Cornerstone OnDemand vs. SumTotal Talent Development

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Cornerstone OnDemand
Score 8.2 out of 10
N/A
Cornerstone OnDemand is a cloud-based application for talent management. Cornerstone offers suites for recruiting, training, performance monitoring and planning, learning, and HR data management. It is scaled for enterprises.N/A
SumTotal Talent Development
Score 7.7 out of 10
Enterprise companies (1,001+ employees)
The SumTotal Core Platform (formerly elixHR) is a human resource information system (HRIS) integrable with the SumTotal Talent Expansion Suite of software: SumTotal (LMS), and the SumTotal Work workforce management and payroll system. All SumTotal software is now offered and supported by Skillsoft since the October 2014 acquisition.N/A
Pricing
Cornerstone OnDemandSumTotal Talent Development
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Cornerstone OnDemandSumTotal Talent Development
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
YesYes
Entry-level Setup FeeRequiredNo setup fee
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Cornerstone OnDemandSumTotal Talent Development
Considered Both Products
Cornerstone OnDemand
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
We selected Cornerstone versus Saba during our initial implementation because of the Administrative resources and the easy of use for administering training at the time Saba had a better learner experience in our reckoning. Now they are one company so it seems we chose well. …
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
I have previously used SumTotal and Moodle and find Cornerstone OnDemand to be much more deep in terms of the amount of features available and custom configurations possible. From an admin perspective, Cornerstone OnDemand also has a much richer admin community and educational …
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
The user experience is a lot better than using SumTotal as an admin CSOD makes working easy. Without having workarounds. Reporting is a lot better than both platforms. Reporting in CSOD is complex however easy to manage and create when you understand the data points collected.
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Cornerstone is more complex, offering more features while allowing learners to see a more modern learning platform
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Cornerstone OnDemand was ranking quite high up in the Gartner's Learning quadrant and the Forrester Report and was also highly recommended in Bersin's findings. Cornerstone's team of consultants is fun to work with and they love and enjoy their work. Their treatment of their …
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Leaps and Bounds better. It's been many years since I've used another product, but Cornerstone is one of the best if not the best product I've used. It's easy as a learner and administrator.
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Percipio is a LxP and thus is out of question be compared. SumTotal LMS isn't a very good option when it comes to compliance and it's Performance Management is not too extensive. Skillport is a very basic LMS and was rolled out by Skillsoft so that they could have a platform …
Chose Cornerstone OnDemand
Great for onboarding and training new hires. It sets everything up so well based on schedule and also a punch list effect.
SumTotal Talent Development
Chose SumTotal Talent Development
In our case SumTotal platform seemed to be more complete and robust to provide the right features for managing complex ILT plans and blended programs, which was an important thing for us. It was also very easy to deploy mobile and to increase learning options for all users, …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Cornerstone OnDemandSumTotal Talent Development
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.3
132 Ratings
12% above category average
SumTotal Talent Development
8.2
2 Ratings
2% above category average
New hire portal8.369 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Manager tracking tools8.0114 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Compliance tracking and reporting8.4125 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.3
114 Ratings
13% above category average
SumTotal Talent Development
8.8
1 Ratings
8% above category average
Corporate goal setting8.095 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Subordinate goal setting8.398 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting8.8106 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility8.194 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Performance tracking8.1109 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
7.8
119 Ratings
13% above category average
SumTotal Talent Development
8.2
2 Ratings
3% above category average
Performance plans8.193 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Plan weighting7.480 Ratings00 Ratings
Manager note taking7.969 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance improvement plans7.781 Ratings7.52 Ratings
Review status tracking8.496 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Rater nomination workflow7.764 Ratings00 Ratings
Review reminders8.293 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Workflow restrictions7.485 Ratings00 Ratings
Multiple review frequency7.182 Ratings9.01 Ratings
Reporting8.1113 Ratings00 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
9.1
58 Ratings
24% above category average
SumTotal Talent Development
7.0
1 Ratings
12% below category average
Create succession plans/pools8.449 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Candidate ranking9.349 Ratings00 Ratings
Candidate search9.352 Ratings7.01 Ratings
Candidate development9.249 Ratings6.01 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
8.6
66 Ratings
16% above category average
SumTotal Talent Development
7.9
2 Ratings
2% above category average
Job Requisition Management8.645 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Company Website Posting8.841 Ratings7.52 Ratings
Publish to Social Media8.738 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting8.638 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Customized Application Form8.740 Ratings00 Ratings
Resume Management8.743 Ratings00 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention8.840 Ratings6.52 Ratings
Candidate Search8.641 Ratings00 Ratings
Applicant Tracking8.741 Ratings8.02 Ratings
Collaboration8.836 Ratings00 Ratings
Task Creation and Delegation8.638 Ratings00 Ratings
Email Templates8.359 Ratings00 Ratings
User Permissions8.360 Ratings00 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts8.455 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Reporting8.363 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning Management
Comparison of Learning Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
7.6
187 Ratings
7% above category average
SumTotal Talent Development
-
Ratings
Course authoring5.7138 Ratings00 Ratings
Course catalog or library8.4185 Ratings00 Ratings
Player/Portal7.8172 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning content8.2147 Ratings00 Ratings
Mobile friendly7.8135 Ratings00 Ratings
Progress tracking & certifications7.4168 Ratings00 Ratings
Assignments7.9181 Ratings00 Ratings
Compliance management7.6162 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning administration7.6184 Ratings00 Ratings
Learning reporting & analytics7.8183 Ratings00 Ratings
Social learning6.9116 Ratings00 Ratings
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
SumTotal Talent Development
1.9
1 Ratings
122% below category average
Employee demographic data00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Employment history00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Job profiles and administration00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Organizational charting00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Organization and location management00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
SumTotal Talent Development
3.3
1 Ratings
84% below category average
Pay calculation00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Benefit plan administration00 Ratings1.01 Ratings
Direct deposit files00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
SumTotal Talent Development
6.7
3 Ratings
18% below category average
Approval workflow00 Ratings8.52 Ratings
Balance details00 Ratings8.53 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment00 Ratings3.01 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
SumTotal Talent Development
3.0
1 Ratings
92% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information00 Ratings5.01 Ratings
Update personal information00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
View job history00 Ratings2.01 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Cornerstone OnDemand
-
Ratings
SumTotal Talent Development
7.2
3 Ratings
5% below category average
Report builder00 Ratings7.03 Ratings
Pre-built reports00 Ratings6.52 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data00 Ratings8.01 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Cornerstone OnDemandSumTotal Talent Development
Small Businesses
Paycor
Paycor
Score 7.4 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Darwinbox
Darwinbox
Score 8.0 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Oracle Fusion Cloud HCM
Score 7.6 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
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User Ratings
Cornerstone OnDemandSumTotal Talent Development
Likelihood to Recommend
8.2
(257 ratings)
7.5
(9 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
9.9
(37 ratings)
6.0
(5 ratings)
Usability
8.1
(37 ratings)
2.0
(2 ratings)
Availability
9.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Performance
9.0
(5 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Support Rating
6.6
(36 ratings)
3.0
(2 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.6
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Online Training
8.0
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.0
(10 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Configurability
7.3
(115 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Contract Terms and Pricing Model
8.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Ease of integration
8.5
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Product Scalability
9.5
(4 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Professional Services
9.0
(1 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
7.1
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
8.9
(3 ratings)
-
(0 ratings)
User Testimonials
Cornerstone OnDemandSumTotal Talent Development
Likelihood to Recommend
Cornerstone OnDemand
I feel Cornerstone OnDemand is a great solution for companies that have a large amount of compliance training that needs to be assigned and closely tracked. The features of dynamic groups (based on specific user criteria) allows you to target very specific audiences. The assignment functionality gives you great flexibility on when the assignment runs and how often, and also provides many options for due dates (static date or dynamic date - x days from hire date, date assigned, etc.). This has allowed us to have a clear and consistent user experience for both our newly hired employees and our seasoned employees.
Read full review
SumTotal
Very good for learning and development and training of employees. For Applicant tracking, recuirement, onboarding, and enablement, I prefer SAP SuccessFactors or Skillate. I also found that the SumTotal app is not very friendly on android and crashes sometimes and it is not optimized for mobile. Hence I end up never using it.
Read full review
Pros
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Automatic recurring assignments are easy to get that refresher training out without needing to assign it fresh each time.
  • Reporting 2.0 makes it easy to write and share your reports with just selected filters. Making it easy for people receiving it to just change what they need to see.
  • Learning Admin Console makes it easy to peek at what is going on in your portal and open up connected reporting when needed.
  • Success Center is a great resource for getting peer answers to questions and learning about the releases and suggesting changes that should be added to the roadmap.
Read full review
SumTotal
  • Assign complete learning plans to users so they don't have to spend time searching for courses.
  • Export learner's transcripts so managers can easily see their employee's progress.
  • Embed Social Media feeds that are relevant to their business.
Read full review
Cons
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • Sometimes finding the right answer to your support question can be a bit more difficult than it should be.
  • I would like to see more OSHA related courses.
  • At times, the administrative interface seems to need to be updated, but the tradeoff honestly might be the absolute rock-solid stability of the platform.
Read full review
SumTotal
  • Reporting
  • Mass importing of manual checks to be issued in California
  • Ability to fund pay cards immediately
  • Perform gross-up calculations within the payroll system automatically
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Likelihood to Renew
Cornerstone OnDemand
As long as pricing stays reasonable, we will likely stay with Cornerstone for at least one more contract renewal. It would be a large task to migrate all of our content to a new system. However, the LMS landscape is diversifying with new startups that are showing some real innovation.
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SumTotal
I have transitioned from a position who supported the product to a position where I use the product. I continue to be impressed with the robustness of the product and how efficient it is. It is a user friendly software that can be used to navigate and accomplish tasks to meet organizational requirements.
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Usability
Cornerstone OnDemand
Easy to use, easy to learn, lots of support during the learning process. There are a few parts of the system we don't use and I'm hesitant to begin using because other clients have said they're difficult and cumbersome (certifications) or outdated (libraries)
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SumTotal
I do not find SumTotal to be intuitive. I feel we need to adjust our needs to meet the functionality available in the tool.
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Reliability and Availability
Cornerstone OnDemand
I haven't really had any major availability problems. The service is practically impeccable but it is true that at times, due to server and latency problems, the application has been slower. But these have been specific issues that have resolved themselves.
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SumTotal
No answers on this topic
Performance
Cornerstone OnDemand
Pages do not load quickly. Often times any action or selection of a box, drop down, check, pretty much ANY Javascript interaction causes the whole entire page to load/reload/start doing something in the background. This makes a nightmare for having to mass edit courses or upload ILT sessions. It's the one of the archaic web designs they use that really bugs me as an admin and makes working in the portal at times intolerable and insufferable
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SumTotal
No answers on this topic
Support Rating
Cornerstone OnDemand
Its always important to have support when you are facing problems and when you are the main admin of the organization. Cornerstone Support is very supporting when you have not found the answer in the help guide. its very useful to have a team support to guide you.
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SumTotal
We have our own IT support to assist in SumTotal issues, however, we have had to log in cases directly. Support is mediocre at best.
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In-Person Training
Cornerstone OnDemand
we use also to admin all our training in person events and sessions. Its easy to admin this kind of trainings and automatize some processes we have. Also de user experience and the integration with other systems helps to the employees to use more. All modules integrated oriented to develop people is the principal reason to have CSOD. The training administration is very complete and allows to automate many processes.
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SumTotal
No answers on this topic
Online Training
Cornerstone OnDemand
The online modules are pretty good. You can access them at any time, which we have done. You learn a lot in the beginning, but having the ability to retake short lessons when you are working on those items was very helpful.
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SumTotal
No answers on this topic
Implementation Rating
Cornerstone OnDemand
The implementation was pretty difficult. We felt they (Cornerstone) didn’t properly allocate the resources to complete our implementation in the timetable we wanted.

For example, we worked on Workday and SSO integrations - work that we had specifically contracted for in advance. When we were ready to work on that project, they didn’t have the people ready to help us, so it took a lot longer than necessary. That was my biggest pain point.

The implementation approach we went with was a self-led implementation. We would speak to the implementation manager once per week, and self-trained. We met with implementation manager to discuss issues, review things that we’d learned for 1 hour. We found that wasn’t enough. Other things would come up outside that one hour window that we couldn’t get answers to. We didn’t have anyone to ask about those things and we had to wait to ask during our weekly meeting.

The advantage of the self-led implementation approach was that it was really inexpensive – significantly less than the implementation cost for the other systems that we looked at. I also liked that we could pace ourselves. There were however big roadblocks. We would have to make sure the right resources were available. We had an implementation/project manager with a lot of experience and felt that the person was knowledgeable but missed on a few things.

In hindsight, I would still go with the self-led implementation, but knowing what I know now, I would ask for the integration person to be available more. I would work that into the contract. With single sign-on, we needed deep linking to build direct links through a Single Sign-On tool, e.g. when someone gets an email, it directs them to training. But it has to go through SSO to get them to the correct link. Deep linking wasn’t turned on in our system and they had to activate it. We encountered little things like that – sequencing pre-requisites which were problematic. We tried to troubleshoot ourselves.

I recommend you consider contracting for some extra implementation hours and determine when they are going to be available. Work it into the contract that you have the ability to call tech support during implementation. In addition to weekly implementation meetings, they have technical webexes – 4 every week, but 2 didn’t apply to us – one as we were using SSO. The challenge is they were not always relevant – we had specific questions that didn’t fall into those categories
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SumTotal
No answers on this topic
Alternatives Considered
Cornerstone OnDemand
The user experience is a lot better than using SumTotal as an admin CSOD makes working easy. Without having workarounds. Reporting is a lot better than both platforms. Reporting in CSOD is complex however easy to manage and create when you understand the data points collected
Read full review
SumTotal
When I came to my company, they had been using a "light" LMS called Articulate. It was cheap and bare bones; i.e. not a lot of features, really just a platform to launch eLearning from and not real interface for student to utilize. When I began to overhaul the training department, this was one of the first things I changed. Articulate would only run courses built in their software, and the software was not 508 compliant. In addition, we had no ability to create learning plans, house transcripts, customize the interface, or manage the students. I made the choice to select and LMS that was a true LMS with all of the features that were critical to our clients' needs. Thus far, SumTotal has been able to support all of our needs, except one; mobile learning that is media rich
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Contract Terms and Pricing Model
Cornerstone OnDemand
It is important to be familiar with the terms and annual increases in licenses and other aspects of the contract. I recommend analyzing this from the beginning and the permanence is relevant because Cornerstone updates its modules and brings out new features that may allow you to leave a module to acquire another
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SumTotal
No answers on this topic
Scalability
Cornerstone OnDemand
It's a great product with some pieces that are set but many things that can be customized as needed for individual needs
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SumTotal
No answers on this topic
Professional Services
Cornerstone OnDemand
As I have said before, I have no doubt that the services of the Cornerstone sales people were very good. In particular, our salesperson spent a lot of time in contact with us to make the process go smoothly. Perhaps being a large company in some cases the times were slowed down but it is something normal to take into account.
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SumTotal
No answers on this topic
Return on Investment
Cornerstone OnDemand
  • We are in the process of trying to increase employee engagement through content expansion. We are in the early stages of this.
  • The Edge Import Tool, in conjunction with Reporting 2.0, has done a great job of helping to automate/semi-automate tasks for huge time savings.
  • Maintaining compliance. Achieved through dynamic/automated groups, assignments, communication, and reporting.
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SumTotal
  • Clean front-end user interface for easier course catalog management.
  • Reporting has been more difficult than previous LMS.
  • Audience building has more variables making it more difficult to manage.
  • Slower overall client turnaround due to admin side interface.
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ScreenShots

Cornerstone OnDemand Screenshots

Screenshot of A personalized, modern user experience and self-service capabilities to engage employees, ensure productivity, and centralize employee dataScreenshot of With Cornerstone Learning, go beyond compliance and training - truly develop an engaged and collaborative workforce.Screenshot of Cornerstone Recruiting takes care of all talent acquisition needs and provides candidates with an amazing experience.Screenshot of With Cornerstone Performance, benchmark your people's performance, align them with your strategy, and provide feedback that matters.Screenshot of Cornerstone HR offers a personalized, modern user experience and self-service capabilities to engage employees, ensure productivity, and centralize employee data.Screenshot of With Content Anytime, quickly deliver hundreds of eLearning courses covering key soft-skills such as communication, time management, leadership, teamwork, and emotional intelligence.

SumTotal Talent Development Screenshots

Screenshot of SumTotal Learning Management: Deliver the learning your organization needs including skilling/upskilling/reskilling, career planning & development. All delivered with our engaging learner experience across all modalities (desktop, tablet & mobile) and in the flow of workScreenshot of SumTotal Onboarding: Foster learning before day one with our robust onboarding solution. Build culture, complete necessary paperwork and begin the path to productivity for all your new and returning employees.Screenshot of SumTotal Performance: Performance management that meets the needs of today’s forward-thinking organizations. Align the goals and performance of your entire workforce with those of the broader organization for better business outcomes.Screenshot of SumTotal Succession: Make succession planning an organizational strength. SumTotal allows you to better understand your workforce now and better plan for your future with our intuitive succession planning tools.Screenshot of SumTotal Recruiting: A modern recruiting solution that delivers a powerful candidate experience, recruiter productivity, job matching and internal mobility.Screenshot of SumTotal Compensation: SumTotal makes compensation planning easier and less time consuming. Build a pay for performance culture that meets your organizations goals and objectives while keeping you competitive in the ever-changing marketplace.