within its company. With this solution, Microsoft plans to increase employee productivity and engagement through mobile and cloud technologies. By the end of November 2016, Microsoft employed approximately 114,000 people. According to Mike Ettling, President of SAP SuccessFactors, Microsoft understands the potential of digital transformation and cloud services to simplify HR management. This process is becoming increasingly complex, especially for large international companies that must address hundreds of legal and regulatory requirements, Ettling noted. By implementing SAP SuccessFactors, Microsoft continued its collaboration with the German company. In October 2016, SAP selected the Microsoft Azure platform as the primary cloud service for SuccessFactors solutions.


2011. SAP acquires SaaS champion SuccessFactors



SAP has earned a reputation as a drag on SaaS transformation. Not that SAP hasn't tried to create SaaS solutions. There were StreamWork, CRM On-demand, and Business ByDesign. But all of these projects were implemented halfheartedly, and so far, nothing has come of them. But SAP can afford to buy the SaaS champion SuccessFactors for $3.4 billion. SuccessFactors is a SaaS talent management system (HRM = Human Resources Management in SAP parlance). It's not like SAP. Rather, it strives to be like Facebook. SuccessFactors holds the absolute record for the number of seats in SaaS projects. And it was SuccessFactors that stole one of SAP's largest clients, the German company Siemens, in 2009.


2010. SuccessFactors adds Social Intranet



SuccessFactors, a service for talent management is often called the second fastest-growing SaaS company after Salesforce. And it strives to keep up with Salesforce in the hot market of enterprise social solutions. As is well known, Salesforce is intensively developing its social collaboration system Chatter. And SuccessFactors acquired a solution with similar functionality, CubeTree, in May of this year and has now announced its rebranding and integration with its main system. Naturally, the first step was to unify the authorization system, meaning that all SuccessFactors clients can use CubeTree without having to import an employee database. Collaboration capabilities in microblogging for HR managers have been added. Furthermore, SuccessFactors has already completely migrated CubeTree to its cloud infrastructure to improve the service's reliability and speed.


2010. SuccessFactors acquired CubeTree - social intranet solution.



SaaS talent management solution provider SuccessFactors acquired CubeTree, a corporate social network with collaboration tools. SuccessFactors is essentially an internal company social network, where each employee has their own profile and personal dashboard for self-development (with goals and results). Therefore, additional tools for creating groups, communities, and collaboration are very useful for this solution. CubeTree is based on the already popular microblogging platform. Messages can be sent to both the general thread and open/closed groups. Messages can be attached to files, which are automatically saved to the group file storage or to a corporate-wide repository equipped with an online viewer, version control, and an excellent commenting system. In addition to microblogs and documents, CubeTree features a wiki, regular blogs, tasks, polls, and a corporate directory.