microsoft project server

Project Online will go Offline

Project Online screen, TimeControl and Project Online, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisIt’s true.  You may have seen social media or come across blog posts about the future of Microsoft Project Online.  Here at HMS we have known for some time that the days of Project Online were surely numbered through a variety of contacts at Microsoft.  The time has finally come with an official announcement from Microsoft about the end of Project Online.  As of today, you are no longer able to buy a new instance of Project Online.  HMS has been around Project Server and the translation of Project Server into its SaaS equivalent since its inception.  And that’s all about to change.

Let’s get some of the facts straight here and then talk about the impact on TimeControl.

Here are some key dates:

September 5, 2025: Microsoft announces the end-of-life of Project Online for the end of September 2026.

October 1, 2025: End of new sales of Project Online

April 1, 2026, New tenants will no longer be able to be created in Project Online

July 14, 2026: Project Server 2016 and Project Server 2019 shift to “extended support” mode.  Microsoft recommends shifting to Project Server Subscription Edition

September 30, 2026: Official end of Project Online.  There will be no more access to Project Online after this date.  This includes access to any data that has been saved in Project Online.  It is essential that clients remove or back up their data in other sources prior to this date.

Dec 31, 2031:  Microsoft has committed to support Project Server Subscription edition until at least this date.

What does this mean for you?

First, if you are using Project Online now, you need to start making plans to no longer be using the product by September 2026.  You have a year to decide on your destination system and to remove your data from Project Online.  Once September 30, 2026 comes, you will not be able to log into Project Online even to retrieve your data.

What are your options?
You have a couple of big decisions to make

The first is whether to stay with Microsoft for your project management needs at all.  If you do, you have several possible paths:

  1. Migrate your Project Online projects to Project Desktop. These products have no projected end of life at the moment and are widely expected to continue to be available for the foreseeable future.
  2. Migrate your Project Online projects to Planner / Planner Premium. These products are not designed to be an enterprise project management system to replace Project Online.  Their functionality will no doubt expand but no one in Microsoft is saying that the ultimate goal is to make a product similar in scope to Project Online.  You will have to look at what Planner can offer you and how that meets how you are using Project Online now.  This will probably work for some clients.
  3. Migrate your Project Online projects to Project Server on-premise. In some ways this sounds like the simplest solution but you have some things to consider here:
    • First of all, you are moving from a SaaS environment back to on-premise where you are responsible for the hardware, the installation, monitoring security and stability as well as any upgrades. The Project Server environment includes both Project Server and SharePoint.
    • Project Server 2016 and 2019 will go off of main support and into “extended support” this coming July. Moving to those two products will leave you with little help from Microsoft moving forward.
    • You can elect to migrate to Project Server on-premise Subscription edition. Microsoft will even help create a backup of your database that could be used to populate Project Server.  If you make this migration, there will be some things you are used to that won’t be supported.  This includes the old PSI in Project Servers 2016 and 2019 has been replaced with code more like the Project Online CSOM code for integrations and if you have been using OData calls to get reporting data, that will no longer be supported.  And, of course you will be responsible for the upkeep of an on-premise solution.

If you elect not to stay with Microsoft there are numerous project management vendors who will be vying for your business in the year to come.

What about TimeControl?

Here at HMS we take pains to be project management technology agnostic.  We have so many technology alliance partners that it’s impossible for us to promote one solution over another.  For clients who elect to stay with a Microsoft project management solution, we know that our links with Project Server on-premise are already well established and our links to Project Desktop started all the way back in 1995.

For TimeControl clients who are thinking of non-Microsoft options, we keep an updated list of possible combination solutions on the TimeControl website in the Use-Case Solutions area.

The Solutions area will be updated as we bring new possible products into the mix as we expect to do with our next TimeControl release expected by Christmas.  We will quietly remove products that no longer exist or for which there is no ongoing ability for TimeControl to link.  So, expect a number of changes to this area this year.

It is reasonably common for us to face a change of project management system with a client who wants to maintain TimeControl but not maintain their current scheduling system so we are able to help discuss your options with you.

The information in this blog post will be uploaded to the Project Online sections of the TimeControl website and, as more data and more options become available we will make sure that information stays updated.

As always, if you have questions or concerns about using TimeControl with any of the possible project management systems either from Microsoft or other vendors we work with, please talk to our staff at TimeControl.com/contact.

timecontrol

Timesheet Creation

TimeControl best practices, timesheet time saver, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisSo many options in TimeControl are designed to simplify the data entry process.  Timesheet Creation is just one.

For timesheet administrators, the depth of functionality in TimeControl including its remarkable flexibility is a huge draw.  That’s not the same for end-users.  End-users typically view having to enter their timesheet as a necessary evil.  They’d avoid it if they could but if they have to do it, they’d like the process to be as quick and easy as possible.

That’s one of the reasons we created the Timesheet Creation function.  In its first few versions, TimeControl would ask users to create their next timesheet and then, depending on the options selected by the TimeControl Administrator and the end user, the timesheet would be pre-loaded with lines that were expected for that week.

Timesheet Creation allows the TimeControl Administrator to create the timesheets for end-users in advance.  This means, when they enter the system at the beginning of their week (or whatever their timesheet period is), the timesheet is already there, already pre-loaded with expected tasks and ready to be entered.

Not every organization wants to work that way but for many, it’s a small time-saver that pays dividends in a couple of ways.  First, everyone’s timesheet is created at the same time with the same options and that helps with consistency and a uniform user experience.  Next, if the end-users select the timesheet-entry screen to be their home-screen, what appears when they log into TimeControl is their current week’s timesheet, already created, already pre-populated with all the expected tasks already loaded.  This can serve to lower the resistance to doing the timesheet at all and can promote entering the timesheet quickly.  Finally, having the timesheet already created eliminates one possible step and one possible end-user error point.  The Administrators can create multiple timesheets in advance or even in the past if that is required.  The configuration of how many periods can be created is controlled in TimeControl’s System Preferences.  The Timesheet Creation also doesn’t need to be applied universally.  It can be constrained for certain groups or certain locations as the Administrator decides.

Of course, the end-user may have other tasks they did this week that were unanticipated.  Almost everyone does something in their week that wasn’t in the plan on Monday morning.  TimeControl will always allow users to add to the timesheet from any possible charge codes that are available to that user.

The savings of the Timesheet Creation function is perhaps only 30 to 60 seconds.   But think about that this way.  If you have 1,000 users, that 1,000 minutes a week that’s saved.  52 weeks a year means 52,000 minutes.  That’s a half a person-year in savings.  And that’s just from one possible feature in TimeControl.

We often talk about best-practices for both organizations and individuals using TimeControl.  You can find webcasts, papers and presentations on the subject in the Timesheet Best Practices section of our website at: www.timecontrol.com/resources/best-practices.

timecontrol

TimeControl receives Excellence in Enterprise Timesheet Solutions award

Business Honor, Excellence in Timesheet Solutions Award 2025, TimeControl, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisWe are delighted to announce that Business Honor Magazine has awarded TimeControl its “Excellence in Enterprise Timesheet Solutions” award for 2025.  Business Honor featured TimeControl in an article on its website which has just published.  The article is available at: businesshonor.com/magazine/profile/timecontrol-timesheet-platform-financial-governance-environments.

In being interviewed for the article, HMS Software President, Chris Vandersluis explains that the award is the result of a full team effort of the TimeControl team at HMS Software.

timecontrol

The hidden richness of TimeControl features

TimeControl Period Generator, Flexibility, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisSome parts of TimeControl are rarely seen.  Let’s take one of the most fundamental elements of the timesheet and how it’s created.  When you open your timesheet, you see a week at a time, right?

Not always.

When we released TimeControl version 1.0 back in 1994, the timesheet length was always 7 days.  We hadn’t encountered anyone where that was different.  But it didn’t take long before we did.

Some organizations have timesheets that are two weeks in length.  Some TimeControl Industrial clients do crew timesheets every day.  Some organiztaions do monthly timesheets or bi-monthly (that’s one timesheet from the 1st-15th, and a second timesheet from the 16th to the end of the month so the timesheet length is variable).

Can TimeControl have different period lengths?

Let’s make it more complicated.

Let’s say that part of the organization insists on weekly timesheets and another part of the organization insists on bi-weekly.  Impossible?  Need two separate TimeControls?

No.  Let’s talk about the TimeControl Period Generator

The Period Generate lets you create multiple timesheet periods.  There’s an automatic generator that lets you create those periods for years in advance and give them labels that match how you refer to those timeframes such as “Week 17, 2025”.  Once created, that collection of periods are attachable to each employee record.

There are many possible automatic period generation options: daily, weekly, bi-weekly, monthly, bi-monthly or custom (meaning you can type in any sequential periods you need).  The period generator won’t let you create overlapping periods in one collection but otherwise you can have an array of different time spans.

You can create multiple periods so the challenge of some of the organization is weekly and the rest is bi-weekly is met right there.

But the Period Generate allows for much, much more.

TimeControl always stores the results of a posted timesheet in a daily format so it can be exported, integrated to other systems or reported on.

Some organizations have to do that exporting or reporting using different periods.

Let’s say you collect on a weekly basis but export on a bi-monthly basis for payroll and a monthly basis for Finance.  Or, let’s say you use a 13-month calendar (popular in some government projects where each month is exactly 4 weeks long to make up a 52 week year of 13 months). This could all be accommodated by the Period Generator.

It’s an elegant and rich part of TimeControl that almost no one outside the TimeControl Administrator will ever see.

 

multipurpose timesheet

Why a multi-purpose timesheet?

Multi purpose timesheet, TimeControl, Swiss Army Knife, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisWe often speak to organizations who have experienced the madness and heartache of deploying multiple timesheets and finding that this has made them much less effective as a result.  For those who might have never had this experience, let’s talk for a moment about the benefits and drawbacks of using a multi-purpose timesheet like TimeControl.

How did we end up here?

First, let’s talk for a moment about how organizations deploy multiple timesheets.  Clearly no one wakes up one morning and says “I have a great idea.  Let’s deploy as many different timesheet systems as we can.”  No. This happens because timesheets are needed for so many disparate processes and each of these processes first checks to see if any existing timesheet systems in the organization will meet their needs and, if not, proceeds to acquire and deploy its own timesheet.

So the payroll system has a timesheet and they aren’t interested in changing it.  Billing has a timesheet too.  That’s different from the time and attendance timesheet used by payroll.  HR needed a timesheet but just for time-off; kind of a negative timesheet.  Project management needed a timesheet that would identify not just if you were working but what you worked on and for how long as well as how much time will be needed to finish off what you’re working on.  Other timesheets may have been deployed for field-data-collection, R&D tax credits, Government auditing requirements such as DCAA and more.  So, having 3, 4, even 7 or 8 different timesheets is not impossible.

Multi-purpose timesheet benefits

Choosing a multi-purpose timesheet like TimeControl brings numerous instant benefits.  First, it reduces the number of timesheets to maintain, manage and even reconcile.  In some organizations employees are asked to fill in 2, 3 or even 4 timesheets at the end of the week.  Now, they fill in one.  So employee satisfaction goes up.  It’s not that employees like filling in timesheets, even just one.  But, if you explain that they will be going from 4 timesheets to 1 timesheet, you end up with happy employees.

Next, there’s now one version of the truth.  When you look for time data, you don’t got to multiple systems.  We’ve seen organizations where the effort to reconcile the timesheet data from a time and attendance system with a project system is monstrous.  Multiple employees dedicated to trying to figure out how the time recorded in system one reconciles with system two is not an effective use of personnel.

Auditing become so much easier.  We’ve seen this in numerous situations and with numerous organizations where previously an audit might have been impossible, now the audit is not only possible but almost instant.  When all the data is being validated in the same place at the same time, the work of an auditor becomes very simple.

Multi-purpose timesheet challenges

It’s not all free benefits.  One of the challenges in deploying a multi-purpose timesheet for bringing multiple business processes together is that the people managing those processes have to communicate with each other.  This is often one of the longest parts of a deployment.  It is extremely common for us to have a meeting where Finance is represented including Payroll and Billing, Project Management is represented and the IT department is represented almost as a referee.  In many cases, the Finance people have never met the Project people.  These teams will have to strike a balance between what each business process needs.

Flexibility also carries its own work.  When you have a system which is as open architecture as TimeControl, you have to be responsible for what you design, configure and deploy.  We sometimes see an organization deploy our multi-purpose timesheet and once deployed, the team is disbanded.  Then, a year later, no one who is a part of the day-to-day operations of the timesheet understands the decisions that were made in its configuration.  Happily at HMS, we keep all those kinds of records and documents and more than once we’ve had to regroup the different parts of the organization to help explain why they made the configuration decisions they did and how that affects the different business processes involved.

Multi-purpose timesheets can make the difference

Some organizations decide that they just don’t want to mingle processes like Finance and Project Management and are willing to accept the costs and drawbacks of deploying multiple timesheet systems but for many, a multi-purpose timesheet can be the answer to so many challenges all at once.

timecontrol

Managing Missing timesheets

TimeControl Administrator, TimeControl, timesheets, missing timesheets, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisAn enterprise timesheet system is so much more than just collecting timesheets at the end of the week.  There are countless features, functions and processes that lie beneath the surface from most users that allow the system to thrive.  Let’s take a look at just one timesheet situation that timesheet administrators all over must deal with and how TimeControl helps.

Let’s imagine that at the end of the week, not all the timesheets have been approved, posted and accounted for.  We have some missing timesheets!

With TimeControl we know this because of the Missing Timesheet report.  Supervisors and Administrators can quickly account for what timesheets might be missing and determine where they are.  There are a couple of options.

First, the timesheet might have never been created.  This might just need a gentle reminder to the employee to get their timesheet created.  But, perhaps this employee is away on sick leave.  In this case, someone in the Approval Release Path of the employee such as their supervisor might have to create it and post it.  Remember, even when someone other than the employee does the timesheet, TimeControl keep auditing control to know that the timesheet was created on behalf of the employee by the supervisor.

Let’s take a more complex problem.  The timesheet is missing but it was, in fact created and half-filled out.  But, the employee left the company in mid-week.  Now a supervisor can’t create the timesheet.  It’s already there.  But, they don’t have the ability to change the timesheet because it is ‘owned’ by the departed employee.  TimeControl handles this with the Change Ownership feature.  This allows an Administrator to move the timesheet’s ownership from one user to another within the Approval Path.  Once the timesheet ownership has changed, the person with the control over the timesheet can now complete it in an auditable fashion.

Perhaps the problem is that there is no one in the Approval Path available who can take care of that timesheet.  No worries.  TimeControl allows the Administrator to create an Alternate User to log into TimeControl as though they were the departed employee.  As the Alternate User, the timesheet can be completed and released for approval just as though that employee is still there and, in the background, TimeControl keeps track of who is really making those changes.

TimeControl Administrators have to handle cases like this every week to ensure that 100% of the timesheets are accounted for and that the data has been validated and sent off to the appropriate systems that are waiting for it.  Administrator features like those dealing with missing and orphaned timesheets is just part of what makes TimeControl so popular with timesheet administrators.

vacation, vacation accruals

Do you know how much time is in the vacation bank?

It’s summTimeControl Detailed Vacation Bank Report, TimeControl, Enterprise Timesheet, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluisertime and for many organizations, that means employees are taking advantage of the warm weather to take vacations.  For some, those vacations have been planned earlier in the year, for others, they are just making their plans.

TimeControl provides tools to track not just when employees took vacation but how much vacation time an employee has earned and how much they’ve taken throughout the year.

The Employee Bank is one of multiple banks of time within TimeControl that can be activated and monitored.  Time can be earned automatically within TimeControl using the Accruals module.  Alternately, if this is managed elsewhere, the banked time can be imported from outside sources such as the HR system.  Once earned, the banked time is visible to the employees in a report or a dashboard view.

When it’s time to take vacation, the employee selects a charge code for that in their timesheet either in advance or after their time off.  TimeControl then automatically deducts that time from the appropriate bank.

One of the most time-consuming parts of vacation banks for management are discussions with employees about how much time they’ve earned or taken but this too can be managed in TimeControl with the Detailed Employee Bank report.  For day-to-day operations, the report has a dynamic view which can be viewed and filtered instantly no matter how many employees there are.

Vacations are the most common but only one aspect of banked time off and scheduled time off.  TimeControl can also impose validation rules on TimeRequests for time off to ensure the rules are followed of time off requests vs. time in the bank.  Other banked time can also be tracked such as sick leave or personal time off.

You can find out more about how TimeControl manages time off requests and vacations at: www.timecontrol.com/features/vacation-approvals and more about accruals at: www.timecontrol.com/features/accruals.

FAQ

Frequently asked questions and the different places to get answers

Frequently Asked Questions, FAQ, TimeControl, Timesheets, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisWith an enterprise system like TimeControl, questions are common.  TimeControl can be used in so many different ways and each deployment is unique.  So, as a client or even a prospective client, where can you get answers?

TimeControl’s extensive documentation.

There are documentation guides which are part of every TimeControl.  Your Administrator may not have given you access to all documentation files.  They include: User Guide, Reference Guide, Report Designer Guide, TimeControl Project Guide, BI Guide and API Guide.  You should be able to access these guides from within TimeControl at the top right of the screen under the “?” icon.

FAQs

Let’s start with the TimeControl Frequently Asked Questions section.  These are some of the most common questions we’re asked by prospective and new clients.  We’ve put those questions here and added our own most common answers.

Find out more at: https://www.timecontrol.com/support/faq.

TimeControl Blog

The TimeControl Blog is where we tend to write longer answers to questions.  Here is where we might talk about the specific way a certain feature can be implemented or to highlight a feature that some clients overlook because it wasn’t at the top of their priority list when they first deployed TimeControl.  We always list the latest features of new versions here but it’s also where we discuss or demonstrate different deployment tactics such as how to deploy TimeControl with entries in percentages instead of hours? Or how to handle multiple languages? Then your answer is probably in the blog.  Rather than scrolling through the hundreds of entries, just use the search bar to locate items of interest. There’s no cost or restriction to use the blog.

Access the TimeControl Blog at: blog.timecontrol.com.

Online Training Videos

We record a lot of training videos.  Many are short 5 minute demonstrations of how to use a particular TimeControl feature.  Some are longer webcasts. But a scroll of the TimeControl Online Learning Center can often reveal results you weren’t expecting.

Find out more at: https://www.timecontrol.com/resources/online-training/timecontrol-8.

YouTube

While we post our videos internally on the TimeControl website, we also post them on YouTube where you can use YouTube’s functionality to create sub-titles in the languages of your choosing.  Our YouTube channel is at: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC-I21bjwfIq9JEioRUV8kLQ.

The TimeControl website

The resources on TimeControl.com are extensive including slide shows, white papers, factsheets and more.  Just use the Search feature to look for information of interest.

The website is at: https://www.timecontrol.com/.

timecontrol

Branding TimeControl with your logo

Many organizations taken advantage of TimeControl’s flexibility to make it a little more like their own.  One way to do this is to put your own logo on the login screen and at the top of every TimeControl page.  These logos are added on the Administrator/System Preferences page.  Let’s see how to do this…

System Preferences

In the Company Information area of TimeControl, there is a place to add a graphics file for the top of screen logo and another for the login screen logo. Let’s add files right here.  We’ll use logos from our friends at EPM Guidance.

The Top Bar logo should be 300×45 pixels in size.  The login logo should be 300×100 pixels.  The files can be .png, .jpg or .gif.

TimeControl Branding System Preferences, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis

Here are the results

Login Screen Logo

TimeControl Branding, Login logo, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis

Top Bar Logo

TimeControl Branding, Top Bar, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis

 

The official blogsite of TimeControl