Category Archives: SaaS

Write your own timesheet or subscribe to one?

Subscribe Online or Write it yourself.  Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisYou need to update your timesheet or your project management system.  A host of potential developers are pitching for your business often with low-cost overseas developers.  It might sound tempting.  You could commission exactly the features you’re looking for and, after all, it’s a timesheet. How hard could it be?

Here at HMS we hear this quandary on a regular basis.  Sometimes we hear that the prospective client has, indeed gone off to create their own customized development of a timesheet or combined timesheet and project system.  We often hear back from them 2 or 3 years later as they look at TimeControl again.

Here are a few things to think about if you’re considering writing your own system.

Writing it yourself

Here are some of the things you’ll need to think about as you embark on your writing a timesheet project.

Internal Design

Internal design isn’t a given.  Do you have personnel with the expertise to design such a system?  Even with our deployments of TimeControl, we sometimes find it difficult to get all elements of the client to agree on exactly what the functionality and process should be.  Are you able to consider everyone who is involved in the project?  How difficult will it be to get sign-off on your design.  What will be your process for accepting changes to the design after the project is underway or even after it’s delivered?

Creating it

Ok, you’ve fought through the design and you’re ready for those programmers to get busy.  Now you’ve got to create it.  You’ll need to make sure that the outcome matches the design and then testing, testing, testing to make sure what you’ve created matches your process.  Are there regulatory requirements?  What about financial requirements? Have you got a dedicated programming team or might some of the team change over time.  Did you think to make test case data for testing?

Effort

It can be surprising how much time it takes to create a timesheet system and even more a project system to the commercial standards you see online.  The interface that you see on screen is the least of the work.  What happens once that data is saved is the hard part.  So total effort can be deceptive.  Think in terms of several person-years of work to get the job done.

Congratulations! You’re now a timesheet publisher!

You might not have thought about it, but now you have become a timesheet publisher, maximum clientele: 1

With a commercial system like TimeControl, we get to amortize all the effort we’ve put in over the last 30 years across hundreds or thousands of clients.  That won’t be the case for an in-house written system.  Plus, in becoming a timesheet publisher, there may be some sideeffects you might not have counted on.

  • Your people will be distracted from your core business. These might be some of your best core people.
  • You’re not just responsible for writing it, but also adapting it to changing technology. Whenever an operating system or a database or a browser or malware protection or any integrated technology changes, you’ll need to check to see if upgrades are required.  It’s continuous work.
  • You’re responsible to secure it, monitor it, and upgrade it. Plus, are you developing for in house, in the cloud, in a private cloud, in a hybrid cloud?
  • What about requested changes? As soon as your system is delivered, it’s a guarantee that someone will ask for something additional.

Delays until the investment in writing it pays returns

You’ve created it, tested it and deployed it and how long did that take?  Every day you spent on the project is a day you weren’t receiving the benefits of having delivered it.  With a system that you buy or subscribe to, those delays don’t occur.

Subscribe to TimeControl Online in the Cloud

If you are comparing the challenges of writing your own timesheet or project management system, here are some of the considerations for our TimeControl Online Software as a Service in the Cloud.

HMS manages the entire environment

First of all, HMS is responsible for:

  • The infrastructure including the servers, databases, database servers, operating systems, configuration of those servers, malware protection and more.
  • The installation of the software itself along with any updates, upgrades, hotfixes or anything else the application requires.
  • Security including physical security and the safeguarding of the infrastructure, the application and the data.
  • Data backups
  • 24×7 monitoring.
  • We do all of this in cooperation with our partner Amazon and Amazon Web Services where the services are extensive.
  • ROI is almost instant. The system is there right now.  The only time between subscribing and going into production is any configuration you elect to do

The return on investment is almost instant

All the functionality is there already and with a system like TimeControl, there is so much flexibility to have it adapt to your needs that writing something on your own with similar levels of functionality should be somewhat daunting.

And, there’s so much more.

  • The free TimeControl Mobile App
  • Pre-existing links with numerous project management tools like Primavera, Microsoft Project and Project Online, BrightWork, JIRA and more.
  • Crew timesheets Material/Equipment usage collection in TimeControl Industrial
  • TimeControl Project
  • TimeControl BI
  • Vacation Approvals with TimeRequest™
  • Expense reporting
  • Extensive reporting
  • A complete bi-directional API

If you’d like to see more, trying reading the white paper Buy it, Write it or Subscribe to It? which you’ll find in the White Papers area of the TimeControl Website. You might also want to look at the white paper TimeControl Online Security Architecture on the same page.

Or, feel free to contact one of our TimeControl experts at: TimeControl.com/contact and we can talk about the differences in writing it yourself or subscribing to it online.

The TimeControl Evolve program

The TimeControl Evolve program enables TimeControl on-premise clients to easily migrate to TimeControl Online

The TimeControl Evolve is designed to enable TimeControl on-premise clients to migrate to TimeControl Online, the TimeControl Software as a Service subscription in the Cloud.  The evolve program is an inexpensive and effective way to move your TimeControl system into the cloud.

TimeControl on-premise has been marketed since 1994 (yes, that’s right, 28 years!) so there are a lot of on-premise clients out there.  Even though more sales these days are for our subscription Cloud service, TimeControl on-premise is still sold and supported and will be for the foreseeable future.

But that leaves a lot of on-premise clients who are interested in migrating from an on-premise timesheet system to the SaaS equivalent.

There are many advantages to migrating to a TimeControl Online subscription:

  1. First, all maintenance of TimeControl is handled by HMS. We do all the server, database, malware prevention and application upgrades for you.
  2. TimeControl Online is upgraded automatically by HMS. You will no longer have to be concerned about upgrades.  HMS takes care of all updates, upgrades and new version installation centrally on the TimeControl Online servers.
  3. Continuous monitoring is handled for you. TimeControl Online is monitored 24x7x365.  We are looking at the system continuously and are proud of our 99.9%+ uptime since the service was first launched in 2011.
  4. TimeControl Online and TimeControl on-premise are the same code. That means that all functionality that you know and love in TimeControl on-premise is already in TimeControl Online.
  5. Data backups and disaster recovery is already included. TimeControl Online is backed up daily and you can even download your own database backup in case you want to be sure to have control over it.  Disaster recovery is layered to handle issues of different scales and types.
  6. TimeControl Online is highly secure. We follow the OWASP standards for testing and our data is housed by Amazon Web Services in highly secure facilities.

The TimeControl Evolve program will let you migrate your TimeControl on-premise licenses to the cloud and we won’t charge the subscription until your current support contract expires.  Yes, that’s correct.  No subscription cost for the entire remainder of your already active support contract.  If you just updated your technical support today, then that’s a whole year of TimeControl Online for free.

Free.

When you sign up for the Evolve program we will assist you in migrating your data to TimeControl Online.  If you haven’t upgraded your TimeControl on-premise to the most current version, then you can optionally have us help do the upgrades to ensure that the data you have will immediately migrate to the online version.  We can also advise you on maintaining or enhancing your links to external systems such as project management tools, ERPs and more.

Everyone’s situation is different.  If you’d like to talk to one of our Account specialists about whether the TimeControl Evolve program is right for you, contact us at: https://www.timecontrol.com/contact or email us at info@hms.ca.

 

HMS continues to update white papers and other free collateral

We work on updating the vast wealth of collateral on the TimeControl website on a continuous basis. The site is one of the longest standing websites in the world and the materials on it can become dated as technology advances. In the past year we’ve made updates to factsheets, slide presentations, online webcasts and white papers.

Most recently, we have made updates to several white papers including the old Buy it or Write it has become a much more current Buy it, Subscribe to it or Write it. The paper includes a financial analysis that outlines the costs of all three options.  It is available for free for anyone considering this decision.  These main three architectural choices come down to:

  1. Buy timesheet software
    The main considerations for buying timesheet software and deploying it on premise is usually to have it work within existing security architecture or to have the underlying database available for integration with other systems.
  2. Subscribe to timesheet software
    The main reasons organizations elect to subscribe to timesheet software is for lower overall costs of ownership and to avoid the costs and complexities of internal technical support for maintenance and updates.
  3. Write your own customized software
    For those who have timesheet software requirements that are so unique that they cannot be met by commercial off the shelf software, they may need to consider the most expensive of options and write their own software.

We’ve outlined the major advantages and challenges of each of these three options and have given some cost comparisons.

We’ve also just updated the popular Research and Development Tax Credits with TimeControl.

For a complete list of free resources such as these, visit the TimeControl Website Resources area: TimeControl.com/resources.

Did you catch us in the recent InformationWeek report on Software as a Service (SaaS) Project Management Tools?  Yes, that was TimeControlOnline listed in tools you can use to manage your projects online through a subscription service.

The article is free and can be found at: Information Week Reports.
For more information on TimeControlOnline, you can go to www.timecontrol.net.

TimeControl now available as a hosted service with TimeControlOnline

TimeControl is open for business in the cloud with TimeControlOnline! We are delighted to announce the availability of our Timesheet as a Service (TaaS) hosted subscription. This new service brings all the power, flexibility and ease of use of one of the world’s most popular timesheets to a hosted subscription model. TimeControl_InTheCloud

TimeControlOnline culminates a development initiative that began in 2007 and lets clients who are interested in a hosted timesheet service start with TimeControl instantly.

The new hosted service brings a remarkable set of TimeControl features and benefits to the online subscription model. TimeControl and TimeControlOnline include functionality for time and attendance, time and billing, project-tracking, linking to project management tools, vacation approvals and even a mobile interface all in the same package. And, with TimeControlOnline, there is no hardware to purchase, nothing to install, nothing to maintain and nothing else to purchase. Everything is included in one competitive subscription price.

TimeControlOnline Features include:
Multi-browser/Multi-lingual interface
TimeControlOnline’s interface is designed to be easy to use. We know that end-users will spend only a few minutes a week entering their timesheet so the interface must be both simple and intuitive. TimeControlOnline is multi-browser compatible and multi-lingual.
TimeControlMobile Smartphone interface
TimeControlOnline now includes a mobile interface designed for smartphones like the iPhone, Blackberry as well as Android and Windows 7 Mobile devices.
Vacation approvals with TimeRequest
TimeRequest is TimeControl’s vacation approval system. It is a simple easy-to-use screen to enter requests to take time off in the future and once approved, the time will automatically appear in the appropriate future timesheet.
Matrix timesheet approvals
TimeControl has an extensive approvals system including automated validation rules, multiple levels of approvals and individualized approval paths. The unique Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals was designed to allow both work-based approvals and organization-based approvals to occur at the same time.
Email notifications for missing timesheets
On Monday morning the hardest thing about timesheets can be finding them. TimeControlOnline makes this easy with automatic scheduled email notifications.
Links to Project Management
TimeControl supports more project management links than any other timesheet on the market. Whether you use Microsoft Project or Project Server, Oracle’s Primavera or Deltek’s Open Plan or Cobra, TimeControl can help create an integrated Enterprise Project Management environment.
Government compliance
TimeControl enables organizations to comply with many different government standards including the DCAA, R&D tax credits, the FMLA, California Wage Laws, the European Time Directives and Sarbanes Oxley.

Pricing for TimeControlOnline starts at a highly-competitive $12/month/user with a minimum of 10 users. Discounts are available for volume subscriptions. Prospective clients can request pricing for their particular configuration at www.timecontrol.net/contact/pricing.  TimeControlOnline is available immediately. Additional information and pricing can be found at www.timecontrol.net.