iCIMS Hire Expectations™

While many readers are just starting to kick off their summer; here at iCIMS it’s upgrade season. Beginning a few months ago and continuing through the summer, all of our customers are getting seamlessly upgraded to iCIMS 10.

All of our 800 clients are learning that Version 10 officially supports Internet Explorer 7 and 8 for Windows users and Mozilla Firefox 3 for Windows, Mac, Linux, and Solaris users.  (Of course, applicants accessing career portals and employees accessing onboarding portals are able to use Internet Explorer 6, as well as an even wider variety of browsers, such as Mozilla Firefox 2, Safari2, Opera 8, Google Chrome 0.3, etc.).

However, they are wondering why iCIMS would like them to upgrade from IE 6…Some users (especially corporate users) can’t perform an easy upgrade; however there are plenty of reasons to start replacing this 9-year-old browser. Here are a few of them:

• Security.  Based mostly on security concerns, PC World rated Internet Explorer 6 the 8th Worst Tech Product of all-time. Now, keep in mind, Microsoft responds to virtually all of these reported holes with patches, but reportedly, new ones are reported at a pretty constant rate.
• Speed. Compared to newer versions of IE and other modern browsers, IE6 can be extraordinarily slow.  Try loading up a typical widget-full page running Java or Flash and see what happens. Modern browsers are optimized for this feature heavy experience and can easily load web pages faster.
• Lack of support for new features. Even on a job well done, IE6 can arbitrarily change style sheets, which determine where things are placed on the screen, making otherwise fluid web pages look ugly.
• It’s being left behind. Did you see the newest Lady Gaga cover jam? Maybe not if you use IE6. Besides YouTube, Google has also ended IE6 support for many of its services, such as Gmail. 
• Languages. While the internet has always been a global project (think: World Wide Web), the web is becoming ingrained across more and more of the planet. Just this year, ICANN, the organization responsible for assigning domains, approved the first Internet addresses to feature Arabic characters for Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE. Why am I bringing this up? Well, Internet Explorer has some pretty big problems displaying Unicode and international characters, which can chip away at a global roll-out.

Of course, posting all of these reasons aren’t to say that we don’t like Microsoft’s Internet Explorer. In fact, much of the interactivity of today’s web is due to developments made to IE since it debuted in 1995. Because IE6 has many flaws, Microsoft has been encouraging users to upgrade or download its many patches. In fact, the newer release IE8 is a much better tool and is a significantly better offering.

Agree? Disagree? In the comments below, feel free to let us know what you think!

iCIMS is kicking off 2010 with a celebration to shout about. Happy 10th anniversary, iCIMS!

Incorporated in 2000, iCIMS marks its 10th year in business with a tour around the nation starting April 8th in New York City. The celebration will give all attendees the opportunity to meet the iCIMS family and network with other HR professionals to learn the latest in HR technology solutions. The company will visit 8 cities in total. Click on the city name to register for an event near you or check out the iCIMS 10th Anniversary site!

So, why the party?

First, let’s take a little trip back in time…

Built from the ground up, iCIMS offered the world a new way to approach the HR function. Fast, flexible, web-based talent management software to facilitate human resource departments worldwide.

Within the first year, iCIMS was already experiencing rapid growth, but this was only a sliver of the success about to come.

• By 2001, iCIMS signed 50 clients.
• By 2003, iCIMS opened West Coast operations in order to assist the East Coast headquarters.
• By 2005, iCIMS landed on the “Fastest Growing Technology Company” list.
• By 2007, iCIMS signed 500 clients.
• By 2009, iCIMS adds UK division to North American and Asia-Pacific operations.
• By 2010, iCIMS celebrates 10 years of operation with all of its 800+ clients.

So again, why the celebration?

This anniversary tour celebrates iCIMS’ rise to excellence. Over the past ten years, iCIMS has gained unparalleled organic growth totaling to 963% and has experienced a corporate renewal rate of 97%. iCIMS has also shown an unwavering commitment to superior customer support and a continuous effort to improve the HR technology world. Recently, iCIMS was named the mid-market leader for business platforms. This tour reflects upon iCIMS’ dedication to offering the best software an HR representative could ask for. Lastly, and maybe most importantly, iCIMS is celebrating the ones who helped them achieve this phenomenal success: iCIMS’ 800+ clients! Thank you clients for your continued support of the iCIMS Talent Platform. iCIMS couldn’t have experienced such growth without you!

This event is just one of many to come in 2010.

Here’s a sneak peak at our next event: iCIMS will release the newest version of the Talent Platform, iCIMS 10. This new release provides clients with greater flexibility and configurability that revolutionizes the user experience. With an enhanced interface and quick-access links, recruiting candidates and managing employees just got easier. Keep up-to-date with the latest news from iCIMS at http://www.icims.com/article/.

This has been a momentous decade for iCIMS, full of growth and expansion. The iCIMS team expects even greater success to come in 2010 and beyond. Join us in celebrating ten years of excellence and register for an event near you!