Tag Archives: TimeControl

Article

HMS President named top 10 iconic leaders of 2024

Industry Chronicle Magazine, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisIt’s highly flattering to me to find myself once again being written about.  This is, no doubt, thanks to the 40th anniversary of HMS and my 40 years leading the firm.  Industry Chronicle Magazine has named me One of the Top 10 iconic leaders of 2024.

As flattering as this is, a leader is no one without a team to lead and I have one of the best teams in the software industry.  The TimeControl marketing, sales and development team are remarkable and while not the largest team in the market, they serve clients who are among the largest organizations in the world.  You need only look at some of the case studies and testimonials on the TimeControl website to see some of them.

If you read the article, you’ll see it’s not really about me.  It’s about the 30 year success of TimeControl and the team that built it.

So, this honor is really theirs.  To my team and all the clients, colleagues and family that are a part of our TimeControl world, I say thank you.

Chris Vandersluis
President, HMS Software

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Best in Class or All in One

TimeControl Best In Category, Best in Breed, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisWe’ve been asked to talk about this topic numerous times since the mid 1990s when the first ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) packages were expanding at a rapid rate.

“Is it better”, we were asked, “to select the best of each category of software or instead, to select one package that can do everything at once?”

The conversation would become known as All-in-One vs. Best-in-Class.

The answer from us is always the same.  We see the desire for both Technical management and Finance management to get one system that will do everything.  The advantages on paper are easy to display: The all-in-one product is *already* integrated.  It is only one package to maintain, not multiple.  So, it must be the best choice… Right?

Except it’s often not.

Our answer to people who ask about this is always the same.  It’s the best choice to go with an all-in-one solution so long as it does what you need.  If it doesn’t then very quickly you will end up where you started, with multiple timesheet systems.

And that is incredibly costly.

Over the years, it has happened from time to time that a client informs us that they won’t be using TimeControl anymore.  Their Finance Department has changed or a new CFO has arrived with experience of different tools at previous organizations.  The company will “change directions” we’re told and TimeControl, while working fine, will be retired.

Our response to this is always positive.  “If your new solution does everything you need, then we wish you good fortune,’ we say.

In situation after situation, we get a call 3, 6, 9 months later  “Um, we were a little hasty in moving off of TimeControl,” we’re told.  It turned out that the alternate solution doesn’t actually do everything we were already used to and the person who is noticing the gaps the most turns out to be our CFO.”

“No worries,” we explain.  “We’ll work at getting your system back up and running with whatever updates you might need.”

It’s not that people can’t figure this out in advance.  The problem with a timesheet system is that it’s often taken for granted.  After all, employees use their timesheet for 5 to 10 minutes a week.  It is in the background of their experience.  But TimeControl is an enterprise timesheet which often has many links with other tools and multiple processes in the organization.  The administrators appreciate the complexities of the overall system and, if they’re still involved, so do the people who deployed it.  But it’s an easy part of a corporate system to not pay much attention to as you’re making a sweeping systems change.

It’s not always the same thing with each client.  Often it’s the multiple layers of the approvals process that a new tool doesn’t support. Sometimes it’s a simultaneous link with Payroll on one side and a project management tool like Primavera on another.  Other times it’s the degree to which the flexibility of TimeControl has been employed to meet multiple internal needs at the same time.

And TimeControl can flex.

So we don’t stress too much when a client says they’re looking at alternates other that to be certain that it’s not because there is something in TimeControl the client isn’t happy with.  That we respond to in a very different way.

After all, happy clients are what has made HMS and TimeControl so successful for decades.

To find out more about TimeControl and how it links with ERP systems like SAP and Oracle, see the TimeControl.com/use-cases/links-to-erp page.

TimeControl 30th Anniversary

TimeControl is turning 30!

TimeControl 8, TimeControl BI, TimeControl Business Intelligence, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis, Christoper P VandersluisHere at HMS we’re celebrating the 30th anniversary of TimeControl. When we first released the TimeControl Timesheet back in 1994 we expected this to be the first of many applications we’d write but TimeControl took over our lives and now, 30 years later, those of us who have been with HMS Software for all of that time are somewhat amazed.

The product was envisaged to be a timesheet that could simultaneously server both Project Management and Finance and that was not only unusual for the time, it continues to be an exception today. TimeControl serves multiple corporate processes depending on an organization’s needs including project management, payroll, billing, human resources, job costing, R&D tax credits, DCAA compliance, contractor management and more.

Over the years TimeControl has evolved many times. Our current version, 8.5 is the 52nd major version of the product we’ve released, each one with numerous new or enhanced features. TimeControl now comes in multiple editions including TimeControl on-premise, TimeControl Industrial on-premise, TimeControl Online, our Software as a Service edition, TimeControl Industrial Online and TimeControl Project.

We launched the Software as a Service subscription edition of TimeControl in 2011 where it has delivered a better than 99.9% up-time ever since. We launched the TimeControl Mobile interface that same year in 2011 and the free TimeControl Mobile App for Apple and Android devices in 2015.

Through all of that, we’ve deployed TimeControl into some incredible organizations around the world in both the private and public sectors.  You would recognize many of their names.

It’s been an incredible run, longer than many software companies even survive and we’re nowhere near done. TimeControl 8.6 will ship before the end of this year with loads of new and updated features and we’re already designing a major release for 2025.
So, thanks to all the incredible clients who have used TimeControl for so long (some clients have had continuous use of TimeControl for over 26 years!) and to all the staff, partners and vendors who help make TimeControl so remarkable!

If you’d like to read the press release on TimeControl’s 30th Anniversary, you’ll find it at: TimeControl.com/resources/newsroom/press-releases/2024-09-18.

If you’re interested in seeing TimeControl’s evolution through the ages, take a look at: TimeControl turns 30, the evolution of TimeControl 1.0 for DOS to TimeControl 8!

timecontrol

Line Item Approvals

TimeControl Line Item Approvals, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisIt’s almost never enough to just approve a timesheet based on the total hours in it. If you are in any kind of project or activity-based scenario, you will still need to approve the total time for the timesheet, but you will also want to do approvals for the projects.

We encountered this problem way back in 1983 as we wrote our first timesheet. There were two groups sponsoring the initiative. One was Finance. They needed total hours to be able to properly pay people and both Finance and HR needed to know when people were not working and why, again to determine the payroll properly as well as determine what entitlements like vacation and sick-leave have been taken by each employee. But that was what only the one group needed. Also sitting at the table was the Project Management department. They had a burning need to track not just how much time was being spent each week. They needed to know exactly what it was being spent on. They already had project plans, what they didn’t have was project actuals. They were being asked by management to describe budget vs. actual progress on each project and they simply didn’t have the data.

Easy, right?

It wasn’t actually. It took numerous design sessions where one side of the table or the other was unhappy before we finally realized the crux of the challenge was that we would need both approvals for the whole timesheet totals and separate approvals line by line.
TimeControl Matrix Approvals, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis

Ten years later we carried that philosophy into the first commercial release of TimeControl with both organizational approvals and project manager approvals. We also created a whole process to support those functions and called it the Matrix Approval Process for Labor Actuals™. Which is still a core element of TimeControl today. In that process, supervisors approve the whole timesheet and look at attendance and things like personal time off and sick leave. Project Managers get to approve or reject each project task when that task came from a project management system such as Microsoft Project or Primavera.

It was a big success.

As TimeControl matured we were faced with several new challenges. It wasn’t enough to do approvals of each line just for the project managers. Plus, not everyone was using a commercial project management system around which we’d designed the first pass of the Project Manager Validation function. Now we were asked could we also make independent line approvals for billable items, for contractor time vs. salary staff, for time to be exported into HR with approvals of entitlements.

That resulted in the Line Item Approval function. It works just like the Project Manager Validations but is based on an export interface. Let’s say your TimeControl environment has an export for Contractors. The idea is that individual contractors can review and approve the time their people spent on the project on a line-by-line basis. Then, once they get around to invoicing their client, both sides have already approved the time. Think that might not be a big deal? We’ve watched several clients do this and reduce the approval time of contractor invoices from between 90 and 120 days all the way down to 3-5 days. The impact on both the contractor and the client can be profound.

Line Item Approval basically lets us create an unlimited number of task-by-task approval processes all from the same timesheet line. We don’t delete that line (we never do in TimeControl anyway to ensure auditability) but the timesheet can get auditable adjustments if needed or the lines that are deemed unacceptable for that process can simply be put aside during the actual transfer of data for that purpose. Let’s say you’ve created a Line Item Approval for billing and a Billing Manager reviews all the lines that are about to get transferred into the billing system and made into a summary and then an invoice. By rejecting certain lines, perhaps for unbillable work, the Billing Manager effectively removes those hours from the billing transfer and thus the client’s invoice. The hours don’t evaporate from TimeControl, but they won’t ever be transferred to the invoicing system.

We can’t really make a graphic of this process because it’s three-dimensional. But, imagine the matrix grid and then imagine it has a third dimension with as many layers as you need approval processes. Often it’s just another one or two or three. But the effects on the company can be massive.

Think we’re done? Think again.

In the next version of TimeControl we’ll be introducing enhancements to the Line Item Approval (internally we call it LIA) Process and have even gone back to the original Project Manager Validation function to align the functionality of both features. Line Item Approval is already one of the most popular aspects of TimeControl and its flexibility ensures it can adapt to almost every approval requirement.

Auditability, Accountability and Flexibility. It’s a powerful combination.

Find out more about Approvals on the TimeControl.com website at: TimeControl.com/use-cases/matrix-approvals.

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Wait. TimeControl has GANTT Charts?

TimeControl GANTT, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisIt’s not really news.  TimeControl has had a GANTT / Barchart view as part of the product for many years.

In fact, there are a couple of places to see a barchart view in TimeControl.  The most available is often from each users MyAccount area where they can see their own tasks in either a Calendar or Barchart (GANTT) view.  For TimeControl users who have been given access to the Reports / GANTT view, they can view a barchart of their any charges they have been given access to.

For TimeControl Online users who have access to TimeControl Project, there are much more extensive methods of seeing a GANTT of either charge codes or Tasks.  In the case of tasks, there are easy to use drag and drop options to add, move, delete or edit tasks right in the barchart.  For charge codes, that’s a bit more restrictive as the charge code values for example the start and stop times might be critical to numerous other processes for both Project Management and Finance. The data is still viewable but changing the key data is controlled more stringently for Charge-Code lines than for Task lines.

There are numerous options for display including adjusting the visible fields, adjusting the scale and filtering of course but there’s even more.  The GANTT view includes an optional resource capacity heat map as displayed above.

A barchart view is only one way to look at data and, the more activities there are on the screen, the less productive this type of display is.  But that’s only one of the many ways TimeControl and TimeControl Project can display this kind of information and where the volume of data is appropriate, it can be the best graphical view possible.

If you’re interested in more project type views or in what TimeControl Project adds to TimeControl, see project.timecontrol.com.

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Oracle has confirmed that they have extended HMS Software’s technical partnership for a 27th year!

Oracle and HMS Software have confirmed that they have extended their technical alliance for a 27th consecutive year. Oracle Partner Network, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter Vandersluis

This technical alliance stands among a tiny few that have endured over a quarter century.  The partnership between HMS and Oracle started back in 1997.  Today the technical ties between the products and technologies of the two firms extend to a vast range.

Started originally to ensure a link between TimeControl and what we now call Oracle Primavera EPPM and Oracle Primavera Pro.  The work between the firms quickly extended to support first Oracle architecture such as the Oracle and MySQL databases and Java.

The integrations at the application level include JDE and NetSuite and numerous other touch points.

The real benefits of this long lasting alliance between HMS Software and Oracle has been what we have been able to deliver deliver to our mutual customers.

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:

  • The multi-functionality and auditability of TimeControl that allows it be used for project management, HR, payroll, invoicing, job costing and government compliance all at the same time
  • Support for multiple rates per employee
  • Automated business rule validations
  • Automated workflow
  • Vacation management
  • 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

To read the recent press release on this relationship, visit TimeControl.com/resources/newsroom/press-releases/2024-05-15. 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.

 

Article, TimeControl Industrial

TimeControl remains in the news

TimeControl, Gunnison, TimeControl Industrial Online, SuperbCrew, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisIt’s always fun to see TimeControl mentioned in the news. In this case, it’s the folks over at SuperbCrew who loved our recent case study with Gunnison.  You can see their articles on their three publications at:

Superb Crew: www.superbcrew.com/hms-software-partners-with-gunnison-to-enhance-timesheet-solutions/.

TechCompany News: www.techcompanynews.com/hms-software-partners-with-gunnison-to-enhance-timesheet-solutions/

and

Daily Company News: dailycompanynews.com/hms-software-partners-with-gunnison-to-enhance-timesheet-solutions/

The original Gunnison / TimeControl Case Study can be found on our main website at: www.timecontrol.com/why-timecontrol/case-studies/gunnison.

 

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TimeControl and Microsoft Project Futures

Microsoft Project, Project and TimeControl, Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisWe are getting an unusual number of requests regarding our support of the link between TimeControl and Microsoft Project.  This isn’t a huge surprise as Microsoft has made a number of announcements regarding the future of Microsoft Project in the coming months and years.

Project started as a single license per computer product over 30 years ago.  By the time TimeControl 1.0 was released in 1994, Project was already up to version 4.  We became a part of the Microsoft Partner Network in 1995 and when we released TimeControl 2.0 in early 1995, it included support for Microsoft Project 4.11 and Project ’95.  The Microsoft Project line has expanded since then but in each iteration, TimeControl has evolved to support the new versions of Microsoft Project.  I’ll go through all the current Microsoft Project versions and iterations below, but let’s take a look at the news out of Microsoft first.

Microsoft Project Server 2019 is the on-premise version of Project Server and it came to its official End of Mainstream Support on January 9, 2024.  That means that no new fixes or enhancements will come to this version.  There will continue to be security fixes only for this product until July 14, 2026.  (https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/lifecycle/products/project-server-2019).  Clients who are still using Project Server on premise have been advised on numerous occasions by Microsoft personnel to shift to Microsoft Project Online.

Microsoft has made that migration decision a little more challenging by saying, “Going forward, all innovation will occur in Project for the Web…  there is no date to limit the functionality of Project Online at this time, but we encourage customers to plan their transition as soon as possible.”
(https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/office/project-for-the-web-and-project-online-6569170c-5c8e-474e-a7f0-642872f62f8a) That doesn’t mean that this is an end-of-life announcement for Project Online, in fact, there have been several communications from Microsoft to say that clients can expect continued support for Project Online for the foreseeable future and that no official end-of-life announcement has been made for that product.  But, if you’re a client facing the decision of where to migrate your project environment, it may feel like you are confronting conflicting messages.

So, all of that being said by Microsoft, where does HMS Software stand with the link between TimeControl and Microsoft Project?  We are committed to continue to support the TimeControl/Project integration as long as the iteration of Project functions and is still in use by our clients.

Here are all the Microsoft Project products to which TimeControl has and continues to support a link:

Microsoft Project Standard

This is the individual computer license to which TimeControl can link directly.

Microsoft Project Professional

This is an individual computer license but also has the ability to communicate with Microsoft Project Server or Microsoft Project Online (3 or 5).

Microsoft Project Server

Even though mainstream support for this product has ended, our link continues to function with Project Server.

Microsoft Project Online

Project Online is sold in three separate subscription plans:

Microsoft Project Plan 1

This is the license given to people who are updating Project Online and includes a subset of functionality allowing users to update their project progress, collaborate and participate in the project but not do the planning.  TimeControl links with Microsoft Project Online but since this Plan is only functionality if you have Plan 3 or Plan 5, there’s no TimeControl link that only supports Plan 1.

Microsoft Project Plan 3

This subscription is akin to Project Server but online. It has all the Project Server functionality plus new enhancements made only to Project Online that were not ported to Project Server 2019 on premise.  It does not include Portfolio Analysis.  TimeControl integrates directly to this product.

Microsoft Project Plan 5

This is Project Online but also includes portfolio analysis.  TimeControl integrates directly to this product.

Microsoft Project for the Web

This is the most recent addition to the Project family.  The integration functionality provided with Project for the Web allows TimeControl to pull data from it but not to push data back to assignments in the same way Project Online does.  With improvements coming to Project for the Web all the time, we’re looking forward to being able to link back to it in the same way we do with other Project products.

We’re not Microsoft, of course, so we encourage you to get the most up to date details about their products and their intentions from them (https://project.microsoft.com).   From the perspective of TimeControl, we continue to be committed to support the integration of TimeControl with all versions of Microsoft Project that are made available just as we do with all the other project management tools to which we have integrations.

Let us know if you have questions about the integration of TimeControl and Microsoft Project and how we can help with your own project environment plans.  You can reach us at (https://www.timecontrol.com/contact).

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TimeControl named one of the top 50 most innovative companies to watch!

HMS named one of the Top 50 most innovative companies to watch in 2024 by CEO Views. Chris Vandersluis, Christopher Vandersluis, Christopher Peter VandersluisWe are very excited here at HMS.  Our TimeControl division has been named One of the Top 50 Most Innovative Companies to Watch in 2024 by The CEO Views Magazine!  Our work with TimeControl has led CEO Views to categorize HMS as a “Disruptor” in our industry.

Here’s just a short quote from the article: “Solve your real-world business challenges from a single timesheet with powerful built-in integration.”  How could we not like that?

The full CEO Views Magazine will be published shortly and we’ll let you know how to see the whole magazine but the article and analysis of HMS and TimeControl can be seen now on the CEO Views Magazine site.

SaaS, timecontrol, 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.