Taking a Closer Look: Time and Attendance in an On-Demand Environment

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1 Taking a Closer Look: Time and Attendance in an On-Demand Environment Attendance on Demand, Inc. Farmington Hills, Michigan Companies of all types and sizes are considering web-hosted or on-demand solutions for a range of business process functions including employee time and attendance tracking. These organizations recognize the potential benefit of less maintenance, lower operational costs, lower cost of ownership, as well as a shift from a capitalized expenditure to a manageable monthly expense. A T T E N D A N C E O N D E M A N D. C O M P A G E 1 O F 5

2 The Promise of On Demand The promise of a time and attendance solution in an application service provider (ASP) environment is that the on-demand delivery mode can transform the entire process, letting an organization tap into a full spectrum of employee time management functions without straining IT resources. The allure is understandable. The ultimate goal of every organization is to do more with less, and do it faster. A web-hosted time and attendance solution lets even the smallest of enterprises enjoy sophisticated online labor management at a fraction of the cost of purchasing, installing and maintaining traditional systems. Large organizations benefit from streamlining the process of collecting employee data, consistently enforcing corporate attendance policies, experiencing near-rapid deployments, and improving employee relations through better communications. What s the Difference? With traditional employee time and attendance software, a business purchases costly licensing, hardware, maintenance, version upgrades and support. A web-hosted time and attendance solution is delivered over highly secure networks on a monthly subscription basis. An organization pays only for active employees each month making the approach particularly attractive to seasonal workforce or part time temporary staff. With little up-front cost and no software installation, web hosted employee time and attendance: Speeds implementation Minimizes expenses and risks Overcomes the chronic shortage of in-house IT personnel available Much like the features provided by the most robust traditional software, business use a web hosted, online service to: Track labor information Schedule employees Budget labor costs Manage time off requests Automatically accrue leave accumulation Share data with payroll software A T T E N D A N C E O N D E M A N D. C O M P A G E 2 O F 5

3 Evaluating On-Demand While business experts claim the ASP model is the wave of the future, it is up to an individual organization to determine if that model is right especially in the area of employee time and attendance. These benefits must be weighed with considerations related to security, cost, usage and system capabilities. Security Be sure the service provider puts in place the latest security safeguards and data encryption. Look for the most advanced servers and data centers, for immunity against prolonged power outages, flooding, fire and other natural disasters. Check for the latest generation of time clocks. These communicate directly with the host site when plugged into your network. The days of requiring special wiring, and local computers dedicated to capturing transactions are long gone. Be sure a service provider makes it a priority to protect your business information through the use of industry standard techniques such as firewalls, encryption, intrusion detection and site monitoring. Remember, no data transmission over the Internet can be guaranteed to be completely secure. ASP systems work because of the popularity of the internet browser. The browser, however, does not always offer a robust user interface. It is only recently that systems have matured to the point where the user interface experience is as efficient as older more mature applications. Most importantly, look closely as to how your new ASP based system will integrate or bridge with your existing business applications. Cost Considerations Many organizations have been hit with tremendous IT expenditures as the cost of buying and supporting individual applications continues to grow. The option of renting those applications online and paying a subscription fee on a per-use basis is attractive particularly for those businesses with tighter staffing budgets for IT personnel. A T T E N D A N C E O N D E M A N D. C O M P A G E 3 O F 5

4 Cost comparisons must take into affect the elimination of upfront licenses, lengthy installations and ongoing maintenance issues. With the ASP pricing model, charges are normally based on the number of employees being processed, or on the number of people using the application. Determine any additional set up fees or other costs before moving forward. Usage Issues Traditional time and attendance software needs to support a diverse user population. This is especially true in environments where a range of employees and supervisors may access the time keeping software in a short period of time (such as at the close of payroll). The on-demand model facilitates this, delivering unlimited availability. Be sure Employee Self Service capabilities empower employees, supervisors and managers through the web. Employee Self Service refers to empowering employees with the ability to access benefits, payroll data, scheduling and leave balances directly, without assistance from HR or payroll departments. See whether employees can access time cards, punch and transfer through an internet browser or employee kiosk. Kiosks offer self-service functions to employees without access to desktop computers, and provide 24x7 access to employee time and attendance, vacation balances, leave balances and scheduling. Employees should be able to easily request leave, review benefits and review work schedules over the internet through a company-specific URL. Managers need easy access to key labor management figures such as budgets and leave requests through a graphically based dashboard. Analysts estimate that employee kiosk use is expected to increase 60 percent through 2008 as organizations with large numbers of remote and mobile workforces turn to them for data access. Direct savings derived from the use of Employee Self Service and kiosks include: Reduction in HR Staffing Reduction in printing costs Reduction in distribution costs Fewer resources required for processing new hires Better data integrity reducing information audits Reduction in overall benefits transaction costs A T T E N D A N C E O N D E M A N D. C O M P A G E 4 O F 5

5 What about enhancements? When evaluating an on-demand service, note that all system enhancements are managed from a central location rather than at the user's site. In fact, some experts predict that the protracted, multiyear process for creating new versions of traditional applications will gradually be replaced with nearly instantaneous improvements of Web-based services sparked by customer feedback. This means that with an on-demand model, system enhancements are implemented much quicker than before. Although some vendors will charge for these services, the industry will eventually evolve to supply the latest capability to all customers at their standard rates. System Capabilities In terms of system capabilities, select a service with a graphical dashboard that communicates intuitively and eases training. Labor activity monitoring should be presented in real time, so that deviations are flagged and corrected before exporting to a payroll service or program. A good ASP system will streamline your existing processes and not require new ones to be added. Conclusion The choice to move to an on-demand model of web hosted employee time and attendance systems deserves careful consideration. With the near-anywhere access and increased speed provided by today s internet access technologies, organizations can significantly cut processing costs and improve access to employee time and attendance data anywhere, anytime. Copyright Attendance on Demand, Inc. a web-hosted time and attendance system. A T T E N D A N C E O N D E M A N D. C O M P A G E 5 O F 5