Realty Holding Company Selects Ultimate Software's Intersourcing

WESTON, Fla., Feb. 21 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Ultimate Software (Nasdaq: ULTI), a leading provider of Web-based payroll and workforce management solutions, announced today that Sawyer Realty Holdings LLC purchased Ultimate Software's UltiPro Workforce Management delivered through its hosted service delivery model, Intersourcing, in November 2005.
Sawyer Realty Holdings is a privately held real estate acquisition and management firm that has been using a service bureau. With a plan to grow its nearly 1,000-person employee base, the holding company needed deeper functionality and richer reporting capabilities than it has available with the payroll outsourcer. Yet, it did not want the IT responsibilities associated with some in-house solutions. The firm selected the on-demand delivery model of UltiPro since Ultimate Software assumes responsibility for all of the IT functions associated with UltiPro, such as purchasing hardware and system software and managing backups, versioning, and upgrades, while providing Sawyer's users with browser access to features that:
  * facilitate company growth through acquisitions
  * streamline processes such as managing training and certifications and career pathing, and
  * deliver sophisticated workforce analytics and a library of 600+ reports.
As companies increase in size, so can administrative headaches. In high- growth mode, Sawyer Realty Holdings wanted to ensure that UltiPro could expedite the tactical duties associated with the business expansion process. The firm was impressed with Intersourcing's self-service tools for managers and employees available over the Web because both managers and remote administrators can input new hires, when necessary. Sawyer Realty plans to free up HR staff time to manage more strategic activities, such as workforce planning and budgeting, by giving managers and employees the ability to maintain and update their own information.
"We hope to fully leverage UltiPro's manager and employee self-service -- including benefits enrollment -- to automate many processes that have been primarily manual," said Russ Kuyawa, IT director for Sawyer Realty Holdings. "As a company, we continue to be in a growth mode. To prepare for our next era of business development, we feel that UltiPro will help streamline our employee-centric operations and elevate the contributions of our HR staff."
One burdensome task that has kept Sawyer Realty Holdings' HR staff from focusing on core business objectives has been tracking the training and certification requirements that are necessary for most employees. Certifications and training associated with Fair Housing Practices, Maintenance, and Multifamily Housing courses that are often required have been difficult to track companywide. Sawyer Realty Holdings wants to use UltiPro to house that data so the real estate holding company can analyze it and provide career-pathing for its employees, suggesting certifications and training for high performers who want to advance. The firm also hopes to use the solution to identify internal candidates for open positions requiring specific training and certifications.
"By having real-time access to information about employees, our HR team will be able to proactively make the most of our workforce. This is good for our people and good for our bottom line because we'll hold down the costs associated with turnover by promoting from within," said Kuyawa.
Recognizing the value of business intelligence reporting, Sawyer Realty Holdings also chose UltiPro for customizable real-time reports. With more than 80 offices, Sawyer Realty Holdings wanted the ability to view company data by office, by state, or on the company as a whole.
"Using a service bureau, we have not had the benefit of being able to easily evaluate labor information on a companywide level. We plan to use UltiPro to get a 360-degree view of our entire workforce," said Kuyawa. "We are excited about having an integrated HR/payroll solution that offers comprehensive reporting tools to streamline our day-to-day, governmental, and business intelligence reporting needs without extra charges or a wait time."
"Ultimate Software can help businesses manage growth with Intersourcing by using technology to replace manual effort, so that the contributions of human resources can be maximized," said Greg Swick, senior vice president of sales for Ultimate Software. "When HR has high-quality strategic tools, everyone in an organization benefits."