One of the challenges that many organizations face is accurately capturing employee time for payroll. It can be particularly difficult when workers are spread across multiple locations, or job sites. While it is streamlining the data capture process and maintaining the accuracy of the data are critical, it is also important to find a solution which minimizes the burden on the employees responsible for collecting and entering the data. 

Technology offers a variety of good solutions to address this issue. 

Spreadsheet Time Sheets can be a simple but effective way to gather employee time. Whether you use individual employee time sheets, or have a time keeper enter a whole crew’s time into a single sheet, a spreadsheet can easily capture, organize, and submit the data to the payroll system. Anyone with basic computer skills can enter the data and it is very easy to review and edit the data for accuracy before it is processed. Using INTERAC InterLink import/export utilities, data from a spreadsheet is easily imported directly into payroll for processing, eliminating the errors and time spent with manually keying the data in. 

PC and Mobile Applications have become a popular option in recent years. For situations where employees spend most of their time away from the office, these options may be more effective. INTERAC includes several PC based remote time entry options. 

• Payroll Data Entry is an excellent option for remote offices or client installations where they need the ability to process payroll and print checks. Because it is a subset of the actual payroll application, it creates the transaction files for processing, eliminating the import step.
• Job Tracker is designed with the construction job site in mind, allowing the time keeper to submit time for their entire crew from an easy and efficient PC based job cost and equipment cost enabled time entry system.

Time Clocks & Point of Sale Systems are widely used in many businesses. Traditionally time clocks were physical devices which were used to punch in and out. Today’s time clock may be nothing more than a software application on a PC. Many POS systems include the time clock function, allowing employees to punch in and out right from a POS terminal. Virtually any current time clock or POS system will output the data in either CSV, or spreadsheet format, making it easy to import into your payroll system. More advanced systems often have the ability to interface directly with the payroll software, sharing the employee lists and other key setup information. This can be a real time saver, only having to maintain one master employee database.

Whatever your situation, there are a variety of ways to streamline your payroll data capture process with INTERAC. 

In the business world, we must continually change to survive. Your competition is looking for ways to be more competitive and one of the ways to stay ahead is to get the most out of your technology solutions. As software developers, we are continually adding new features and capabilities to our software. Many of these enhancements come about as a direct result of customer feedback. We are always looking for ways to make our software solutions more robust and useful. One of your goals needs to be taking advantage of these enhancements as they are offered.
 
One good example is the electronic Document Management System. Over the course of the last few years, this technology has become mainstream and is now part of many of the integrated ERP software solutions. Most new users struggle with the idea that they don’t need to maintain a file with hard copy documents. Letting go of the paper makes them very uncomfortable, until they have tried it for a few months and realize the time savings and convenience of having all that documentation online. Users find the document management system to be one of the most significant time saving enhancements in recent years.
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If your organization is like so many we know, there are likely a variety of capabilities in your existing software solutions that you are not taking full advantage of. In fact, there are probably new capabilities that your users aren’t even aware of. Your software vendors should be seen as an extension of your team, willing to work with you to implement their tools to help your team maximize their productivity.

It’s now part of the conventional wisdom that cloud computing has altered the IT delivery model. The steady embrace of the cloud among businesses large and small does not, however, mean that organizations can or should let their guard down on matters of security and data protection. While cloud server hosting provides compelling benefits, security is an essential part of any discussion of cloud adoption. Mitigating security risks is imperative to creating a comfort level among CIOs and CISOs, to transition applications and data to the cloud.
 
Applications, systems and data all have different security thresholds.  Even in highly regulated industries such as healthcare or financial services, there are cases in which virtual servers make sense. For example, web, mobile and social can be moved to a virtual server without the same degree of security concern as there is for regulated information or mission critical applications. 
 
When deciding whether an application, product or service belongs in a cloud server, CIOs and CISOs must consider: 

• Type of data or application;
• Service-level agreement; and
• Security environment.

The decision to move to the cloud, especially the public cloud, should depend on the sensitivity of the data and the level of security offered by the cloud provider. The final question should be whether the business value offsets the risk.
 
Cloud service providers (CSPs) are beginning to put a greater emphasis on security protections, with technologies such as clustered firewalls and intrusion detection and prevention systems (IDPS). In the cloud’s infancy, CSPs touted scalability, initial cost savings and speed. But the prospect of enhanced security in the cloud – indeed, that the better cloud deployments now mean that data is safer in the cloud than on a typical unsecured desktop – has altered the conversation. Organizations assessing cloud service providers can now seek out CSPs whose security controls mitigate the risks of moving to the cloud.

When considering a move to virtual server hosting, CIOs and CISOs need to check for audits of a CSP’s security controls.  Look for providers who have passed the SSAE (Standards for Attestation Engagements) No. 16 Type II audit, one of the most rigorous auditing standards for hosting companies.  The audit confirms the highest level of service and reliability attainable for a virtual server hosting company.  To be SSAE compliant, a hosting provider should offer SSL capability, enterprise-level, application level protection, hardware firewall, IP-restricted FTP, managed backups with 14-day retention, advanced monitoring and multi-level intrusion prevention.

In addition, an increasing number of CSPs are using the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants’ Service Organization Control process (SOC), the organization’s certification of controls with verification for cloud environments. Some of the larger cloud service providers now publish SOC reports on their security controls. Mandates from CIOs and CISOs may be required before SOC reports are published by all cloud providers.
 
Now more than ever, cloud service providers are realizing that managing security is fundamental to facilitating cloud adoption. Those cloud providers concerned about safeguarding their clients’ data and applications are taking steps to mitigate those risks with tight security controls and transparency regarding those controls.