GROUP 4

Ashley Verhulp

Dhiveshan Govender

Johan Schoonwinkel

Lomakhosetive Ruth Tshabalala

Nongcebo Vukile McKenzie

Zoe Nxumalo

PROPOSAL

Implementing Time Sheets and Cloud Storage

in a

Consulting Engineering Firm

Company background

• MAJ Projects• Growth from small 2 person company to now employ 16 people

• Growth implications

• 5 people not office bound

• 2 people permanently on site

• Consulting fees are capped (ECSA fees)

Problem Statement: Problem 1

• Problem 1

• Time spent on projects is currently not recorded

• Unknown project profitability

• Poor staff utilisation

• Project progress not tracked accurately

• Assessment of the success or failure of a project is currently not possible

• Attempted solution

• Excel time sheets (silo problem)

Problem Statement: Problem 2

• Problem 2

• Access to common documents

• Off site access problem

Document versions

Rollback

Accessing updated files

Time Tracking

• Requirements:

• Ease of use

• Clear reporting

o Easy to correlate with financial information

o Work in progress should be visible

o Human resource utilisation indicated

o Useful for management decision making

• Not time consuming

• Advantages

• Disadvantages

Time Sheets: Options

SOFTWARE PROMAN TOGGL CLICKTIME TIMEATTEND

Cost R47 / user / month R58 / user / month R117 / user / month R175 /user /month

Benefit *Designed for consulting

engineers

*Invoice according to WIP

*web access

*South African product

*Simple web based

interface

*Tag activities across

projects

*mark as billable

*Compare worked hours to

estimates

*Aimed at consulting

engineers

*Configurable dashboards

* Resource planning

*Used by Google

*Easy to use – web or

mobile device

*Integrated leave

management

*claims submission

*integrated invoicing

*integrated payroll

Integration *Interface with Sage VIP

*Interface with ERP

*Rapid implementation

*CSV import

*CSV, PDF export

*Integrate with Excel and

Quickbooks

*integrate with outlook,

google, apple calendars

Drawbacks *Initial Cost *Lacks some crucial

functionality

*very basic

*more expensive *most expensive

Information management resources:time sheets

Hardware

• No changes required

Software

• Time sheet software

Network

• Existing office network is sufficient

• Data

• No changes required

People

• Getting people on board

• Training (employees, managers)

Process

• Logging time sheets added to the

process

• Reports used to gauge project

profitability

• Time sheets used to determine project

cost

Cloud Storage: Background

Requirements

• Easy multi platform access

• Offline work and synchronizing

• 500GB storage

• Versioning

• Easy updating of files

• Reliable off-site backup

• Easy access to latest documents

LAPTOP LAPTOP

FILE SERVER(ON-SITE)

INTERNET

FILE SERVER(CLOUD)

EMAIL, CALENDAR, CONTACTS

(OFFICE 365)

DESKTOP SMART PHONE

TABLET

Cloud Storage: Options

SOFTWARE Wuala Microsoft OneDrive for business Dropbox for business

Cost R1645 / month Sunk cost R1392 / month

Size *500GB *8TB *8TB

Features *Access control

*Multi-platform support

*Backup redundancy

*Secure data storage

*Tight integration with office

*Secure data storage

*Unlimited files

*Multi-platform support

*User friendly

*Rated top 10

*Access control

*Shared folders

*Secure data storage

*Easy to learn

Drawbacks /

limitations

*steep learning curve

*Max 10 versions

*Lack of usability

*Error prone

*20000 file limit

Information Management Resources:Cloud storage

Hardware

• Laptop hard drive space upgrade required

• Existing server used

Software

• Operating system supported by cloud software

• Cloud software must be installed on each PC,

laptop and the server

Network

• Existing office network is sufficient

• Off site synchronizing done via 3G dongles

• Office internet connection upgrade required

Data

• Currently 400GB of storage space

required

People

• Familiarity with Dropbox

• Positive attitude to cloud storage change

Process

• Mostly unchanged

• Roaming staff no longer required to copy

data before leaving the office

Conclusion Cloud storage

Dropbox was the

best option

Time sheets

Telkom ADSL

to VDSL

upgrade

problems

Fast

adoption by

staff

Implemented

Successfully

Resistance

from

accountant

Steep

learning

curve

Ability to

estimate

costs,

profitability

Would

improve

business

analysis