Back in the 60s, the noted media theorist Marshall McLuhan said: “The medium is the message”. To play off that term in the on demand software as a service (SaaS) space, today the platform is the service. Here’s why.

Technology talk these days is about cloud computing. Is this a new concept? Not really. Software as a service (SaaS) on an open platform has been around for more than a decade providing online access requiring no software or hardware. You subscribe, configure, and use career sites and solutions on a web browser. With SaaS, thousands of Taleo customers have been able to solve the most complex global talent challenges.

The SaaS platform features easy access, 99.9% reliability, and advanced security. The most advanced platforms work like a Talent Grid that can deliver the benefits of unified talent management:

• Recruit talent before a job opens.
• Know if you are gaining or losing talent value.
• Establish real compensation for real performance.
• Identify future leaders internally and externally before they are needed.
• Place candidates in positions where they are likely to succeed.

You configure core solutions, establish structure and workflow, and then get a choice of plug-and-play extensions from pre-integrated partners. That enables unified talent management on a Talent Grid that powers the process ecosystem you choose to build.