According to Workforce.com, the new year will usher in more cloud-based apps, 'bring your own device' policies and merger and acquisition deals for tech vendors.

2011 was the year employees and human resources departments went mobile, recruiters embraced social networks, managers coped with increasingly virtual workforces and a hot market for HR tech mergers and acquisitions culminated in SAP's plan to swallow SuccessFactors.

In 2012, expect technology innovations to continue sending shock waves through the HR department.

2012 will bring more Web-based or "cloud" HR apps and more employees bringing their own iPhones and iPads to work. As a result, workplace policies governing HR tech and social media use will continue to evolve, according to Bersin, Lister and other HR industry analysts, consultants, technology vendors and experts who shared predictions for the new year with Workforce Management.

Industry watchers foresee an uptick in merger-and-acquisition activity as major human-capital management, or HCM, software vendors play catch up with competitors such as Workday—and now SAP—who've been quicker to offer a cloud-based, software-as-a-service, or SaaS, delivery model. In many instances, the pay-as-you-go cloud approach is seen as better, faster and cheaper than the traditional on-premises approach of installing software on company computers, buying a permanent license for programs and paying annual maintenance fees.

Workforce.com provided a roundup of HR tech predictions for 2012:

• Mobile devices gain ground. IPads, iPhones and their rivals will continue an aggressive march into the workplace and the HR department.
• Cloud-based and mobile apps gain ground. Cloud-based software and mobile apps are starting to be available for almost every aspect of HR, including finding job candidates, keeping tabs on field-service crews, running payroll and managing the entire department.
• Social recruiting gets serious. 2011 brought so much buzz about using Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to source candidates, some companies seemed to forget there was any other way of finding prospective hires.
• Companies get real about mobile and social media policies. Companies that haven't already adopted a "bring your own device" policy will need to decide where they stand.
• The virtual workplace edges closer to mainstream. More companies will embrace mobile workers, whether they're telecommuting or part of virtual work groups housed at shared co-working facilities.
• Online tools connect far-flung workers. As the workplace goes virtual, look for increased use of video job interviews and videoconferencing, which is dropping in price.
• HR technology spending increases. After a recession-induced spending diet, companies will once again start budgeting for HR software upgrades. But don't expect across-the-board increases.
• SAP's SuccessFactors purchase sets the stage for more high-profile deals. In the aftermath of SAP's $3.4 billion bid for SuccessFactors, HR industry analysts talk about similar deals not in terms of "if" but "when.
• HR departments dig deeper into analytics. Using analytics to measure workforce productivity, social-recruiting success rates or other HR initiatives isn't widespread, but that's changing.
• Online rewards and recognition systems gain clout. Current performance management practices are broken—hence the almost constant cry from HR bloggers for an end to traditional performance reviews. 

Read the entire article and a more in-depth review of tech predictions 

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