The quest by business decision makers for perfect information on which to base critical decisions has certainly not ended, but for HR professionals, it has recently made dramatic advances. As is the case in ERP and CRM software evolution, software innovators are naturally drawn to the opportunity to improve application productivity through integration and process efficiencies. In the talent management application market, innovators such as Authoria are designing a fully integrated talent management solution to address multiple HR functions and fundamentally improve insight and productivity over standalone applications. More than just linking processes, and allowing information exchange, leading applications are built on a common database, have consistent and intuitive user interfaces, and allow for flexible reporting and business intelligence. In the end, the most functional of these solutions will serve as powerful tools enabling organizations to closely align their ever-changing workforces and strategies.

Above all, a comprehensive and highly integrated ITM suite gives organizational leaders, strategic planners, and HR professionals ready access to detailed, up-to-the-minute information about countless aspects of their worker base. They can almost instantly obtain and analyze data about worker demographics, compensation, skill sets and experience, training and development, as well as career and succession planning – information that remains in a continual state of flux in every organization. Without rapid, easy access to such information companies frequently must make critical decisions based on hunches and guesses, or else wait while someone gathers and analyzes the appropriate data. Yet too often business opportunities and threats don't wait. Today the best, integrated solutions present managers with logical, easy-to-use "dashboards" that enable them to get the information they need quickly without extensive training. There is no need to access multiple applications, transfer data sets, reformat incompatible information, and compile reports from multiple applications. Truly integrated systems do much of this work – automatically and behind the scenes.

The ability of these sophisticated ITM suites to provide instant, detailed snapshots of an organization's workforce, or any selected part of it, helps managers see how and where their staffing may be misaligned with corporate objectives. And, because alignment can drift over time, it can cause substantial gaps that sometimes go unnoticed, exposing the organization to unnecessary risk. Of course, acquisitions and mergers create immediate staffing misalignments, but integrated talent management suites enable management to quickly identify critical gaps and begin taking corrective actions.

Figure 2: Best-of-Breed Integrated Talent Management Architecture

The advanced data entry, storage, retrieval, and reporting capabilities integrated systems offer also alleviates much of the hassle of complying with ever-changing governmental regulations and reporting requirements. Companies that lack in-depth knowledge about their workforce, whether due to high turnover or the high cost of keeping data current, frequently fall victim to regulators. Well-integrated talent management suites not only help enterprises align workforces with strategic objectives, but also with evolving government regulations.

One of the most significant benefits of an integrated talent management suite for strategic planners and senior managers is the ability to predict trends by performing analysis and generating reports that draw on a wide spectrum of data. For example, a single report might compare performance reviews with compensation, experience, and training. Further, a report can break down results by division, market, country, or other classification. Users can also set the system to create and disseminate reports automatically to keep relevant decision makers abreast of changes.

Finally, filing, accessing, and transmitting information on a secure, integrated platform improves data security by eliminating dependency on disparate applications with inconsistent data and security models.