Visier secures $6M for HR analytics

The company promises to turn "data" back into information

Visier, a new startup that provides analytics and organization applications for companies’ human resources departments, has raised nearly $6 million (it actually raised $5,999,999 of a total $5,999,999 round) in equity financing, according to this SEC filing. 

Visier was founded in 2010 by former Business Objects execs with the goal of turning data back into information.  Rather than analyzing data, Visier allows businesses to review statuses, ask questions, model the impact of possible changes, and recommend a range of actions. 

With Visier, the company claims, the user can “go beyond a static, historical view and use statistical analyses to project trends, or to cluster behavior into groups to tease out actionable characteristics.”

The company does this through visualization techniques that display information in an easy-to-digest format, be it a basic report or a dynamic display. 

And the company is capable of deploying the service as a managed appliance, in-house tool, or software-as-a-service to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes.

Visier was founded by CEO John Schwarz and CTO Ryan Wong, both former executives with business analytics company Business Objects.  As CEO of Business Objects, Schwarz oversaw seven acquisitions and was responsible for doubling the company’s revenue to more than $1.5 billion.  Wong held senior engineering roles at Business Objects and later became VP of engineering for BI platform and tools.  Prior to his time with Business Objects, Ryan Wong was the original author and the Chief Software Architect for the Crystal Enterprise platform at Crystal Decisions.

CSO Dave Weisbeck’s background also includes time with Crystal Decisions and Business Objects.  He was most recently the SVP and GM of Business Intelligence, Enterprise Information Management, and Data Warehousing at SAP.

Business Objects was acquired by SAP in October 2007 for a hefty €4.8 billion ($6.8 billion).