Category Archives: timecontrol online

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.

Is it getting harder to support an on-premise enterprise system?

TimeControl Online, Timesheeet Software as a Service Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisOnly a few years ago we wouldn’t have even had this conversation.  Even with Software as a Service becoming more popular over 10 years ago, the conventional wisdom at the time was that significant enterprise systems would always be housed in-house.

That conventional wisdom has changed.

Big IT vendors like Microsoft, Oracle and Amazon have pushed hard for organizations to shift to an online subscription model.  At one time the thinking was that this would be most attractive to small and medium sized businesses but that thinking has evolved too.

Here at HMS, we have had TimeControl on-premise available since 1994.  TimeControl Online, our Software as a subscription Service option came out in 2011.  We continue to support both on-premise and online clients and are committed to do so for the foreseeable future.  There are some clients who have very specific and very important reasons to keep their TimeControl systems in-house on their own data platform.  Often these are government or defense sector clients.

But let’s not think about the exceptions for a moment.  Let’s think about everyone else.

Imagine an organization that has heard the evangelism from Oracle and Microsoft and has decided to move some of its data systems to a subscription model.  Both Oracle and Microsoft are making it more and more awkward to choose and install an on-premise system so the incentive to shift might be high.

The savings to the organization is that they no longer need to have quite as much expertise in the IT department.  After all, at the subscription service center, security, monitoring, upgrades, system performance, database servers, operating system updates, network configuration, security patches and, of course, monitoring, updating the hardware servers themselves is handled as part of the subscription.

Now, with one or more systems successfully migrated, the need to handle these requirements internally evaporates as does the need to have that same level of IT expertise available in house.  Many of the IT personnel can be repurposed and there are the remaining in house systems to support but the numbers start to dwindle.

Who leaves first?

In many cases, there is natural attrition and the company is happy with that.  It’s better overall for morale if people are leaving of their own free will.  Older employees who are at retirement age or who can be given an incentive package to retire early take the plunge.  They are probably still young enough to continue in the IT industry if they wish working in other capacities.  But, those people who are leaving through retirement won’t be replaced or wont’ be replaced in the same numbers.

In some cases, some employees see the future coming and decide to seek other opportunities elsewhere.  In most cases, this will be the most experienced and capable employees.

For these two categories, the impact on the organization cannot be measured by just the number of employees.  A great deal of corporate memory, experience and skill go with these seasoned veterans.

We have had contacts at some of our clients announce to us they were retiring, then announce that they couldn’t leave quite yet.  Then announce they were retiring again.  Then announce that yes, they’d actually retired by had been retained by their old employer as a contractor so we’d be continuing to interact with them.  It’s not a unique story.

For the organization, the ability to continue to support the enterprise systems that remain becomes harder and harder and so it’s perhaps no surprise that in the last 2 years, we have had more on-premise TimeControl clients shift to the TimeControl Online subscription service than ever before.  We’ve made that easier in many respects by having an Evolve Program to help defray the costs of going online but the incentive is clearly coming from within.  And, this shift isn’t restricted to our small and medium clients.  It includes some of our largest clients as well.

We expect this migration to continue.

Our own commitment isn’t likely to change however until there are literally no clients left who wish to purchase or support TimeControl on-premise.  Until then we plan to support our clients both on premise and in the Cloud.

For more information on TimeControl Online, go to: Timecontrol.com/features/timecontrol-online.

To see more about choosing Online vs. On-premises, go to: TimeControl.com/how-to-buy.

To find out more about the Evolve program go to: The TimeControl Evolve Program. or contact one of our TimeControl experts at: Timecontrol.com/contact.

TimeControl Online turns 10 years old!

We are very proud to announce the 10th anniversary of our TimeControl Online Software as a Service.  TimeControl Online is the subscription based version of TimeControl in the Cloud.  We first launched TimeControl Online in August 2011.

For those of you who’ve worked with TimeControl throughout that time, you’ll know that the new Online service coincided with the release of the TimeControl API and the free TimeControl Mobile App.  Both of these aspects of TimeControl were critical to our ability to launch TimeControl as an  online subscription service without losing any capabilities that on-premise clients enjoy.

TimeControl Online has enjoyed a better than 99.9% up-time since it’s release 10 years ago.  The architecture is built around the Amazon AWS EC2 environment which helps with stability and the ability to scale.

Since the first release of TimeControl Online we’ve also introduced Data Location options for clients with data location compliance obligations with data centers now in the US, France, Canada and the UK.

TimeControl Online and TimeControl on-premise both have identical software source code to ensure that whether clients choose to go on premise or in the cloud, the functionality is the same.

For more information on the 10th Anniversary of TimeControl Online, see our press release at: TimeControl.com/resources/newsroom/press-releases/2021-08-16.

Thinking of migrating from TimeControl on-premise to TimeControl Online in the Cloud?

Since its first release in 2011, our TimeControl subscription service in the Cloud, TimeControl Online has been accompanied by a process for existing TimeControl on-premise clients to migrate to the online service.LIA_1_300x192

TimeControl is available both as a purchasable license for installation on your premises or as a subscription service.  The product is identical in both scenarios and, in fact, comes from the same code-base so any fixes or enhancements done by the HMS Software development team become available to both products right away.

The TimeControl Crossover Program provides a credit to an existing TimeControl on-premise client when they want to migrate to the in-the-cloud version.  The credit is based on the number of licenses, the original purchase price of TimeControl and the date when you last renewed your TimeControl Support contract.  In many cases, the credit is substantial and is applied to your first year’s subscription costs of TimeControl Online.

Once you are using TimeControl Online, HMS takes responsibility for maintaining the environment.  We manage the servers, the databases, backups, the web server, automatic upgrades to the latest TimeControl version, malware management and 24×7 monitoring of the environment.   All you have to do is login and continue using TimeControl.  All your familiar data is ready and you will be able to continue to enjoy your integrations with Project Management tools and your Finance systems.

The process for migrating to TimeControl Online is well established by our technical staff.  First, you need to be upgraded to the latest version of TimeControl.  This can be done on your own or you can have HMS assist you with the upgrade.  Once the data is on the same version as TimeControl Online, HMS takes a backup of your data and translates it into the data format used by TimeControl Online.  Then that data is uploaded by HMS to your TimeControl Online environment and all you have to do is log in.

All your data, reports, filters, validation rules, dashboards, login information is all transferred and is immediately available to you online.  TimeControl Online is already set up to use the free TimeControl Mobile App so if you’ve been waiting to set that up, you are ready to go there too!

One option is to have HMS do the upgrade and data transfer simultaneously as that can be done quite quickly.

If you have made more extensive integrations directly to your TimeControl on premise database or you have made other customizations for things like authentication, then you can speak to the TimeControl technical staff to see how this functionality can be replicated in the TimeControl Online environment.

If you are interested in taking advantage of the TimeControl Crossover Program or in finding out the advantages of using TimeControl Online, please contact us at: https://www.timecontrol.com/contact or by email at info@hms.ca.

For more information on TimeControl Online, visit TimeControl.com/features/timecontrol-online.

Our websites are sporting a whole new look!

We’re excited to tell you about a major overhaul of HMS Software’s web environment.  HMS are the publishers of TimeControl, the world’s most flexible timesheet system.  This is a significant change to one of the world’s most venerable web environments.
“The HMS Software websites are among the oldest in the world,” said Chris Vandersluis, President of HMS. “HMS has been around for 31 years and the original HMS Software website was established in the mid 1990’s just aver the release of the original Netscape browser.”
Over the last 20 years, the HMS Software web site has gone through a generational change every few years.  As the publishers of TimeControl, one of the world’s most popular timesheet systems, the web environment expanded beyond a simple website to accommodate the numerous perspectives of different types of users.
The original website was more of an online brochure and was one of the first of its kind.  We were rather proud of being about the 7,000th entry in the Yahoo directory.  That might not seem like the very start but the Yahoo directory was registering over 16,000 websites a day at its peak.  With the release of TimeControl in 1994, HMS started to expand the web environment quickly.  The most current iteration of the TimeControl sites has been across 5 domains: timecontrol.com, industrial.timecontrol.com, timecontrol.net, hms.ca and the original hmssoftware.ca.
Under the completely new design, the web environment will be pared down to three domains to respond to the core elements of HMS Software’s business.
The new site structure will allow us to better serve visitors with streamlined navigation, support for multiple devices such as tablets and smartphones and easier to find material.  With so much collateral available on the three sites, it should be much easier to locate and use with the new design.

The main site for TimeControl will remain timecontrol.com where existing clients will still be able to log in and get support and update information as well as access the extensive library of webcasts, white papers, factsheets and other technical collateral.  Prospective clients will be able to try TimeControl for free on the hosted trial site which they can register for here.  Prospective clients can find out about buying TimeControl for on premise installation or subscribing to the TimeControl Online service here. 


www.hms.ca

The corporate site will now become hms.ca where information about clients, new partnerships or marketing will be managed.  Traffic from the original hmssoftware.ca will be redirected to this site.This site contains our HMS history and news about us such as press releases.

industrial.timecontrol.com

For those interested in TimeControl Industrial, HMS Software’s field data collection version, information will remain at industrial.timecontrol.com.  Here the additional features of crew timesheets and tracking material and equipment usage will be explained along with the other features of Industrial.

The new websites have been optimized for numerous browsers, devices and operating systems so those who are using a tablet or smartphone to access the sites will be able to enjoy a rich user experience.

The Heartbleed bug

Many of you may have read or heard about the Heartbeed bug this week.  The Heartbeet bug is more of a possible exploit in the open-source code of OpenSSL, a very popular encryption method used in online services based on a Linux architecture.  The condition was introduced over 2 years ago by one of the many volunteers who contribute to open source projects like OpenSSL and despite being reviewed numerous times, the exploit went undetected until a few days ago.  The oversight in the code was forgetting to limit how large a response would be allowed to a module called a “Heartbeat” (hence the name Heartbleed).  Countless websites have used OpenSSL in both the public and private sector. 
Some clients have contacted HMS asking if TimeControl Online might be affected.  The answer is that it is not affected by the Heartbleed bug.  TimeControl Online does not use OpenSSL.

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.