Kronos' services and products deal with time and attendance, scheduling, absence management, HR and payroll, hiring, and labor analytics. The company has broadened its service offerings and developed web-based versions of its software, responding to the general trend in the software market of companies offering clients the choice of both installed and hosted subscription versions of their products.

Its main product suites are Kronos Workforce Ready (pre-hire to retire), Workforce Central (frontline to the C-suite), and  Workforce Dimensions (operating insights and data analytics).  

The company also offers specialty products that include Workforce Planner (automated labor scheduling), EZCall (manage on-call physician schedules), and Workforce AutoTime (automate labor management for aerospace and defense), among others. 

Geographic Reach

Kronos, based in Lowell, Massachusetts, has a handful of offices in the US and one in Canada. The company also has facilities in Mexico, Brazil, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, Sweden, the Netherlands, the United Arab Emirates, the UK, India, China, Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand.

Sales and Marketing

Kronos serves organizations in business services, education, energy, financial services, government, health care, hospitality, logistics, manufacturing, public safety, and retail markets. The company claimed that more than 40 million people at more than 30,000 organizations.

It sells directly to its customers, as well as through its partnerships with hardware, software, and services firms. Clients include American Fidelity Insurance, the County of Santa Clara, Forest City Enterprises, Hannaford Supermarkets, JMA Outreach Solutions, University of Toronto, and Winthrop University Hospital.

Strategy

Kronos' has been expanding its business in developing markets over the past several years, such as those of the EMEA and the faster-growing BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India, and China). In 2015, it opened its new EMEA headquarters in Bracknell, England to support plans for continued expansion in the region (even after 25 years of operating there). In 2014, Kronos launched the subscription model of its popular Kronos Workforce Central suite (workforce management solutions) to grow its business with small and mid-sized businesses in China.

The company's acquisition strategy includes purchasing independent resellers and distributors of its products and buying other software companies with applications that expand Kronos' product line.

Mergers and Acquisitions

In September 2015, Kronos purchased the AutoTime business from Kaba Workforce Solutions (the North American subsidiary of Switzerland-based Kaba Holding AG). AutoTime was a time and attendance, and labor management service used by more than 100 organizations, including seven of the top 10 Fortune 500 aerospace and defense companies.

In June 2015, the company purchased Chicago-based physician scheduling vendor Productive Scheduling Solutions, expanding its exposure in the fast-growing healthcare market.

In 2013, it bought rival workforce management software company TimeLink, which counted enterprise customers in more than 30 countries.

Company Background

In 2012, Kronos expanded its health care portfolio with the purchase of Portland, Oregon-based OptiLink, a provider of staff management software used by nursing departments. OptiLink's customers include Seton Healthcare and Intermountain Health Care. Also that year it acquired SaaShr.com, and its parent WebApps, Inc., which offers cloud-based workforce management software for small and mid-sized businesses.

Bolstering its presence in the EMEA region, in 2012 it bought UK-based SMART Computer Holdings and its Spanish affiliate SMART Human Logistics. SMART provided onsite and cloud-based workforce management software to manufacturing, services, retail, hospitality, and public sector markets; it was a leader in the health care workforce management market, serving a number of National Health Service customers in the UK.

In 2011, Kronos bought Principal Decision Systems International (PDSI), which provides public safety workforce management software. PDSI's TeleStaff application offers scheduling and notification tools used by more than 600 city and county fire, emergency, police, and corrections organizations in the US.

Some of its past purchases have included ClarityMatters, Compu-Cash Systems, Deploy Solutions, SmartTime Software, Stromberg, TimeWorks, and Unicru.