Our client, a multinational utilities construction company, was looking for the best way to optimize areas of their business to help them make better decisions, faster. As a Microsoft-based business, they saw an opportunity to better use Microsoft technologies within their business. In their hunt to make sense of the technologies and other opportunities, they reached out to Convverge, a Gold certified Microsoft consulting partner.
Conversations initially began with a solutions architect around the tools available, particularly Power Apps and Power BI, and their ability to help drive data-driven decision making. Discussions naturally evolved to the overarching digital vision and technology roadmap and the broader pain points for their business. It was through these foundational conversations that together we were able to identify the best digital optimization project for them – digital timesheets.
The Challenge |
Which digital optimization project is first?
- The primary motivator for our client was to find ways to digitally optimize cumbersome paper-based processes within the business; they just weren’t sure where to start.
- Multiple regions and varying processes were a pain point. It was critical to align processes to be efficient, maximize business intelligence, and eliminate lagging reporting cycles.
- Collecting daily timesheets from hourly employees in the field was challenging due to the frequency of the payroll cycle. With differing processes across regions, the Payroll Team was made up of one full-time employee, an assistant, plus two to three temps to manage workloads throughout the year.
The Solutions |
Leveraging Microsoft Solutions
With a clear understanding of our client’s digital vision and their biggest pain points within the business, our technology consultants were able to help zero in on timesheets as a valuable data capture opportunity. Our solution consisted of leveraging various tools within Microsoft Power Platform including Power Apps, Power BI, as well as SharePoint and a third-party payroll system. We also identified other critical business data that could be gathered at the same time as daily time records.
Timesheet App Design Highlights
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800 users
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Offline capable
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Payroll integration
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Ability to process 600 time records / day (or 6,000 total data points)
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Azure SQL data warehouse and ERP integration
The Outcome |
Better Time Capture, Aligned Processes & Improved Business Intelligence
With the launch of a custom-built time tracking app for frontline employees, our client is happy. They greatly improved the payroll process and now capture other data during a motivated part of the work day. In addition to hours worked, employees are able to submit other valuable information for the business including location, project status, safety details, and fleet records. The app works seamless from any device and captures data no matter where the service team is, including when working in out-of-services areas.
With this solution in place, the company can easily scale up or down in size and doesn’t need to worry about managing headcount to support the payroll process. Today, their Payroll Team is streamlined and eliminated the temporary support requirements with improved accuracy, aligned processes, and daily key data to report what is going on in the business.
It was a pleasure to work with this client and support this project from end-to-end with our IT consulting expertise that included strategy, architecture, project design and development through to roll-out with ongoing support.
Would a modern timesheet approach improve your business and unlock powerful data insights?
Convverge maximizes the power of Microsoft technology to give companies like yours the systems and user experiences that help them grow. We love to make digital transformation approachable and we’d love to help you too! You can check out Our Specialties or contact us directly, anytime.
