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    Overview
    ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price

    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

    Slack

    Score9 out of 10
    N/ASlack is a group messaging or team collaboration app that aims to simplify communication for businesses. Features include open discussions, private groups, and direct messaging, as well as deep contextual search and message archiving, and file sharing. Slack integrates with a number of other tools, such as MailChimp, Dropbox, and Google Drive. Slack was acquired by Salesforce in December 2020. The product is free to use, and also has paid plans with more features and greater controls. The…

    $8.75

    per month per user

    Pricing
    PDS VistaSlack
    Editions & Modules
    No answers on this topic
    Free
    $0
    Pro
    $7.25*
    per month per user
    Business+
    $12.50*
    per month per user
    Enterprise
    Contact Sales
    Offerings
    Pricing Offerings
    PDS VistaSlack
    Free Trial
    NoYes
    Free/Freemium Version
    NoYes
    Premium Consulting/Integration Services
    YesNo
    Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeNo setup fee
    Additional DetailsLicense 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.*Per active user, per month, when paying once a year. Pro is $8.75 USD per active user when paying month to month. Business+ is $15.00 USD per active user when paying month to month.
    More Pricing Information
    Community Pulse
    PDS VistaSlack
    Considered Both Products
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    No answer on this topic
    Salesforce
    No answer on this topic
    Key User Insights
    Would buy again
    No answers on this topic
    97%
    Would buy again
    503 Answers
    Delivers good value for the price
    No answers on this topic
    99%
    Delivers good value for the price
    426 Answers
    Happy with the feature set
    No answers on this topic
    98%
    Happy with the feature set
    510 Answers
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    No answers on this topic
    98%
    Lived up to sales and marketing promises
    295 Answers
    Implementation went as expected
    No answers on this topic
    99%
    Implementation went as expected
    330 Answers
    Features
    PDS VistaSlack
    Human Resource Management
    Comparison of Human Resource Management features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    1.9
    19 Ratings
    125% below category average
    Slack
    -
    Ratings
    Employee demographic data1.018 Ratings00 Ratings
    Employment history1.019 Ratings00 Ratings
    Job profiles and administration1.015 Ratings00 Ratings
    Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.1.013 Ratings00 Ratings
    Organizational charting3.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    Organization and location management3.017 Ratings00 Ratings
    Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)3.012 Ratings00 Ratings
    Payroll Management
    Comparison of Payroll Management features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    3.2
    19 Ratings
    88% below category average
    Slack
    -
    Ratings
    Pay calculation3.017 Ratings00 Ratings
    Support for external payroll vendors1.010 Ratings00 Ratings
    Off-cycle/On-Demand payment4.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Benefit plan administration1.017 Ratings00 Ratings
    Direct deposit files4.018 Ratings00 Ratings
    Salary revision and increment management1.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    Reimbursement management8.25 Ratings00 Ratings
    Leave and Attendance Management
    Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    1.0
    14 Ratings
    157% below category average
    Slack
    -
    Ratings
    Approval workflow1.08 Ratings00 Ratings
    Balance details1.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    Annual carry-forward and encashment1.013 Ratings00 Ratings
    Employee Self Service
    Comparison of Employee Self Service features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    2.0
    18 Ratings
    122% below category average
    Slack
    -
    Ratings
    View and generate pay and benefit information4.017 Ratings00 Ratings
    Update personal information1.015 Ratings00 Ratings
    View company policy documentation3.09 Ratings00 Ratings
    Employee recognition1.06 Ratings00 Ratings
    View job history1.05 Ratings00 Ratings
    Asset Management
    Comparison of Asset Management features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    7.3
    7 Ratings
    10% below category average
    Slack
    -
    Ratings
    Tracking of all physical assets7.37 Ratings00 Ratings
    HR Reporting
    Comparison of HR Reporting features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    2.0
    17 Ratings
    117% below category average
    Slack
    -
    Ratings
    Report builder2.015 Ratings00 Ratings
    Pre-built reports2.017 Ratings00 Ratings
    Ability to combine HR data with external data2.014 Ratings00 Ratings
    Onboarding
    Comparison of Onboarding features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    1.0
    2 Ratings
    156% below category average
    Slack
    -
    Ratings
    New hire portal1.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Manager tracking tools1.01 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance and Goals
    Comparison of Performance and Goals features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    2.8
    3 Ratings
    97% below category average
    Slack
    -
    Ratings
    Corporate goal setting1.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Individual goal setting1.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance tracking6.42 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance Management
    Comparison of Performance Management features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    1.0
    5 Ratings
    156% below category average
    Slack
    -
    Ratings
    Performance plans1.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Performance improvement plans1.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Review status tracking1.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Review reminders1.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Multiple review frequency1.03 Ratings00 Ratings
    Succession Planning
    Comparison of Succession Planning features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    2.3
    2 Ratings
    110% below category average
    Slack
    -
    Ratings
    Create succession plans/pools3.61 Ratings00 Ratings
    Candidate ranking1.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Candidate search1.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Candidate development3.61 Ratings00 Ratings
    Recruiting / ATS
    Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    1.4
    4 Ratings
    140% below category average
    Slack
    -
    Ratings
    Job Requisition Management1.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Company Website Posting1.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Duplicate Candidate Prevention1.92 Ratings00 Ratings
    Applicant Tracking1.04 Ratings00 Ratings
    Notifications and Alerts2.02 Ratings00 Ratings
    Project Management
    Comparison of Project Management features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    -
    Ratings
    Slack
    7.9
    628 Ratings
    2% above category average
    Task Management00 Ratings7.6430 Ratings
    Gantt Charts00 Ratings6.961 Ratings
    Scheduling00 Ratings7.8363 Ratings
    Workflow Automation00 Ratings8.0396 Ratings
    Mobile Access00 Ratings9.4601 Ratings
    Search00 Ratings8.2608 Ratings
    Visual planning tools00 Ratings7.3275 Ratings
    Communication
    Comparison of Communication features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    -
    Ratings
    Slack
    8.7
    636 Ratings
    9% above category average
    Chat00 Ratings9.6635 Ratings
    Notifications00 Ratings8.7632 Ratings
    Discussions00 Ratings9.2620 Ratings
    Surveys00 Ratings8.1413 Ratings
    Internal knowledgebase00 Ratings7.8412 Ratings
    Integrates with GoToMeeting00 Ratings8.9110 Ratings
    Integrates with Gmail and Google Hangouts00 Ratings8.7182 Ratings
    Integrates with Outlook00 Ratings8.9120 Ratings
    File Sharing & Management
    Comparison of File Sharing & Management features of PDS Vista and Slack
    Feature
    PDS Vista
    -
    Ratings
    Slack
    8.4
    603 Ratings
    4% above category average
    Versioning00 Ratings8.2326 Ratings
    Video files00 Ratings8.2541 Ratings
    Audio files00 Ratings8.4527 Ratings
    Document collaboration00 Ratings7.9429 Ratings
    Access control00 Ratings8.3411 Ratings
    Advanced security features00 Ratings8.3362 Ratings
    Integrates with Google Drive00 Ratings9.0211 Ratings
    Device sync00 Ratings9.0455 Ratings
    Best Alternatives
    PDS VistaSlack
    Small Businesses
    UZIO
    Score9.4 out of 10
    Flock
    Score9.5 out of 10
    Medium-sized Companies
    Zoho People
    Score8.6 out of 10
    Troop Messenger
    Score9.8 out of 10
    Enterprises
    PeopleStrong
    Score10 out of 10
    Cisco Business Edition 7000 (discontinued)
    Score9 out of 10
    All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
    User Ratings
    PDS VistaSlack
    Likelihood to Recommend
    1.0
    (24 ratings)
    9.1
    (639 ratings)
    Likelihood to Renew
    9.1
    (7 ratings)
    10.0
    (25 ratings)
    Usability
    2.0
    (3 ratings)
    9.0
    (255 ratings)
    Availability
    9.5
    (2 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Performance
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Support Rating
    8.2
    (3 ratings)
    10.0
    (68 ratings)
    Online Training
    9.0
    (2 ratings)
    -
    (0 ratings)
    Implementation Rating
    7.3
    (1 ratings)
    8.9
    (5 ratings)
    Configurability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (2 ratings)
    Contract Terms and Pricing Model
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Ease of integration
    -
    (0 ratings)
    9.7
    (2 ratings)
    Product Scalability
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Professional Services
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor post-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    Vendor pre-sale
    -
    (0 ratings)
    10.0
    (1 ratings)
    User Testimonials
    PDS VistaSlack
    Likelihood to Recommend
    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
    Salesforce
    Slack is ideal for Scrum and agile teams that need continuous communication during sprint planning, daily stand-ups, backlog refinement, testing, and retrospectives. Slack is well-suited for maintaining team knowledge through searchable conversations and dedicated channels, where experienced team members help onboard new QA analysts.
    Read full review
    Pros
    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
    Salesforce
    • Customer issues: Threads feature allows us to group a particular issue in a single thread and discuss within that thread. I can use the thread link to embed in JIRA ticket for tracking progress in JIRA (which is our details engineering tracking system).
    • Ability to add folder to Slack channel helps keep important information, documents easily accessible. e.g., we use this to keep a "ramp up" folder that can be used by any new joiner.
    • Global search is effective when I forget which group a particular message was in.
    Read full review
    Cons
    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
    Salesforce
    • Would love a better integration with GitHub. For example, notifications when your PR is updated, when review is requested, @-mention in comments, etc.
    • Improved "Later" tab, for example the ability to create to-do lists or making the "Later" tab into a more powerful to-do list (annotate items with notes)
    • More powerful integrations, e.g. Google Calendar could render a calendar view within Slack, rather than sending the daily schedule
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Likelihood to Renew
    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
    Salesforce
    To be more transparent, I give 10 because Slack serves our collaboration needs. It provide us a good platform for team communication relaying important update within the company, it has even mobile app where you can install in your phone to monitor any updates within that team that needs your immediate attention and intervention.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Usability
    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
    Salesforce
    Slack has good usability. Devs that are not familiar with the platform are able to jump into conversations and start sharing code and links within just minutes. Non developers are also able to understand the layout such as the Project Managers that are keeping the projects on track. We have not seen any tickets where employees are having trouble understanding Slack.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Reliability and Availability
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    No answers on this topic
    Salesforce
    Yes, the app works 24/7. I don't even recall having any period that we could not use since the implementation. Even the maintenance periods are barely noticeable and our work is not impacted by it when it happens.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Performance
    Personnel Data Systems (PDS)
    No answers on this topic
    Salesforce
    Slack is a soft app, we don't have many issues with it. I recall one or two people complaining about something during our usage period, but I didn't have a bad experience. When the app is slow, usually the problem is with my computer or my internet. The app works just fine.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Support Rating
    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
    Salesforce
    Whenever I've had to troubleshoot an issue with Slack (which, to be honest, has not happened very often), their online documentation has been easy to locate, easy to understand, and effective in resolving my issue. Slack's ever-growing popularity also means that there's a large community of practice out there that can be depended upon.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Online Training
    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
    Salesforce
    No answers on this topic
    Implementation Rating
    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
    Salesforce
    I was not part of the implementation team, but I recall being 100% happy and excited to learn and use a new tool. I'm still am to be honest.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Alternatives Considered
    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
    Salesforce
    I like Slack better than ClickUp, because I would spend 30-60 minutes a day updating my ClickUp tasks. The way ClickUp was used was very micromanaging. I billed by the hour, so I was willing to put in the time to alert the boss what tasks I was working on.
    One of my jobs used Hive - I mostly just ran it in the background in case anyone messaged me. I did not use it often.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    Return on Investment
    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
    Salesforce
    • Slack has been incredibly helpful in connecting various tech apps and ecosystems, creating a more streamlined and responsive process.
    • Slack has made it significantly easier to communicate with our team members across multiple time zones, creating a more engaging environment for our all-remote team.
    Incentivized
    Read full review
    ScreenShots

    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.