Ramco has announced that its payroll software is now available in Japan. Historically they offered a payroll solution in Japan through partners. They have now developed the software in both Japanese and English providing customers with a single solution. This is good news for customers as it reduces the number of software solutions they need to support. Additionally, while details on pricing are not available, it should reduce overall costs.
The new software is fully localised. It includes Labour Insurance contributions for all states, Resident Tax and reporting Bonus Tax. For multinational companies this is a positive step by Ramco as it looks to continue its global expansion. It will also help them to attract Japanese multinational firms looking for a multinational ERP solution.
Strategic decision for Payroll
The decision by Ramco to do this is interesting. Developing and especially maintaining payroll solutions for each country is costly. In 2015 Workday declared that they had signed a global agreement with ADP to provide payroll for its HCM solution. They completed payroll for US, UK and France but then decided not to complete any more. In comparison, Ramco now supports payroll for more than 40 countries. It is also able to offer payroll solutions in the EU and African through its partners. It now claims to have payroll solutions for more than 70 countries.
The decision is brave. However, if Ramco has a lower overhead for development of payroll solutions then it is a differentiator. A fully integrated HR and Payroll solution is attractive to buyers. The only potential issue for Ramco is that wages are rising. According to Mercer’s 2016 India Total Remuneration Survey, as reported in The Economic Times, wages have risen by 10%, the highest globally in 2017. This may make certain countries uneconomic to support if Ramco does not have enough presence there.
Virender Aggarwal, CEO, Ramco Systems commented: “Growing number of multinationals are looking at consolidating their operations spread across multiple countries on a unified platform. Our success in addressing Fortune 500 and MNCs and drive to strengthen our APAC Payroll coverage led to the addition of Japan Payroll. We are confident that Japanese MNCs will benefit significantly from Ramco’s highly configurable and Innovative platform, which will help streamline their national expansion by automating company-wide payroll and administrative processes.”
Ramco is already implementing the payroll solution at several Japanese clients. It will no doubt hope to announce further new clients in the near future.
Automation key for future
Ramco also sees the emergence of chatbots and automation as a key component for success. They have developed their own Chatbot, Chia, available through their website. It is still in learning phase though. Within their software they are already using machine learning to identify errors then suggest resolutions to them. Aggarwal added: “Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in payroll is driving organizations to automate repeatable rule-based transactional tasks such as Payroll processing. The Global Payroll market is witnessing tectonic shifts in technology adoption and we are excited to be at the forefront driving this change”
This drive towards efficiency is an aspect of the software that will appeal to the Japanese market. Lean manufacturing processes were developed extensively in Japan in the automotive industry. That industry and the electronics industry are two areas that Ramco is looking for success in. Offering both Japanese and English as core languages makes the solution more attractive. This is especially true for multinationals employing both expat and Japanese nationals.
Conclusion
These are the kinds of initiatives that Ramco will need in order to re-ignite their growth in 2017. Despite indifferent results, Ramco remains bullish about its future. This announcement justifies that view. If it continues to develop localisations in foreign markets and grows its ecosystem then success should follow. It will, however, find increasing pressure from companies like Workday who are slowly expanding their footprint across the globe.
