Synergy Workforce FAQ's

All of the following is built in .NET framework, main language is C#. Web site is developed in ASP. Net MVC Background processing, communication with devices and various utility operations are performed by windows services Tablet's app is developed as WPF application Synergy App is developed with Intel's XDK Databases. Server side => SQL Server 2014 and above Tablet app's local storage => SQL Server Compact Edition v4.0 The approval of planned leave by line management. Each employee will have a user which they can access and request absences, the back end allows the admin to allocate which manager will be allowed to authorise each employees' requested absences. Each employee can be split to departments and each department will have an assigned department manager. In addition to this when employees request absences they can view their teams planned absences and assess the availability of the dates they intend to book off. Monitoring of planned absences against approvals and entitlements. Each employee will have visibility of their holiday entitlement and each manager will be able to monitor absences of employees via the absence management tracker. Monitoring unplanned absences and reasons for non-attendance. Each manager will be able to monitor unplanned in few manors, live through the Presence information panel, through the graphical planner functionality, and by generating an unplanned absence report for employees, each manager can make note on the system against the employee's non-attendance. Tracking of attendance and the raising of exceptions for unscheduled events. All exceptions can be found within the daily browser this will be highlighted either red or yellow; yellow in most instances will indicate an odd number of swipes, and red will be exceptions. The system must have the facility to automatically and manually import data as required including but not limited to personal information, payroll, annual leave, other civil service and statutory leave balances into the system from files with extensions including but not limited to xls, xlsx, csv, txt. Synergy Workforce can both import and export data in a variety of methods from CSV, XL, API and Web service. As long as there are shared data elements, we can exchange data on a scheduled or push basis. The System must cater for different working patterns, e.g. part-time, flexible working, parental leave (for instance one day a week), etc. The system can be set up with different working patterns by the admin team on the back end of the software. The system must provide Employee Self Service - online functionality for both requesting absences e.g. flexi- leave, and Manager Approval and Self-Service - online functionality for approving absences, overtime, projects etc. Each employee will have restricted access to Synergy Workforce where they will be able request absence, and all staff authorised to approve requests and approve overtime can be granted more access. The T & A system must incorporate a strong systems control function including reconciliation controls, incomplete record controls, exception reporting, user access controls, approver controls. Exceptions reporting and Audit Trail reporting The system must cater for the transfer and storage of a minimum of 50 data fields and allow users to search under all fields. Synergy Workforce has the capability to store user defined data in text, numeric or date formats. Data can be imported or exported from these fields The system must facilitate the bulk upload of historical data where required. Available for Scheduling data and absence data. Bespoke development can be done for other information if required Track and implement time-in-lieu where applicable. This is standard functionality within Synergy Workforce Track and implement overtime, overtime rules (minimum thresholds). This is standard functionality within Synergy Workforce and managed by our advanced rules engine. Limit access to certain fields and also hide fields that are not appropriate depending on the user's security rights, according to their level in the workflow hierarchy. All Personnel with Administrative rights can create custom profiles to match an employee's job role i.e. standard profile for general employees, standard plus for managers and admin for administrators and senior management. Allow for a diary of future-dated events. Synergy Workforce can hold future events such as A/L, training, Absences and company shutdowns, all written to the master calendar Authorise users to enter items for approval on behalf of another user, subject to security rules e.g. appropriate line manager/HR administrator entering time/absence recording information on behalf of an employee. By Software Security Groups and Allocation and Rights Allow the user to amend the look and feel of the self-service solution. Synergy Workforce has the ability to be customised to an individual's view, (within the limit of the screen setting functionality) Provide a countrywide staff/business directory (information to be displayed should include name, job title, business unit, directorate, office, grade, department, location and contact details i.e. photo, phone, mobile, fax, email. Employees should be able to search for the person on any of these criteria) This functionality is not supported in Synergy Workforce The capability to allocate time to a minimum of two categories e.g. product and process. This is a standard functionality within the time allocation module (Job Costing) The facility to allocate time on an hourly basis and should facilitate time allocation on a percentage basis. Custom Scripts can be written to achieve this The functionality to enter time at both managerial and individual user level. This is a standard functionality within the time allocation module (Job Costing) The Time Allocation System must incorporate a strong system control function including reconciliation controls, incomplete record controls, exception reporting, user access controls, approver controls Synergy Workforce comes with an extensive range of reports. This is enhanced by the included Microsoft report writer tools, enabling the creation of completely custom reports. Allow for sub-category functionality i.e. time allocation to subgroups of a defined product/process. The grouping of time to specific levels or operations is standard functionality within the system. The process is based on a parent and child model, by which any process or operation can be the parent or child of any other processes or operation, thus enabling a very detailed job structure to be created. Calculate production costs using imported payroll and time entered. Production cost can be calculated by Hourly rate of Item or by Hourly Rate of Employee Calculate Production costs based on payroll as at date of time allocation. Production cost can be calculated by Hourly rate of Item or by Hourly Rate of Employee Allow for Period end functionality for time allocation module. Currently not available to end Period. Limit access to certain fields and also hide fields that are not appropriate depending on the user's security rights, according to their level in the workflow hierarchy. The control of access to screens and data by the user is enabled in the security software settings. These settings can be defined for all pages within the software from no access, view only & read write. Have budgeting functionality No Budgeting functionality available Accommodate alternative hourly rate for costing. Within our work rules there is an option to define pay rates groups you can apply these to the staff according to your company's policy, this will be user defined and can be changed as per your requirements. Import non-payroll costs and apply to product and process e.g. expenses. We have Expense Module that allows adding expenses Provide workflow functionality to facilitate self-service approval processes, for example, notifying a manager that they have outstanding holiday requests which are required to be approved in respect of their staff. All delegated managers will be notified via email upon time of request made by the employee, this can be completed by the manager via the Synergy Workforce Software and can be found under the scheduler tab in the hamburger menu. Allow for user access profiles to be established and applied to individual users. All Personnel with Administrative rights can create custom profiles to match an employee's job role i.e. standard profile for general employees, standard plus for managers and admin for administrators and senior management. Facilitate the delegation of tasks within the workflow. Once all tasks have been defined within the software you will be able to delegate specific tasks to specific employees within the sub category roster events found in the rostering tab of the hamburger menu. Provide a means of notification or escalation of self-service requests (in the event of non-action within a specified time-out period) to a CSO Manager at a higher level in the workflow hierarchy. This functionality does not exist within the software at this time Provide a comprehensive suite of standard reports. Synergy Workforce comes with a pre-programmed set of reports all report types and be found when the report tab is selected, this include but is not limited to; Time Sheets, Visual Patterns, Costing Reports, Rostering Reports, Scheduling reports. Including those mentioned we can develop custom reports tailored to your specific requirements. System reports must be exportable to an excel supported format to include .xls, .xlsx (or later) and .csv. All reports can be converted into PDF and Excel Format and downloaded via the reporting tab on our software. Allow/restrict access to reporting functionality, including screen views, in accordance with user access profiles. All Authorised personnel can user define access to match the permissions they would like to provide to each department. This functionality can be set when creating the user profile within our system. Provide a Business Intelligence Report Writer option to facilitate database queries and the creation of non-standard reports. This must also be exportable to excel compatible format. Synergy Workforce has included within it Microsoft report writer which enables the creation of custom or bespoke reports. Provide the facility for non-technical users to configure notifications to various roles/individuals based on workflow status. This varied workflow notification is not supported within the solution. System notifications are available around exception reporting such as lateness or failure to show. Provide a facility to monitor and report on the progress of a process and provide the ability to view the status of an item throughout the workflow process. TimeLOG does not support workflow monitoring. Job or process progress can be monitored using planned vs actual data via job reporting. Have the ability to produce graphical reports. Graphical reports are available within the solution, reports such as the Visual Pattern Report, which tracks exception occurrences Have the ability to establish a variety of roles within a workflow process. This can be defined within the rostering tab found on the hamburger menu. Allow for links to Corporate Intranet and other civil service websites. Hyperlinks can be inserted into self service pages for links out to third party sites. Enforce authorisation of workflow tasks such as line manager approval of planned leave/overtime (ensuring that the authorisation of events takes place in the required order). Please outline how this functionality is provided by the system. All employees can be assigned a basic profile with limited access to request planned absences which can be found under the scheduler tab in the hamburger menu. When a request has been made by the employee, the request will be sent to their assigned manager. The manager will be able to authorise the absence under the authorise absence tab found under scheduler in the hamburger menu. Provide a workflow that is configurable to allow different approval processes for different business areas within the organisation. Requires development Provide the ability to reassign workflow items e.g. facilitating alternate approvers to be added to the workflow in the circumstances where another level of approval is required. The change of approver or notification manager can be defined per employee within the personnel section of Synergy Workforce under the notification manager tab, the system allows up to 10 managers to be assigned to an employee. The proposed system must be compatible with RFID clocking/ID badge currently used by the CSO. Yes If the application is not Azure pre-Integrated, it must support service provider encrypted -initiated sign-in using SAML 2.0 for single sign-on with Azure Active Directory. Yes/No Possible dependant on the infrastructure of your organisation Both the primary and secondary data centres must reside within the EU. In compliance with GDPR requirements our servers are in Germany and England. The solution must be compatible with Internet Edge and later and Chrome version 61 and later. Compatible with Internet Edge and later and Chrome version 61 and later. Time log web is compatible with the main browsers these include the following internet Edge, Firefox, Google Chrome, Safari. The proposed solution must support Windows 7 and higher end user desktop operating systems. As our system is a web-based solution as a result the version of windows operating system will not affect the ability to use the software, only the browser being used. The proposed solution must provide a mobile application to allow users sign in/out, view their attendance details and make leave applications. To support our system, we have a mobile phone application called Synergy App. This app allows mobile employees to clock in and clock out using a Synergy app. The app will also allow for the employee's using this app to be able to easily request absences and view their own attendance. The mobile app must support android, windows and iPhone. Synergy app is compatible on Android and Apple The proposer must disclose any backdoor passwords or logins such as root logins, that the CSO will not be in control of. On Hosted solution, we have full control of the data held in our Hosted farms. CSO has control of data via Web GUI only. Detail how the proposed solution encrypts data in transit and data at rest. SSL certificate applied so data is encrypted during Transit, but certain data is decrypted at the rest within SQL database Provide a sample Service Level Agreement as part of this tender response. At a minimum, this must include the following sections: Definitions, Service description, SLA metrics (uptime/available bandwidth), Service credits / financial penalties, Payment procedures, Customer service catalogue, Achievable targets, Data retention, Service availability, Disaster recovery plan/procedures, Escalation paths.., Service improvement plans, Client notification, Contract termination / exit strategy, Data availability (upon contract termination). SLA Document Confirm a minimum service uptime of 99.9% for production level systems and applications. The list of production level systems and applications will be defined and agreed prior to the implementation phase. As mentioned on our SLA document attached our minimum uptime is 99.9% for production level systems and applications. The proposer should provide a helpdesk facility that can be contacted at the following hours Monday-Friday 8-7pm. Our helpdesk is available Monday to Friday, 9am to 5.30pm Detail how the proposed solution can be classified as a Software as a Service solution whereby the CSO will not have responsibility or accountability for the underlying infrastructure supporting the solution? Hosted Solution with Synel Detail how the solution can be deployed initially as a pilot, and in parallel, to a sample of users around the CSO? Host both systems in parallel The proposed solution must provide email notification and alert mechanisms that integrate with SMTP Server (Lotus Notes, Microsoft Exchange). Our notification service can integrate with SMTP server Detail how the solution captures data in real time. The system will be connected to a network via a Network cable, using the internet connection the time and attendance clocks will regularly sync to our cloud server and push all information on the device to Synergy Workforce, all live data can be viewed on the Presence information panel (PIP) screen which can be found in the time sheets, in the hamburger menu. The solution must operate in real time - e.g. flexi leave requested should update when a user submits a request. Yes it does it in real time The clocking stations must be web enabled. Synergy, Synergy Home, Synergy Face and Smartphone Application all work in web service enabled Detail the clocking stations data retention period, in the event of a break in connectivity with the hosted offsite solution. On the instance that the clocking devices look connected to the internet, the device will continue to work as per usual and store data on the clock once the date is restored this will automatically sync with the cloud and update all the information, should a break in connection occur the date will be stored on the device. Detail how the system provides for future flexibility and scalability. Flexibility: TLW allows employees and organisation to be more flexible - both in and out of the workplace. Employees can access files and data using web-enabled devices such as smartphones, laptops and notebooks. The ability to simultaneously share documents and other files over the Internet can also help support both internal and external collaboration. Scalability: TLW Infrastructure can be easily upscaled IT requirements as and when required. For example, increase resources to accommodate increased business needs or changes. The application is Azure AD pre-Integrated Currently No. Needs further development The application is available on the Azure marketplace. Currently No. Needs further development The application supports same login Support Windows Active directory with local installation. Azure Single Sign ON currently not supported. Needs further development Detail the auditing process and frequency of accreditations outlined in requirement D38. We don't have such Audits Details of the process for any 3rd party suppliers who will maintain or support the application are audited. We don't have such Audits Detail any other vendors/resellers supporting the proposed solution. This solution is proposed solely by Synel Industries UK LTD, all software, hardware, implementation and maintenance will be supplied by Synel Industries UK LTD. Detail if the application has been developed and verified against OWASP and/or other industry development best practices and standards. Official No But New Look did the Test in Past Does the proposed mobile application solution support and include multi factor authentication? Currently No Detail the ongoing support and maintenance. For example, are upgrades included? If an application bug is discovered, what will be the process for resolving? All updates and bug fixes are included as standard on Hosted solution Detail how the proposed system can provide geofencing / geo-recording of recorded user login capability. Please give detail TLW has inbuilt audit trail for User Login