| | DECEMBER 20198CIOReviewIN MY OPINIONWHAT YOU'RE REALLY BUYING WHEN YOU BUY HR TECHNOLOGY AND SUPPORTBy Rhonda Marcucci, VP, HR & Benefits Technology Consulting Practice Leader, Gallagher[NYSE: AJG]As the driving stakeholder for the HR technology industry's rapid growth, it would be ideal if all employers made informed purchasing decisions based on a firm underingstanding of what they are buying. In reality, however, most believe they are buying just technology, and maybe technology support. The truth is that employers are buying much more.Employers who fail to understand this are at risk. At the very least, they will struggle to adopt the new technology. Worst case, they realize too late that they have made a poor choice and must decide between incurring the significant cost and disruption of replacement or find a way to live with the repercussions of their choice.Before you pull the trigger on your next HR technology solution, consider what you're really buying.1. Innovation: You're buying a techology provider's commitment and capability to innovate. With the speed of tech development and new applications coming onto the market, you need to know your provider will, at the very least, stay current. Otherwise, you will quickly outgrow them.2. Change: With any new tech purchase, you're inviting change into your life. Embrace that change! Layering your old processes on new technology is a mistake. To get the most value out of your new technology, adopt the new processes it supports. Otherwise, you might as well have just kept your old technology or manual processes. 3. A relationship: Entering into a service agreement with a technology provider means that you're buying a new relationship. This relationship may be surface or deep, but when you sign a contract, you need to work to make that relationship positive and productive by keeping open lines of communication.4. Workforce culture: You're buying another company's culture, which may be very different from your own. Does your organization value risk-taking or a conservative approach
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