Oracle

Demo it if you run Oracle Fusion HCM and can staff setup

HR and Finance share one plan built on Oracle HR data

• A built-in link called Data Management loads your people data from Oracle Fusion HCM. It comes with ready-made rules for matching your HR data to the plan, and you can change them.
• Oracle's product brief pitches the tool to HR and Finance alike. HR gets drag-and-drop org charts, and Finance can plan top-down in Excel. Both teams then work from the same numbers.
• The tool shows the main skill of each person already in a strategic job. That tells you which gaps you could fill by moving or training your own people.

Ask for a customer, and check the law on employee predictions

• A UK government procurement record shows the Ministry of Justice ordered the tool in March 2021. That record shows a purchase, not a result. Ask Oracle for a customer you can call before you sign.
• Oracle warns that some features in its wider planning guides may not work in this tool. Check that each feature you see in a demo works in Strategic Workforce Planning itself.
• Oracle's guide to the tool names no outside source of labour-market or pay data. Market pay rates and hiring supply would have to come from somewhere else.

Oracle's product brief says the tool can predict how individual employees and teams will perform, and whether they will leave. Predicting how a person will perform at work is profiling under GDPR.

The EU AI Act lists employment uses in Annex III. A system on that list is always high-risk once it profiles people. From 2 December 2027, employers in the EU must tell affected workers and their representatives before the system is used. If you employ people in the EU, get legal advice before you use these predictions.

It needs setup first and takes data from other cloud HR systems

Someone must create the plan, set up the business numbers and jobs it plans from, and create user accounts.

It can still fit if your HR system is not Oracle's. Oracle says the tool can also take data from other cloud HR systems. The tool also gives you data upload templates, shaped to the features you switch on. Ask Oracle to show your own HR system's data reaching the plan.

Oracle quotes on request, and one UK order was priced per employee

Check that Oracle's quote includes its wider planning platform, since the tool only comes inside it.

A UK Ministry of Justice order from March 2021 priced the tool per what it calls a "hosted employee". The order's total covers several Oracle products, so it does not show this tool's price. The order was also for the old standalone version of the tool, so today's price may differ.

What should you ask Oracle before you sign?

1. Who will set up our plan, and how long will it take? Good answer: named people from Oracle or a partner, and a number of weeks, in writing.
2. Is that setup work billed separately from the licence? Good answer: one figure, shown in the order form.
3. Which subscription to Oracle's planning platform must we buy to get this tool? Good answer: the subscription's name and what it includes, in writing.
4. Will our order renew automatically, and how often will you bill us? Good answer: both terms written into the order form before you sign.
5. How many years ahead can a plan run? Good answer: a number of years, shown in the demo.
6. Can we switch off predictions about individual employees, and who sees them if we keep them? Good answer: a written yes or no, and a list of the roles that can see them.
7. If we leave, how do we export our plans before our copy of the tool is deleted? Good answer: a written export plan with dates, since deletion removes all data at once.
8. What counts as a hosted employee, and do you still price the tool that way? Good answer: a written definition and the unit price in the quote.

Alternatives to Oracle Strategic Workforce Planning

If you want a different planning platform, look at Workday Adaptive Planning, Anaplan or Pigment. If you want a method that is already built, look at Nakisa. Our strategic workforce planning guide sorts every tool by who builds the plan.

Workday Adaptive Planning is Workday's finance planning software that also covers workforce planning. A setup wizard links it to Workday HCM. Ask Workday who builds the plan. It is worth a look if your budget sits in Adaptive Planning rather than Oracle's planning platform.

Anaplan is a platform your own team or a partner builds the plan on. BT has run its workforce planning models on Anaplan for about five years. Look at it if you want a platform with a named workforce planning customer.

Pigment gives you a ready-made workforce planning template to adapt. Carta's setup took 12 weeks with Pigment's own modelling team. Look at it if you want a template to start from, not a blank plan.

Nakisa reads Oracle Fusion data in real time. Its ready-made link to Oracle Fusion is not available yet. Ask Nakisa for a date in writing.