HR & People Analytics Insights
Upscend Team
-January 11, 2026
9 min read
This article shows how to run an HR tech evaluation that combines HR requirements with an IT audit. It provides a weighted RFP scorecard, SaaS security checklist, integration scoring rubric, and contract negotiation tactics to reduce TCO and integration risk. Practical next steps and a mini case demonstrate measurable savings.
HR tech evaluation must be both an HR exercise and an IT audit from day one. In our experience, teams that treat vendor selection as only a functional review miss critical risks and integration costs that show up after go-live. This article provides a practical, repeatable framework that blends HR requirements with IT criteria: security, APIs, uptime SLAs, data portability, total cost of ownership, and vendor support.
We’ll give a weighted RFP scorecard template, a compact HR vendor due diligence checklist, a SaaS security checklist, integration scoring guidance, negotiation tips, and a short case that shows measurable savings from re-evaluation. Use this to standardize how to evaluate HR technology vendors across procurement, HR, and IT.
A common pattern we’ve noticed: HR teams prioritize features while IT focuses on risk. The best evaluations combine both into a single scorecard so trade-offs are explicit. The core pillars to include are:
When doing an HR tech evaluation, convert these pillars into measurable criteria. For example, security can be scored by the presence of SOC 2, MFA for admins, and encryption-at-rest policies. Integration can be scored by availability of REST APIs, event webhooks, and pre-built connectors to your HRIS or identity provider.
Keep the framework simple: use a 1–5 score for each criterion, with weights driven by your risk tolerance and strategic goals. That ensures the highest-scoring vendors meet both HR and IT needs.
Score security with evidence-based checkpoints: certifications, independent audits, penetration testing cadence, encryption standards, and incident history. For integrations, score by API completeness, documentation quality, SDK availability, and support for your SSO and identity provider.
Capture technical evidence in the RFP; require a dedicated technical contact for PoC work and API sandbox access. This makes an HR tech evaluation less subjective and more verifiable.
We’ve found the most pragmatic weighting is 40% technical (security, API, SLA), 40% functional (HR workflows, UX), and 20% commercial (TCO, contract flexibility). Adjust those numbers if compliance or scale is the primary concern.
This balanced approach keeps the procurement team honest about hidden costs and integration timelines during vendor assessment HR workflows.
Below is a compact RFP scorecard you can copy and adapt. Use numeric weights and require evidence attachments for high-risk items.
| Criterion | Weight | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Security & Compliance | 25% | SOC 2 Type II, ISO 27001, encryption, breach history |
| APIs & Integration | 20% | REST API coverage, webhooks, pre-built connectors |
| Reliability & SLA | 15% | Uptime %, incident response times, credits |
| Data Portability & Ownership | 15% | Export formats, retention, deletion process |
| TCO (3-year) | 15% | License fees + implementation + integration + maintenance |
| Support & Roadmap | 10% | Support SLA, technical account manager, roadmap transparency |
Sample vendor questions to include in your RFP (require written evidence):
Use the scorecard to produce a single ranked list. That makes vendor assessment HR decisions defensible to the board and procurement.
For many HR systems, security is non-negotiable. Below is a practical SaaS security checklist you should require during HR vendor due diligence:
For integration scoring, build a rubric that measures:
Multiply each rubric score by its business weight. That produces an integration scoring number you can compare across vendors and feed into the main HR tech evaluation ranking.
Procurement often encounters the same sticking points: hidden implementation costs, unclear data ownership, vendor lock-in, and weak exit clauses. An explicit HR vendor due diligence checklist should address these directly.
Key negotiation levers we recommend:
Common procurement mistakes include accepting ambiguous "access" to data, weak indemnification language, and not pricing the cost of a failed integration. When you enforce a firm how to evaluate HR technology vendors checklist during contract negotiation, you reduce long-term risk and surprise expenditures.
Use concrete, testable contract language. Examples we've used successfully:
A mid-sized company had implemented a learning platform that appeared functionally strong but lacked robust APIs. In our review, the initial vendor scored high on UX but low on integration scoring. The company performed a formal HR tech evaluation, using the RFP scorecard and vendor assessment HR practices.
They re-opened procurement and selected a vendor with documented API parity and better SLAs. The result: a 30% reduction in third-party integration consultancy fees and a 40% faster time-to-integration with the HRIS and SSO. Re-evaluating avoided a costly rip-and-replace two years later.
One turning point was removing friction in analytics and personalization during deployment. Tools like Upscend helped by making analytics and personalization part of the core process, reducing the custom integration surface and enabling faster, evidence-driven rollout across teams.
This re-evaluation demonstrates why technical criteria and contractual clarity matter as much as product fit when you decide how to evaluate HR technology vendors.
To run a defensible and pragmatic HR tech evaluation, adopt a combined HR+IT framework, operationalize an RFP scorecard, and require evidence for every high-risk item on your HR vendor due diligence checklist. Use the SaaS security checklist and integration scoring rubric to compare vendors objectively, and push procurement to negotiate explicit data ownership and exit clauses.
Immediate next steps you can implement this week:
If you want a practical template and walkthrough, adapt the scorecard provided here and run a 4-week technical PoC before signing any multi-year agreement. That approach materially lowers TCO and integration risk and gives your board predictable outcomes.
Call to action: Start by converting this framework into your organization's standard RFP checklist and schedule a cross-functional review (HR, IT, security, procurement) for your next vendor shortlist.
