profile updated Jun 27, 2008, 6:03 PM
Vurv would be the quintessential Silicon Valley success story except that the garage where the company started is in Jacksonville, Florida and not California. Otherwise, the story of the former Recruitmax is very much the same. Derek Mercer, the tech geek in a family of HR and staffing professionals, believed he could build a better resume mousetrap. With the help of a software engineer, Mercer launched Recruitmax in his garage in 1996.
Ten years later and long since out of the garage and into offices in Paris, London and Sydney, Recruitmax changed its name to Vurv Technology, a name chosen specifically because of its phonetic association with the noun for style and flair.
Here is where reality clashes with the Silicon Valley Cinderella story line. Instead of an IPO, Vurv was sold in May 2008 to Taleo, the publicly traded talent management vendor, for about $125 million, based on the value of Taleo's stock in late June. The acquisition is part of the ongoing consolidation in HR software services. Not only will the deal eliminate a top competitor for Taleo, but it is expected that eventually all of Vurv's 1,700 customers, including names like like Porsche, LL Bean, HSBC, and a who's who of the Fortune 1000, will be migrated over to Taleo products.
In June 2008, Taleo announced it would eliminate 160 Vurv jobs.
Vurv's success was due, in part, to its recognition that the Internet could be used to provide software services that hitherto had to be installed on a client's own equipment. It was one of the first vendors to provide an entirely Web-based applicant tracking system and to the end it provided its services over the Web. It also developed products to serve large companies with 2,000 and more employees and Vurv Express for smaller firms that don't need the full range of talent management products.
In 2003, the company raised $17 million in venture capital to fund its global expansion and the broadening of its product line. In 2004, Vurv bought KnowledgePoint, adding its management solutions, job description content, personnel policies, and employment law products to its library. Two years later it bought InScope Corporation, which was known for its competency management and assessment tools. The products of both companies have been integrated into Vurv's talent management suite.
Then in 2007 People Business Network was acquired. The company's Web-based offerings, now known as Vurv Optimize and Vurv Workforce Monitor, help businesses align financial and organizational objectives.
News & Updates 
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HRchitect Serves Up Webinars Directed At Vurv Customers (PRWeb)
HRchitect, a leading human capital management and talent management systems consulting firm, is conducting a series of free webinars focused on helping Vurv customers determine the best course of action to take since the acquisition of Vurv by Taleo.
The schedule is here (scroll down).
Oct 10, 2008, 12:03 PM -
Taleo Completes Acquisition of Vurv (Market Wire)
Taleo Corporation (NASDAQ: TLEO), vendor of on demand talent management solutions, has completed its acquisition of Vurv Technology, Inc. Jul 2, 2008, 3:22 PM -
Roadmap For Total Comp Program Success (Business Wire)
With more and more companies looking toward total compensation programs Vurv Technology and Aberdeen Group studied 471 organizations to determine what distinguishes the Best in Class practices from the others. The report found, "To achieve Best-in-Class status, companies must ensure that a total compensation program is competitive in the local job market, contains performance benchmark goals that are obtainable and rewards the right employee at the right times for the right reasons." May 15, 2008, 11:48 AM -
Authoria's View on Vurv (www.ere.net)
Taleo's acquisition of Vurv represents what customers want - a complete talent management solution, says Authoria's CEO. As the market shakes out, pure-play recruiting software vendors will not survive, he adds. May 7, 2008, 3:42 PM -
Taleo to Acquire Vurv (ERE)
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Vurv and HCI Uncover the Role of HR in the Age of Talent (BusinessWire)
HR is evolving into a profession increasingly viewed by the boardroom as strategic and critical to a company’s overall business performance. That's one finding of a study released today by Vurv and the Human Capital Institute. Apr 16, 2008, 4:33 PM -
Vurv and eQuest In Partnership Deal (equest)
Vurv clients will now get direct access to eQuest’s job board posting gateway, interactive media analytics, and online management solutions through Vurv Recruit. Apr 7, 2008, 11:26 AM
Products & Services
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Vurv Enterprise
Intended for organizations with more than 2,000 employees, the enterprise suites is a talent management package that includes recruitment and ATS for all types of workers – hourly, temp, salaried – and is configurable for HR and staffing firms, the latter getting complete front-office features. The talent management also includes onboarding, performance and compensation management components. Vurv Enterprise is a hosted application provided as SaaS. -
Vurv Express
Talent Management tools for companies between 100 and 2000 employees. Recruitment and performance management tools delivered over the web.