2degrees Improves Labor Costing and Profitability
"With Replicon, we have improved insight into project profitability and timelines. Our managers know they’re collecting and reporting on information correctly, and have peace of mind that the data in their reports is accurate."
Benefits
With 800 employees and more than a million customers, 2degrees is New Zealand’s newest and fastest growing mobile communications provider. Since its launch in 2009, 2degrees has continued to change the mobile landscape with its innovative products and services. The third player in a highly competitive market, 2degrees has focused its efforts on providing customers with outstanding value, backed by an award-winning customer service experience.
Challenge
Inaccuracies and Complexity Lead to Project Costing Problems
Project managers at 2degrees had been using an in-house time tracking solution to track time spent on various activities, including projects. The team would generate reports by budget code and send out alerts to employees to let them know their timesheets were due. It was a very basic solution with many limitations, especially for reporting. For example, the solution lacked flexibility in terms of when alerts could be sent, which was causing problems.
“Our in-house solution was not efficient,“ said Zeb Ahmed, Enterprise Information Management Lead at 2degrees. “The team was using several different methods to report time and we needed to bring it all together.”
Ahmed said the process of consolidating timesheets and ensuring they were accurate was also time consuming. “Our staff are busy delivering new features to customers, and they don’t have time to spend on supporting internal systems.“
The company needed a solution that would enable employees to track and enter time on the go, so they began to evaluate cloud-based time tracking solutions.
“We needed a solution that offered mobile access and enabled real-time insight into time and attendance, not only for payroll purposes but to track time against projects,“ said Ankur Dharmani, 2degrees’ Architecture and Infrastructure Manager.
“We needed a solution that offered mobile access and enabled real-time insight into time and attendance, not only for payroll purposes but to track time against projects. ”
Solution
Replicon TimeCost to the Rescue
After investigating a range of technology options, Dharmani says 2degrees selected Replicon TimeCostto assist with project costing initiatives in the Enterprise and Technology divisions.
According to Dharmani, one of the most attractive aspects of TimeCost is that it enables mobile access from any device. ”Our team is very mobile,” he said. ”For example, our people in the field building towers are never at their desks, but work off tablets and phones. Replicon makes it easy for them to enter time from any device, be it an iPad, Android phone or iPhone.” Dharmani said the company’s handset BYOD policy doesn’t specify what kind of phone they use at work. ”They bring their own, so it could be anything. Replicon accommodates that very easily.”
Other helpful features of Replicon TimeCost include its flexibility and reporting functionality. Additionally, the ability to request multi-level approvals is a very useful, time-saving feature.
”Replicon allows a lot of flexibility,” said Ahmed. ”You can create different timesheets for different teams, depending on their specific needs. And the reporting functionality is great. Whether you’re a manager, admin or in Finance, you can customize reports accordingly.”
Additionally, the solution’s ease of use was a major factor in the decision to go with Replicon. ”It’s really easy and intuitive, so we don’t have to train anyone to use it,” said Ahmed. ”With how quickly we’re growing, we need systems that are intuitive and don’t need constant support. With Replicon, managers can create their own timesheets and reports on their own without any issues.”
“You can create different timesheets for different teams, depending on their specific needs. And the reporting functionality is great. Whether you’re a manager, admin or in Finance, you can customize reports accordingly. ”
The Results
- Reduced time spent by staff to fill timesheets from 30 minutes per week to just 10 minutes per week
- Reduced administrative workload from 24 hours per week to just 8 hours per week
- Increased visibility and accuracy leads to accurate project capitalization and better resource planning
"With Replicon, we have improved insight into project profitability and timelines. Our managers know they’re collecting and reporting on information correctly, and have peace of mind that the data in their reports is accurate."
Ankur Dharmani
Architecture and Infrastructure Manager
