Buying an Applicant Tracking System

Building a business case, getting buy-in, researching vendors, and choosing and implementing a new applicant tracking system (ATS) is hard work. But the rewards of buying a modern solution that optimizes costs and makes your business more change-ready are totally worth it.

62% of business leaders agree their organization would be more profitable if talent acquisition (TA) were optimized. (SmartRecruiters 2024 Survey)

So whether you’re looking for better usability that drives adoption among hiring teams, or greater flexibility for customizing processes across global workflows, rest assured an ATS exists that’s right for you. Here’s how to get started finding it in today’s marketplace of 100+ vendors.

Inside this article, you’ll find:

An overview of the applicant tracking system buying process

The ATS buyer’s journey is a multifaceted and highly collaborative process consisting of five primary phases. Each one spans approximately a month or more (although timelines can be compressed for change-ready companies) and consists of two or three main steps.

Phase I: Defining your needs

The first phase of the ATS buying journey is a discovery period dedicated to unearthing current pain points and identifying future opportunities. Although time-intensive, it yields valuable insights into your organization’s needs and is essential to helping you choose the right solution.

Action items include:

Surfacing ways older technology is hurting your organization’s hiring outcomes
Understanding your timeline and budget considerations.

Phase II: Proving the ROI

Investing in new technology always has a hard cost and while the gains from an ATS upgrade can be immense, they’re also hard to quantify. The second phase is where you do the grunt work to prove the return on investment (ROI) for your business and why it’s time for an upgrade.

Actions items include:

Building a business case for change
Engaging decision-makers with tailored communications
Streamlining stakeholder management.

Phase II: Shortlisting vendors

After you secure stakeholder buy-in and have a priority list of capabilities and features defined, it’s time to take on the actual vendor search. Just like you would with candidate screening, the goal in the third phase is to walk away with finalists that align with your organization’s goals.

Action items include:

Identifying potential vendors in the marketplace
Reducing your initial list based on a needs assessment so that you can conduct RFPs with five vendors at most.

Phase IV: Sending RFPs (Requests for Proposals)

Evaluating vendors for current and future needs through a comprehensive RFP is a required step for most medium- and enterprise-sized businesses. The fourth phase is where you build out these requests, send them to your shortlist of vendors, and analyze their replies.

Action items include:

Building and sending RFPs
Evaluating responses by comparing compatibility against cost
Managing the buying team’s participation and contributions.

Phase V: Making a decision

After Phase IV, you should have at least two ATS vendors who are strong matches for your business needs. The final phase is where you select a winner and initiate finance, legal, and IT reviews to begin transitioning your project into implementation.

Action items include:

Bringing it back to the business case if you don’t have a clear winner
Navigating legal, IT, and finance reviews to ensure compliance.

How to prepare before embarking on your ATS buying journey

There’s no sugarcoating it — the more prepared you are heading into the ATS buying process, the smoother it will go. While it’s impossible to anticipate every objection, roadblock, or disruption that may come up, you can avoid common pitfalls by having these tasks prepared.

Identify project stakeholders

Identify 1-5 decision-makers from Talent Acquisition, Employer Branding (if applicable) Finance, HR, and/or IT (including digital transformation leaders, if applicable) who will sign off on the new ATS. You don’t need to contact them before you begin the process, but just know who they are.

Enlist internal champions

Unlike stakeholders, who may only be involved at a high level, champions are internal drivers who will advise, guide, and advocate for the new ATS. You may have already vetted their interest or know they’re the right people for the job, but they should be on board from the start.

Secure a budget for the applicant tracking system

Sounds redundant, but make sure there is money to invest in a new ATS before you start the search. This might be based on current spending, a conversation with your function’s leadership, or something else, but the point here is that you triple-check before you begin.

Align the ATS purchase with business goals

It’s imperative that you understand talent acquisition’s potential for impact on furthering specific business goals or KPIs (key performance indicators) in your organization, so you can draw a clear line on recruiting, reducing costs, and workforce planning with these objectives.

Common ATS buying pitfalls and how to avoid them

Just because your company currently uses an ATS doesn’t mean the prospect of purchasing a new one is palatable to senior leadership. Competing priorities across functions means potentially many tools and systems are up for renewal and/or an upgrade. Save yourself the headache of falling in love with an ATS you can’t have by avoiding the following five pitfalls.

Getting too deep in the ATS search process, only to get cut by execs or HRIT.
The solution? Securing buy-in before you begin the initial exploratory research.
Not having enough budget, but realizing it too late (e.g., during RFPs).
The solution? Guaranteeing budget exists, and a similar amount can be bookmarked for a new ATS.
Being undereducated on the shortcomings of an HRIS recruitment module.
The solution? Read What to Do if You’re Locked In With an HCM Recruiting Module.
Underestimating the business impact of older recruitment technology.
The solution? Read 7 Signs That It’s Time for a New ATS.
Not assessing a vendor’s approach to future-proofing in RFPs.
The solution? Ask providers how they anticipate the future across partnership, functionality, data and compliance, and solution maintenance.

Get step-by-step guidance for buying an applicant tracking system

If it’s your first time buying an ATS or even your fifth, having a trusted guide as you navigate the way can be a major help. That’s why we interviewed the SmartRecruiters experts who’ve been there before (on both sides of the table) to bring together the best tips, templates, and more.

The Ultimate Applicant Tracking System Buyer’s Guide: How to Evaluate Vendors and Win Stakeholder Support has you covered for every step of the ATS buying journey, including fillable worksheets, an eight-step breakdown of the RFP stage, and an ROI matrix for investing well.

Download it today to fast-track your team into the age of Superhuman Hiring™.