Understanding how third-party tools integrate with Polaris

Type of system

How the integration typically works

ERP

Enterprise Resource Planning

Description: Used by enterprise organizations to integrate company-wide processes in one place

Examples: Oracle, JDE, MS Dynamics, SAP, Netsuite, Infor

Integrating an ERP’s Finance module with Polaris can help ensure project and financial data is kept in sync with data in Polaris, where users track time.

1. Project managers set up projects in their ERP.
2. The integration imports projects and project data (budgets, project managers, project assignments, etc) from the ERP into Polaris.
3. In Polaris, resources track actual time worked on the imported projects.
4. The integration exports time actuals to the ERP for use in such processes as cost management, billing, and payroll.

Companies can also integrate an ERP’s HR module with Polaris so that new hires and their details stay in sync between the two applications.

1. Administrators set up users in their ERP.
2. The integration imports users and their details from the ERP into Polaris.
   
   

CRM

Customer Relationship Management

Description: Used to manage sales opportunities

Examples: Salesforce, Hubspot, Microsoft Dynamics

Integrating a CRM platform with Polaris can provide an organization with better visibility into its project pipeline and greater insight into its future staffing needs. This leads to better resource planning and more efficient project execution.

1. Project managers track sales opportunities in their CRM.
2. When an opportunity reaches a defined probability, stage (e.g. Closed), or other threshold, the integration automatically imports that opportunity into Polaris as a project.
3. In Polaris, project managers plan projects and identify and fulfill their resource requirements.
4. Also in Polaris, resources track actual time worked on the imported projects, and billing managers bill clients.
   
   

HRIS

Human Resources Information System

Description: Used to manage employee data, new hires, and changes to the status of existing hires. Often a component of an ERP.

Examples: ADP, Namely, Ceridian

Integrating an HRIS platform with Polaris can keep relevant employee information -- such as skills, rates, supervisors, department membership, etc -- in sync with data in Polaris. Sensitive data, like Social Insurance Numbers, can be excluded from the integration.

1. In the HRIS, HR personnel add new hires, and update data for existing employees.
2. The integration imports new users from the HRIS to Polaris where they are automatically assigned related settings, like holiday calendars and time zones for their region.

It also updates settings for existing users in their user profiles, such as new team, department, or business unit assignments, new supervisors, new locations, new roles, etc.

Or, companies can manage time off bookings by integrating their HRIS with Polaris. They can use either Polaris or the HRIS app to record time off:

1. In Polaris, employees create time off bookings.
2. The integration exports time off bookings into the HRIS system, typically on a schedule that aligns with payroll runs.

Or:

1. In the HRIS, employees record their time off.
2. The integration imports time off requests into Polaris as bookings, so user’s can see their time off in their timesheets, alongside time worked.

Optionally, the integration can import accrual policies into Polaris, where they are saved as accrual rules. Then, the integration will export both time off bookings and balances into the HRIS for use in payroll.

VMS

Vendor Management System

Description: Used to manage indirect labor (e.g. contractors) and the vendors who provide it

Examples: SAP Fieldglass, Upwork, Beeline, etc.

Integrating a VMS system with Polaris can help organizations better understand how much time vendors and their contractors spend working on projects. p>

1. In the VMS, newly hired contractors are added and assigned Employee classification.
2. The integration automatically creates a new user in Polaris for each Employee new hire.
3. Contractors enter time directly in Polaris timesheets.

Or, the integration can import time from their VMS into Polaris. In this case, Polaris acts as their single source of truth for time data.

1. Contractors enter time in VMS timesheets.
2. The integration imports time data from the VMS into Polaris. Polaris timesheets are automatically populated with the imported data.

You can use time data to justify headcount, and track utilization and productivity.

Recruiting

Description: Used by recruitment teams to manage employment candidates in their pipeline. Sometimes tied to an HRIS system.

Examples: TalentLink, Workday

Organizations can use Polaris to help identify their future staffing requirements. This data can be exported into their recruiting platform, where they can use it to better satisfy future project pipeline requirements.

1. The recruiting platform tracks candidacy status and finalizes new hires.
2. The integration imports new users from the recruiting platform into Polaris.
3. Managers carry out resource forecasting in Polaris.

They can mark roles to be hired, set whether hires should be permanent or contract workers, etc.

1. The integration exports resource requirements data into the recruiting system where staffing requirements are fulfilled.
2. Optionally, resource fulfillments can be exported to an HRIS system or back into Polaris, to mark “To be hired” resources as complete.
   
   

Finance

Description: Used to manage an organization’s finances. Often tied to ERP system.

Examples: Oracle, JDE, Quickbooks, Xero, MS Dynamics, SAP, Netsuite, Infor

Integrating a Finance system with Polaris allows an organization to automatically route hours worked to different cost centers, based on their type (billable vs non-billable hours, and overtime vs regular hours, etc) for use in costing or billing. NPOs sometimes use this type of setup to demonstrate where grants were spent.

1. The integration imports financial data from your finance system into Polaris as users (resources), projects, and cost centers.
2. In Polaris, resources record actual time worked against projects.
3. The integration exports categorized time actuals into the finance system where they’re used to update general ledgers or other accounting tables.
   
   

PM

Project Management Platform

Description: Used to manage an organization’s project work

Examples: Microsoft Project, Basecamp, Clarizen, Trello, Workzone

An organization may integrate a PM system with Polaris so they can track time spent working on projects.

1. Managers set up projects in their PM system.
2. The integration imports projects and project data (budgets, project managers, project assignments, etc) from the PM system into Polaris.
3. In Polaris, resources record actual time worked on the imported projects.
4. Optionally, the integration exports time actuals into the PM system.
   
   

ALM

Application Lifecycle Management

Description: Used to track and manage an organization’s stories, sprints, and other development activities

Examples: Jira, Trello, Basecamp, Github, Asana

If an organization has a product development team, they can use Polaris to track time worked on their stories and sprints.

1. Managers create stories and sprints in their ALM.
2. The integration imports stories and sprints from the ALM into Polaris as a project.
3. In Polaris, resources track actual time worked against projects.
4. The integration exports time actuals into the ALM’s Finance component; and/or, it exports the project status into the ALM to update the story status to Closed.
   
   

Expenses

Expense tracking solutions

Description: Used to track an organization’s employee expenses, and travel bookings

Examples: Concur, Expensify

Companies integrate Expense systems with Polaris to help them understand labor costs and expenses.

1. Users enter their expenses into the expense tracking app, where approvers approve expenses.
2. The integration imports approved expenses into Polaris, where they populate expense sheets.
3. In Polaris, managers use expenses to itemize receipts and carry out costing.
   
   

ITSM

IT Service Management platform

Description: Used to track an organization’s service or support tickets

Examples: ServiceNow, Zendesk, Zoho Desk, SupportBee

Integrating an ITSM system with Polaris lets a company track how much time is being spent on each ticket.

1. Users create tickets using their ITSM. Tickets are typically categorized as Development, Design, etc.
2. The integration imports tickets from the ITSM into Polaris as projects, retaining their categorization using groups functionality.
3. In Polaris, resources track actual time worked against projects.
4. The integration exports time actuals to the ITSM. Or, it may export project statuses as ticket closure statuses in the ITSM.
   
   

Collaboration

Description: Used by an organization’s employees to communicate with other members of their internal teams

Examples: Microsoft Teams, Slack, Google Chat

Companies can integrate their Collaboration software with Polaris to provide employees with a familiar and accessible method of recording their time, that doesn’t require them to log in to Polaris.

1. Users record time data via a chatbot.
2. The integration populates Polaris timesheets (durations, comments, etc) with the time data.
   
   

Calendar

Description: Used by employees in an organization to schedule events, meetings, and other time-specific activities

Examples: Microsoft Calendar, Google Calendar, iCal

A company would integrate a Calendar application with Polaris to allow automatic population of timesheets with details from calendar entries. This makes timesheet completion faster, easier, and more accurate.

1. Users record event details in their calendars.
2. The integration imports event data into Polaris as time entries, which populate timesheets.