Tag Archives: timecontrol saas

timecontrol, timecontrol 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.

TimeControlOnline

Getting back to the office in person and hybrid work

In some areas of the planet, people are slowly being called back to the workplace to do in-person work.  In other areas staff are still working from home virtually.  For those areas where in-person work is starting, a new type of work environment has evolved that has been termed a hybrid workplace where people will work in the office for some part of their week, work virtually for some part of their week and perhaps even have flexible schedules for some part of their week.  This kind of environment would have been considered quite radical only 18 months ago but not so much today.

Many organizations shifted their on-premise corporate systems such as timesheets to a more online environment when the pandemic first ordered shutdowns.  Other organizations made longer term plans for shifting to cloud-based software as a service but on a slower, more managed pace.  Here at HMS we have been busy since March of 2020 working extensively with both new and existing clients on shifting on-premise timesheet systems to our own TimeControl Online subscription service in the cloud.  That work continues.

As workers start to shift to on-premise work, there will be a natural blend of some people doing some work in the office, some people doing some work from home, some people doing all work from home.  Not everyone will shift simultaneously even within one organization.

There are other complications to getting everyone back to work as well.  During this time, some organizations have extended their offshore working teams.  After, all, if we’re all virtual anyway, what difference does it make if someone is at home down the road or at home on the other side of the world?  Now, as some workers shift back to on-premise work, these new offshore workers will have to be blended into shifting HR policies.

All of this may feel very disruptive to people as the routines they and their families have gotten used to are changed.

One thing that has been a stable force for the TimeControl Online clients is knowing that no matter where you are located, accessing your timesheet to report the work you’ve accomplished and, to report your presence or absence is a given.  The TimeControl Online subscription service in the cloud can be accessed from anywhere there is Internet via a web browser or a mobile device (Android or iOS).

We expect in the coming weeks that many of our clients will use TimeControl’s flexibility to add a field to the timesheet asking the employee to record where they were for the line item listed.  Did that work occur at the office, at home or, elsewhere?  It’s a change that takes only minutes and it will give the organization insight into where people are when they’re getting their jobs done.

Here at HMS we’re still all working remotely and will be for the next few months at least.  But, once we’re able to gather in person again, we’ll almost certainly start to do so in a phased-in approach with a blended at home/at work policy.  We’ll let you know, right here on the blog, when that happens.

For more information on TimeControlOnline, visit: https://www.timecontrol.com/features/timecontrol-online.

 

timecontrol

The Migration to SaaS timesheets continues

Nerd gets lost in cyberspace

Here at HMS we’ve seen a steady stream of new and existing customers migrating their timesheet process from on-premise deployments to our TimeControl Online timesheet subscription service in the Cloud.  With remote workers now becoming a much more long-term fact of business life, we anticipate this migration to continue.

There will, of course, always be a desire for on-premise or private cloud deployments of a product like TimeControl but this is now more likely to be associated to those working in high security environments such as Defense, Aerospace and ultra high-tech innovation where the desire to keep all data inside the building’s walls is a high priority.  These industries however, are seeing a much lower incidence of remote workers.

At HMS we are committed to support both our on-premise TimeControl and our TimeControl Online subscription service in the cloud indefinitely.

For organizations that are trying to come to terms with a movement of data and applications out of the office and into cloud services, there are some decided benefits to a TimeControl Online.

We started TimeControl Online back in 2011 with the intent that it be accessible by users anywhere in the world.  TimeControl had already been browser based for years and, by 2011, TimeControl was a well-established enterprise timesheet system with 17 years of experience in the market.  Moving to TimeControl Online provides no disadvantages for existing users.  All the functionality of TimeControl is identical in TimeControl Online.  In fact, we maintain a common code base for both systems.

With the Online Service in the cloud, HMS takes on some of the responsibilities that may be becoming harder and harder for remote workers to provide.

With TimeControl Online, HMS takes over all the technical responsibilities of managing the system including:

  • Maintaining and updating the servers and their operating systems
  • Maintaining and updating the databases servers
  • Managing disk space, logs and performance of the servers
  • All hot fixes for TimeControl are installed automatically
  • All upgrades to new versions of TimeControl are included and performed automatically
  • Security including malware production
  • Backups
  • Continuous 24×7 monitoring

All that’s left for the client is to actually use the system.

For existing clients who are considering migrating from TimeControl on-premise to TimeControl Online, ask one of our staff about the cross-over program that can give credit from any on-premise TimeControl licenses with a current support agreement towards a TimeControl Online subscription.  They can be reached at info@hms.ca.

timecontrol

Everything I know about TimeControl, I learned in the Sandbox!

In early 2018, HMS introduced a new service associated to TimeControl Online. Called, the TimeControl Sandbox, it is a parallel service that brings a separate instance of TimeControl Online and features to replicate the exact data from the production instance of TimeControl.  The purpose of the service is to provide TimeControl Online administrators a separate TimeControl for the testing of new features and the creation and testing of new Link definitions, Validation Rules and Accrual processes without affecting the main system.  The TimeControl Sandbox is also an ideal place for training.

The cost is a small fixed price per year regardless of the number of users on your TimeControl Online subscription.

Here’s how it works

HMS creates a second instance of your TimeControl Online environment and links this instance to your production instance of TimeControl.  At any time, the Administrator can restore the complete production database into the Sandbox. If you have multiple backups, you can choose which backup to restore.

Some key points

  • You can never restore the Sandbox database into the Production database. This prevents any possibility of damaging the production database.
  • To move configuration changes into the Production system, the Export Packages function exports packages such as Reports, Validation Rules and Filters from the Sandbox and the Import Packages function imports them into the Production system.
  • Scheduling in the Sandbox is turned off. This prevents any unexpected transfers to or from corporate or project management systems.

For more information on the TimeControl Sandbox or to find out pricing, contact HMS at TimeControl.com/contact or email info@hms.ca.

timecontrol

Pontoon case study showcases TimeControl Online

HMS has published a case study written in collaboration with its clipontoon.jpgent Pontoon.  Pontoon is a global HR outsourcer managing resources in nearly 100 countries.  In 2012, Pontoon selected TimeControl Online as its method of tracking project time and payroll time.

The case study demonstrates how Pontoon has leveraged the flexibility of TimeControl Online to accomodate Pontoon’s variable workforce.

“Our time tracking needs vary,” explains Stephen Nosek, Director of Global Corporate Systems at Pontoon.

HMS is delighed to have worked with Pontoon on creating the case study and in how satisfied they are with TimeControl Online.  You can read the case study in its entirety at: www.timecontrol.com/why-timecontrol/case-studies/pontoon.

To see the case studies and testimonials from some of our other clients, please visit: www.timecontrol.com/why-timecontrol.