Study Asserts That Three Vendors Own High-End HR Apps Market

The Department of Justice's assertion that there are really only three viable vendors in the high-end human-resources applications market was reinforced today. A new study released by Forrester Research found that the three large vendors of software for enterprise resource planning--SAP, PeopleSoft, and Oracle--dominate the high end of the market with more sophisticated HR-management systems. The other four vendors the study evaluated--the Ultimate Software Group, Lawson Software, Ceridian, and Kronos--have solid packages for the midmarket, according to Forrester. The study rated vendors in three major areas: current offerings, strategy, and market presence.

The study delivered other good news for PeopleSoft. According to Forrester, PeopleSoft's functionality led the pack of those vendors offering HR applications. That's not surprising, since Peoplesoft's heritage is in HR software. But the vendor shouldn't get too cocky. The lead was only by a slim margin, the study showed.