Whitepapers

This collection of white papers covers a variety of enteprise timesheet and enterprise projet management topics. These papers have been written over the years by HMS staff. The author will usually be listed in the beginning of the article.

If there is no automatic reference to e-mail them and you wish more information on this particular article, please contact info@hms.ca.

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  TimeControl Executive Briefing

  This paper is targeted at executives who have responsiblity for the entire enterprise. Managing a project-oriented corporate environment is no small challenge and TimeControl can serve a crucial role in automating that environment. This paper will address some of the issues that executives face and how to address them.

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  Overcoming the Timesheet Approvals Challenge

  Selecting a timesheet can be daunting as there are many different types of timesheets to choose from. Do you need a time and attendance system? Time and Billing? What about Project Tracking? When you are looking for one timesheet to fulfill multiple purposes, choosing a timesheet is even more difficult. HMS has dealt with thousands of companies who have looked for a single timesheet for multiple purposes and the timesheet selection inevitably focuses on how to do approvals for different purposes. Overcoming the Timesheet Approvals Challenge shows how to use TimeControl's Matrix Approval Process to enable a single timesheet entry to serve multiple purposes.

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  Creating your Approvals Process in TimeControl

  Over and over we've seen the biggest challenge in deploying a timesheet system to be in the implementation of the approvals process. Creating a flexible and powerful approvals process would be a significant accomplishment with any timesheet system and when you are trying to overcome the approvals requirements of multiple aspects of the organization at the same time, it can be insurmountable. This is why we have created so much functionality in TimeControl to create your own approvals process. This white paper outlines the building blocks you can use to create approvals for the Project Management, Billing, HR, Payroll and Job Costing departments all within the same system and used at the same time.

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  Finding What's not there - Managing Missing Timesheets in TimeControl

  Sometimes the toughest thing about Monday mornings is managing what isn't there. Missing Timsheets is a challenge for many timesheet administrators and team leaders. TimeControl includes numerous tools to: Avoid missing timesheets, Find missing timesheets and; Manage any missing timesheets. This White Paper is an overview of the tools and techniques available in TimeControl to manage this challenge.

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  TimeControl - Operating Within DCAA Guidelines

  HMS has been designing corporate timesheet systems since its first project in 1983. Our clientele has always been corporate-based project-oriented clients, usually from Fortune 1000-type companies. Many of our clients are in the Defense/Aerospace industry or have contracts with the US's Homeland Security or the DoD or DoE where DCAA standards are required. TimeControl has been used by numerous clients to achieve DCAA compliance.

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  Timesheet Types and TimeControl

  A timesheet is a timesheet is a timesheet... Isn't it? Not so much. HMS has seen over the years that different perspectives can generate different requirements for a timesheet and this is the most common reason that organizations end up deploying more than one timesheet at a time.

  Do you need a timesheet for time and attendance? How about time and billing? Do you need to update your project with progressed actuals by task from a timesheet? This paper looks at the most common timesheet types and discusses how TimeControl is designed to fulfill multiple purposes from the same timesheet interface

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  Benefits/Cost Guide to Using TimeControl

  TimeControl is an enterprise timekeeping system designed for project environments. Its state-of-the-art architecture makes it an ideal choice for a corporate timesheet system, fulfilling the needs of Finance while servicing the requirements of Project Management.

  Since 1994, hundreds of firms, both large and small, have adopted TimeControl and are realizing the benefits of standardizing on a corporate timesheet system with this level of functionality. Over the next few pages you'll see how TimeControl has benefited these clients and how it might apply to your organization.

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  TimeControl Architecture

  The TimeControl architecture allows for an even more varied environment than previous versions. This white paper will outline the major TimeControl components and give guidance on how they can be deployed. This white paper is designed for anyone about to embark on a TimeControl deployment.

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  TimeControl On Premise Security Architecture

  This paper will outline the design and structure of TimeControl security for on premise deployments. We will look at different perspectives of TimeControl security here including database architecture, data encryption, TimeControl communication layer architecture, TimeControl functionality architecture, working across the Internet and discuss related topics of interest such as firewalls, authentication, outward vs. inward facing implimentations and integrating with other systems.

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  TimeControlOnline Security Architecture

  This white paper explains the security design and protected environment in which TimeControlOnline is created. The paper includes basic architecture, explainations and links to the protection offered by our Amazon EC2 environment and the particular security included inside of TimeControlOnline.

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  Buy it, Subscribe to it, or Write it?

  This paper discusses the comparative advantages and challenges of buying or subscribing to TimeControl vs. writing your own custom built timesheet system. While creating a custom timesheet system may seem trivial at first, a moment's consideration will show how complex it can be. We've taken some conservative estimates of creating an organizational timesheet system and put them next to sample TimeControl and TimeControl Online pricing.

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  Best Practices when linking TimeControl with Microsoft Project Server or Project Online

  Microsoft Project Server has evolved since its first release in 2002. During all that time, TimeControl has had a link to Project Server. HMS was one of the first organiztions in the world to create such a link and we have updated it for every version since the first release. There are many benefits to using TimeControl as the source timesheet for Project Server and many things to consider in the configuration of both TimeControl and Project Server. This white paper outlines some of the best practices we have identified in our work with numerous organizations who are enjoying the benefits of integrating Project Server and TimeControl.

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  Using TimeControl, MS Project and SharePoint to create an EPM Environment

  While TimeControl includes links to Microsoft Project Server, there are still over 20 million people using Microsoft Project Standard and Professional for their project scheduling needs. With the incredible rise of SharePoint as a collaboration tool, there are many executives who are looking to use both these tools as cornerstones of an organizational project management system. The missing element is time. This white paper discusses how to create a project management system for the enterprise using Microsoft Project Standard or Project Professional along with SharePoint and TimeControl.

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  Integrating TimeControl and Oracle-Primavera

  Users of Oracle Primavera EPPM know that Primavera has a timesheet module for updating task progress. However, there are many scenarios where a third party timesheet like TimeControl can be a critical element of the corporate process. TimeControl includes links to both Primavera EPPM and Primavera Professional and include functionality to allow TimeControl to service numerous internal processes. Aside from project management updates, TimeControl can also serve Payroll, Billing, Job Costing, R&D Tax Credits, HR, DCAA Compliance and integration with other ERP functions. Take a look at this white paper to find out more about how TimeControl and Primavera combine perfectly to improve efficiency.

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  Industrial Environment Field Data Collection with TimeControl Industrial (TCi) and Primavera

  For users of Oracle Primavera who are using the popular project scheduling tool to manage industrial, EPC, maintenance, shutdown or heavy construction projects, collecting labor actuals to progress the project can be a significant challenge. This is exactly what TimeControl Industrial was created for. Take a look at this white paper on how to collect labor actuals in these challenging environments with TimeControl Industrial. For more information on TimeControl Industrial go to industrial.timecontrol.com.

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  Creating your Rate structure

  TimeControl's Rate functionality is a remarkably flexible and powerful set of configurable functions that enable one of the most adaptable rate environments in the industry. TimeControl and TimeControl Industrial allows unlimited rate codes, multiple rate values per code, rates that are specific to individuals, resources and groups and so much more. This tutorial gives new and existing TimeControl administrators a tutorial on how to create a rate environment for their particular business requirements with information on each of the Rate building blocks in the system.

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  Increase Resource Capacity without Hiring

  As project managers we often think of resource capacity as finite. We reduce it by reducing staff. We increase it by increasing staff. Yet, Project Management as a culture has become so ingrained in our corporate world that it often becomes a silo of its own. Does Project Management know what is happening beyond its own borders? Does it know what time is being spent on non-project tasks and what those tasks are? For organizations who are willing to integrate both project and non-project timesheet collection, the potential benefits are vast. This white paper describes actual HMS client examples where organizations were able to increase their project resource capacity through the implementation of timesheet best practices.

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  Choosing the Right Timesheet Length

  When deploying TimeControl, organizations are able to choose how long a timesheet should be. Previous versions were restricted to a weekly schedule or daily if using TimeControl Industrial. Now there are a number of options when configuring the length of the timesheet. Should it be weekly, bi-weekly, bi-monthly, monthly or some other length? The answer may not be obvious. TimeControl unique ability to serve different aspects of the organization simultaneously with the same timesheet means that these organizations will need to bring these diverse departments together to decide on how long the timesheet should be. This white paper outlines some of the key factors that should be considered when making this decisions.

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  Getting Started With TimeControl

  Most of the resources here on the website and available as part of a TimeControl deployment demonstrate how much you can do with TimeControl. But what if you're interested in the most basic of deployments? What if you're not keen to link to multiple project management tools or an ERP or to custom configure the interface or to add user defined fields? This guide shows how to create a minimal configuration of TimeControl and shows only the basic required configuration elements. Using this guide you should be able to get your TimeControl started in an hour or so without any external assistance. This guide doesn't cover installation for an on premises deployment. The installation guide though also has both Basic and Advanced installation sections.

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  Decentralized Project Management and Centralized Timesheets

  When people talk about Enterprise Project Management software, they tend to think about a large centralized system either on premise or online which houses all project data. For many reasons, not every organization is able or willing to deploy such a centralized system. There are millions of licenses of stand alone project management systems in organizations and these stand alone systems continue to serve project managers well. But what does that mean for the centralized requirement for timesheets? This white paper looks at this business challenge and points out the benefits of using decentralized project systems and a centralized TimeControl timesheet all linked together. This is impossible with other timesheet systems as TimeControl has by far the most integrations with project systems in the industry.

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  Managing Change Management in a timesheet deployment

  When people deploy an enterprise system like TimeControl for timesheet management, they are embarking on a change management project. Deploying TimeControl certainly has a technical aspect to it. There is configuration to do, integration with other systems to activate and reports to create but these are not complex with TimeControl. What clients often overlook is the impact of an enterprise timesheet system on internal practices, procedures, and processes. TimeControl can have change how an organization behaves and this means managing a TimeControl deployment as a Change Management project. Our President, Chris Vandersluis, has shared some of his thoughts on the subject in this white paper on Managing Change in a timesheet deployment.

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  TimeControl and Auditability

  From its earliest days TimeControl was designed as a timesheet system that would pass the stringent control standards of the Finance department and the activity-based-costing and progress tracking requirements of project management. This is what has TimeControl be simultaneously a highly flexible system and a highly auditable system. In this white paper we will discuss what we mean when we say TimeControl is auditable.

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