ATS users charged for their own data???

I have modified this post removing the vendor's name.  It was written with incorrect information that I received from a sales representive.  But, the focus of guarding your data and understanding that ATS products are a great asset to our industry and this in no way should imply that I don't believe in these valuable tools.

My current ATS vendor has been acquired by a competitor.  I did my due deligence and looked at some of the other ATS products on the market.   I found another vendor that fit closer to our business model.  To my amazement I am now finding out that some vendors, per information provided by a sales person, some vendors charge fees to users if you decide to take your business elsewhere.  EVEN THOUGH, IT'S YOUR PROPERTY!!!!

The whole idea of a ATS is that the client owns the data and just uses the ATS software and facilities.  Usually, it's a month by month contract and the vendor holds no rights to the ownership of the data. 

I double checked our contract and no where are these fees discussed.  As pointed out by a comment, if it's not there, there probably is a charge. 

There was some disappointment that my current ATS didn't meet our current needs, because I expected that transition might have been easier.

Update on Saturday, October 11, 2008 at 02:30PM by Mike Tiffany

Received some outstanding feedback on this issue and I was very unclear and corrected with some good input that it up to you to make sure that this issue is covered in the ATS contract.  Some vendors already have data export utilities at no charge.  This is an item to make sure you have, because in my case, it made it much easier to protect your property. 

Comments

[21st Century Recruiter]

Mike,

Its called business 101 an as a recruiter selecting an ATS I suggest you get up to speed. You don't get anything for nothing, and in the end you get what you pay for... Yes, you own the data but there is a cost to extract that data into a usable format outside the ATS. A sane vendor will not invest in creating an extract for those customers who choose to leave and then give it away. If you are moving to a vendor who guarantees they will provide such an extract free of charge, if I were you I would expect them to be out of business or acquired sooner than later because they are giving away those services and almost certainly others. When they go out of business or get acquired where will you be with your data? Back to where you are now.

In your selection of Vurv Express did you stop to consider whether their business model was a viable one? Vurv were notorious for undercutting their competitors and promising the moon...Why do you think Taleo acquired them? In looking at other vendors can you look at their balance sheet and business model and feel certain that they won't be the next acquisition/integration target other vendors like Taleo who have sustainable business models and actually charge for their services?

I am not advocating for or against Taleo or any other ATS but I am always stunned when recruiters expect HR products and services to be provided at no charge by vendors.

[Steven Rothberg CollegeRecruiter.com]

A web-based software vendor charging a client for a data export is not all that unusual, but client's right to the data and what charges if any the vendor may charge should be spelled out in your service agreement. I see from your blog entry that the contract doesn't say that Taleo f/k/a Vurv is allowed to charge you for the data export, but does it actually say that or is the contract silent about any such charges? If it is silent, then realistically an objective third party is going to look at that and say that they should be able to charge you a reasonable amount for doing that extra work for you.

[Jason Blessing]

Mike, Taleo does not charge clients for exporting their data from Vurv Express or Taleo Business Edtion. In fact, the export utility is self-service for both product lines and used by our customers for a variety of different purposes. In addition, Taleo is performing free data migrations, system configurations, and honoring legacy pricing for all Vurv Express customers that upgrade to Taleo Business Edition.

Regards,

Jason Blessing
GM & Group Vice President
Taleo Business Edition

[Joe Albert]

In my experience I have seen SaaS license agreements that are very specific regarding data and ones that are not specific at all. Vendors, at the very least, should provide one standard data backup at no cost upon termination of an agreement. With this being said, vendors should reserve the right to charge for custom formatting of the data or multiple runs of the data.

Joe Albert
Solutions Consultant
iCIMS