Services · Vendor Selection
Vendor Selection
An independent read on the HR technology you are choosing.
Selecting, consolidating or re-evaluating HR technology is one of the highest-stakes decisions a team makes. We help at the level you need, from free research to a practitioner-led, client-commissioned evaluation of the vendors in front of you.
Levels of service
Three ways to get help choosing
Start with the free research. Bring IRD in when you want independent advice on your own decision.
Free
Free research
Free to use. No sales conversation required.
- Published vendor comparisons
- Buyer guides
- Evaluation resources
Paid · Fixed scope
Independent advisory session
A fixed-scope review of where you are now, covering:
- Your shortlist
- Your requirements
- Risks
- Next steps
Paid · Scoped project
Full vendor-selection engagement
A project scoped with you, covering:
- Requirements
- Market mapping and shortlist
- Demos and evaluation
- Commercial considerations
- Implementation risk
- A recommendation
It may include facilitated practitioner focus groups and direct operator perspectives, where appropriately arranged.
Discuss an engagement
Starting point
Start from how your people work
The right choice is less about feature checklists and more about how a system fits the way your people actually work.
We run these systems every day, so the evaluation comes from practitioners who know what a platform is like to live with after the demo.
Approach
Two planes: product capability and vendor partnership
Every assessment looks at the product and at the company behind it. You live with both long after the contract is signed.
- Product capability: functionality and configurability, analytics and integration, roadmap.
- Vendor partnership: ownership, backing, support model, leadership and ecosystem.
Independence
Commissioned by you, confidential to you
Vendors get a fact-check and a limited right of reply, never a veto.
Vendors may sponsor professional-development scholarships in System Admin Insights. That is kept separate from your engagement: sponsorship does not buy favorable research, rankings, recommendations or referrals, access to confidential SAI discussions, or influence over certification outcomes.
Every engagement is:
- Commissioned by the client, not by a vendor
- Confidential to you: the findings stay with you
- Free of vendor referral commissions, incentives or kickbacks, with no exception
Free research
Use our free Vendor Research
You don't need to hire IRD to use our research. The published comparisons are free to read, with no sales conversation.
On Vendor Research:
- Published vendor comparisons, compiled with generative AI and reviewed by IRD
- How the research works, and how to read each kind of evidence
- Our independence commitment
For ICIMS customers
The ICIMS Maturity Assessment is a self-assessment app for ICIMS customers.
Reading
Before you choose
Article ·
Choosing the Right ATS
At a recent event, an HR leader told me they needed an engineering degree just to understand their new ATS demo: for a 300-person company. It’s a common trap: buying…
Article ·
Beyond Features: Defining Requirements
Successful ICIMS implementations don’t start with feature lists: they start with clear, outcome-driven goals. This guide explores how to align requirements with real user…
Article ·
Workday Recruiting Due Diligence: 100+ Questions to Ask Before You Switch
Switching ATS platforms shapes every hire for years. Before you move to Workday Recruiting, use this technical due diligence checklist to pressure-test vendor claims…
Article ·
The ATS Switch Looks Cheaper Than It Is
Every few years, someone in the room decides it's time to look at other ATS platforms. Maybe the contract is coming up. Maybe there's been one outage too many. Maybe a…
Article ·
The Hidden Payroll of an ATS Switch
When organizations compare ATS platforms, they compare price tags. When they finally run the project, they discover a second budget nobody approved: the one paid in…
Article ·
Navigating ATS Mergers: A Strategic Checklist for HR and Talent Acquisition Leaders
Merging ATS platforms is harder than it looks, and most failures stem from technical oversights, not strategy. This checklist helps HR leaders ask the right questions…
Choosing a system now?
Tell us what you are weighing, and we'll suggest which level of help fits, from a single advisory session to a full selection project.