making it your own user defined info centers in …...2016/11/02 · deep dive let’s use one of...
TRANSCRIPT
Making it Your Own –
User Defined Info Centers in Vision
Presented by Mike Held, IT Analyst
V3 Companies
What are user defined info centers?
A completely separate set of fields and screens for the
entry, display and reporting of information (data) that may
or may not be related to other data in Deltek Vision.
UDIC = User Defined Info Center
How is this different from custom fields?
Custom fields have been available since forever!
Allowed organizations to create new data fields related
to and within EXISTING info centers e.g. Firms,
Contacts, Projects, etc.
When might you use UDICs?
Store information INDEPENDENT of existing info centers, or
Related to one or more info centers but different security settings are
needed, and/or
Reduce user dependence on spreadsheets for shared data needs
Some Examples of User Defined Info Centers at V3
Accounting Team Custom Feature
Applicant Tracking
Bid and Budgeting - Construction Group
Business Card Management
Business Planning
Ecological Restoration Team Work Orders
Employee Recognition (High Five!)
Information Technology
Marketing Project Matrix
Marketing Requests
New Hires
Quarterly Check-In
V3 Tables
Appendix of Presentation includes comments and screenshots on a variety of these Info Centers.
What my users say…
The greatest benefit of (Project Sheet Request)info center for the marketing group is that once atechnical staff person has completed a request, wehave everything we need to create AND store anew project sheet. No more tracking people downfor bits and pieces of stray information!
– Rozanne Ferguson, Manager of Marketing
The New Hire Info Center acts as a checklist forwhen a new hire is made. It is really helpful whenwe hire someone a few months before they startand we can keep track of what they need, whatthey don’t have yet, etc. When it is on my Deltekpage, the checklist is always in front of me, insteadof on a piece of paper that could get lost. ForService Anniversaries, the process is 100% easier.Before we had to create a packet, hand deliveritems to employees, and now that it is all donethrough Amazon/Deltek a lot of the admin time hasbeen cut down.
– Rachel Urbanski, HR Generalist
We typically have over 1000 work orders enteredand executed per year. The system makes it veryeasy for me to isolate a certain parameter such asdates, budgeted hours etc.. Being able to do thismakes scheduling much faster and easier. Wehave also been able to use the system forforecasting staffing needs, keeping a record ofpesticide usage and even logging notes on staffperformance. Being able to do all this in one placeis excellent.
– Brad Millis, Manager of Field Operations,
Ecological Restoration Practice Area
Deep Dive
Let’s use one of our UDICs as an example and dive
deep into the Tips and Tricks of UDICs
Employee Performance Reviews
Online performance review tool costing $10,000s of dollars per year
Complex; more than we needed
Philosophical shift from one to many discussions
HR asked the question “Can Deltek Vision Do It?”
– Answer: “You Betcha!!”
But Where? In Employee Info Center?!?!?
Rejected!
Why?
– Security primarily
• No good way to limit access to a tab or to certain
fields to just the employee and/or supervisor
Solution?
Created a User Defined Info Centers
called….
Quarterly Check-In
Allows for up to four check-ins between Employee
and Supervisor / Reviewer each Year
Considerations when creating a new UDIC
UDIC_UID field “behind the curtain”
UDICs have to have either a “Name” or “Number” field
– Name = mix of alpha and numeric
– Number = unique record identifier, typically numeric
Look “behind the curtain”
1. UDIC_UID = unique identifier
2. CustomCurrencyCode = money related
UDIC
3. Create Date, etc.
4. CustNumber
5. CustName
Populating UDIC_UID field
Manually added Record
– System Assigned
Loaded Record
– You must assign e.g via Stored Procedure
– Must be unique and not repeat
– Consider using the NewID() feature of t-sql
• NewID default to 36 characters
• right(NewID(),32) to shorten
– BETTER is to use an existing ID if possible e.g. EmployeeID
Populating Cust Name or Cust Number
Manually Entered Record
– Enter it by hand
– Create using a column update workflow item
• For example:
– cast(year(getdate()) as varchar)+CONVERT(varchar(2), GETDATE(), 101) +
CONVERT(varchar(2), GETDATE(), 103) +cast(datepart(hour,getdate()) as varchar)
+cast(datepart(minute,getdate()) as varchar) +cast(datepart(second,getdate()) as
varchar)
– Result is: 2016101092846
– Year Month Day Hour Minute Second
Loaded record e.g. via Stored Procedure
– Assign as needed
– Use NewID(), etc.
• Keep Name, Number or Both
• Default checks in
• Standard Search By
• Display in Result List
• Display in Result List need to
be identifying fields
Back to Quarterly Check-In
Actually Composed of Three UDICs
1. Employee Diary
2. Supervisor Diary
3. Quarterly Check-In Discussion and Sign Off
Employee Diary
Fields
– Trick: Employee ID is
used as the UDIC_UID
– “Employee” field
– Employee ID is
CustName
– URL
– Memo
– Character
• “Employee Name
for Search” field
– Date
Available Field Types in UDIC
Field Types
– Character
– Checkbox
– Currency
– Date
– Dropdown
– Lookup
– Memo
– Numeric
– URL
System field types
– Name = CustName
– RecordID = CustNumber
Info Center Linked
– Displays the “Key” field
• Project – Project Name (not
number)
• Employee – Employee Name
• Contact – Contact Name
• Firm – Firm Name
• Opp – Opp Name
– UDIC can also be linked
• Displays the CustName or
CustNumber
Sample of Display of Info Center Fields
Supervisor Diary
Similar to Employee Diary
Trick: UDIC_UID is the
EmployeeID
concantenated to
Supervisor Employee ID
Access control
A simple query for each Info Center
Same for all security roles
Quarterly Check-In – Discussion tab
• Enter initial thoughts
and notes
• Buttons insert pre-
defined questions or a
time stamp entry.
• Report Links
• If employee is on screen
then can access
Quarterly Check-In – Sign Off tab
• Text area is running
history
• Initials, save updates
mod user
• Employee sign off
• Supervisor sign off
• Availability of skip
Security for the Discussion and Sign Off Screen
If employee is on
screen, then they
can access.
HR has full control.
Q & A about UDICs from Deltek
What version was the first to have custom fields (not info centers)?
– Vision 4.X
What versions of Deltek Vision have user defined info centers (UDICs) available?
– Vision 7.0 and up
Will UDIC be available via any touch app or via iAccess?
– UDICs are currently on the roadmap to be added to iAccess in 2017. The exact timing is still to be determined and may change.
What are you doing with UDICs?
Let’s see what is being done by other firms!
Please submit a survey for this session via the
mobile app.
29
Learn More
Get plugged in
• Join a user group (regional, virtual)
• Interact in Kona – Client Advisory Council
(CAC) and more! ([email protected])
• Join the MVP program
Visit the Vision kiosks in the Expo Hall
Follow the Vision Blog @ http://bit.ly/Vision_Blog
Attend a live VPM, CRM, Resource Planning,
demo or sign up for an upcoming webinar at
Deltek.com
©2016 Deltek, Inc. All Rights Reserved 30
Contact Information
Feel free to email me any questions at [email protected] that we don’t get to today.
Appendix:
Brief Overview of Each User Defined Info Center at V3
Accounting Team Custom Feature
I needed to provide the Accounting Team with a way to run a custom stored procedure on
demand. This is the simplest of User Define Info Centers with just a couple fields and a
user initiated workflow to launch the stored procedure. The user enters a code in the
“Confirm Clearing…” box and the stored procedure runs.
Information Technology UDICs
I am required to keep track of all of the static IPs that are assigned to
systems. The custom info center provided a perfect location for the
information. It’s nice to have one location for IT department documentation
that can be shared with the whole team.
– Sean Sheehan – System Administrator
Information Technology UDIC
1. Backup tape contents
2. Wifi passwords
3. ISP info
4. User assigned software and
licenses including product keys
5. IT accounts and passwords on
vendor websites
6. Internal IT Accounts and
passwords but NOT highly secure
accounts
7. File server security exceptions
8. Equipment assigned to employees
including serial numbers
9. Details on servers in the server
room
10. Printer details including IP
addresses
11. Logins and password for non-
employee users of the computer
systems
Used to track a wide array of IT information for main and field offices including:
Access to this info center is limited
to the IT Team!
V3 Tables
This info center is used to store
information used in other parts of
Deltek Vision and in reports.
For example, we use Market Sectors
to categorize projects and then each
Market Sector is part of a Business
Development team. In order to allow
for aggregating revenue, backlog etc.
I needed a place to store the
relationship. The V3 Tables give me a
place to do that.
Other data stored there includes:
– Bill group prefixes used in
discrepancy reporting
– Type of work look up for ER work
orders
– Revenue and Sales Goals for
each BD Team
Human Resource UDICs
The New Hire Info Center
acts as a checklist for when a
new hire is made. It is really
helpful when we hire
someone a few months
before they start and we can
keep track of what they need,
what they don’t have yet, etc.
When it is on my Deltek page,
the checklist is always in front
of me, instead of on a piece
of paper that could get lost.
For Service Anniversaries,
the process is 100% easier.
Before we had to create a
packet, hand deliver items to
employees, and now that it is
all done through
Amazon/Deltek a lot of the
admin time has been cut
down.
- Rachel Urbanski
HR Generalist
How has the info center made things easier?
V3 wanted to move from a traditional annual performance review process to an informal quarterly review process to
encourage timely and pertinent conversations between supervisors and their staff regarding the employee’s
performance. The Employee and Supervisor Check-In diaries provide a secure place for supervisors and employees
to record topics that they wish to discuss at the next Check-In. The Check-In Discussion tab also provides a secure
place to record and document the topics that supervisors and employees discus during the Check-In meeting. The
Quarterly Check-In Info Center has built in alerts to remind employees/supervisors when Check-In’s are due; when
sign-offs are needed, to inform supervisors when an employee elects to skip an upcoming Check-In, etc.
What manual processes have been replaced?
V3 previously used an annual Performance Appraisal software tool where we had to “build” the performance review
process each year and add new hires, remove terminated staff and update supervisor review responsibilities. With
the custom Deltek Info Center, HR no longer needs to make these updates prior to each review process because this
maintenance is done throughout the course of the year as we update the Deltek Employee Info Center. Our former
system also did not have the ability to generate alerts when appraisals were due or when sign-offs were needed so
those manual processes have all been automated with the custom Deltek info center.
Any other insights you’d care to share!
The feedback that we have received from directors, supervisors and staff is that the process of using the custom info
center is very user friendly. In addition, the use of the customized info center allowed V3 to move the emphasis of
the performance appraisal conversations from the employee’s past performance that couldn’t be changed; and
instead to place the focus on helping the employee put forth their best future performance.
- Stephanie Lindemann, Director of Human Resources
Applicant Tracking
As the name suggests, we needed to track the
applicants for open positions but didn’t need
the full functionality of the new HR solution
available from Deltek.
The Human Resources group generally uses
the list view and a search to locate the records
to report.
They also use the available built in reporting
feature.
HIGH 5! & Service Anniversary
This UDIC allows for the awarding and tracking of
employee recognition related information.
V3 has a program for peer and supervisor
recognition of individual achievements. The
award is referred to as giving and receiving a
“High 5” and there is an associated cash award.
The award may be used on Amazon for products
or gift cards.
In addition, service anniversary milestones also
result in recognition and an award.
The screen has a place for the employee to
nominate a colleague, a section to review their
balance information and a section where they can
request a redemption.
Note that the employee sees balances related to
both the High 5 program and the service
anniversary recognition program. There are also
screens for managing awards and for
redemptions.
Construction and Ecological Restoration Team UDICs
For me, I really love the ER Work Order center that you
created. It has streamlined the field work to a level I could
never have imagined. It has done this without all the face
to face meetings, phone calls and emails that where
necessary in the past to get our field work completed.
In addition to the improved scheduling mechanism it
provides, the field staff can easily provide feedback after
the work has been completed using the same system.
This feedback is utilized by the project manager to
increase efficiencies of future work. What an incredible,
user-friendly tool that has allowed us to reach higher levels
of efficiencies.
George Milner, Senior Restoration Ecologist
We have been able to take what used to consist of 4-5 spreadsheets, a weekly
meeting and a lot of phone calls and create a very powerful, centralized work
order system. It has saved a lot of time, is much more organized and makes
getting work done a lot easier. It has been especially helpful that Mike has
been able to tweak and customize the reports, fields, etc. as we got more
familiar with the system and discovered items we wanted to add or modify.
It is much easier to train new employees on using our work order system than
the method we used in the past. It also has better “safety nets” in the event a
trainee makes mistakes.
We typically have over 1000 work orders entered and executed per year. The
system makes it very easy for me to isolate a certain parameter such as dates,
budgeted hours etc.. Being able to do this makes scheduling much faster and
easier. We have also been able to use the system for forecasting staffing
needs, keeping a record of pesticide usage and even logging notes on staff
performance. Being able to do all this in one place is excellent.
My only wish is that we could access the work orders from an ipad in the
field. It would make entry/finalization a lot easier. The potential is great for the
system but in the end you deserve the credit Mike. If you didn’t have an open
mind about problem solving and be as determined as you are to help us find
solutions, it would just be potential unrealized. Hopefully you can stress that
importance to them.
• Brad Millis, Field Operations Director
Bid and Budgeting - Construction Group
This is one of our most complex
User Defined Info Centers. It
contains more 970 fields and 50
grids.
It functions as a method of
creating an estimate for an
Ecological Restoration proposal
and, when won, a budget for the
budget vs. actual comparison.
Screen shot shows the estimate
for the Prescribed Burn service
we provide on Twin Lakes Park
2014.
Totals are at the top of the
screen.
Bid and Budgeting - Construction Group (continued)
The general tab summarizes
the content of the other tabs.
It provides a place to link to a
“Resultant Project” for the
budget to actual comparison.
Note the boxes under each
tab at the top. A stored
procedure puts a dollar sign in
when a tab is used.
Ecological Restoration Work Orders – General tab
V3’s Ecological Restoration group manages a wide
variety of field work using a UDIC. This info center
allows the PM to enter the requested work, a general
timeframe and the specific work to be performed.
The field manager then uses this information to build a
schedule for the field staff including our seasonal
interns.
Note the “Link” field at the bottom right. This link opens
a custom SQL Server Reporting Services report that
can be printed and distributed.
Note that the “Enter Project” field allows for entry of a
project number but then displays ONLY the Project
Name. This is why there is a “Project Number” field
under “Project Information – Display Only”. A simple
workflow action copies the project number into a
character field for display.
Ecological Restoration Work Orders – Field tab
Upon returning from the
field, the field lead enters a
variety of additional post
work information. This
communicates the work
details back to the PM.
The herbicide grid allows
the team to accurately
report on use for
government reporting.
Executive and Management UDIC
“Our firm’s use of custom Info Centers has revolutionized our approach to a number of business
practices. For example, our Business Planning now is done completely in Vision, allowing us to use
our client database to build a “bottom-up” revenue estimate. Using actual performance data from
Vision helps us create a more pragmatic budget. Because all of the budget assumptions are input
into Vision at the client level, we’re able to assess our ongoing performance against those
benchmarks throughout the year as well as direct our business development activities.”
Ed Fitch, Senior VP
V3 Companies
Business PlanningV3 prepares its annual budget by reviewing detailed historical revenue information and backlog in a UDIC. The information
below is loaded from the Firms, PRSummaryMain reporting table and a custom grid on each project where PMs estimate
backlog.
The Business Development Teams then review and add “unnamed opportunity” information based on their market and client
knowledge. Once this completed the information is aggregated via a custom SSRS report to provide a budget for the next year.
Marketing Team UDICs -
The Project Sheet Request Info Center defines the workflow for
creating new marketing project sheets. Information Technology
has incorporated several items to simplify the information required
from our technical staff; making it much more likely that they will
create new marketing project sheets. These items include:
– Bringing over information from the Project Info Center that
is needed for the final sheets (project name, client,
location, cost, start date)
– Using check boxes for commonly-used items such as
service codes
– Including instructions for description text
– Providing a place to link to photos and graphics
The greatest benefit of this info center for the marketing group is
that once a technical staff person has completed a request, we
have everything we need to create AND store a new project
sheet. No more tracking people down for bits and pieces of stray
information!
– Rozanne Ferguson, Manager
The customization of our matrix has cut the time in half for
extracting information needed for proposals. Reference
information, location, project value etc. Everything you need to
fulfill requirements of a proposal are at your fingertips. Less time
spent on trying to find all this information means more time spent
on the proposal message with winning themes, compelling text
and graphic concepts.
• KJ Fyten, Business Development Coordinator
Business Card Management
V3 wanted to have a place to
track Business Card orders and
customizations SEPARATE from
the information on the Employee
Info Center.
The base record is copied via
stored procedure from the
Employee Info Center.
Marketing and the
Administrative Assistants
maintain this information
including using it to order.
Marketing Matrix -Request
The Marketing Team creates and manages a
variety one sheet summaries for both
completed and in progress projects. This
information is then used in subsequent
Proposals and Submittals to support
obtaining that next project.
The Matrix has a UDIC for PMs and Directors
to request the creation of a project sheet.
Once initiated the Matrix is used to track
creation and maintenance of the Project
Sheet and related documents.
Note tabs where additional details including a
write are collected. Information is moved from
the Project Sheets Request Info Center to the
Matrix info center via a stored procedure. May
be initiated by a Director, PM or by Marketing.
Marketing Matrix
The Matrix serves the
Marketing team as
THE place for all the
details that are used on
the Project Sheets.
Users also use the
Matrix to locate project
sheets they want to
use in Proposals and
Submittals.
Note additional tabs
that track all the related
details.
Note url fields that
provide links to the
Project Sheet pdfs on
the network.
Sample Marketing Sheets
Miscellaneous Marketing UDICs
Text Library (not pictured)
Marketing Digests
Statement of
Qualification Requests