Local companies are hailing a new Internet program as the human resource savior for small- to medium-sized businesses.
The application service provider’s producers hope it removes the financial burden created by an over-extended human resource department.
The Simpata application is a self-service program with full-service capabilities for human resource, benefits and payroll. It stores benefit enrollment forms, provider booklets, a calendar tracking form due dates and even an employee handbook.
Basically, Simpata does “all the stuff that HR people have to deal with,” but would rather not, said Brad Orr, president and CEO of John Burnham & Co.
Burnham is one of six local Simpata clients and the only company marketing it in San Diego.
One feature on the ASP allows users to compare plans the employer offers based on job level. The results are sent automatically to the carrier and administrator.
– HR Application
Released This Year
The application was released earlier this year by the Alameda, Calif.-based company of the same name. Simpata, Inc. operates out of Sacramento.
The application was “built from the Internet” with a real-time, centralized program containing all the information of a human resource department, said Marcia Harlow, Simpata, Inc. vice president of product development.
Harlow touts Simpata customers will never buy new HR equipment, upgrade components or compensate IT personnel for the maintenance.
A partnership with Internet security utility Pilot Network Services Inc., also in Alameda, ensures only the password-approved users are allowed into the program, Harlow said.
Simpata clients save money because all work is done online and nothing’s mailed; electronic signatures are as good as the real ones, she added.
According to Hackett Benchmarking & Research, an Ohio-based consulting company, the average cost to manage human resources is $1,500 per employee, per year.
Simpata executives believe their application will reduce HR costs by $700 to $800 per worker.
– Insurance Firm First
To Use Simpata in S.D.
The first Simpata customer in San Diego was the 100-employee, insurance company John Burnham & Co. The firm’s sister company, John Burnham Real Estate Services, Inc., does not use the product.
Orr said Burnham needed something like Simpata for the firm’s four-person benefit administration team.
The 40 companies the unit served were outsourcing more “nitty-gritty stuff” to the understaffed department.
Burnham soon realized it made more sense to sell the product and entered into a marketing agreement with Simpata, Orr said.
“We were excited about what it would do for our sales as well as for our clients,” he said.
– E-Businesses Interested
In Using Online Product
The most interested companies so far are high-tech firms because they naturally gravitate to E-business solutions, Orr said.
One such firm is the San Diego firm Motiva Software Corp. A San Diego-based Internet solutions company with a stable of 155 employees. Just three months ago the firm was hiring 10 to 15 new employees every two weeks, said Shelley Tracy, Motiva’s director of human resources and administration.
Tracy believes Simpata will save her department time and reduce errors enrolling all employees.
“It’s real difficult to explain the benefits and go through all the paperwork when they’re not physically located at your corporate headquarters,” she said.
Motiva made the Simpata program acquisition announcement to its employees July 14 and immediately issued program ID cards.
