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PDS Vista

PDS Vista

Overview

What is PDS Vista?

Vista® is a human resource, benefits, payroll, recruiting, and self-service software. Functional elements include recruitment, staffing, position and training management, compliance, and performance and compensation.

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Pricing

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What is PDS Vista?

Vista® is a human resource, benefits, payroll, recruiting, and self-service software. Functional elements include recruitment, staffing, position and training management, compliance, and performance and compensation.

Entry-level set up fee?

  • No setup fee

Offerings

  • Free Trial
  • Free/Freemium Version
  • Premium Consulting/Integration Services

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Features

Human Resource Management

Organizing, tracking and providing instant access to critical employee data, job profiles, transfers, promotions, and benefits information.

1.9
Avg 7.8

Payroll Management

Provides for pay calculation and benefit plan administration, in addition to managing direct deposit, salary revisions and payroll tracking.

3.2
Avg 8.0

Leave and Attendance Management

Streamlines communication between HR and employees and facilitates efficient management of employee leave including requisitions, approvals, balance calculation, and annual carry-forward.

1
Avg 8.0

Employee Self Service

Employee portal allowing employees to view and update their personal information.

2
Avg 8.1

Asset Management

Maintaining a record of assets such as laptops, pagers, cell phones, etc. issued to employees. Record typically includes asset type, number, serial number and date of issuance.

7.3
Avg 8.0

HR Reporting

Pre-built and custom reports, and integration with external data.

2
Avg 7.5

Onboarding

Employee onboarding is the process of orienting new hires to the social and performance aspects of their jobs so that they are able to function in their new roles as quickly as possible.

1
Avg 7.9

Performance and Goals

Goal alignment is the practice of ensuring that all employees have clearly defined goals in support of the overall corporate strategy.

2.8
Avg 7.9

Performance Management

Performance management is the process of ensuring employees meet pre-determined objectives and goals through regular check-ins and appraisals.

1
Avg 7.8

Succession Planning

Succession planning is the identification and development of internal employees with the potential to fill key business leadership positions in the company.

2.3
Avg 7.8

Recruiting / ATS

Recruiting or Applicant Tracking Software is software used to manage the recruitment process electronically by handling job postings, applicant status, resume management, etc.

1.4
Avg 7.8
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Product Details

What is PDS Vista?

According to the vendor, PDS Vista is a comprehensive Human Capital Management (HCM) platform designed to offer personalized solutions for diverse industry requirements. The product encompasses various services such as recruiting, onboarding, human resources, benefits administration, and payroll management, thus serving as an end-to-end solution. By leveraging advanced technology and customization options, PDS aims to tackle complex challenges faced by businesses in this domain. Notably, the vendor emphasizes their commitment to customer satisfaction through personalized support provided by knowledgeable experts. While specific industries or professions are not explicitly specified, the vendor assures that the product suite caters to a wide range of organizations seeking HCM solutions tailored to their distinct needs.

End-to-End Human Capital Management Suite

The product is designed to streamline and automate administrative and payroll tasks, as well as offer strategic decision-making capabilities. Key features include workflow management, tax handling, recruitment support, training management, compliance with OSHA and workers' compensation regulations, performance evaluation and compensation tracking, employee and managerial self-service options, analytics, comprehensive reporting capabilities, among others. The vendor highlights their personalized approach and industry expertise to deliver a tailored experience for each customer.

Vista Analytics

The product is designed to offer a comprehensive analytics solution that prioritizes user-centricity. The vendor asserts that users can replace traditional printed reports with visually appealing graphics, enhancing stakeholder accessibility and comprehension of information. Users are granted real-time access to data and the ability to customize their dashboards through easy drill-downs and data exports at the click of a button. With an extensive library of predefined analytics, Vista Analytics enables organizations to effortlessly collect statistical data, analyze trends, and showcase key performance indicators (KPIs). Furthermore, it provides training courses covering graph analysis, setup procedures, usage guidelines, KPI utilization, and dashboard deployment. This toolset ensures effortless compilation of summarized data into meaningful charts or columns based on specific groupings. Additionally, it offers diverse dashboards for effective result presentation, auditable views and alerts for meticulous data management, secure user-specific dashboards, as well as workflow reports tailored for ROI analysis.

Workflow

The Vista Workflow engine is seamlessly integrated throughout the Vista product, offering automation of approval processes. The vendor asserts that their workflow features were designed to address the management of approval processes, transaction monitoring, and activity rerouting. Users can utilize tools like manager and employee time review and approval, as well as customize approval steps to align with individual process workflows. Through implementing consistent practices and automating approvals, PDS Vista aims to optimize HR operations, improving productivity while reducing administrative burdens.

Automatic Scheduling and Calculation of Initial and Standard Measurements

The product offers automated scheduling and calculation capabilities, allowing businesses to streamline processes and ensure compliance with ACA regulations. This feature aims to save time by accurately determining initial and standard measurements for employee healthcare eligibility and stability periods. The vendor asserts that the automatic scheduling and calculation functionality of PDS Vista will enhance efficiency in managing healthcare plans within organizations.

PDS Vista Features

Human Resource Management Features

  • Supported: Employee demographic data
  • Supported: Employment history
  • Supported: Job profiles and administration
  • Supported: Workflow for transfers, promotions, pay raises, etc.
  • Supported: Benefits information
  • Supported: Organizational charting
  • Supported: Organization and location management
  • Supported: Compliance data (COBRA, OSHA, etc.)

Payroll Management Features

  • Supported: Pay calculation
  • Supported: Support for external payroll vendors
  • Supported: Off-cycle/On-Demand payment
  • Supported: Payroll history for each employee
  • Supported: Benefit plan administration
  • Supported: Direct deposit files
  • Supported: Payroll tracking and auditing
  • Supported: Salary revision and increment management
  • Supported: Statutory form management

Leave and Attendance Management Features

  • Supported: Approval workflow
  • Supported: Email notifications
  • Supported: Balance details
  • Supported: Travel absence management
  • Supported: Annual carry-forward and encashment

Employee Self Service Features

  • Supported: Employee login
  • Supported: View and generate pay and benefit information
  • Supported: Update personal information
  • Supported: Request time off
  • Supported: View job history
  • Supported: View company policy documentation
  • Supported: View company news and information
  • Supported: Employee recognition

Asset Management Features

  • Supported: Tracking of all physical assets
  • Supported: Asset return

HR Reporting Features

  • Supported: Report builder
  • Supported: Pre-built reports
  • Supported: Ability to combine HR data with external data

Integration with other HR capabilities Features

  • Supported: Additional HR capabilities (talent management, LMS, etc.) supplied by same vendor
  • Supported: Additional HR capabilities (talent management, LMS, etc.) supplied by different vendor

Performance Management Features

  • Supported: Performance plans
  • Supported: Performance improvement plans
  • Supported: Review status tracking
  • Supported: Review reminders
  • Supported: Multiple review frequency

Succession Planning Features

  • Supported: Create succession plans/pools
  • Supported: Candidate ranking
  • Supported: Candidate search
  • Supported: Candidate development

Onboarding Features

  • Supported: New hire portal
  • Supported: Manager tracking tools

Performance and Goals Features

  • Supported: Corporate goal setting
  • Supported: Individual goal setting
  • Supported: Line-of sight-visibility
  • Supported: Performance tracking

Recruiting / ATS Features

  • Supported: Job Requisition Management
  • Supported: Company Website Posting
  • Supported: Publish to Social Media
  • Supported: Job Search Site Posting
  • Supported: Duplicate Candidate Prevention
  • Supported: Applicant Tracking
  • Supported: Notifications and Alerts

Additional Features

  • Supported: Natural Language Query Tool
  • Supported: Configurable Analytics, Dashboards and KPIs
  • Supported: Configurable Workflows
  • Supported: On-Premise or Cloud deployment

PDS Vista Screenshots

Screenshot of employee data, which is the heart of a corporate knowledge base. Within Vista, an organized database of employees, applicants, jobs, and positions can be created and maintained. The product’s flexibility allows users to structure corporate data as simply or as complicated as business needs require.Screenshot of Vista Payroll, which is designed to strike the perfect balance between power and simplicity. It is designed to process large volumes of data within tight time constraints, whether U.S., Canadian, or Caribbean.

Vista Payroll is focused on its main tasks of calculating pay, creating paychecks, producing payroll registers, and federal, state, local, and provincial tax reports.Screenshot of the included Vista Benefits features, which can include unlimited plans and coverage levels, automated benefits eligibility, auto-housekeeping of valuations and premiums.Screenshot of Vista Recruiting, which presents critical applicant information in an efficient manner for both human resources professionals and hiring managers, alike.

Vista Recruiting gives HR departments command over the entire hiring process for each department in every location while more easily tracking and controlling costs, improving applicant management, strengthening relationships with applicants, and reducing paperwork for the HR team.

PDS Vista Video

PDS' Vista - HCM

PDS Vista Technical Details

Deployment TypesOn-premise, Software as a Service (SaaS), Cloud, or Web-Based
Operating SystemsWindows, Linux, Mac
Mobile ApplicationApple iOS, Android, Windows Phone, Mobile Web
Supported CountriesU.S. & Canada
Supported LanguagesEnglish

Frequently Asked Questions

Vista® is a human resource, benefits, payroll, recruiting, and self-service software. Functional elements include recruitment, staffing, position and training management, compliance, and performance and compensation.

ADP Vantage HCM, UKG Pro, and Workday Human Capital Management are common alternatives for PDS Vista.

Reviewers rate Reimbursement management highest, with a score of 8.2.

The most common users of PDS Vista are from Mid-sized Companies (51-1,000 employees).

PDS Vista Customer Size Distribution

Consumers0%
Small Businesses (1-50 employees)0%
Mid-Size Companies (51-500 employees)27%
Enterprises (more than 500 employees)73%
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Comparisons

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Reviews From Top Reviewers

(1-5 of 6)

Happy with Vista HRMS

Rating: 8 out of 10
April 15, 2015
Vetted Review
Verified User
PDS Vista
2 years of experience
Vista HRMS is being used across the whole organization. This is our HR/Payroll/Benefit/Absence Management solution for our company.
  • Their staff are available to talk to about existing issues.
  • Their open enrollment process was easy for employees to understand without a high amount of training. Our last software also had employees step through enrollment.
  • The database table names are pretty self explanatory, previous systems I have used this is not always the case.
Cons
  • The inplementation/training is when you are expected to 'set up' your organization etc.It is very difficult to make these decisions that later turn out to be incorrect and difficult to change when you are just being introduced to the system.
  • We had reviewed some very specific wants/needs with sales/demo staff, spent a lot of time filling out documentation that we believe were never passed on to the Implementation specialist so we had to start over at square one. Some of those items we found out in truth, the system could not do after all and we had to create work arounds.
  • We were leaving our last system partially because there always were patches needing tested and for our size company it is expensive to test all the time. We believed PDS did not have this same cycle of patches, but we have found their have been quite a few. Often until you can test a whole PTF they will send out scripts to fix one thing. Our company does not install things straight into production, so we spend a lot of time having to test the whole system.
All in all we have been happy with the product as a whole. As with any software nothing is perfect, but our belief that the company really does strive to listen to their users in making improvements to the system is great.

PDS VistaHRMS

Rating: 9 out of 10
February 09, 2017
Vetted Review
Verified User
PDS Vista
6 years of experience
We use PDS VistaHRMS for our core HR, Benefits, Payroll and Recruiting functions. Our main users are in the Human Resources area but all employees benefit from VistaHRMS due to the self-service functionality it provides as well as the ability to allow supervisors access to review applicants through recruiting..
  • VistaHRMS' open, customizable architecture which provides ultimate flexibility and opportunities for integration. We can use our technical development skills to create any new module we may need as well as extend the base system code to handle our unique requirements, special circumstances and processes. This also aids greatly in troubleshooting and identifying issues because you can get right down to the source code.
  • VistaHRMS provides flexibility for security so that any employee in the company can have access to the HR information that is pertinent to him or her.
  • PDS staff are spectacular to work with. They provide high-quality, timely support and are always willing to spend the time to get your questions answered.
  • PDS is deeply and sincerely interested in customer feedback. This is the best way to improve the product: listen to your customers. They not only listen to the request, they actually implement many of the changes in base system. PDS is a strategic partner for our organization based on the level of service they have provided and their willingness to act on our feedback.
Cons
  • Typical of any system built for the unknown requirements of hundreds or thousands of customers with varying needs, PDS sometimes doesn't fit our processes precisely out of the box. However, this con is far outweighed by the ability to configure and customize the system.
  • The most significant pet peeve of our users is the necessity for so many clicks to navigate between different areas or the system or to review applicants. These items are being addressed based on feedback from the user community in an upcoming release.
Having options for on-site, hosted or SaaS implementations, the VistaHRMS system can meet the needs of most organizations whether the organization has IT staff or not. There will be situations where unique requirements may require customizations to the system to accommodate the needs. However, with the open architecture and the consulting of PDS, most anything can be developed to suit your needs.

Vista HRMS Review

Rating: 8 out of 10
March 18, 2015
Vetted Review
Verified User
PDS Vista
15 years of experience
Vista HRMS is used across our entire organization for HR data, benefits enrollment and payroll processing.
  • We have total control of our data. It's awesome having it in a single database! Custom reports through Crystal are easy to create, and to post on Vista for others to access.
  • Based upon their security level, managers can have access to data about their subordinates, without having to request this info from HR or Payroll
  • Annual Open Enrollment for benefits is completely on-line and easy for everyone to complete.
  • Payroll processing is easy to review and complete.
  • We have a large workforce in warehouse jobs where they receive auto increases based upon the time they are in their job. Vista HRMS easily tracks this, processes the auto increases on the correct dates and sends out an e-mail to HR and the manager when the increase was processed.
Cons
  • We do not utilize the performance appraisal process in Vista because our process requires our employees to have individual goals that are tracked and measured in addition to the traditional competencies.
  • We have a very involved bonus calculation process which Vista is not able to support
  • We currently use another product for Time and Attendance because we've been with that system well before Vista added it to their functionality.
The best feature of Vista HRMS, in my opinion, is the integration of data into a single database. You can easily generate reports and create metrics to compare or analyze anything that we chose to track within the system. We track everything from certification/education, drug tests, I-9 information, to position history and salary increase history.

Great application and great service

Rating: 10 out of 10
January 26, 2017
MF
Vetted Review
Verified User
PDS Vista
19 years of experience
We use PDS’ Vista HRMS application for HR, benefits, and payroll for ourselves (the Lee County Clerk of Courts) and also Lee County government, airport and court administration employees. Additionally, we track benefits for retirees and twelve other agencies that utilize the county’s benefit plans. All total, there are approximately 5,000 active employees and enrollees. The clerk of courts maintains the application and develops any custom programs.
  • Vista HRMS is very flexible, it does everything we need for HR, benefits and payroll. It’s user-friendly and intuitive to use, when we roll out new self-service items our employees have no problems and require minimal training or documentation.
  • PDS has excellent customer service and support. We get answers to the majority of our questions and problems quickly, within the day that we call. More complex issues that may require PDS’ technical support are usually addressed within a few days. We were upgrading our production servers to Windows 2012 over a weekend and a key person in our organization was on leave. When we checked with PDS to see what cost would be involved if we needed their help, they said it was included in our regular maintenance, no extra cost.
  • The PDS User’s Conference is an excellent learning opportunity for training on everything Vista does, including using Crystal Reports for custom reporting. You also get to meet and talk to the executive and development staff and have direct input into the future product development.
Cons
  • The time entry features historically weren’t robust enough for our needs so we went with a separate application. We haven’t evaluated Vista’s current improvements so it may be better now. We do use the leave accrual processing in Vista though and it works perfectly.
  • Sometimes we have trouble reporting on our old historical data. PDS has improved their history and reporting on it, we need to review our data. We would like to have PDS add employer benefit costs to history though.
  • Self-service provides immediate access for employees

  • Open enrollment is so easy, our HR staff love it

  • Fully integrated HR, benefits and payroll information means less errors and saves time

Established user perspective

Rating: 9 out of 10
January 27, 2015
PM
Vetted Review
Verified User
PDS Vista
7 years of experience
Vista HRMS integrates our HR and Payroll functions nicely and has been used throughout the organization for over 15 years. While our benefit and timekeeping systems are handled by other systems, the control of our data through easily customizable interfaces allow these systems to be seamlessly integrated into our enterprise. Self-service allows our managers and employees access to information and key job functions and the Recruiting module will be implemented soon.
  • The core HR and Payroll functions work very well together out of the box but they can be modified to answer any business process. The system is completely configurable and will allow any number of custom fields not only to be created to capture data points, but to be used in custom procedures, wizards and reports. In the 7+ years I've been working with Vista HRMS, we have always been able to customize the application to meet our needs.
  • Custom reporting from the Vista HRMS database is easy and can be completely integrated into the front end user interface. We've gone from hundreds of custom reports stored on back office computers to a few dozen reports accessible by managers and employees directly through the application.
  • Interfacing with other systems is seamless and allows Vista HRMS to be our system of record. As of now, Vista HRMS is supporting 8 other business or 3rd party applications.
  • I manage several systems and the support we get from PDS is like no where else. The entire phone support team is great and we've got to know many of them on a first name basis. PDS expends a great effort on their Users Conferences which are highly valuable to the organization. The intimate gatherings are a great place to let them know what you think of their software and they listen by regularly adding in our suggestions.
Cons
  • We currently use another vendor for timekeeping and tracking. Our organization requires complex pay processing rules to handle both union and non-union employees and provides a scheduling component suitable for a 24hr healthcare facility. I understand that PDS has partnered with a vendor to provide a better timekeeping solution, but a few years back it still was not adequate for our needs. For the amount of time and investment it would cost to switch vendors and applications, the PDS offering would have to be spectacular.
  • We also outsource our benefits and online benefit enrollment. We had used the PDS Benefits module for two years (2010-11) but with limited online enrollment functionality, changing benefit plans each year, and bundled enrollment processing from our benefit vendor, it became too time intensive for us to manually build and change the configuration each year and reconcile charges monthly. I have heard of significant improvements to the Benefit module and the online enrollment capabilities in recent years but plan to stick with what we have for now.
For the most part, the Hosted version has all of the same benefits as the on-premise version. As a hosted client, we have direct VPN access to the database. Although access is read only, this is a huge benefit over most other SAAS or hosted applications. Bulk inserts and updates to the database are allowed, as are changes to the web front-end, you'll just need to submit your code to the hosting dept and have them review and execute it for you. The support team and hosting department are great and will help you do what you need to do.
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