Japan Chooses Open Document Format (ODF)

OpenDocument Format (ODF) is a file format for office documents that is available to users of a growing list of software applications. IBM Workplace Managed Client, OpenOffice.org 2.0 and its sibling commercial office suite, and StarOffice 8 are the most mature tools available today to users seeking to create documents in ODF.

ODF is an ISO standard. The International Standards Organization (ISO) ratified ODF in May 2005. ISO ratification is important for any software, because it permits the software to enter the menu of approved products for procurement by many--if not most--municipal, state, and national government IT departments around the world. The successful ISO ratification took place approximately one year ago, which is why many government IT departments are now announcing ODF adoption plans. (It takes a long time for governments to plan for and implement change.)

Government of Japan Embraces Open Software Standards

Jul 10, 2007
The OpenDocument Format Alliance (ODF Alliance), the leading organization advocating for openness and accessibility to government documents and information, today congratulated Japan for adopting a policy under which government ministries and agencies will solicit bids from software vendors whose products support internationally recognized open standards.
Previously, government agencies could ask bidders to submit bids based on whether their products offered functions comparable to particular software suites. With the new interoperability framework, which takes effect immediately, the government will give preference to procuring products that adhere to open standards, and which interoperate easily with other software.

The new guidelines, available from Japan's Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, were designed to be implemented by government ministries and agencies. The interoperability framework also suggests that the guidelines would also be useful for private industry.
"With its new interoperability framework, Japan is setting an important worldwide example," said Marino Marcich, ODF Alliance managing director. "By giving preference to open software formats such as ODF, it is saying that information should be competitively priced, innovative, and easily available to the widest range of people, now and in the future. We hail Japan for its diligence and vision."

Said Masayuki Hayase, general manager, President's Office, Justsystems Corp.: "The formal launch of the interoperability framework by the Japanese government is an epoch-making initiative for Japan. Securing open-standards-based interoperability is critical to accelerate innovation. The interoperability framework will propel healthy competition and open up more opportunities for small and medium-size companies in Japan."
The OpenDocument Format Alliance is an organization of governments, academic institutions, non-government organizations and industry dedicated to educating policymakers, IT administrators and the public on the benefits and opportunities of ODF.

http://www.govtech.com/gt/126612?topic=117674

How companies manage their people – tomorrow

As most people agree, most performance reviews are a bad joke. And in the end slick lickers get promoted.

But things are changing at HR. What if bosses could see which employees' efforts really help the company?

New software suites give companies new possibilities.

Here are some software suites.

SuccessFactors --- http://www.successfactors.com/
Performance Management provides more than just an efficient way to create and deliver performance reviews for global organizations. It creates an individualized pathway for employees to receive meaningful feedback from managers that helps them grow and, in turn, creates the strongest, most efficient way to drive overall business performance. It's the best way to get the employee review process done fast - and becomes the foundation for a more engaged, productive workforce.

The SuccessFactors Performance & Talent Management Suite for Enterprise-level organizations includes:
- Performance Management
- Goal Management
- Talent and Succession Management
- Analytics and Reporting
- Career and Development Planning
- Competency Management
- Learning Management
- 360-Degree Review
- Compensation Planning
- Employee Survey
- Recruiting Management
- Employee Profile


Authoria --- http://www.authoria.com/
Drive business results. Give your organization the advantage of Authoria’s talent management solution to drive better business results. In addition to handling your HR tasks more efficiently, you can enhance the quality of the talent you hire, align performance with corporate goals, optimize compensation to retain vital employees, develop required skills, and better match qualified people to each position.

Empower managers. Put your line of business managers in a central role in managing talent and empower them to take an ownership stake in the process. Using Authoria’s talent management solution, these managers can quickly access and act on all talent management functions from a single, intuitive interface. And in-context coaching provides guidance on how to use the solution to optimize results and speed deployment.

Integrate talent management. Deploy a comprehensive, strategic solution that addresses the entire talent management process of recruiting, developing, compensating, retaining and engaging high quality employees. Authoria’s solution addresses these functions as logically-related, not distinct silos, all drawing on a common data platform. Working with Authoria also gives you the benefit of our rich experience with more than 300 organizations, representing millions of employees.


Kenexa --- http://www.kenexa.com/
Comprehensive talent management for competitive advantage. Strategic HR is one of the last competitive advantages that exists for many industries. Who you hire and how you maximize their experience in your organization determines how well you will out-execute your competition and is the key to a sustainable long-term advantage.

At Kenexa, we have spent more than 18 years developing talent management solutions with the belief that people are the most valuable asset of any company. Put simply, we want to be the best in the world at helping companies do three things:
- Hire the best person for each job.
- Maximize the performance of each individual.
- Align and retain a productive workforce


Saba --- http://www.saba.com/
Automated Performance Reviews. Performance reviews are an essential tool to measure achievement and gather relevant feedback about the contribution your people make to the success of the business. Despite the benefits to the business this process provides, organizations are often hampered by an inability to manage the process effectively and ensure timely, consistent and relevant reviews.

Saba® enables organizations to monitor this process and ensure timely completion of performance reviews. Thus, organizations can accelerate compensation and payroll activity for hundreds or thousands of employees—without constant manual HR intervention. Tools to aid in the writing of performance reviews, as well as configurable workflow and reporting processes, speed up the review cycle and save managers valuable time. Corporate risk is also reduced by documenting and clearly articulating performance expectations and results.

Saba’s automated performance review solution addresses business challenges such as:
- Employees view traditional review processes as cumbersome and of low value in guiding their ongoing work
- Performance is not measured consistently across the organization
- Achievement is not based on relevant measures of execution and proficiency
- Feedback is gathered from only one source, providing an incomplete view of performance


Taleo --- http://www.taleo.com/
Taleo Enterprise Edition Solutions
Talent is what ultimately drives success and improved business performance. Taleo enables Performance 2.0™ by integrating technology, best practices, and services for managing human capital as a portfolio of professional, hourly, and contingent talent assets with strategic performance management.

Core solution sets include Taleo Professional™, Taleo Hourly™, Taleo Contingent™, and Taleo Performance™. Built on Taleo’s proven on demand infrastructure and highly configurable Talent Management Platform, Taleo aggregates and delivers a unified, 360 degree view of your organization's global talent pool and talent management practices.

Taleo Professional is a leading on demand talent management solution that enables human resources professionals and hiring managers to assess, acquire, and manage their professional hires for improved business performance.

Taleo Hourly elevates your hourly talent management programs to the strategic level with bottom line returns created through automated, consistent and scalable hiring processes, improved candidate selection and maximized tax credit returns.

Taleo Contingent enables your organization to gain control of your contingent labor spend, build efficient and highly configurable processes, optimize your supplier base, and increase the availability and quality of non-permanent labor across your organization.

Taleo Performance redefines performance management. It’s built to support the everyday user at a central source that combines interactivity, metrics, and content. Our solution enables organizational goal setting, performance review management, and career and succession planning. Achieve success by using our Web 2.0 solution to raise workforce productivity — each and every day of the year.


Vurv Technology --- http://www.vurv.com/
Vurv Enterprise
An integrated workforce management solution applies consistency to all aspects of the employee lifecycle -- from workforce planning, recruiting and onboarding to performance and compensation management, succession planning and ongoing employee development.

Recruitment. Vurv offers four recruitment applications catered for the unique needs of: mid-enterprise corporate hr; small business hr; staffing and recruitment agencies; and staffing vendor management.

Onboarding. Aloha Vurv onboarding software shortens the onboarding process by automating routing of information, obtaining approvals faster, and reducing paper handling.

Performance. Vurv offers two performance management applications for mid-large enterprises and small business.

Compensation Planning. Balance Compensation Planning software provides managers with the tools they need to easily and effectively perform the complex tasks associated with compensation planning.

Decision Manager. Decision Manager is an on-demand decision support platform that records, tracks and executes three key workforce decisions; who should be retained, redeployed and/or separated from the business.

Workforce Monitor. Workforce Monitor is an on-demand human capital analytics service that allows senior executives and operational leaders to configure and receive real-time corporate data and metrics on their desktop. Users can monitor key compliance, financial, workforce composition, and project progress metrics.


Remember. When developing innovative solutions www.VisionSt.eu

When application is easy to use

When you are buying new application into your company, let sales person tell you the truth.
After sales person have told you their application is very easy to use, ask him/her what kinda training their company can offer to you. Then you know, what they really mean.

Training units should create ”ease of use policy” for company.

Benefits:
- Departments and units understand better coming training and support needs.
- Planning projects can pay attention to, what ease of use level coming application will be.
- Everybody speaks same ”ease of use lanquage”.
- Easier to say, how much training and how to –support will cost.

Ease of use levels:

A: Very easy to use.
- No training
- No user manuals

B: Easy to use.
- e-learning 1h

C: Quite easy to use.
- Informal education less than 2h
- User manuals less than 20 pages

D: Quite difficult to use.
- Classroom training 4h
- User manuals and training material
- Intranet help pages

E: Difficult to use.
- Classroom training 1d
- User manuals and training material
- Intranet help pages
- Application support

F: Very difficult to use.
- Classroom training 2d or more
- User manuals and training material
- Intranet help pages
- Application support

With ease of use policy, you can say how much training will cost. You can also estimate coming support needs. Levels D,E,F needs support; intranet pages and help desk support.

Don`t forget Future Web Toolbox for companies. www.visionst.eu