SuccessFactors Announces ULTRA

New Features Benefit Employees, Managers and Executives; User-Centric Capabilities, Enhanced UI, NEXTLabs Web 2.0 Innovations and Integrated Solution Enhancements.

Revolutionizing the future of work, SuccessFactors, Inc., the global leader in on-demand performance and talent management solutions, today announced the ULTRA release of its Performance and Talent Management Suite. Currently available for new and existing customers, this major new product release is designed to help companies achieve high-performing workforces by enabling initiatives around goal alignment and execution, talent development and planning, and pay-for-performance. The ULTRA release extends SuccessFactorsí leadership in delivering proven, rapidly deployable Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solutions for global enterprises.

Based on extensive research and direct input from SuccessFactorsí customers, ULTRA includes a range of new functionality and added value for end users, from employees, to managers and the organization as a whole. By leveraging Web 2.0 technologies, advanced integration between modules and easy, results-focused capabilities, ULTRA delivers on SuccessFactorsí mission to help companies of all sizes better manage, motivate and engage their people in order to drive better business results.

ULTRA is the companyís latest application release spanning the full breadth of SuccessFactorsí entire integrated suite of performance and talent management software, which includes Performance Management, Goal Management, 360 Degree Reviews, Succession Management, Compensation Management, Learning and Development, Recruiting Management, Employee Profile and Analytics and Reporting applications.

ìULTRA captures the tidal wave of innovation and customer focus that has always defined SuccessFactors,î said Rob Bernshteyn, vice president, global product marketing and management at SuccessFactors. ìBy constantly innovating our application suite and its user interface to make the experience as fun and engaging as some of todayís popular and viral consumer-facing applications and social networking sites, weíre looking to increase user interaction and engagement with our suite every day and make our customers more successful in the process.î

Ranked number 543 on Fortune Magazineís 2007 ëFortune 1000í list and a SuccessFactorsí customer for over three years, Insight Enterprises, Inc. is a leading provider of a broad range of top name-brand IT computing products, software and advanced IT services helping companies around the world enable, manage and secure their IT environment. Gary Glandon, chief people officer, said: ìULTRA is a huge leap forward for SuccessFactors, and we are very excited to roll it out to our teammates. The new Home Page design will enable our teammates to see, at a glance, exactly the tasks they are responsible for, with direct links into the application to complete them. SuccessFactors is a key part in enabling Insight to achieve solid business results by promoting a culture of high performance.î

(a) ìCustomer interest in buying broader suites of talent management applications is increasing, and as these suites expand, integration between the modules becomes a key enabler for deriving optimal value in these investments,î said Jim Holincheck, research vice president, Gartner. ìEnd-user adoption should also increase as solutions offer higher levels of interactivity.î

Key capabilities in the ULTRA release of the SuccessFactors Performance and Talent Management Suite include:

Employee Benefits: Enhanced Usability and Web 2.0 Innovations

The ULTRA release unveils an enhanced user interface that streamlines navigation across the suite of applications and provides users with the ability to customize the solution to better meet their specific needs;

Integration of NEXTLabs innovations into SuccessFactorsí core suite makes the application more engaging and fun to use, increases user interaction and engagement and gives employees the ability to interact with each other in a social media and networking-type community;

New Employee Profile features, including an interactive seating chart, seamless integration with Facebook and enhanced tagging capabilities, further promote social networking in the workplace.

Manager Benefits: Enhanced Integration and Usability Features Provide a Complete View of Employee Performance

Quickcards leverage the power of SuccessFactorsí integrated solution by providing a 360-view of an employee from virtually anywhere in the performance and talent management process. Employee Quickcards provide links to the employeeís essential information such as performance reviews, goal plans, development plans and career worksheets among others;

Integration between succession planning and recruiting allows managers to create targeted new hire requisitions directly from the Succession Org Chart based on an understanding of the high performers on their teams;

Other integration features include Calculated Goal Ratings where managers can automatically calculate goal ratings directly in the employeeís review form by simply updating goal progress on the employeeís goal plan,improving transparency and consistency.

Executive Benefits: Integrated Performance and Talent Management Suite, Global Enhancements and Increased Visibility into Succession Management and Recruiting

Newest product features give organizations increased integration with SuccessFactorsí entire talent management suite, bringing managers and organizations a clear, organization-wide process, where performance reviews become more strategic, more useful and can become the centerpiece of a companyís business strategy;

Enhanced functionalities throughout the product to make it easier and more cost effective for global organizations to deploy and maintain the SuccessFactors Performance and Talent Management Suite.Legal scan and business process maps have been optimized to support multiple languages and localized requirements and a configurable spellchecker supports nine languages out of the box;

New succession management features such as highlighting key positions and retirement eligibility flags increase talent visibility so the organization and its managers can make intelligent decisions about the strengths, weaknesses and gaps of the talent base;

New recruiting management reporting provides insight that empowers organizations to cost-effectively source the best talent. The Source Quality Chart plots the performance rating of employees against the recruiting cost of their hiring source to maximize return on recruiting.

The company has scheduled two webinars for enterprises to learn more about the new release. The first webinar is January 17, 2008 and the second is scheduled for February 14, 2008. For more information or to register for the webinars, visit: http://www.successfactors.com/webinars/. Current customers are encouraged to visit the SuccessFactors Customer Community for information on how to take advantage of the new ULTRA release

SuccessFactors Performance and Talent Management Suite creates a company-wide network of information related to employee performance, including skill-sets, interests, career aspirations, ability to relocate, experience, languages spoken and more. By providing deep, real-time company-wide visibility into such critical performance data, companies are able to make better, more informed decisions about how to promote, recruit, compensate, reward and manage their entire employee base.