HR is moving to the cloud. You have heard this many times, and your leaders and decision makers are hearing the same message. The expectation being set by cloud vendors are speed, agility and visual delights. So why is it so hard to implement cost effective and agile HR technology? We caught up with Trent Wai-Poi from The University of Auckland ahead of his session at HR Tech Fest 2015 to chat all things HR technology and the cloud.

The majority of HR and Payroll systems have been in place in our organisations for some time. Often these do what they say on the box, they pay and store HR information. However most of these suffer from not being created on the latest technology or using the latest thinking and ideas. Expert users within the organisation often follow the advice and expertise of vendors and fellow users in their use of core HRIS and payroll systems.

What we don't do is to look at what we can learn from the latest systems and latest technology and apply those concepts to our core HR. By applying some of these tools and techniques you can provide better systems and processes for your end users.

Cloud software is the future of HR technology and should be the first consideration for your HR technology needs. One of the most common mistake I see is organisations getting blinded by what the cloud products offer, but not enough thought going into how the products strategically align to the existing product sets being used. Often organisations end up with multiple products that deliver the same process, and no strategy on how processes and systems should be delivered.

1)  It will be uncomfortable. Don't ignore the difficult. These are the ones that need focus and attention.

2)  Don't start, by thinking what benefits this brings to HR. Start by thinking what benefits this brings to the business and how it fulfils the business goals.

3)  Act and deliver quickly. The quicker you can respond to needs builds credibility and reduces long term costs.

Trent Wai-Poi is a business expert in HR technology and process, working across both private and public sectors for both on-premise and SaaS solutions. He has also led HR process improvement and implemented a continuous delivery approach to HR technology. This, combined with over 10 years' experience in HR analytics and data warehousing and dashboards, provides Trent with a unique insight into HR technology.