Recruitment software the options around

Whether you're starting a new recruitment business or expanding an existing one, somewhere along the line you'll have to consider how you're going to provide the systems which will power your operation. But before you start putting together a wish list of must-have features and functionality there's a fundamental choice you need to make which will have a big impact on your budget and your resourcing. Do you set up and run your own IT infrastructure and software or do you buy the service in from a third party?

If you're starting a new business you'll no doubt want to manage your set-up costs very closely indeed. If your plan to get off the ground initially looks like two or three people, working out of a small office you probably won't relish the thought of installing a server, buying all the software you'll need to make it work and then taking on the role of IT Director when for some unknown reason, it doesn't.

Delivering software from the cloud in a SaaS model is one of the fastest growing areas of the IT industry and in essence means that software applications are hosted by a service provider and made available to customers over the internet. This is the alternative to the traditional model in which software is bought and installed on your own hardware, and in most cases you will have a subscription model commercially.

Delivering SaaS solutions for recruitment would normally involve the company providing not only the actual application but also all the ancillary software like office and exchange so that you run your entire business this way. All the applications will integrate nicely with your backoffice software and make candidate data management a breeze.

A SaaS solution is completely scaleable to your business whether you're in a period of growth or retraction. You only pay for the users you actually need at the time and it's flexible enough to be managed from month to month if necessary. And because it's the service provider's responsibility to make sure everything works as promised you don't need to employ your own highly skilled IT technicians to keep your system in perfect working order.

An SLA defines the relationship and ensures that the contract is measured and the service is delivered with the appropriate performance and availability. Colleague recruitment software delivers its solution online. Called Colleague LIVE it allows organisations to focus on building their business and not the complexities of owning, running and supporting inhouse hardware and software.