Continued Software as a Service (SaaS) growth confirms Cezanne’s position as a leading European provider of SaaS HR software solutions for talent and human capital management

The company’s results in 2009 reveal a strong shift towards SaaS as the platform of choice for performance management, succession planning and HR management solutions. New customers selecting Cezanne’s On Demand SaaS Human Capital Management solutions include Swarovski, Schweppes, Oxford University Press, Intertrust and Wind.

Carlo Ugdulena, CEO of Cezanne Software, comments: “SaaS has proved itself as a secure, cost effective and time efficient approach for companies wishing to implement talent management and HR software systems. In 2009, we saw strong growth in our SaaS business and going into 2010, the shift is even more evident. Close to 70% of the companies in our sales pipeline are looking for SaaS HR solutions, with the percentage being even higher in countries where SaaS has been established for longer.”

“Our SaaS HR solutions also have the benefit of being rapidly scalable, and many of our SaaS HR customers have taken advantage of this flexibility and the low cost of ownership of SaaS solutions to extend the use of their HR systems. Certainly, we believe HR solutions delivered on a SaaS basis will represent the majority of new business for us in 2010, and we are continuing to heavily invest in expanding our solutions and services in this area.”

This is why Cezanne chose to have the Information Security Management System (ISMS) governing the delivery of their On Demand SaaS HR solutions independently audited and certified for ISO 27001:2005 by Lloyd's Register Quality Assurance (LRQA). “This was a rigorous and detailed procedure”, explains Andrew Paul, Cezanne’s Customer Services Director. “The objective view of LRQA ensures that Cezanne Software’s security practices measure up against best industry practice, and that we have the necessary controls in place to protect customer data. With this accreditation, clients can be absolutely confident that we have data security at the heart of our SaaS HR solutions.”

The company also saw an increased number of global HR system implementations, with significant international organizations like Kempinski, Swarovski, Intertrust and TSYS selecting Cezanne Software based on the company’s proven expertise of helping their customers to roll out global HR solutions. Carlo Ugdulena explains: “Unlike many of our competitors, we have always had operations in multiple countries, either directly or through our qualified network of partners. That means that our HCM systems had to be developed from the ground up to manage international HR processes. With established operation across Europe, and in the US and Latin America, we have both the experience and the global reach to effectively support global HR customers around the world. As companies increasingly look to compete on a global basis, the need to manage their workforces across different geographies and legislative environments is increasingly important. Cezanne Software is ideally positioned to help.”

A key initiative for the company in 2009 was the opening of an office in Greece focused on the Hellas market. Carlo Ugdulena comments: “Despite the economic challenges faced by this region, we’ve seen an increase in the number of companies looking to invest in HR systems that go beyond simple HR administration and provide the opportunity for companies to engage their employees in new initiatives, such as performance management and knowledge sharing. Cezanne Software already has a number of significant customers in the region, including Goody’s, Diageo, Avis Rent a Car, Price WaterhouseCoopers Greece, ING Insurance Greece and Piraeus Bank. With this new office, we’re now in a better position to support companies in this region, as well as international organizations that have operations here.”