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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    BambooHR

    Score8.3 out of 10
    N/ABambooHR is an cloud-based human resources solution that provides onboarding, payroll, and benefits management. It also offers automated time-off management and employee self-service.

    $10

    per month per user

    PDS Vista

    Score1.2 out of 10
    Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
    Vista® is a human resource, benefits, payroll, recruiting, and self-service software. Functional elements include recruitment, staffing, position and training management, compliance, and performance and compensation.N/A
    Pricing
    BambooHRPDS Vista
    Editions & Modules
    Core
    $10
    per month per user
    Pro
    Contact Sales
    per month
    Elite
    Contact Sales
    per month
    No answers on this topic
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    BambooHRPDS Vista
    Free Trial
    YesNo
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoNo
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesYes
    Entry-level Setup FeeOptionalNo setup fee
    Additional Details—License pricing is based on the number of full and part-time active employees within bands (e.g. 751-1,000). SaaS pricing is based on PEPM.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    BambooHRPDS Vista
    Considered Both Products
    BambooHR
    No answer on this topic
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    96%
    Would buy again
    363 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Delivers good value for the price
    98%
    Delivers good value for the price
    265 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Happy with the feature set
    95%
    Happy with the feature set
    360 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    94%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    174 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation went as expected
    96%
    Implementation went as expected
    198 Answers
    No answers on this topic
    Features
    BambooHRPDS Vista
    Human Resource Management
    Comparison of Human Resource Management features of BambooHR and PDS Vista
    Feature
    BambooHR
    7.9
    397 Ratings
    4% below category average
    PDS Vista
    1.9
    19 Ratings
    125% below category average
    Employee demographic data8.3352 Ratings1.018 Ratings
    Employment history8.1349 Ratings1.019 Ratings
    Job profiles and administration8.1361 Ratings1.015 Ratings
    Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.7.7325 Ratings1.013 Ratings
    Organizational charting7.8374 Ratings3.014 Ratings
    Organization and location management8.1349 Ratings3.017 Ratings
    Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)7.4209 Ratings3.012 Ratings
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of BambooHR and PDS Vista
    Feature
    BambooHR
    7.6
    273 Ratings
    7% below category average
    PDS Vista
    3.2
    19 Ratings
    88% below category average
    Pay calculation8.1205 Ratings3.017 Ratings
    Support for external payroll vendors7.0152 Ratings1.010 Ratings
    Off-cycle/On-Demand payment7.4152 Ratings4.01 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration7.2212 Ratings1.017 Ratings
    Direct deposit files8.3205 Ratings4.018 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management7.9221 Ratings1.014 Ratings
    Reimbursement management7.6135 Ratings8.25 Ratings
    Leave and Attendance Management
    Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of BambooHR and PDS Vista
    Feature
    BambooHR
    8.8
    345 Ratings
    7% above category average
    PDS Vista
    1.0
    14 Ratings
    157% below category average
    Approval workflow8.7345 Ratings1.08 Ratings
    Balance details8.5331 Ratings1.014 Ratings
    Annual carry-forward and encashment9.2129 Ratings1.013 Ratings
    Employee Self Service
    Comparison of Employee Self Service features of BambooHR and PDS Vista
    Feature
    BambooHR
    8.5
    383 Ratings
    3% above category average
    PDS Vista
    2.0
    18 Ratings
    122% below category average
    View and generate pay and benefit information8.5264 Ratings4.017 Ratings
    Update personal information8.9383 Ratings1.015 Ratings
    View company policy documentation8.5332 Ratings3.09 Ratings
    Employee recognition7.9247 Ratings1.06 Ratings
    View job history8.8345 Ratings1.05 Ratings
    Asset Management
    Comparison of Asset Management features of BambooHR and PDS Vista
    Feature
    BambooHR
    9.1
    74 Ratings
    12% above category average
    PDS Vista
    7.3
    7 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Tracking of all physical assets9.174 Ratings7.37 Ratings
    HR Reporting
    Comparison of HR Reporting features of BambooHR and PDS Vista
    Feature
    BambooHR
    7.3
    279 Ratings
    4% below category average
    PDS Vista
    2.0
    17 Ratings
    117% below category average
    Report builder7.4273 Ratings2.015 Ratings
    Pre-built reports7.5270 Ratings2.017 Ratings
    Ability to combine HR data with external data6.9204 Ratings2.014 Ratings
    Onboarding
    Comparison of Onboarding features of BambooHR and PDS Vista
    Feature
    BambooHR
    8.2
    313 Ratings
    2% above category average
    PDS Vista
    1.0
    2 Ratings
    156% below category average
    New hire portal8.4298 Ratings1.02 Ratings
    Manager tracking tools7.9272 Ratings1.01 Ratings
    Performance and Goals
    Comparison of Performance and Goals features of BambooHR and PDS Vista
    Feature
    BambooHR
    7.9
    234 Ratings
    3% below category average
    PDS Vista
    2.8
    3 Ratings
    97% below category average
    Corporate goal setting7.0172 Ratings1.03 Ratings
    Individual goal setting7.9225 Ratings1.03 Ratings
    Line-of sight-visibility9.169 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance tracking7.6220 Ratings6.42 Ratings
    Performance Management
    Comparison of Performance Management features of BambooHR and PDS Vista
    Feature
    BambooHR
    7.8
    251 Ratings
    2% below category average
    PDS Vista
    1.0
    5 Ratings
    156% below category average
    Performance plans7.3238 Ratings1.03 Ratings
    Performance improvement plans7.3203 Ratings1.02 Ratings
    Review status tracking8.697 Ratings1.03 Ratings
    Review reminders8.1101 Ratings1.04 Ratings
    Multiple review frequency7.7224 Ratings1.03 Ratings
    Succession Planning
    Comparison of Succession Planning features of BambooHR and PDS Vista
    Feature
    BambooHR
    9.1
    81 Ratings
    14% above category average
    PDS Vista
    2.3
    2 Ratings
    110% below category average
    Create succession plans/pools8.946 Ratings3.61 Ratings
    Candidate ranking9.067 Ratings1.02 Ratings
    Candidate search9.068 Ratings1.02 Ratings
    Candidate development9.359 Ratings3.61 Ratings
    Recruiting / ATS
    Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of BambooHR and PDS Vista
    Feature
    BambooHR
    7.9
    256 Ratings
    0% below category average
    PDS Vista
    1.4
    4 Ratings
    140% below category average
    Job Requisition Management7.6193 Ratings1.04 Ratings
    Company Website Posting7.6211 Ratings1.04 Ratings
    Publish to Social Media9.291 Ratings00 Ratings
    Job Search Site Posting7.3205 Ratings00 Ratings
    Duplicate Candidate Prevention7.588 Ratings1.92 Ratings
    Applicant Tracking8.0226 Ratings1.04 Ratings
    Notifications and Alerts8.1243 Ratings2.02 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    BambooHRPDS Vista
    Small Businesses
    UZIO
    Score9.4 out of 10
    UZIO
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Zoho People
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Zoho People
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Enterprises
    PeopleStrong
    Score10 out of 10
    PeopleStrong
    Score10 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    BambooHRPDS Vista
    Likelihood to Recommend
    8.3
    (418 ratings)
    1.0
    (24 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    10.0
    (18 ratings)
    9.1
    (7 ratings)
    Usability
    8.7
    (345 ratings)
    2.0
    (3 ratings)
    Availability
    9.3
    (5 ratings)
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    8.7
    (5 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.2
    (180 ratings)
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    Online Training
    8.2
    (5 ratings)
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    8.6
    (6 ratings)
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    Configurability
    7.4
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    8.4
    (3 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    9.6
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    8.9
    (5 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Professional Services
    9.2
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    8.9
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    9.1
    (4 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    BambooHRPDS Vista
    Likelihood to Recommend
    BambooHR
    BambooHR is well-suited to managing your employees' needs, such as tracking time off and submitting requests, understanding their benefits, and reviewing how others see their performance. From an organizational standpoint, it's the hub where all people management happens; that's valuable because it saves an organization from juggling many tools. BambooHR just works.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    As Vista HRMS is fully customizable to suit your needs, a company should determine if they have a current employee who can do the work themselves otherwise they will need to consider the additional cost of asking PDS to do the customizations for them. There are additional modules that we aren't currently making use of, but each company should learn about the functionality of each of them as some may be more beneficial than others. When gathering your questions, ask all potential users of the system what they would want to see in an HRMS. We did so before selecting Vista HRMS and we got pages and pages of questions and comments and made sure that each item was addressed beforehand and was something that we would be able to incorporate into the system. You have the option of taking the system in house or being a hosted client. Make sure you figure out what resources your IT department has available. If you have a dedicated administrator who will do all the upgrades and enhancements great, otherwise you may need PDS to help out and having PDS host may be a better option
    Read full review
    Pros
    BambooHR
    • Ease of use for established staff and admins, all the way down to brand new hires.
    • Integrations, especially for posting and managing jobs during the hiring process.
    • Making regularly occurring things like meetings and assessments easy to customize and to action easily.
    • Being able to assign out tasks for onboarding and offboarding.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    • Vista HRMS is very flexible, it does everything we need for HR, benefits and payroll. It’s user-friendly and intuitive to use, when we roll out new self-service items our employees have no problems and require minimal training or documentation.
    • PDS has excellent customer service and support. We get answers to the majority of our questions and problems quickly, within the day that we call. More complex issues that may require PDS’ technical support are usually addressed within a few days. We were upgrading our production servers to Windows 2012 over a weekend and a key person in our organization was on leave. When we checked with PDS to see what cost would be involved if we needed their help, they said it was included in our regular maintenance, no extra cost.
    • The PDS User’s Conference is an excellent learning opportunity for training on everything Vista does, including using Crystal Reports for custom reporting. You also get to meet and talk to the executive and development staff and have direct input into the future product development.
    Read full review
    Cons
    BambooHR
    • I think it could display PTO in number of days, as well.
    • I wish that the benefits page was easier to navigate.
    • I don't like that the pay stub area is hidden, since I am typically alone at home when I review that data.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    • Typical of any system built for the unknown requirements of hundreds or thousands of customers with varying needs, PDS sometimes doesn't fit our processes precisely out of the box. However, this con is far outweighed by the ability to configure and customize the system.
    • The most significant pet peeve of our users is the necessity for so many clicks to navigate between different areas or the system or to review applicants. These items are being addressed based on feedback from the user community in an upcoming release.
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    BambooHR
    There's nothing wrong with this platform. I would recommend it to any business starting with more than 10 employees. I will continue to use the program for as long as I need to, hoping they continue being tremendous and finding other ways to incorporate more technology.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    I feel so invested in Vista HRMS that I don't really want to try other options. I know we as an organization are not using this product to it's full potential and that is just due to us lacking the resources to be able to invest the time into breaking it apart and making it work to the best ability for us. The system works great as is, but there are a lot of implementations we can put into place to help us out even more. For example, we would love to start using Workflow to create more efficiencies. I personally have a very good relationship with our hosted vendor who supports Vista HRMS and can help me with any issues and concerns, this is a big part of the reason that I would renew with this product and continue to be an advocate for Vista HRMS.
    Read full review
    Usability
    BambooHR
    As mentioned earlier, a company directory for all employees is available in one place, making communication easier across the organization. Also, little things like birthday reminders and work anniversaries for your team members add a personal touch to your professional relationship. Applying for time off and tracking your available PTO on a single screen helps you plan better.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    In my line of work, PDS Vista doesn't fit. I recruit and manager talent pipelines, as well as all onboarding aspects of 11 companies. I spend more hours getting data configured and searching for information within this software than I spend with my candidates. Theres an abundance duplication, and there isn't a single stream of information shared across screens. I have to input the SAME details into several screens for them to match up. Nothing is intuitive, and its certainly not end user friendly
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    BambooHR
    Yes, there is a huge team in the back of the online platform or it looks like it because I have never been left without an answer when I have a question or waiting from a response on my chat .... There must be a huge team, this is so great and I always seem to have someone that is very knowledgeable too. So many times in the past I had to leave with customer service that would connect you with someone else because of the expertise, here everyone seems to be some kind of an expert in the HR function.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    No answers on this topic
    Performance
    BambooHR
    I love BambooHR. Reports are easy to run and download and it usually covers any types of requests I get from the management team. You get excel or .csv downloads/reports and it is fast and simple, not too crowded so it is easy to read through. We don't integrate the tool yet but again, soon we will. we just did not had the time to utilize it yet but that's the plan.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    No answers on this topic
    Support Rating
    BambooHR
    I don't think they have ever figured out an issue for me, and chat support has team activities when I need them. I don't know how that is possible, but I rarely use the feature and, when I try during the posted business hours, they are not available. I've contacted support to get help with applications that were coming in without required information, like salary, even though the salary requirement was toggled on. I reached out on July 24th and received this response on Aug 12, after we had found someone for the position and closed that job posting. This is the response: "The specialists reviewed the backend logs and noticed that there were several edits made to the application questions during the time in question. This could have impacted the required status of the salary field and allowed candidates to submit their applications without filling it out. If you notice this issue again in the future, please let us know right away so we can investigate further and ensure everything is working as expected." They ask me to reach out "right away" when I notice something amiss. If you go back to your records, I believe you will find that there was an employee activity on July 24th, which is when I noticed the issue and reached out immediately, and there was no one available to assist for three days.
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    PDS has excellent customer service and support. We get answers to the
    majority of our questions and problems quickly, within the day that we
    call. More complex issues that may require PDS’ technical support are
    usually addressed within a few days
    Read full review
    In-Person Training
    BambooHR
    I didn't have in-person training besides teaching my managers how to use the program. However, I couldn't omit this question (maybe a system glitch).
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    No answers on this topic
    Online Training
    BambooHR
    Overall this training was great and our implementation specialist was wonderful and very helpful. We felt really prepared once our training was completed, But we could get additional help immediately even when we were live. The continuation Support heros after implementation are wonderful and you can always get a LIVE person each time you call into their office.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    The resources and online tools that PDS provide are extremely thorough and helpful in our training and learning.
    Read full review
    Implementation Rating
    BambooHR
    We implemented bambooHR in Fall, 2023 then implemented Payroll 1/1/24. A vital piece of information was not known or missed in that we are exempt from State Unemployment Tax and have a Reimbursement Set-up, so bambooHR did not send Payroll Reports to the State. Those reports need to be sent regardless if we are exempt or not.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    Ask lots of questions, ensure you fully understand the functionality (particularly history records) and train, train, train the users for correct and complete utilization of the system.
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    BambooHR
    Compared to other software, Bamboo is more modern and intuitive, especially in terms of user experience. But there is other software with more capabilities and features; maybe Bamboo is pretty good for a small- to mid-sized company.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    I've used Peoplesoft HCM in the past. The products have some similarities, but they are marketed to different sized companies, so it's a bit of apples to oranges. Peoplesoft was very complex and challenging to manage and support. Vista HRMS should require fewer technical resources and still provide robust features for HR and Payroll. We selected Vista HRMS because it met the majority of our requirements and was priced to enable us to purchase and implement it within our budget. Also, it's an integrated system (although not truly one system when you count Vista Time) which is an improvement over our current state.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    BambooHR
    Since my organization has dropped with employees, I always find ways to reduce costs. I thought there would be a cheaper option, but I was glad that my package included a lot for the price, and downgrading would cost more. The rep could have let me downgraded and taken me to a higher package. I am thankful that didn't happen.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    No answers on this topic
    Scalability
    BambooHR
    There is so much you can do with this platform, it is incredible and so welcoming. We don't utilize it 100% yet just because we are growing and the HR team has not been able to concentrate on other areas offered to us but but we will soon. Which is also why we got the product, specifically because what BambooHR can do to help us meet our growing business needs.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    No answers on this topic
    Professional Services
    BambooHR
    VERY professional!
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    No answers on this topic
    Return on Investment
    BambooHR
    • As the Director of HR, I have freed up a lot of my time. I can easily access employee information and spend less time switching between multiple platforms.
    • It has helped my staff become more self-sufficient in their jobs and take greater ownership of their career lifecycle as employees here.
    • Using Bamboo has shown us where we have had inefficiencies and where we need to focus on compliance, which has been very helpful.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    • Positive impact would definitely be self-service for both employees and managers to view and update selected data.
    • Through some analytics our managers are able to track turnover for their site/department by many criteria (length of service, reason, etc) and can view a number of other analytical reports such as headcount and demographics which help them to make informed decisions about their department.
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    BambooHR Screenshots

    Screenshot of the Job Info tabScreenshot of Onboarding TasksScreenshot of a New Hire PacketScreenshot of an Employee Performance ReportScreenshot of Employee Satisfaction (eNPS®)Screenshot of Open Enrollment

    PDS Vista Screenshots

    Screenshot of employee data, which is the heart of a corporate knowledge base. Within Vista, an organized database of employees, applicants, jobs, and positions can be created and maintained. The product’s flexibility allows users to structure corporate data as simply or as complicated as business needs require.Screenshot of Vista Payroll, which is designed to strike the perfect balance between power and simplicity. It is designed to process large volumes of data within tight time constraints, whether U.S., Canadian, or Caribbean.

Vista Payroll is focused on its main tasks of calculating pay, creating paychecks, producing payroll registers, and federal, state, local, and provincial tax reports.Screenshot of the included Vista Benefits features, which can include unlimited plans and coverage levels, automated benefits eligibility, auto-housekeeping of valuations and premiums.Screenshot of Vista Recruiting, which presents critical applicant information in an efficient manner for both human resources professionals and hiring managers, alike.

Vista Recruiting gives HR departments command over the entire hiring process for each department in every location while more easily tracking and controlling costs, improving applicant management, strengthening relationships with applicants, and reducing paperwork for the HR team.