Article
5 min read
The Hidden Value in Payroll and HR Data—and How ERP Owners Can Unlock It
Global payroll
Author
Bruce van Wyk
Last Update
August 30, 2025
About the author
Bruce van Wyk is a tech entrepreneur, global payroll pioneer, and CEO of PaySpace by Deel. Throughout his career, he has solved complex payroll requirements for customers gaining critical insights into the receiving end of the payroll and HR product world, before applying that experience and expertise to PaySpace by Deel.
Are there skills gaps in your business?
What’s the cost of hiring and onboarding a new employee? How should you forecast overtime?
What will your upcoming expense costs look like?
Is there an easier and faster way to predict and prepare for employee bonuses and tax implications?
The answers to these questions are hidden inside the data generated by human resources (HR) and payroll systems. Yet finding them often requires hours of manual effort, siloed within specific departments or even individuals.
At large companies, this information usually lives inside an enterprise resource planning (ERP) system, where HR and payroll functions are subordinate modules.
Where ERPs fall short
ERPs have taught the business world the power of software and data. But their uniform and monolithic structure often forces square pegs into round holes.
For example, the HR modules within an ERP may lack the specialized capabilities needed to simplify complex payroll calculations. Likewise, ERP payroll modules are often slow to reflect changes in labor laws, while a dedicated cloud-native payroll platform can implement those changes quickly—even without payroll administrators requesting them.
Deel Payroll
The case for specialization
That doesn’t mean the ERP is at fault. The reality is that as organizations embrace data to make smarter decisions, HR and payroll software become more effective when they’re specialized. This specialization allows them to answer questions like those at the beginning of this article more quickly and accurately. ERP modules may be able to deliver similar insights, but specialized platforms do it faster, make the data more accessible, and empower authorized employees to get the information they need directly.
Self-service reporting in action
Take, for instance, a manager on the manufacturing floor who needs a view of employee hours and overtime patterns. If the data is locked inside the ERP, they’ll likely need to request it from payroll or HR, then wait. In contrast, modern HR and payroll platforms offer self-service reporting: the manager can log in, generate a report instantly, and free HR and payroll staff to focus on more strategic work.
Agility in the cloud era
Cloud-native platforms make it easy to design and automate processes, customize fields, implement legislative changes quickly, and provide secure access for authorized users. Expecting an ERP to handle this kind of agility is like turning an oil tanker, whereas cloud-native HR and payroll solutions are nimble and responsive. And because they’re cloud-native, they can also roll out new features—like AI tools and employee self-service portals—at a much faster pace.
See also: The Cloud Advantage: Rethinking ERP in the Age of Agility
ERPs and specialized payroll: better together
The ERP remains the system of record—the central source of truth that anchors the organization. Through integration, HR and payroll platforms can pull data from the ERP while adding the agility and specialization needed to turn it into business value.
We’ve built this kind of synergy for our enterprise clients, and the results are consistently powerful. Instead of cramming everything into the ERP, businesses can elevate different functions to work seamlessly alongside it.
Learn more: 7 Best Enterprise Payroll Software in 2025
Unlocking the full value of your data
ERPs are powerful, but they don’t need to do everything. The advantage of today’s cloud era is that companies can pair the ERP’s core strength with specialized software. This puts advanced features—like automated calculations, reporting, self-service, compliance updates, and real-time management—directly into the hands of the people who need them.
For organizations that rely on ERPs, this approach gets the best out of both worlds: maximizing core data and processes while transforming HR and payroll into true data-driven value creators.
Learn more: How Global Payroll Compliance Supports Enterprise Growth
Ready to see Deel Payroll in action?
Deel Payroll integrates seamlessly with your ERP to give you the specialized features your teams need—automated compliance, agile reporting, employee self-service, and more.
Book a demo today and discover how Deel Payroll can help turn HR and payroll into strategic value drivers for your business.
Bruce van Wyk is a tech entrepreneur, global payroll pioneer, and CEO of PaySpace by Deel.
An IT graduate, van Wyk’s career started in software development, designing, conceptualizing and implementing functional payroll and HR solutions for various local, multinational and blue-chip organizations.
Throughout his career, he has solved complex payroll requirements for customers gaining critical insights into the receiving end of the payroll and HR product world, before applying that experience and expertise to PaySpace by Deel.
