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time@work newsletter case study at Schemantix

Schemantix is a rapidly growing XML-based software firm that deploys highly customizable dynamic business services on Internet marketplaces. Based in Prague, Czech Republic and with a 40-member development team, the company has developed a unique technology and a number of products that extend the functionality of these B2B exchanges. For the past two years, Schemantix has been ranked highly in Deloitte & Touche's annual "Fast 50" survey as one of the fastest growing technology companies in Central Europe.

Situation

"We found ourselves in a situation where it was getting to be time consuming to gather data accurately on hours logged by our developers and software architects. We often were not able to match hours to project plans until two weeks after month's end," said Steve Hercher, Professional Services Director, "and Project Managers were spending too much of their time producing reports."

In addition to delays and unproductive use of management time, the old spreadsheet- and paper-based systems were making it very difficult to produce useful management information. "When we had a couple of clients and everyone was working in the same room, it was easy to see how we were doing," continued Steve, "but as soon as things got a little more sophisticated the complexity increased exponentially." Add into the mix the cash and investment environment of the post dot-com shakeout and the need for a sophisticated time & expense recording and billing system - coupled with a powerful management reporting system - became clear.

Selection

"With the exception of time@work, there was nothing available to meet our requirements for functionality, stability and local support without being too expensive and/or taking too long to put in place. We were then left with a choice of developing something in house, going to another software developer or going with the packaged solution from LLP - I think what made us decide for time@work in the end was the sophistication of the reporting and the option to do everything in a web browser, as well as the fact that we would get access to best practices in the industry through our implementation from LLP."

Solution

Together with LLP Consultants, Schemantix implemented time@work time recording, invoicing modules, with Crystal Reports for report and invoice format definition. The total implementation took eight days, with a further two days spent by LLP consultants defining additional reports and tuning the system.

Consultants and programmers enter timesheets online, selecting from an automatically generated list of current projects. Online validation means that only correctly entered timesheets are accepted by the system. Using the time@work Status Inquiry tool, managers can see which timesheets are outstanding.

Once timesheets have been validated they are processed by the central server, which carries out fee, cost and other calculations on the recorded time. "At the moment we don't need to use a lot of the fee calculations provided by time@work, but the data structure we developed with LLP means that we can implement them easily, which we plan to do in the coming year," commented Steve.

time@work Invoicing is used to generate invoices. Eighty percent of Schemantix' customers pay for projects on a fixed-fee basis and time@work allocates the time spent against the invoice, so managers can see what level of discount they are offering against standard rates. For "time & materials" projects, time@work automatically seeks out unbilled work in progress and presents it to the finance department for approval and modification.

time@work then supports the management team by giving them access to accurate, up to date reports on key data such as utilization, profitability by project, and project progress reports. Another bonus for Schemantix' customers is that they receive detailed monthly progress reports - all at the touch of a button. According to Steve, "the fact that we can provide that can kind of information regularly to clients makes our offer more competitive. Customers have a higher degree of confidence in us and in our project management and implementation abilities when we can show them that kind of accurate progress reporting."

The easy to use online interface meant that no training was required for users entering timesheets. LLP Consultants worked with Schemanitx staff on the implementation, who learnt on the way how to do administrative tasks such as setting up new projects and generating reports. In addition to this, LLP spent eight hours training Steve and an assistant in the use of the completed system, and have been on hand for telephone support since the implementation was completed.

Benefits

Schemantix' time@work implementation has provided the company benefits in five key areas:

• Reporting: Better, quicker and more accurate reports help management to make more informed decisions.
• Accuracy: Timesheets are now 100% accurate and are recorded in the central database within three days of the end of the month following authorization by the responsible managers.
• Efficiency: Project managers save on average six to eight hours a month that they used to spend collecting data, producing reports and chasing timesheets.
• Management bandwidth: The Professional Services Director is now able to have a much clearer picture of the status of projects and people at the touch of a button - no more phoning around Project Managers.
• Advance planning: The senior management team are able to see at a glance what the cash position of the company looks like, track project progress and spot potential issues before they arise.

Plans for the future

As the number of different customers and types of projects increases, Schemantix plans to implement the time@work Budgeting module. This will help them predict resource utilization, help Steve and his management colleagues to budget more effectively and provide an early-warning system for projects.

Schemantix is also planning to tie together its implementation of Microsoft Project with its company intranet and time@work solutions. Using the time@work Project interface, Schemantix hopes to ensure that all project data are entered only once and further reduce the amount of time that expensive technical staff spend on administration.

Products implemented: time@work Advanced Edition for 40 users, time@work Invoicing, Crystal Reports Platform: Microsoft Windows 2000, IIS and SQL Server 2000

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