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If you’re looking to virtualize a portion of your business,\r\nwhy not start with HR? With the help of VirtualBox, and a few virtual machines,\r\nyou can easily have a number of powerful tools to make your human resources\r\ndepartment run smoothly. The good thing about virtual appliances, they are\r\nincredibly quick to deploy as well as cost effective. All you need is a server,\r\nVirtualBox, a downloadable virtual appliance, and a little time. Once you’re up\r\nand running, the human resources department will thank you for handing over the\r\nkeys to a world of efficient work flow and power.
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But where do you get these virtual appliances and which ones\r\nshould you try? I’ve narrowed down the list to five and have them here for you\r\nto discover. Read on to determine if one (or more) of these appliances will\r\nserve your HR department.
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\r\n\r\nOrange\r\nHRM is clearly the leader in human resource management. This powerful open\r\nsource system is used by over a million companies world-wide and offers\r\nfeatures like: Employee information management, employee absence management,\r\nrecruitment management, employee performance evaluation, employee self-service,\r\nand other HR-specific management tools. Orange HRM is an ideal system for small\r\nto medium sized businesses looking to give their human resource department the\r\npower to manage all aspects of employees from a single, web-based portal. And\r\nsince Orange HRM is modular, you can add and remove modules as needed. Should\r\nyou need support for Orange HRM, you can choose from one of their\r\nsupport plans.
Credit: Images by Jack Wallen for TechRepublic
Credit: Images by Jack Wallen for TechRepublic
\r\n\r\nProcess\r\nMaker is a system that helps you improve the workflow performance. By analyzing\r\ninefficiencies and bottlenecks, Process Maker will build specific and in-depth\r\nreports to help you fine tune how your business runs. Process Maker also allows\r\nyou to set up automated notifications and offers an easy to use web-based\r\ninterface. And with the Dynaform Builder, you can create specific forms focused\r\non improving the workflow between employees, departments, and more. With a\r\ndrag-and-drop interface, Process Maker offers a user-friendly experience that\r\njust about any HR staff member can get up to speed with (so long as they have\r\nan understanding of report and form building).
Credit: Images by Jack Wallen for TechRepublic
Credit: Images by Jack Wallen for TechRepublic
\r\n\r\nPhreedom\r\nis an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system that allows the small business\r\nto enjoy some of the same tools enterprise-level businesses employ. With this\r\nvirtual appliance you can: Track inventory, manage accounting and contracts,\r\nhandle check writing, do bank account reconciliation, and much more. Although\r\nPhreedom offers much more than most small businesses need, it is a superb means\r\nof tracking resources within your company to help build a much more reliable\r\nand efficient workflow. Phreedom also offers a plug-in system that allows you\r\nexpand beyond the standard capability.
Credit: Images by Jack Wallen for TechRepublic
Credit: Images by Jack Wallen for TechRepublic
\r\n\r\nvTiger\r\nis specific for Customer Relationship Management. The vTiger platform offers\r\nfeatures like: Phone and e-mail integration, analysis and reporting, customer\r\nsupport with self-service portal, marketing/sales automation for campaigns,\r\nlead generation, billing/inventory management, Google integration, and much\r\nmore. With vTiger you empower your sales force with a collaboration tool that\r\nwill make their entire process far more streamlined.
Credit: Images by Jack Wallen for TechRepublic
Credit: Images by Jack Wallen for TechRepublic
\r\n\r\nZurmo is\r\nanother Customer Relationship Manager – with a twist. Zurmo claims to be the\r\nfirst social and “gamified” CRM. What that means is that users gain\r\nrewards for milestones. But don’t let the “schtick” fool you, Zurmo\r\nstill offers all the usual features found in other, powerful CRM tools. The\r\nZurmo feature set includes: Contact management, activity management, deal\r\ntracking, reporting, workflow, marketing automation, product management,\r\nresetful API, Google Mapping integration, and more. Zurmo also offers security\r\nwith role management/groups/permissions/ad-hoc teams. And since Zurmo is open\r\nsource, it can be expanded to perfectly fit your company’s needs.
Credit: Images by Jack Wallen for TechRepublic
\r\n\r\nYou should find that one or more of these virtual\r\nappliances can be deployed to help bring a level of efficiency to your business\r\nyou’ve never had. Any small business would do well to look into deploying one\r\nof these platforms – just make sure you understand how virtual\r\nmachines/appliances work so you can get the most out of these tools.
Credit: Images by Jack Wallen for TechRepublic
Jack Wallen is an award-winning writer for TechRepublic, The New Stack, and Linux New Media. He's covered a variety of topics for over twenty years and is an avid promoter of open source. For more news about Jack Wallen, visit his website jackwallen.com.
