We had the opportunity to attend ADP’s yearly analyst summit, held on September 20th 2018 at its innovation lab in Chelsea / New York City. With over 20 analysts, the event was well attended.
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ADP is in an improving position when it comes to breadth, depth and strength of its products. And the analyst meeting reflected this well, too, with a clear structure of five evolutionary trends for the future of work, and then following up with ADP products and software demos. That’s a great format for an analyst meeting.
PI and Liffion on track. ADP is at the very end of the development process of its new HR Core solution (Liffion) and Payroll (Pi). This means validation with the first customers in regards of applicabilty to day to day use, validation of best practices and payroll accuracy. The DNA of both products I s exciting and healthy, a team oriented approach to HR Core and a rule based approach to payroll.
MiniApps and Data Cloud AI Assistant. One of the most exciting products in the industry from my point of view are the Mini Apps. Enterprise software has been plagued from the shortcomings of its traditional monolithic DNA, rooted in technical shortcomings, that are by now historic. Good to see ADP tackling the need for differentiation and better fit with the MiniApps, allowing them to be created in a low code production mode. If successful this can change the way how people are being managed and served in enterprises. Equally good to see is the AI Assistant that ADP plans to provide to ADP Data Cloud. Now that there is a lot of data in ADP Data Cloud, users want to find more efficient access and an AI powered assistant can uncover that. Both MiniApps and the AI assistant are in early phases and need real world customer validation.
Celergo strengthens BPaaS. With Celergo acquired, ADP can now server 140+ countries for its global customers. But spokespeople re-assured the influencers present that it was less about country coverage, but about gaining access to the know-how of Celergo on how to manage customer services and how to partner successfully with the relevant partners to run global payroll operations successfully.
On the concern side, ADP cannot rest on its laurels… It showed conversational UI prototypes in the last two year, but not this year. The global cloud connect product was missing in action as well, though I was re-assured it is continued and on track. And ADP will have to show more of its innovation work, that ironically is happening at the labs where the analyst meeting took place.
This was the best ADP analyst summit I had the opportunity to attend (total of 5). The product focus, first introduced in 2017 remained, and the gestalt of the presentation was consistent and backed up with proofs in software. Customer proof points would be the icing on the cake. Always room for improvement.
ADP Analyst Day 2018
Prefer to watch – here is my event video … (if the video doesn’t’ show up – check here)
Want to read on? Here you go:
ADP is in an improving position when it comes to breadth, depth and strength of its products. And the analyst meeting reflected this well, too, with a clear structure of five evolutionary trends for the future of work, and then following up with ADP products and software demos. That’s a great format for an analyst meeting.
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| A HR Core / Liffion Screen |
PI and Liffion on track. ADP is at the very end of the development process of its new HR Core solution (Liffion) and Payroll (Pi). This means validation with the first customers in regards of applicabilty to day to day use, validation of best practices and payroll accuracy. The DNA of both products I s exciting and healthy, a team oriented approach to HR Core and a rule based approach to payroll.
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| The AI powered assistant that leads users to insights in ADP Data Cloud |
MiniApps and Data Cloud AI Assistant. One of the most exciting products in the industry from my point of view are the Mini Apps. Enterprise software has been plagued from the shortcomings of its traditional monolithic DNA, rooted in technical shortcomings, that are by now historic. Good to see ADP tackling the need for differentiation and better fit with the MiniApps, allowing them to be created in a low code production mode. If successful this can change the way how people are being managed and served in enterprises. Equally good to see is the AI Assistant that ADP plans to provide to ADP Data Cloud. Now that there is a lot of data in ADP Data Cloud, users want to find more efficient access and an AI powered assistant can uncover that. Both MiniApps and the AI assistant are in early phases and need real world customer validation.
Celergo strengthens BPaaS. With Celergo acquired, ADP can now server 140+ countries for its global customers. But spokespeople re-assured the influencers present that it was less about country coverage, but about gaining access to the know-how of Celergo on how to manage customer services and how to partner successfully with the relevant partners to run global payroll operations successfully.
MyPOV
ADP product portfolio gets stronger and stronger, now it has to prove itself in practice. Following the roll out waves in 2019 will be key for prospects and customers. The ability to have payroll managers configure, change and operate a payroll are innovative, at least of the scale that ADP needs to support. The team approach of Liffion is equally key, as teams are the org units that make and break enterprise success. And for that, very little has been done in the past to support teams and their leaders.
On the concern side, ADP cannot rest on its laurels… It showed conversational UI prototypes in the last two year, but not this year. The global cloud connect product was missing in action as well, though I was re-assured it is continued and on track. And ADP will have to show more of its innovation work, that ironically is happening at the labs where the analyst meeting took place.
This was the best ADP analyst summit I had the opportunity to attend (total of 5). The product focus, first introduced in 2017 remained, and the gestalt of the presentation was consistent and backed up with proofs in software. Customer proof points would be the icing on the cake. Always room for improvement.
Want to learn more? Checkout the Twitter Moment below (if it doesn’t show up – check here).
More on ADP:
More on ADP:
- Event Report - ADP Meeting of the Minds 2018 - Stay the course - read here
- Event Report - ADP ReThink - Great event and a lot in the making - read here
- Market Move - ADP Acquires WorkMarket to Further Extend Human Capital Management to Contingent Workers [...] - The Gig Economy looms on the Future of Work- read here
- Progress Report - ADP pushes on - 2018 will be BIG - read here
- Event Report - ADP MOTM - Time get customers on board!? Read here
- Event Report – ADP ReThink – Great event and great value coming for customers - read here
- News Analysis - ADP Acquires The Marcus Buckingham Company to Expand Talent Portfolio - read here
- Progress Report - ADP Analyst Day 2016 - ADP has turned around Vantage HCM - read here
- Event Report - Event Report - ADP MOTM - ADP delivers: New UI, Benchmarks, Market Place & More - read here
- News Analysis - Workday and ADP partner to Deliver a Seamless Customer Experience for Global Payroll - read here
- Progress Report - ADP Analyst Day - ADP executes, kills (most) ghosts from the past - read here
- Event Report - ADP Meeting of the Minds - It’s all coming together for ADP in 2015 - product wise - read here
- First Take - ADP Meeting of the Minds - Day #1 Keynote - read here
- Progress Report - ADP shows great vision, delivers product innovation - now it needs adoption - read here
- Site Visit - ADP's new innovation lab in Chelsea - read here
- News Analysis - ADP announces Spin-Off plans for Dealer Services, sharpens ADP's focus on HCM - read here.
- Event Report - ADP's Meeting of the Minds - ADP has made up its mind (almost) - customers not yet - read here.
- First take - 3 Key Takeaways from ADP's Meeting of the Minds Conference Day 1 Keynote - read here.
- ADP innovates with with verve and good timing – read here.
Find more coverage on the Constellation Research website here and checkout my magazine on Flipboard and my YouTube channel here.
ADP Analyst Day 2018