Culligan International Manages Global Human Capital Management with UltiPro®

Ultimate Software (Nasdaq: ULTI), the leading provider of unified, end-to-end human capital management (HCM) SaaS solutions in North America, announced today that Culligan International, the industry leader in water treatment, has consolidated HCM processes for its multinational workforce into one central solution with UltiPro.

With 2,100 employees in the U.S. and 850 employees in Canada, Culligan International previously used separate payroll service bureau accounts for both countries. The global company turned to UltiPro’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) solution in 2005 to address the range of customer service issues and functionality restrictions that it experienced with the service bureaus. Culligan also recently activated UltiPro’s time and attendance solution and now is achieving the following benefits:

• Improved global reporting
• Reduced administrative headcount
• Streamlined HR operations
• Greater satisfaction through Ultimate’s award-winning customer service

By centralizing its employee operations and data with UltiPro, Culligan can quickly access feature-rich reporting and analytics by individual countries or regions. Angie Galanis, payroll director at Culligan International, can generate on-the-spot reporting on total headcount, employee tenure, overtime, benefits, new hires, compensation, and terminations.

"UltiPro gives me the control and tools I need to do my job well, including preparing a wide variety of reports on our workforce in the U.S. and Canada,” said Galanis. "We set up different business rules for each country, so compensation, personal information, and other details are stored in the correct formats for accurate reporting. It’s great to have such complete details on international information with UltiPro.”

Global customers like Culligan International can use UltiPro to unify workforce data for employees around the world. To ensure compliance with privacy best practices, Ultimate adheres to the Safe Harbor privacy framework developed by the U.S. Department of Commerce along with the European Commission’s Directive on the Protection of Personal Data.

"UltiPro through SaaS helps ensure that our employees’ personal data is protected and that we meet the strict requirements related to international privacy principles. This high-level security was not the case with our previous service bureau providers,” Galanis said. "With UltiPro, we now have peace of mind because Ultimate uses a hardened data center and state-of-the-art practices to protect our critical information, yet it’s accessible to us from anywhere at any time over the Web.”

Since Galanis can access payroll information for the entire workforce via the Web, Culligan no longer needed a separate payroll system for Canadian employees. The company also reduced headcount by five full-time equivalents—significantly cutting costs and simplifying its HR and payroll processes.

"By unifying HR and payroll, HCM is more efficient,” she said. "Having used UltiPro in the past when we were owned by a different entity, we are pleased to return to the quality service and functionality we previously enjoyed with Ultimate.”

"I’ve never had an issue with UltiPro that wasn’t addressed,” added Nicole Shannon, tax analyst for Culligan International. "If someone doesn’t immediately have an answer, they find someone who does. Their follow-up is excellent. Ultimate believes in establishing relationships with its customers, which is a big difference compared to other vendors I’ve worked with.”

"In today’s competitive global business environment, companies like Culligan International recognize the need to increase business agility with improved strategic reporting and analysis,” said Greg Swick, chief sales officer for Ultimate. "UltiPro’s industry-leading business intelligence tools and unified HCM functionality, complemented by Ultimate’s unparalleled service and support, are delivering immediate, tangible impact to these enterprises.”

About Ultimate

The leading provider of unified, end-to-end human capital management (HCM) SaaS solutions in North America, Ultimate markets its award-winning UltiPro solution as an on-demand service through Software-as-a-Service (SaaS). Based in Weston, FL, Ultimate employs approximately 1,000 professionals who are focused on developing the highest quality products and services. In 2009, Ultimate was awarded first place in the People’s Choice Stevie® competition for Favorite New SaaS Product and was ranked the #1 best medium-sized company to work for in America by the Great Place to Work® Institute for the second consecutive year. In 2008, Ultimate was the first HR/payroll SaaS provider to be audited and awarded the ISO/IEC 27001:2005 Certification for security management and was recognized for having the #1 "Best Product Development Team” in the nation by the American Business Awards. Ultimate has more than 1,900 customers representing diverse industries, including such organizations as Adobe Systems Incorporated, The Container Store, Culligan International, Elizabeth Arden, Major League Baseball, The New York Yankees Baseball Team, and Ruth’s Chris Steak House. More information on Ultimate’s products and services can be found at www.ultimatesoftware.com.

UltiPro is a registered trademark of The Ultimate Software Group, Inc. All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.

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