VirtuallyHR: Human Resources Management

VirtuallyHR, South Africa's first eCommerce platform for human resource practitioners is the vision of an entrepreneur who approached Accenture to give his idea structure and substance, and launch it to the marketplace.

South Africa's first eCommerce platform for human resource practitioners is a joint venture between Johnnic's I-Net Bridge and The Laser Group. It is a subscription-driven hub that gives Human Resource executives and managers a single point of access to a broad range of products and services, enabling them to keep abreast of trends, regulations, resources and tools which make their jobs easier.

VirtuallyHR is the vision of an entrepreneur who approached Accenture in 1999 to give his idea structure and substance, and launch it to the marketplace. This was new territory for Accenture in South Africa whose experience is firmly rooted in working with established large corporations.

The challenge was accepted as it would give Accenture a valuable opportunity to learn how to transform an innovative dot.com idea into a commercially viable entity.

Specific challenges were:

• No similar Web-based platform existed elsewhere in the world from which Accenture could draw ideas or seek advice.
• The entrepreneur needed constant guidance on what was commercially feasible and needed to adjust some of his thinking.
• Legal issues relating to intellectual property rights of the participating suppliers and of VirtuallyHR needed to be thoroughly explored.
• Strategic partners needed to be identified and brought on board.
• Financing options, including venture capital, required careful examination.

In November 1999 Accenture became involved. This direct involvement lasted for one year, with the team size peaking at six people.

The first four months were spent working with the entrepreneur to determine the vision, confirming it and driving out a strategy. The Laser Group, a JSE-listed services company, with a specialist HR outsourcing division, became part owners to support their technology-enabled expansion strategy. I-Net Bridge was identified as the strategic partner to host the platform and give it high-level market exposure.

VirtuallyHR has secured a financially stable and credible presence in its target market during a particularly tough time for online enterprises. Its customer base of HR practitioners and suppliers of products and services is steadily growing.

The company expects to be operationally self-sufficient two months before the scheduled 21-month target.

There are eight secured clients and, now that the idea has proved its usefulness to HR practitioners, negotiations with a number of other companies are underway.