Item: Ascentis (discontinued)
Rating: 7
Author: Rich Petro

Use Cases and Deployment Scope

We use it for timekeeping, payroll, benefits, and working on recruiting. We are not yet making good use of creating ad hoc reports as the process is not as simple as it seemed to be during demos. Presently, I and others lookup individuals or situations, but I have only used it for one report, and that one I exported to Excel and manipulated the data I needed that way vs parsing it from the Ascentis database. It has done an adequate but not seamless job of replacing paper timesheets, but we are still having to modify rules to make it work the way we need it to.

Pros and Cons

Houses many pieces of data
Produces payroll well

Maneuvering through the system could be more intuitive.
Producing ad hoc reports has been complicated.
Recruiting implementation has been challenging.

Return on Investment

None yet in terms of positive ROI
Training and learning for managers are ongoing. We have been finding some things that need reinforcement as we move along.
Keeping open during COVID has been daunting. Some PPP and FFCRA codes have been used and disseminated as we go. None of those expenses has been aggregated yet.

Support Rating

Our online/webinar meetings have gone well. It's kind of odd that there have been a variety of web meeting processes. Email responses have been very good--timely and helpful.

Key Insights

Do you think Ascentis (discontinued) delivers good value for the price?

Not sure

Are you happy with Ascentis (discontinued)'s feature set?

Yes

Did Ascentis (discontinued) live up to sales and marketing promises?

Yes

Did implementation of Ascentis (discontinued) go as expected?

Yes

Would you buy Ascentis (discontinued) again?

Yes

Other Software Used

FileMaker Pro

Usability

We are still early in the "how to make good use of it" timeframe, but the reality of running the business and using the system features is setting in. For example, when the management team first discussed how cool/useful a feature might be, many folks did not have a realistic perception of whether or not they would actually use that feature such as workforce management, attendance (who is here right now), etc. Most do not monitor or review important things now, so having system capabilities become part of their norm is just not happening at this time.

Likelihood to Recommend

Ascentis is good for clocking in, and the on-screen timekeeping widget works well. The smartphone app works pretty well but does not mirror the desktop version. The occasions of employees being stymied by the online version not working or not loading properly happen more than we would like.

Lots of possibilities

Overall Satisfaction with Ascentis