Ascentis (discontinued) vs. UKG Ready

Overview
ProductRatingMost Used ByProduct SummaryStarting Price
Ascentis (discontinued)
Score 7.5 out of 10
N/A
Ascentis HR uses web-based management programs to help automate complex HR processes. Ascentis’ other services included customizable payroll, time and attendance and recruiting modules. Ascentis was acquired by UKG in March of 2022, and will be discontinued.N/A
UKG Ready
Score 8.1 out of 10
N/A
Designed for small businesses where everyone wears multiple hats, UKG Ready® is an HR solution that guides users through their day-to-day HR activities. Capabilities span from HR and payroll to talent and time.N/A
Pricing
Ascentis (discontinued)UKG Ready
Editions & Modules
No answers on this topic
No answers on this topic
Offerings
Pricing Offerings
Ascentis (discontinued)UKG Ready
Free Trial
NoNo
Free/Freemium Version
NoNo
Premium Consulting/Integration Services
NoYes
Entry-level Setup FeeNo setup feeRequired
Additional Details
More Pricing Information
Community Pulse
Ascentis (discontinued)UKG Ready
Considered Both Products
Ascentis (discontinued)
Chose Ascentis (discontinued)
Benefits have worked better with more flexibility. In general, the HR system allows you more options that you can change than the larger providers. Very flexible working with other payroll providers which is not the same for some of the other systems that I have used.
UKG Ready
Chose UKG Ready
UKG has exceeded all expectations, and we selected UKG Ready because of the robust growth opportunities it provided to our company in terms of improving efficiency and processes. Additionally, we were excited about UKG's different support model that has been proven to be …
Chose UKG Ready
Workforce Ready was much more user-friendly, easier to navigate and use, and had the ability to track information better. There were also infinite multiple levels of security that were available under Workforce Ready. Workforce Ready was much more customizable than the other …
Top Pros
Top Cons
Features
Ascentis (discontinued)UKG Ready
Human Resource Management
Comparison of Human Resource Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.1
150 Ratings
10% below category average
UKG Ready
7.6
179 Ratings
3% below category average
Employee demographic data6.7137 Ratings8.6155 Ratings
Employment history7.3140 Ratings7.4151 Ratings
Job profiles and administration6.9128 Ratings7.8151 Ratings
Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.6.7126 Ratings7.4141 Ratings
Organizational charting5.290 Ratings7.0113 Ratings
Organization and location management8.0109 Ratings7.0134 Ratings
Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)8.8102 Ratings7.6111 Ratings
Payroll Management
Comparison of Payroll Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.8
125 Ratings
3% below category average
UKG Ready
8.0
176 Ratings
0% below category average
Pay calculation7.1115 Ratings8.6164 Ratings
Support for external payroll vendors6.162 Ratings7.4102 Ratings
Off-cycle/On-Demand payment8.328 Ratings7.967 Ratings
Benefit plan administration6.7108 Ratings7.6125 Ratings
Direct deposit files9.2100 Ratings8.8129 Ratings
Salary revision and increment management8.692 Ratings8.0120 Ratings
Reimbursement management8.851 Ratings00 Ratings
Leave and Attendance Management
Comparison of Leave and Attendance Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.8
105 Ratings
3% below category average
UKG Ready
7.6
162 Ratings
6% below category average
Approval workflow8.099 Ratings8.0147 Ratings
Balance details7.099 Ratings7.4154 Ratings
Annual carry-forward and encashment8.484 Ratings7.5131 Ratings
Employee Self Service
Comparison of Employee Self Service features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.0
153 Ratings
15% below category average
UKG Ready
8.1
167 Ratings
0% below category average
View and generate pay and benefit information7.8138 Ratings8.2147 Ratings
Update personal information8.6151 Ratings8.5154 Ratings
View company policy documentation5.4110 Ratings8.0127 Ratings
Employee recognition6.061 Ratings00 Ratings
View job history7.3108 Ratings7.9130 Ratings
Asset Management
Comparison of Asset Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
5.8
33 Ratings
29% below category average
UKG Ready
8.3
61 Ratings
7% above category average
Tracking of all physical assets5.833 Ratings8.361 Ratings
HR Reporting
Comparison of HR Reporting features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
6.4
147 Ratings
17% below category average
UKG Ready
7.3
174 Ratings
4% below category average
Report builder7.0144 Ratings7.2167 Ratings
Pre-built reports7.5142 Ratings7.3168 Ratings
Ability to combine HR data with external data4.673 Ratings00 Ratings
Onboarding
Comparison of Onboarding features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
5.1
98 Ratings
44% below category average
UKG Ready
7.1
114 Ratings
12% below category average
New hire portal5.398 Ratings7.1112 Ratings
Manager tracking tools4.976 Ratings7.189 Ratings
Performance and Goals
Comparison of Performance and Goals features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
7.2
57 Ratings
12% below category average
UKG Ready
7.0
64 Ratings
15% below category average
Corporate goal setting6.743 Ratings00 Ratings
Individual goal setting7.653 Ratings7.057 Ratings
Line-of sight-visibility7.138 Ratings00 Ratings
Performance tracking7.250 Ratings7.063 Ratings
Performance Management
Comparison of Performance Management features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
6.0
63 Ratings
28% below category average
UKG Ready
6.6
81 Ratings
18% below category average
Performance plans5.659 Ratings6.672 Ratings
Performance improvement plans5.650 Ratings6.767 Ratings
Review status tracking5.857 Ratings7.172 Ratings
Review reminders6.555 Ratings6.176 Ratings
Multiple review frequency6.650 Ratings6.761 Ratings
Succession Planning
Comparison of Succession Planning features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
5.9
27 Ratings
29% below category average
UKG Ready
5.5
23 Ratings
36% below category average
Create succession plans/pools6.421 Ratings6.322 Ratings
Candidate ranking6.421 Ratings7.02 Ratings
Candidate search5.027 Ratings6.63 Ratings
Candidate development5.823 Ratings2.01 Ratings
Recruiting / ATS
Comparison of Recruiting / ATS features of Product A and Product B
Ascentis (discontinued)
5.5
89 Ratings
34% below category average
UKG Ready
6.7
89 Ratings
14% below category average
Job Requisition Management5.585 Ratings6.875 Ratings
Company Website Posting5.279 Ratings6.874 Ratings
Publish to Social Media5.759 Ratings5.652 Ratings
Job Search Site Posting5.871 Ratings6.855 Ratings
Duplicate Candidate Prevention5.657 Ratings6.557 Ratings
Applicant Tracking5.783 Ratings6.977 Ratings
Notifications and Alerts5.369 Ratings7.582 Ratings
Best Alternatives
Ascentis (discontinued)UKG Ready
Small Businesses
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Patriot Software
Patriot Software
Score 9.0 out of 10
Medium-sized Companies
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Paypro Workforce Management
Paypro Workforce Management
Score 9.5 out of 10
Enterprises
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
Infor Human Resources
Infor Human Resources
Score 7.3 out of 10
All AlternativesView all alternativesView all alternatives
User Ratings
Ascentis (discontinued)UKG Ready
Likelihood to Recommend
7.2
(164 ratings)
8.1
(203 ratings)
Likelihood to Renew
6.3
(12 ratings)
7.5
(18 ratings)
Usability
7.6
(44 ratings)
7.4
(85 ratings)
Availability
6.7
(5 ratings)
9.0
(3 ratings)
Performance
7.1
(4 ratings)
9.3
(7 ratings)
Support Rating
8.2
(150 ratings)
8.2
(73 ratings)
In-Person Training
8.0
(1 ratings)
7.8
(2 ratings)
Online Training
8.3
(4 ratings)
6.5
(4 ratings)
Implementation Rating
8.3
(5 ratings)
6.3
(10 ratings)
Configurability
9.0
(1 ratings)
8.0
(4 ratings)
Ease of integration
3.0
(1 ratings)
5.6
(59 ratings)
Product Scalability
6.7
(4 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Vendor post-sale
9.6
(3 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
Vendor pre-sale
9.6
(3 ratings)
8.0
(3 ratings)
User Testimonials
Ascentis (discontinued)UKG Ready
Likelihood to Recommend
Discontinued Products
In working with Ascentis in payroll, the program makes my job so much easier. I am new to this position and the learning process has been so much easier with this product than those in the past. I appreciate the patience I am given when I call in for assistance as well.
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UKG
UKG Ready is a great time keeping system, it is user friendly and employees that do use the application, do not have many complaints. Its the access and maneuvering around the application to get to where they need to go, or find what they are looking for or accessing the application that is the issue. Once they find the location on where they need to be in order to submit the request, it is quick and easy. We are finding that we are utilizing resources to sit with these employees even after providing in person or virtual training to help navigate to what they want to do.
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Pros
Discontinued Products
  • Easy to use software. I have had several new HR employees comment on how easy the system is to learn!
  • Problem Solving- Ascentis is always problem solving! When we were in the process of selecting a new payroll company, we needed unemployment claims management assistance for our locations, something Ascentis did not currently offer. The sales rep went out of his way to find a unemployment claims management company that would work with Ascentis and us. That company has helped us keep an 80% win rate for our claims!
  • User conference- Engage is an awesome way to learn more about the products Ascentis has available as well and meet up with the staff you work with every day!
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UKG
  • I find timesheets to be easy to use and provide good details for employees and employers.
  • I love how customizable the dashboard is. This is a time saver for someone working in HR.
  • The payroll process was easy to learn. The steps are simple to follow, and changes can be made to the pay statements with ease.
Read full review
Cons
Discontinued Products
  • Updating the system so it is one platform and not two.
  • Create changes to the benefit enrollment process and upgrade the system so hire dates do not need to be changed to trigger benefits for status changes.
  • Focus updates on HR Admin, mobile application, ATS and transitioning to one platform. Larger areas of focus have been on the payroll portion of the system with a few updates to other areas.
  • When something is broken, quicker turn time on fixing the issue.
  • System needs updates to support AAP reporting.
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UKG
  • System is very complicated, which is a plus because it can handle almost any situation but difficult to learn
  • There are often several ways to complete a task and it isn't always clear the most efficient route to follow
  • Reporting can be clumsy to customize
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Likelihood to Renew
Discontinued Products
This rating would be a 10 if it were not for some issues we have been having recently with the benefit carrier connections. The carrier connections are critical for us so how these issues are resolved will be key in our renewal decision.
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UKG
We plan to renew our support and use of UKG Ready each year unless it becomes unavailable or the district seeks another vendor. As of now, there are no plans to changes vendors. The district staff is now familiar with using UKG. Another vendor will need to meet the same expectations we have come to enjoy with using UKG
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Usability
Discontinued Products
I'd give it a 7.5. If the modules were easier to access and not so buried (or placed in left field to find), I would give it a higher rating. As I said, as the potential to be great if ACCESS to other modules was easier.
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UKG
For the average user they do not struggle. We do have a handful of users who struggle using their own smartphones, and of course, they struggle with any technology. However, we do not let this sway us from helping them learn. Managers have found the system easy to navigate once fully trained.
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Reliability and Availability
Discontinued Products
They normally give you notice when an update will affect the use of the system. Otherwise, when we have an error , we send a message to the support team. Sometimes someone will get right back with you and sometimes it takes a while.
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UKG
The system seems very stable. Being hosted in the cloud, we are vulnerable to internet speeds and busy times. The system has been down a couple times over the 3 months we have been live, but Kronos resolved the issues very quickly. To have access from a desktop, tablet, time clock, or phone app is one of the best features....users have almost NO REASON they can't clock in.
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Performance
Discontinued Products
Yes, this pages do load pretty good but there are times when things are slow and I believe that's because they are sometimes trying to do updates.
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UKG
We were always told that Kronos was the best, but there are reports that we got out of ADP and other payroll providers that we cannot get out of Kronos. One example is a report of Productive/Non-productive hours by department. We also need the dollar amount associated with the hours. This is information that is required on our cost report and we were told that that report is unavailable. It is very frustrating when I can't get what I need.
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Support Rating
Discontinued Products
Support is attentive and quick to answer the call and get the answer for you. If they for any reason cannot answer right then, they are back to you within a day and always seem to have a sense of urgency. You truly get the impression that they are aiming to make you happy.
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UKG
If I was only rating support itself that would be a 10. Every support case I have entered has been addressed efficiently and with the desired result. On the implementation and transition to support there were multiple issues that those doing the implementation or transition could not answer or workflows and various settings left undone only to be discovered later. We implemented 3 different modules and the expertise we got for each one varied widely.
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In-Person Training
Discontinued Products
First, to clarify our "in-person" training was done mainly through Web-X meetings and conference calls. It was the closest thing we got to as far as an "in-person" training for this software. However, for the large majority of it, this type of training worked out well. We were able to share our screens and the trainer was able to share his/her screen. We could follow along with what we were doing in our database in real time and see how different functions worked and how manipulating our information could produce different results. It was also nice in that it provided for real-time results if something hadn't been coded correctly or we were having issues as to why something wasn't working the way we thought it should be. However, it did have some downsides in that we often had to rely on a conference phone and that made it difficult to hear people on both sides. Also, sometimes the trainers had internet difficulties when working from home and that caused issues with the WebX meetings.
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UKG
Our in-person training was a hybrid. Live online training with an instructor. They were very knowledgeable of the product & the area they were training on. I asked several specific questions and if they didn't know the answer immediately they followed up after class.
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Online Training
Discontinued Products
Ascentis HR has a number of online training videos to watch on a number of different topics. I gave it a lower rating because there is not much interactivity with the videos and it seems to cater to really only one or two learning styles. Plus, one has to be pretty motivated to go to a separate area to access the videos and then pull up a specific one to watch it and then learn. From my experience, people know that they are there, many just don't take the time and effort to go find them and actually watch them - especially since the username and password are different from their normal username and password.
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UKG
Pretty good online training, you have many how to options and can watch them several times. It can be hard at times to dig through the amount of data online but can usually find what you are looking for. Also you can download documentation for setting up the profiles and policies.
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Implementation Rating
Discontinued Products
It was very easy to implement, but the customization pieces should really be fleshed out in order to determine the full need of an organization at the time of implementation. I believe if a little more time was spent on the requirements, the recruiting module would not have to be customized again at a cost at a later date.
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UKG
Make sure the people who are doing the build have extensive knowledge on employment law and asking the right questions. I would bet that the people who helped with our builds did not read any of our employment contracts or ordinances; and when I asked questions about how other companies handled certain basic dictates from federal employment laws, they didn't have any idea what FMLA, FLSA, etc were.
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Alternatives Considered
Discontinued Products
Ascentis has far better customer service and the implementation experience was also better. The ability to do a lot of customization is also easier with Ascentis as it's smaller organization. The payroll has positive and negatives compared to ADP but the accuracy is the same in both. Ascentis just started their community site which doesn't have a lot of traffic but hopefully can become more like ADP's community site, which was extremely helpful to me as an administrator.
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UKG
UKG is great for reporting and for having a pleasant UI. I find that Paylocity has a lot more innovation, but sometimes its reach exceeds its grasp when it comes to implementation of those features. ADP is bog standard, and it works pretty well, but there's little interest in looking good, which matters a lot when it comes to the wide variety of users the systems need to handle.
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Scalability
Discontinued Products
Large acquisition would be very complicated, seems more appropriate for companies under 100
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UKG
Thus far we are able to add as many users as necessary, implement 3 different bargaining units, 5 different types of user groups. Very flexible.
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Return on Investment
Discontinued Products
  • HR DPT. is much more effective, as we can assess any employee information no matter where we are, etc. This helps to provide information immediately when requested!
  • Employees have access to Ascentis, and therefore to their timecard, open enrollment, etc., from anywhere at any time!
  • Time, PTO requests, employee goals, and evaluations can be approved from anywhere at any time!
  • Recruiting can be accessed any where at any time, and this helps with hiring, internal communication, etc.
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UKG
  • Ability to manage all HR activities within one platform
  • Built in Workflows make approval process seamless
  • UKG Ready offers a solid solution and ROI on our investment
  • Easy to navigate Time & Attendance into Payroll, making processing seamless
  • Great customer service offering several methods to contact UKG for support, fast to reply and offer a solution to the issue
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ScreenShots

Ascentis (discontinued) Screenshots

Screenshot of Access all of your details including, paychecks, personal file, timeclock, etc via our mobile app.Screenshot of Punch-in and punch-out on the go.Screenshot of Centralized location for everything related to a user or admin.Screenshot of Every employee has access to their personal information in one location.Screenshot of Pre-built reporting along with Ad Hoc reporting gives you the ability to understand your business as a whole.Screenshot of Benefit enrollment made easy for your employees.

UKG Ready Screenshots

Screenshot of UKG Ready® HR - A single solution for employee information that enables comprehensive people analytics and room for HR strategy.Screenshot of UKG Ready® Payroll - Facilitates pay that is quick, simple, and correct.Screenshot of UKG Ready® Time & Attendance - Streamlines time tracking with consistent, fair rules.Screenshot of UKG Ready® Talent - Tools to source, engage, develop and grow people.Screenshot of UKG Ready® Analytics - Offers proactive, practical, and guidance.Screenshot of UKG Ready® Benefits - Right-sizes benefits to match the organization and its people.