Putting the User First — How Technology Is Changing the Way Talent Does Business

Lexy Martin is the research director and lead author for the annual CedarCrestone HR Systems Survey now in its thirteenth year. She also works with vendors to define the value of human capital management technologies through developing value analysis (ROI) models and uses these to define winning business cases for customers. Her current work is frequently about metrics and analytics. Ms. Martin presents on the survey results and on return on investment/value analysis at numerous conferences and special events including HR Technology (5 years), IHRIM, Corporate Leadership Council, ADP MOTM, Oracle OpenWorld, Human Capital Institute, and others.

Carrie Medders is the Director of Administrative Applications at California State University, East Bay. Carrie brings almost 15 years of higher education experience to the table, and has spent most of her time on ERP system implementations and project management. In addition to project management, her expertise includes business process analysis and design, system design and implementation, training development and delivery, and documentation and user support. Prior to her work at CSU East Bay, Carrie spent more than 10 years at San Jose State University, also part of the Cal State system, and another two at the University of Wyoming. In addition to her experience in system implementation and project management, she also specialized in classification and compensation in Human Resources at both San Jose State and Wyoming.Carrie holds a Master of Science degree in Sports Management from West Virginia University and a Bachelor of Science in Marketing from Arizona State University.

Gretchen Alarcon is Vice President Human Capital Management Strategy at Oracle. Ms. Alarcon leads the strategy team responsible for applications that enable companies to align their workforce goals and business objectives.Ms. Alarcon brings more than 13 years of industry experience to Oracle's strategy organization. She spent over four years at PeopleSoft working closely with customers and contributing to the direction of the company's talent management and recruiting applications.Prior to Oracle, Ms. Alarcon was Director, Product Management at Icarian, Inc. where she designed new product roadmaps and drove strategic decisions for the company's workforce management suites. Before joining Icarian, Ms. Alarcon was with National Semiconductor where she helped redesign the company's worldwide human resource functions.Prior to her current role, Ms. Alarcon was responsible for the strategy of Oracle's talent management applications.Ms. Alarcon holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Michigan and a B.A. in American Studies from Stanford University.