e-BEAM Shines Brightly for HR Apps
Continuing its efforts to provide the most cost-effective solutions for human resources, Infinium Software Inc. (Hyannis, Mass.) announced a partnership with Trilog Group (Boston) to develop an AS/400-based e-business benefits enrollment and modeling solution, eBEAM.
Capitalizing on Trilog Group's background in Lotus Notes/Domino and Web-based applications, eBEAM will be built on the Lotus Domino Application Server, which enables a wide range of services such as workflow, directory and security. This solution will enable cost savings while increasing the accuracy of a company's benefits information and overall efficiency of the HR department.
"This was absolutely customer driven," says Steve Boyd, Infinium product strategy manager. "We determined this was an ideal e-business solution for AS/400 users."
Infinium eBEAM allows companies to save large amounts of money because it lets users perform benefit enrollment tasks themselves. With browser-based access to a company's intranet, employees can maintain their own personnel records, such as their benefit and 401K plans. During open enrollment periods, employees can make changes in these plans and automatically see the effect it will have on their paycheck.
After the enrollment period is over, the changes go to the HR department for review. Once the HR department approves the changes, employee records are automatically updated on the back-end database, eliminating the need for data entry. Management can also conduct salary changes without having to go through a long process. Thus, eBEAM reduces time and resources needed for enrollment without eliminating benefit administrators' control.
eBEAM will be available as an optional component for Infinium's AS/400 human resource solution, HR/400. Boyd says Infinium hopes to begin shipping eBEAM in late September and will also release a new version of HR/400, Version 9.2, to go along with it. "We choose Trilog because they have expertise in building benefits and enrollment solutions," he says. "But we also choose them because their expertise allows for rapid development, and we want to have this product by the end of September."
--by J. Martin