Market Perspectives

We are happy to share some insights about Payscale drawn from our latest Value Index research, Ventana Research Value Index: Total Compensation Management, which assesses how well vendors’ offerings meet buyers’ requirements.

In all of our Value Indexes we utilize a structured research methodology that includes evaluation categories designed to reflect real-world criteria incorporated in a request for proposal (RFP) and vendor selection process for total compensation management. We evaluated Payscale and 13 other vendors in seven categories, five relevant to the product (adaptability, capability, manageability, reliability and usability) and two related to the vendor (TCO/ROI and vendor validation). To arrive at the Value Index rating for a given vendor, we weighted each category to reflect its relative importance in an RFP process, with the weightings based on our experience and on data derived from our benchmark research on total compensation management.

Payscale’s total compensation management system offers a breadth of applications and industry benchmark information that can help ensure pay equity and fairness in compensation processes. Payscale was categorized as an Innovative Vendor, ranking fifth overall in this Value Index evaluation. It ranked fifth in Product Experience where it performed best in Capability, placing fourth. It ranked ninth in Customer Experience, placing eighth in TCO/ROI and Validation. Its overall performance was impacted by the lower rankings in both Adaptability where it ranked 13th, and TCO/ROI. These two categories represent 20% of the weighting in the overall Value Index.

Our assessment finds that Payscale could improve its performance in Reliability, where it ranked 10th, by investing in the ability to scale and perform across its applications and data offerings. To improve TCO/ROI, where it ranked eighth, Payscale could provide better information, tools and practices to help organizations ascertain the value of its offering in the evaluation and purchase processes.

This assessment was based on Payfactor’s/MarketPay products and was available in February of 2023.

Payscale like all compensation management vendors, should ensure they continue to focus on capabilities beyond the core that will only continue to increase in their importance to buyers, like prescriptive analytics, proactive pay equity management, and creative and personalized compensation plans that are becoming increasingly more complex.

This research-based index is the most comprehensive assessment of the value of total compensation management software in the industry. Technology buyers can learn more about how to use our Value Index by clicking here and included vendors that wish to learn more can click here. Read the report here.