*** Updates***
1) *** Update: looks like Employee Central will actually be blessed with solid time evaluation functionality - See Thomas Otter's comment below and watch this space ***
2) *** 02/09/2015: see volker.ruof's blog on EC Timesheet 15_08 - more to come in future versions, most notably proper clock times instead of just durations ***
3) *** 05/08/2016: Employee Central Time and Attendance maturing and EC Payroll interface more flexible: Business Case for Employee Centrale improved even more:
By now it has become very clear that EC Time & Attendance is much more than just a token feature (see updates from volker.ruof on Q1-2016 Q2-2016). Time Off is in some respects already more feature rich than it's on-premise cousin and Time Sheet is growing up. Hopefully we'll see time-clock integration and German-style flextime in the not too distant future and then a large number of SAP on-premise PT customers would be able to switch. And then there is still the option to go for a throroughbred Time&Attendance + shift planning tool like Workforce Software or Kronos, who are SAP partners and integrate with EC. SAP have also realised that the very tight policy of what should be allowed with respect to Time in EC payroll needs some flexibility on a case by case basis. See some points about EC Time and Attendance and Payroll integration here. Increasingly, I therefore see Time & Attendance as a positive contribution to the business case to move to Employee Central rather than a road block. Check this SCN blog for some thoughts about the Employee Central Business Case and implementation st....
*** Original Article ***
Right after the S/4HANA announcement everybody got busy interpreting, what it really means for HR. So, now it seems that with S/4HANA, only some mini master data will be left from HR on-premise, whilst the full core HR, Talent Management and everything will be available in the cloud (SuccessFactors) only. Fine. Not unexpected. By the time we get to the point, where the on-prem option for HCM is gone, a lot of water will have flown East under London Bridge and a lot will have changed in those organisations, who don't feel cloud ready today. And if major roadblocks occur, most customers think SAP will still be able to amend their roadmap.
Then looking at payroll: for all it's woes, SAP has arguably the most powerful global payroll and nobody would cherish the idea of re-building this (usually) benign monster from scratch on a different platform. So, SAP's plan to re-wrap it with a modern UI (payroll cockpit), make it HANA-compatible for extra speed, take it off customers' servers, and link it to Employee Central up in the cloud is considered a good idea by most players in the community.
So, that's everything being cared for, right?
- Core HR and Talent will be in SuccessFactors
- ...talking to an on-prem mini master to provide HR data for those departments (e.g. accounting) still caught in 20th century technology on-premise :razz:
- ...and integrated with the nicely repackaged battle-hardened payroll engine, where thousands of local experts in many countries can built upon their multi-year experience :cool:
Have you seen Time Evaluation anywhere? I think I lost it...
Hold on a minute... Time evaluation isn't mentioned anywhere, is it? :???:
- There's Employee Central Time Off. A neat solution for absence management I liked from the first time I played around with it
- There'll be some way or other to push hours into the system for payment
- But there is nothing to automate the dreaded calculations of overtime, flextime, lieu days, etc as time evaluation did with the program RPTIME00. So, it's got to be co-habiting with payroll, right? (grasping a straw of hope: surely an emoticon missing in the SCN editor)
Well, I didn't have to live with that nagging doubt for long. On our own iProConference in London last week conversations with SAP confirmed: the explanation for time evaluation not being mentioned is quite simple: it won't be there.
Apparently, the strategy is to have some elements for capturing time (like absences) in EC, but work with 3rd party interfaces to systems like Kronos for everything else. Now, I'm not an expert in Kronos, but as far as I remember it doesn't provide the same flexible time evaluation as RPTIME00 with its schemas.
So, can I hear the Death March for RPTIME00 now? :sad:
Let's have one last look at its grey, stern face:
:cry:
Is there still hope?
As I said above, a lot will happen until then, but at this point in time, it looks like there isa challenge coming up and customers going for EC and EC payroll anytime soon may face a significant change, if they've used SAP time evaluation so far. But then there are also rumours that the valuation feature behind EC timesheet may become much more powerful. Would that be the salvation?
*** Update: Cool: going by Thomas Otter's comment below, this is more than a rumour now. Seems there will be Time Evaluation in EC. Watch this space ***
My thoughts are all based on things that have not been written and on verbal information. So, if anybody knows more, please use the comment feature generously!
The one inconsistency I couldn't figure out yet is, that the payroll schema does include an embedded time evaluation schema, too. So, if the existing payroll engine is still being used, time evaluation will still be there anyway. Yes, the TC00 subschema, so often forgotten by would-be payroll consultants, who are then surprised by seemingly inconsistent results:
So, how can time evaluation be gone, when the payroll engine is rescued with all its features (plus more)?
Well, I'll leave you with that question to mull about over night - maybe someone has an answer.
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