Enwisen

In 1994, a group of human resources and benefits professionals founded Enwisen to tackle a growing challenge for companies: effectively communicating HR and benefits information to employees. The company's core idea was to transform dense booklets and scattered forms into an organized, self-service website, reducing the strain on HR departments. Their main product, a cloud-based suite called AnswerSource, provided a single, personalized portal for employees to access everything from benefits details to company policies. The platform was designed to be more than just an information repository; it was an educational tool. It featured a knowledge base, case management for HR, and tools for onboarding and offboarding new hires. A key offering was the total rewards statement, which gave employees a comprehensive online view of their compensation package, including tools for "what-if" scenarios. The company's trajectory shifted significantly in 2010. After being a strategic partner for two years, Lawson Software announced it would acquire Enwisen for $70 million in an all-cash deal. The acquisition integrated Enwisen's HR service delivery solutions into Lawson's broader Human Capital Management (HCM) system. This move was a playbook acquisition, as just a few months later, Infor acquired Lawson Software, and by 2020, Infor itself became a standalone subsidiary of Koch Industries.