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IBM Kenexa vs Workday HCM comparison

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Comparison Buyer's Guide

Executive SummaryUpdated on Jul 21, 2026

Review summaries and opinions

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Categories and Ranking

IBM Kenexa
Ranking in Benefits Administration
12th
Ranking in Talent Management
16th
Average Rating
7.6
Reviews Sentiment
5.3
Number of Reviews
30
Ranking in other categories
Applicant Tracking and Recruiting Software (6th)
Workday HCM
Ranking in Benefits Administration
1st
Ranking in Talent Management
2nd
Average Rating
8.4
Reviews Sentiment
6.7
Number of Reviews
66
Ranking in other categories
Cloud HCM (1st), Talent Acquisition (1st)
 

Mindshare comparison

As of October 2026, in the Benefits Administration category, the mindshare of IBM Kenexa is 2.0%, up from 0.9% compared to the previous year. The mindshare of Workday HCM is 9.3%, down from 17.6% compared to the previous year. It is calculated based on PeerSpot user engagement data.
Benefits Administration Mindshare Distribution
ProductMindshare (%)
Workday HCM9.3%
IBM Kenexa2.0%
Other88.7%
Benefits Administration
 

Featured Reviews

Karan Grover - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Suitable for larger-scale companies aiming to streamline and automate their processes digitally
The deployment of the solution took between six to eight months. When we introduced BrassRing at my company, we encountered several challenges. First, moving data from our old system to BrassRing was tough because it needed reformatting. Second, connecting BrassRing with our HR data was tricky due to manual processes for roles and departments. Third, setting up the workflow in BrassRing was complex. Fourth, configuring user access and approval levels was a detailed task. We also had to manage the change process, including running both old and new systems in parallel, communicating changes, and training users. Lastly, monitoring and reporting were needed to ensure data accuracy and proper system usage once everything was in place. We had a team of six to eight people managing the project from our side during the BrassRing deployment. I'm not sure about the size of the BrassRing team, and we also had our own technical team, which had three to four members. The solution required maintenance, particularly from my side as the administrator. Maintenance responsibilities were divided into two parts: some tasks we, as end-users, could control, while others were the responsibility of the BrassRing team. Payment-related tasks were a regular part of our responsibilities. I wasn't the only person maintaining the solution. There were three power users from Infosys, each responsible for a specific geography. My counterpart managed it in the US, and I, along with my colleague in India, managed it for other geographies.
Amit_Rai - PeerSpot reviewer
Senior Software Engineer at a consultancy with 1,001-5,000 employees
Automation has transformed hire to retire processes and delivers powerful HR analytics
In Workday Human Capital Management, I feel that the security part needs to be improved. Workday gives complete control to the implementers regarding security and who is going to see what data. There are sometimes loopholes that are not identified unless fully tested. If Workday had a security alert system, even a small alert would help the security architect secure all information better, especially sensitive data such as payroll. Additionally, customization is another area of improvement, as Workday provides a default blue and yellow theme, which may not align with a company's branding. If Workday provided the option to customize themes based on a company's preferences, it would enhance the user experience.

Quotes from Members

We asked business professionals to review the solutions they use. Here are some excerpts of what they said:
 

Pros

"Scalability is great, as we use the system for everything from a very low-volume, high-touch corporate recruiting model to our tax office, high-volume approach, which is 80-100,000 people each season."
"As I said, IBM are doing a great job with us at the moment, but we're always looking and speaking and open to having conversations with other people because the market's changing and IBM are aware of that."
"We like IBM; IBM has been great partners for us, they're really invested in our success, and they see us as a valuable client."
"I like how we can copy a req as we have many duplicates, which saved a lot of time when opening reqs."
"The most valuable features are that we can upload documents and download them on demand, whether it is joining documents, employment screening, or your employment history, and it's easy enough to upload, find, and retrieve whatever you are looking for."
"The most important features are that the instrument can be customized, that we can get important and relevant data about our employees, and the responsiveness of our client team from IBM has been phenomenal."
"The most valuable features are that we can upload documents and download them on demand."
"Great value and flexibility in an ATS, mainly through the automation and the configuration through Workbench you can do to manipulate the candidate experience to really be something that candidates like and allows them to apply to your site easily and put them in a pipeline for recruiters to access and move through a process and get somebody hired."
"Since adopting Workday, we have reduced HR administrative processing time by 45%."
"Provides flexibility to integrate with the product. It has several tools, out-of-the-box, for integrations. It delivers pre-built interfaces for specific vendors, pre-built generic integrations to extract or push data into Workday through configuration."
"The product is useful for storing employee records."
"The solution was very good at reconfiguration and customization of their software. It helped us to meet federal regulations."
"First time users, understanding accessibility and consolidated data is fairly easy. The solution improves productivity for users and reduces the need to switch between different tools."
"It's really stable, we use it globally and have 100,000 employees, and I know that there are no big issues with the stability of the tool."
"It's easy to set up."
"Workday is easy to use. Timesheet and resource management are also easy."
 

Cons

"Maybe there's some room for improvement in the functionality around the actual tools that we build with."
"Being in a silo of my own world, my wish would be that everything that's available in their legacy views would be moved into their new Talent Suite products, so we could move over to that."
"We're really looking forward to some of their enhancements to their onboarding portal, specifically for recruiters and hiring managers."
"It needs to update its reporting and analytics tools."
"In the past year, there has been a significant increase in the amount of internal errors that are displayed."
"If you happen to be an early adopter of enhancements, it can be a frustrating process, as it is hard to decipher together with their support whether an issue is a bug or working as intended (a change in the way something works)."
"The user interface could do with an overhaul."
"I'm just taking over the account, so I'm still pretty new to the whole system."
"Workday could improve by adding other features, such as messaging to candidates and other recruiting capabilities that other new-age solutions have."
"There could be a web-based application for making payments to the employees."
"It would be good if the solution provided more extensive training sessions."
"Currently, the product's payroll feature works only in four countries. It should work for more countries."
"They could provide a web chatbot feature in the dashboard for Workday."
"The solution should focus more on user experience and less on the technical side."
"Reporting system should be improved. It is quite static based on historical data."
"Workday would be improved with more API connectors."
 

Pricing and Cost Advice

"Kenexa was fairly priced. However, in 2019, before I left my previous organization, they significantly increased their pricing. It can be affordable, but their pricing is going up. It is not just licensing; it is how many applicants you have in your system on the database side."
"Its price is pretty high. It is more expensive than what is offered by other competitors in the market."
"The solution is flexible in terms of pricing."
"By and large, Workday is expensive. It is based on the headcount. I'd probably rate it a three or four out of five in terms of pricing. It'd be like buying a Mercedes or a high-end car. It's expensive, but there's a specific value that you're getting with additional features and things of that nature. Using that metaphor, Workday probably tends to be more of a luxury. There are others like ADP that can do your payroll, your time off, and other things, but they don't do it as well."
"Workday is an expensive solution."
"The pricing for this solution is fairly high. It is not affordable for small and mid-sized companies."
"I need to pay for a license. It is expensive."
"It's very, very expensive."
"The solution’s pricing is better than SAP SuccessFactors."
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Top Industries

By visitors reading reviews
Manufacturing Company
15%
Outsourcing Company
14%
Construction Company
13%
Comms Service Provider
7%
Manufacturing Company
10%
Outsourcing Company
10%
Financial Services Firm
8%
Comms Service Provider
6%
 

Company Size

By reviewers
Large Enterprise
Midsize Enterprise
Small Business
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business3
Midsize Enterprise1
Large Enterprise28
By reviewers
Company SizeCount
Small Business18
Midsize Enterprise7
Large Enterprise50
 

Questions from the Community

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What are the biggest differences between Workday, Oracle Cloud and SAP SuccessFactors?
Differences between Workday, Oracle Cloud,w and SAP SuccessFactors:w Oracle: "simple interface and deep customization to suit the purpose." SAP: Multiple functionalities that increase process effi...
How easy is to maintain Workday, Oracle Cloud, and SuccessFactors?
I implemented Workday in 2024 and without having previous Workday experience, it was very challenging. I spent most of 2025 putting out fires and cleaning up the business processes that came with l...
What needs improvement with Workday?
Workday can be improved in terms of reporting and customization. Sometimes it is difficult to create custom reports and requires extra effort or support. The user interface can also be confusing in...
 

Comparisons

 

Also Known As

IBM Smarter Workforce, Outstart
Workday Human Capital Management
 

Overview

 

Sample Customers

Sweet Spot International (SSI), Leo Burnett Worldwide (LBW), Sika AG, Legacy Health, Apollo Group Inc., Regeneron, Transurban Group, National Health Service, New Zealand Police, Overland Footwear, Yealands, Johnson Controls, Allscripts, Kerry Foods, Masterpet, AMD, Balfour Beatty
AAA, Allied Global, Avago Technologies Limited, Aviva, Cardinal Health, CareFusion, Chiquita Brands International, Equifax, Flextronics, HP, Life Time Fitness, McKee Foods, MGM Resorts International, Sanofi, ServiceSource International, Symantec, TripAdvisor, Yahoo!
Find out what your peers are saying about IBM Kenexa vs. Workday HCM and other solutions. Updated: September 2026.
919,894 professionals have used our research since 2012.