Tag Archives: Primavera

What is the TimeControl Client-Side Transfer?

Mostly when we talk about linking with TimeControl, we talk about it happening in the background.  Often Project Management systems are centrally managed and the link happens between the TimeControl or TimeControl Online server and the server-based Project Management system.

There is, however, a link option between TimeControl and TimeControl Online and your own desktop application such as Microsoft Project Standard / Professional or Primavera Pro P6.

These links are made possible by a part of TimeControl called the “Client-Side Transfer” App.  This app will automatically try to activate if you have created a TimeControl Interface definition between a TimeControl Project and a Desktop-based project application.

The Client-Side Transfer App allows TimeControl to reach your desktop application through the browser.  This is typically not permitted by a web browser which we why the Client-Side Transfer App must be installed on your desktop within the Microsoft Edge Browser.  Edge (and it’s older cousin Internet Explorer) allow such apps to be installed and activated specifically for this type of requirement.

Here’s the workflow of the TimeControl Client Side Transfer App
(Click to expand)

When you initiate a Client Side Transfer, if you haven’t ever done so before or if the Client Side Transfer App has been updated, you’ll be asked to install it.  This Client Open to start the installation process.  The result will be an installed app within your Edge Browser.

You must be using the Microsoft Edge Browser (Or the older Internet Explorer if you still use that) which allows for such apps and add-ons to be added to the browser. You’ll see the app is signed by HMS Software. You may see our full legal name in English as Heuristic Management Systems Inc. or the french version as Systemes de Gestion Heuristic Inc.

The app then completes its installation.

Once installed, you won’t see the installation request again for future link requests, TimeControl will perform the link with the requested application on your desktop.
Once you’ve used the App a few times you may forget that it’s even there. The link between TimeControl and your desktop-installed project management tool will just keep updating on a regular basis.
Desktop links with TimeControl are almost never schedule-able because of the nature of the desktop project management system.

Oracle and HMS Software renew their technical partnership through 2021

Oracle and HMS Software extend their technical alliance for a 24th consecutive year.

We are pleased to continue our long standing relationship with Oracle.  It began back in 1997 and has become an enduring example of how technical companies can combine their efforts to deliver better products and services to their mutual clients.

HMS and Oracle partner across multiple fronts. HMS Software’s TimeControl timesheet system supports Oracle databases, we also integrate with numerous Oracle Applications including Oracle-Primavera EPPM and Primavera Pro.

Some of the many TimeControl’s value-added benefits when linking with Oracle-Primavera include:

  • Support for multiple rates per employee
  • Automated business rule validations
  • Automated workflow
  • Auditable timesheet records suitable for Finance, HR, Invoicing or Payroll
  • Missing timesheet notification
  • Simultaneous support for multiple versions of Primavera
  • The free TimeControl Mobile App for smartphones and tablets supporting both iOS and Android
  • Matrix timesheet approvals with HMS’s unique Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals™
  • With TimeControl Industrial, the Crew Timesheet and Materials and Equipment field data collection

You can read our Press Release on this latest extension to the HMS Software / Oracle partnership.  For more information on how Oracle and HMS Technologies work together, visit the Oracle/TimeControl Portal at: Oracle.TimeControl.com or contact HMS at info@hms.ca for more information.

 

The integration of TimeControl timesheets to Primavera is highly configurable

When you are looking to integrate TimeControl with Primavera you have many possible options to employ to make sure you get the actuals you need into however you’ve configured Primavera.  TimeControl has had a link with Primavera since 1997 and we are very familiar with both the technical architecture and functional specifications of the system.  All versions of TimeControl: TimeControl, TimeControl Industrial and TimeControl Online include Primavera bi-directional integration.  Here are some ways the integration can be configured.

Integration with either Primavera EPPM or Primavera Pro P6

First of all TimeControl includes the ability to integrate with either Primavera’s EPPM centralized system or Primavera Professional.  Linking with EPPM is usually done using Primavera’s Web Services but can alternately be done directly with the database.  Linking with Primavera Pro on a desktop or using a network file share for the data is done directly between the TimeControl and Primavera databases.  This is set up in the Link Definition area of TimeControl.

Moving data into TimeControl

Once you’ve defined the link to your Primavera, data can be updated from selected Primavera projects into TimeControl either on demand or on a scheduled basis.  You can even configure TimeControl to automatically update the TimeControl Project Table with new projects in Primavera which you flag there to be ready to be transferred to TimeControl.  You have a number of options on updating the TimeControl project and charge code list with information from Primavera.  This includes deciding whether or not to bring in the milestones, whether to bring in Activity Steps, whether to bring in tasks even if they haven’t had a change and whether to bring in tasks which are already closed.  You can also decide if only the Primavera Primary Resource can update the ETC and TimeControl will respect that choice in the timesheet.  You can decide whether to bring in Resource definitions, Role Definitions or both and even decide if you want to work in TimeControl at a more summarized level of the project than is in Primavera.

Moving data back to Primavera

Once data has gone through the Matrix Approval Process in TimeControl, it can be used to update the Primavera project.  There are a lot of options here.

Link Configuration

First, decide if you want to send back the ETC as hours remaining, days remaining or percent complete.  Then tell TimeControl if you’d like to send back actuals in days or hours and how many hours make up a day.  Then decide if you’d like to group all the timesheet hours into one entry per timesheet period (handy for super long multi-decade projects) or on the date you did the work (much more common).  If TimeControl can’t find an assignment for the work it is trying to update, decide if TimeControl should create an assignment with a budget of zero or create the assignment budget equal to whatever the timesheet data is.

Resource Assignment Options

TimeControl can determine what resource an employee should be counted as either in the employee definition or from each timesheet line.  We call that line-item-resources.  Not everyone configures TimeControl this way but this allows an employee to log their time as one type of resource for part of the day and as other types of resource for other parts of the day.  So if you’re being an engineer in the morning and a project manager in the afternoon, TimeControl can update Primavera’s assignments and costs properly.

Rate Options

TimeControl allows an unlimited number of rates per employee and even multiple timesheet lines on one timesheet with different rates for each.  For each possible rate code, there are multiple possible rate values.  So, for example, an employees “Standard” rate code might have one value for actual salary, another for billing, another for average project value and so on.  You can decide in this link definition, which of the Rate Values to transfer to Primavera if you elect to transfer costs.  For more information on Rates, we recommend looking at the White Paper: Creating your Rate Structure in TimeControl on the TimeControl.com website.

Material Transfer Rate Option

If you are using TimeControl Industrial, you may be collecting more than timesheet hours and timesheet costs.  If you are collecting material consumption, equipment usage or even production accomplished in TimeControl Industrial’s material entry module, then the same concept of rates and costs exist there.  This means you might have an internal cost of purchase for materials along with a billing cost and a project committed price which are all distinct.  The Materials Transfer Rate Option lets you decide which rate value to use when calculating the cost as it is transferred to Primvera.

PMV Transfer Options

TimeControl’s Project Manager Validation functionality lets the project manager execute a line-by-line approval once the overall timesheet is approved.  This allows a project manager to hold back on transferring some data to Primavera due to project updating reasons even though it might be just fine on the timesheet for the individual.  The PMV Transfer Options allows you to define whether all data is being pushed back to Primavera or only that data which the project manager has approved in the PMV screen.

Data Options

Finally, the data options has numerous options on what to send back to Primavera and how including.

    • Transfer Resource Actual Hours
    • Transfer Resource Actual Cost
    • Transfer Expenses. This refers to the expenses associated to each TimeControl timesheet.
    • Transfer Resource ETC. This will transfer the assignment estimate to complete based on the definitions above.
    • Transfer Resource Complete Indicator. This is the complete checkbox on the timesheet.  When selected, TimeControl will mark the task as complete in Primavera with no remaining duration.
    • Transfer Line Notes to P6. This transfers the notes from the TimeControl timesheet line item to notes in the Primavera activity.
    • Transfer Activity ETC. This is the Activity Estimate to Complete that is on the Activity tab of the timesheet not the assignment estimate to complete.
    • Transfer Activity Complete Indicator. This is the estimate to complete for the overall activity, not each assignment.  This can be updated within the Project Manager Validation Screen when doing line item approvals.
    • Transfer Project Steps. These are activity steps that can be updated in the timesheet.  Updates to this may have been restricted to the (Primavera Primary Resource if you selected that option above).
    • Transfer to Financial Periods. You can elect to move data into Primavera’s Financial Periods rather than to the task summary. There are implications to this which you’ll see discussed in the TimeControl Reference Guide.
    • Transfer Materials. This moves the TimeControl Industrial Materials usage and costs.
    • Transfer Expected Finish Date. This can be updated on the timesheet if you make the field visible.

Whew!  It’s a lot right?  If you’re using Primavera and are feeling a bit overwhelmed, don’t worry.  The important thing is that these options are all designed to allow you to adapt TimeControl’s integration to whatever elements of Primavera you are using however you have configured Primavera.  When creating your link between TimeControl and Primavera, the TimeControl technical staff are always ready to help you figure out how to configure the system to suit you best and, once it’s configured most organizations don’t have to touch the link definition again.

For more information on the Link between TimeControl and Primavera, go to the TimeControl/Primavera solutions portal at: TimeControl.com/use-cases/linking-with-primavera-p6.

Oracle names HMS a Gold partner for 2019-2020

Oracle and HMS Software extend their technical alliance for a 22nd consecutive year
Oracle has listed HMS Software as a Gold Partner for the twenty-second straight year of their technical alliance.

We are delighted to tell you that our long standing relationship to Oracle will get a little longer as HMS and Oracle have just renewed our technical alliance for a 22nd consecutive year.

Oracle has just named HMS a Gold Partner for the 2019-2020 season making the technical partnership that started back in 1997 one of the longest in the industry.

HMS and Oracle partner together in many different ways in order to best support our mutual clients. The TimeControl timesheet system supports Oracle databases, we also integrate with numerous Oracle Applications including Oracle-Primavera, Oracle Financials, Oracle EBS, JD Edwards and PeopleSoft.The Oracle and HMS technical teams regularly work together to support their mutual clients.

TimeControl is already used by some of the largest organizations in the world, so our ability to respond to any technical challenges with a single call to HMS technical support is a hig priority for us.

The Oracle Partner program enables software publishers such as HMS to work directly with Oracle to support mutual clients. Being an Oracle Gold Partner provides HMS with early access to Oracle technology and expertise in order to support Oracle products as soon as they are released.

TimeControl includes a bi-directional integration with both Oracle-Primavera Professional and Oracle-Primavera EPPM to allow clients to create a powerful cost control solution as part of project and portfolio management. It provides a highly flexible and auditable timesheet that updates Primavera tasks with finance-quality data and simultaneously updates Finance modules such as Oracle EBS, PeopleSoft or JD Edwards with data for payroll, HR, job costing and invoicing. Using TimeControl with Primavera means that the organization can use a single timesheet entry for multiple auditable purposes.

Some of the many TimeControl’s value-added benefits when linking with Oracle-Primavera include:

  • Support for Multiple rates per employee
  • Automated business rule validations
  • Automated workflow
  • Auditable timesheet records suitable for Finance, HR, Invoicing or Payroll
  • Missing timesheet notification
  • Simultaneous support for multiple versions of Primavera
  • The free TimeControl Mobile App for smartphones and tablets supporting both iOS and Android
  • Matrix timesheet approvals with HMS’s unique Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals™
  • With TimeControl Industrial, the Crew Timesheet and Materials and Equipment field data collection

TimeControl’s Industrial version also includes crew timesheets and field-data-collection capabilities to update Primavera and Finance with material consumption, equipment usage and even production accomplished information. This information is also linked with Primavera to provide both labor and non-labor costs to the project management system.
clients.

TimeControl is available as an in-the-cloud subscription service or for purchase for an on-premise deployment.

We have created a portal for information on how Oracle and HMS Technologies work together. You can visit it for free at: Oracle.TimeControl.com or contact HMS at info@hms.ca.

Read the new White Paper on Integrating TimeControl and Primavera

Oracle_GoldPartner_300x80Oracle-Primavera EPPM administrators know that a Primavera timesheet for task updates is already included when you purchase the EPPM Team Member license. But there are many business scenarios where using a third party timesheet will maximize your Primavera effectiveness.

TimeControl is a multi-function timesheet that is already integrated to both Oracle-Primavera EPPM and Primavera Pro.  It was created to bring timesheet functionality even further.

Imagine one or more of these scenarios:

You need a timesheet but you are using Primavera Pro on the desktop, not EPPM on the server or in the cloud

TimeControl already includes complete integration with both Primavera EPPM and Primavera Pro on the desktop. You can support as many desktop users as you wish and even have a mix of EPPM projects and remotely managed projects on Primavera Professional integrated at the same time.

Your rates are different per client or per project or per task

TimeControl has extensive rate management functionality allowing an individual to have an unlimited number of rate codes. An employee can have different rates for different projects, different rates for different roles on the same project or different rates for different tasks all on the same timesheet. Not only that, but for each of those rate codes you can maintain multiple values so tracking the internal cost, billing value and average project cost can be done all at the same time.

You use Roles rather than individuals in Primavera for Resource Scheduling

TimeControl supports the notion of work at the role level, the generic resource level and the individual.

You are working at a different level than the project tasks

TimeControl allows you to summarize Primavera activities into higher level TimeControl Charge Codes or to summarize TimeControl Charge Codes to Primavera activities. This lets the timesheet function at a different level than the project schedule.

Same timesheet for Primavera and Payroll and HR and Billing and R&D Tax Credits…

This is TimeControl’s key design feature. It is an auditable timesheet that is designed to be multi-purpose.  TimeControl fulfills multiple timesheet requirements from the same timesheet at the same time.  It’s perfect for Finance, HR, Payroll, Billing, and governance as well as integrated with Primavera.

You need to enter timesheets for a whole crew at a time not just individuals

Need to enter a high volume of timesheet data for field personnel who don’t even have access to a computer? TimeControl Industrial is our field data collection version which allows you to enter Crew Timesheets, Material consumption, Equipment usage and even production accomplished and integrate that information with Primavera.

TimeControl 6 / Primavera 6 Solution Portal

We have just published a new White Paper in our free TimeControl / Primavera Resource Portal where you’ll also find webcasts, factsheets, white papers, slide presentations and other information. You will see how integrating TimeControl and Oracle-Primavera allows a single timesheet to be used for multiple purposes.  You can read the new White Paper at: Integrating TimeControl and Primavera. or, go to the Portal at: Primavera.TimeControl.com.

The TimeControl / Primavera Alliance continues as Oracle names HMS a Gold Partner for the 21st year of their partnership!

Our technical alliance relationship with Primavera started back in 1997 when TimeControl 3 was about to enter the market.  HMS and Primavera had known each other well since the mid 1980s but as competitors selling project management software.  Now we had an opportunity to collaborate together as partners instead of adversaries and the president’s of HMS and Primavera struck the deal in a short phone call.

We’ve never looked back.

TimeControl 3 was released that year with a bi-directional integration with Primavera P3 and HMS has maintained the integration with Primavera since that time.

In 2008 Oracle would purchase Primavera but for HMS that only served to draw the two firms closer.  HMS already had a partnership with Oracle to enable integration of TimeControl with Oracle Financials and to support the Oracle database.

Now Oracle and HMS have extended their relationship and the relationship has never been stronger.  There are so many technical facets to the two firms working together that we’ve had to create a portal to keep track of them all.  The TimeControl integration now works in two ways, direct from database-to-datebase or through the Oracle-Primavera Web Services link.  The link works with multiple versions of Primavera including Primavera Professional and Primavera EPPM.

There are more Oracle products of course.  TimeControl has been configured to work with many different Oracle tools including Oracle EBS, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards and, MySQL.

Some of the many TimeControl’s value-added benefits when linking with Oracle-Primavera include:

  • Support for Multiple rates per employee
  • Automated business rule validations
  • Automated workflow
  • Auditable timesheet records suitable for Finance, HR, Invoicing or Payroll
  • Missing timesheet notification
  • Simultaneous support for multiple versions of Primavera
  • The free TimeControl Mobile App for smartphones and tablets supporting both iOS and Android
  • matrix timesheet approvals with HMS’s unique Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals™
  • With TimeControl Industrial, the Crew Timesheet and Materials and Equipment field data collection

HMS is proud of our long standing relationship with Oracle and particularly with the Oracle-Primavera teams.  We look forward to a productive year working together as a Gold Partner.

For more information about TimeControl and how it links to Oracle technologies, visit the TimeControl Oracle Solution Portal at: http://www.timecontrol.com/use-cases/oracle-portalor contact HMS at info@hms.ca.

What’s new with TimeControl’s link with Oracle-Primavera?

Version 7.1 of TimeControl includes an additional link type that will be of great interest to those who use Primavera’s Enterprise Portfolio and Project Management (EPPM) system.

integration_puzzlepieceHMS has maintained links between TimeControl and Primavera since 1997 when we made the first link with P3.    Since we never throw anything away here.  We still have that link in TimeControl though P3 hasn’t been sold in some time.

The newer versions of Oracle-Primavera come in two flavors:

Primavera Professional

This version is designed to work in a stand-alone fashion for those users who must strap on a laptop and work in the field.  We often say that these Primavera users might not have access to the Internet because they’re building the internet out in the wilderness but, for whatever your reason, if you need to work independent of the corporate network, this is the version to install on your computer.  Primavera Professional installs with its own optional database system.

Primavera EPPM

This server-based version installs on a web server and is then accessed via your browser.  The server-based software integrates with the web server and corporate database to deliver integrated project management and portfolio management functionality.

TimeControl already includes links to both Primavera Professional and Primavera EPPM which work at the database level.  These existing links are highly effective and have been used by many organizations for years but the new version of TimeControl brings a level of capability that is beyond what is possible with older versions.

With the Web Services link, TimeControl will be able to make a link with Primavera EPPM using the Web Services provided by Primavera EPPM.  This link is highly configurable, just like the database-based link but because it using Web Services, it will also work just fine when your Primavera EPPM is not implemented on premises.  When organizations use TimeControl Online or subscribe to Primavera EPPM from an in-the-cloud service, TimeControl will still be able to create and maintain an automated link.

The availability of the TimeControl Web Services Link to Primavera EPPM does not mean we will be abandoning the database-to-database link.  This will be kept in the product for the foreseeable future to ensure we have a working link to Primavera Professional and to be used when TimeControl and Primavera EPPM are implemented together on premises and large volumes of data will be transferred.  A database to database link is always going to be a little faster.

So the TimeControl Web Services Link is a new extension to our many system links and one which holds great promise for those looking to work more with subscription service enterprise systems.

For more information on TimeControl’s links with external system, see the TimeControl Use-Case pages.

Oracle and HMS extend their alliance for a 19th consecutive year

HMS and Oracle have renewed their technical partnership for a nineteenth consecutive year.  Oracle has just named HMS as an Oracle Gold Partner for the 2016-2017 season.  Oracle_GoldPartner_300x80We’re delighted with our long standing and evolving Oracle relationship.

The alliance between HMS Software and Oracle dates back to the mid-1990’s.  HMS initially joined the Oracle partner program in 1997 because of the development of TimeControl version 3 so we could properly support the Oracle database. That year marked the start of another technical alliance, this one between HMS and Primavera.  We joined the Primavera Partner program to properly support the integration between HMS Software’s TimeControl’s and Primavera’s project management software.  When Oracle purchased Primavera many years later, these two initiatives blended together to form a much richer relationship with deep and enduring ties.

The TimeControl timesheet system now supports many different products that have become part of the Oracle family including the MySQL database and links between TimeControl, Oracle EBS, PeopleSoft and JD Edwards. We work regularly with Oracle to support our clients.

The Oracle Partner program in which HMS has been named as a Gold Partner again this year allows software publishers such as HMS to work directly with Oracle to more effectively bring products and services to each other’s clients.  Thanks to our status in the Oracle Partner program our integration with Oracle-Primavera P6, for example, can be tested on pre-release versions.

Some of TimeControl’s value-added benefits when linking with Oracle Primavera include: multiple rates per employee, automated business rule validations, automated workflow, missing timesheet notification, simultaneous support for multiple versions of Oracle Primavera, both a browser and mobile/tablet interface and matrix timesheet approvals with HMS’s unique Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals™.

We are proud to be an Oracle Gold Partner once again this year and look forward to our relationship evolving for many years to come.

For more information about TimeControl and how it links to Oracle Primavera and other Oracle technologies, visit the TimeControl Oracle Solution Portal at: www.timecontrol.com/use-cases/oracle-portal or contact HMS at info@hms.ca.

 

FAQ: Do we need to standardize on a single project management system before integrating TimeControl?

RubicStandardize_300x225No you do not and TimeControl is ideally suited for this type of challenge.  The pre-defined links to project management tools can link a TimeControl Project and associated charge codes to project information in Microsoft Project 1995 and up Microsoft Project Server 2002 and up, Oracle Primavera P3 through P6, Deltek’s Open Plan, InEight’s Hard Dollar HD and VersionOne.  And, it can link to all of those systems simultaneously.  TimeControl is designed to make as many project system connections as you wish and then each project can be linked through that connection to a project in that system.  This allows TimeControl to not only link some projects to Microsoft Project and some to Primavera P6 but TimeControl can link to multiple versions at the same time.  Imagine a situation where some projects are being managed in Microsoft Project Server 2010 and some are being managed in a separate instance of Microsoft Project Server 2013.  TimeControl could link to both systems at the same time and a TimeControl user wouldn’t have to worry about it.  They would just enter their complete timesheet in TimeControl and the data will go to the right project system and the right tasks in the background!

Find out more about TimeControl and Project Management tools on the Project Links page.