FAQ14 questions
Integrations and systems of record
Does MuchSkills write skills data back into our HRIS?
MuchSkills does not write back to your HRIS by default, and it can if you want it to. As standard, MuchSkills reads users, teams, roles and absence data from your HR system and changes nothing there, so the HRIS stays the system of record for employment. If you want skills data in SAP SuccessFactors, Workday or any other system, the open MuchSkills API lets your team build that flow, or we build a custom integration back for you.
What systems does MuchSkills integrate with?
MuchSkills integrates with any HRIS, with more than 30 native connectors live today, including SAP SuccessFactors, Workday and BambooHR, plus single sign-on through Okta, Google Workspace and Microsoft Entra ID, SCIM and OAuth 2.0 provisioning and an open API, all included on every plan. Project and time data can come from tools such as Jira, Tempo and Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. Learning platforms such as Skillsoft Percipio and Udemy connect too, and the API feeds skills data into Power BI, Salesforce or your own systems. Every connector has a setup guide on the integrations page. If yours is missing, or you want skills data to flow back into another system, your team can build it on the API or we build a custom integration for you.
Do we have to sync our whole workforce to start on MuchSkills?
No. MuchSkills can start with one department, one delivery team or one site and grow from there. How the first import is scoped depends on your HR system and its connector, and we confirm the filters available for yours during evaluation. Starting with a team whose skills you need to see now gives you a complete picture of that team quickly, which is worth more than a thin picture of everyone.
Can MuchSkills read our Slack or Microsoft Teams?
No. MuchSkills does not read Slack, Microsoft Teams, email or any other messages, and it has no feature that infers skills from conversations. Messages include people who never agreed to their words being analysed, such as clients and suppliers, and they can reveal personal details that have nothing to do with skills. Some platforms in this category analyse work communications. MuchSkills chose not to, which is one less question for your works council and data protection officer.
How long does an HRIS integration with MuchSkills take?
Some MuchSkills HR connectors take about five minutes to set up. Others, such as Workday, need your team to share API access with us first; once we have it, we set the integration up within one to two weeks. Most of the wait usually sits before that point: getting API credentials issued, agreeing which field maps to which, and finding out who owns the absence data. Settle those three before the kick-off call and the project stays on schedule. Custom integrations are scoped and quoted separately.
What happens to our data if we turn a MuchSkills integration off?
Turning off a MuchSkills integration stops the sync and leaves your skills data where it is. Skills, levels and certifications are created in MuchSkills, so they do not depend on the connector. What stops is the import of users, teams, roles and absence data, so the org chart and availability views stay as they were at the last sync until you update them another way, for example by CSV import. If you are changing HR system, talk to us before you disconnect.
Can we get our skills data out of MuchSkills again?
Yes, at any time, and it is a contractual right. You own your data, and under the MuchSkills Enterprise Terms you can export all of it during the subscription and for the retention period after it ends, normally around 90 days, self-service or through the API, at no charge, in a structured, commonly used and machine-readable format. Day to day, reports on skill gaps, certification status, utilisation and trends can be exported, including certification reports as CSV, and the open API feeds skills, competence and utilisation data into Power BI, Salesforce or your own systems. If you would rather have a full export handed to you, ask us and we will do it.
Does MuchSkills replace our HRIS, LMS or resource planning tool?
No. MuchSkills works alongside your HRIS, LMS and resource planning tools and holds what none of them hold well: what each person can actually do, at what level, with evidence. The HRIS stays the system of record for employment and the LMS stays the system of record for training delivery, while MuchSkills links learning to the skill gaps it finds. For staffing, MuchSkills adds skills-based search, Team Builder and availability views, and reads project data from tools such as Jira where they are connected. It is not an applicant tracking system either.
Who needs to be involved in a MuchSkills integration?
Three people make a MuchSkills integration go smoothly: someone in IT who can issue API credentials and approve the single sign-on application, someone in HR who knows which field holds the reporting line, and the person who will own the skills taxonomy afterwards. The third is the one organisations forget, and their decisions decide whether the data is still worth reading a year later. The reporting line matters more than it looks, because without it MuchSkills has no manager view.
Does MuchSkills have an API?
Yes. MuchSkills has an open API, documented for signed-in customers at app.muchskills.com/api/docs, using OAuth 2.0 client credentials with read or write scopes. Your administrators create and revoke their own API clients in the MuchSkills settings, so credentials stay under your control. Teams use it to pull skills, certification and utilisation data into Power BI or Salesforce, to load certificates in bulk, and to build their own flows into HR or project systems. API access is included on every plan.
Can we bring our existing skills data and competency framework into MuchSkills?
Yes. Existing skills data can be imported from Excel or through the API, and an older scale is mapped onto the MuchSkills 1 to 9 scale before anything is loaded, for example by placing each old level in the beginner, intermediate or expert band. Because a mapping choice can change a real person's level, we write the mapping down and agree on it with you in writing first. Role profiles from an existing competency framework can be uploaded and checked in a dry run before they go live, and certificates you already track can come in the same way.
Can MuchSkills follow our existing job architecture?
Yes. Role profiles in MuchSkills are built on your own job families and levels, and job titles, departments and reporting lines come from your HR system. Career levels are one role profile per level. Pay bands stay in your HR system; MuchSkills adds the skills, levels and certificates each job requires, so roles can be compared on capability. Syncing a job catalogue directly from an HR system such as SAP SuccessFactors is not standard today, and we can build it for you as a custom integration.