100% convinced of our own product
KOGIT's business model is focused on long-term customer projects, which are usually divided into sub-projects and processed due to their complexity and duration. It goes without saying that KOGIT was demanding when choosing time recording software: the product they were looking for should be able to represent this business model. The top requirement was that no changes should be necessary to the existing internal company processes.
The company became aware of ZEP via the Internet and took advantage of the opportunity to set up a test account with provantis. After the initial positive impression, KOGIT was provided with pilot access at short notice in order to be able to set up a demo installation as a decision-making aid for management. After the internal demo, provantis presented the system. After presenting the system, the KOGIT management agreed: “The Provantis experts have made an impression: They stand 100 percent behind the product. ZEP is their baby, it's obvious. ”
Flexibility as a hobby
A particular argument in favour of ZEP was its flexibility. Even after the initial tests, it was obvious that ZEP had the potential to meet KOGIT's requirements — representing the business model and internal processes. The subsequent pilot phase confirmed this in full. The system could be adapted to KOGIT's organization and processes in a very short time through simple configuration. The very detailed documentation with examples from everyday practice and the one-day in-house workshop were extremely helpful.
The benefits were also quick: just one month after licensing, all employees were able to record their services with little effort in accordance with the project structure stored in ZEP in such a way that the desired transparency regarding project expenses and budget status could be achieved for project managers and management with the help of the available evaluations. Thanks to the automatically generated performance records when invoicing, this transparency is now also passed on to customers, with positive feedback. All of this has led to significantly fewer mistakes — and there are also no more inquiries.
Logical software, “very, very well thought out”
ZEP is operated via a web browser and clients for mobile devices. Each registered employee can book and document his/her time on the projects approved for him/her. The implementation effort was minimal: Almost zero for the recording employees, as all functions they had previously had available are also available in ZEP. The additional features were very much welcomed. The implementation effort for the back office consisted of taking over the existing processes in ZEP and using the new opportunities to structure projects and activities in such a way that they result in a comprehensible invoice structure for customers. “The software is very logically structured, very, very well thought out”, according to the praise of Peternell, who himself used to work as a software developer.
Switching within a few days
After just two weeks, the KOGIT management decided to start a pilot project with all of a customer's projects. After successful completion at the end of the billing period, the pilot system was put into production status by provantis, meaning that all preparatory work for the pilot phase was available. All active projects were transferred to ZEP within a billing period, and from then on they were only recorded in ZEP.
Manufacturer ensures smooth operation
KOGIT GmbH has been renting ZEP as a SaaS (Software as a Service) from provantis since August 2010. The software is licensed for 30 users. KOGIT uses ZEP Professional with the additional modules “Overtime, Absences and Vacation”, “Invoicing”, “Document Generator”, “Document Management” as well as the “Ticket System” and “ZEP Offline” for the laptop. Since KOGIT does not operate its own productive IT infrastructure, the cost-effective SaaS model offered by provantis was also an important argument in favor of ZEP. The rental price covers ongoing operation and software maintenance of the system — including Kogit-specific extensions — by provantis.
Relief for employees, project managers and controllers
“ZEP was enthusiastically accepted by our employees”, reports Peternell. Their excellent usability and user interface are particularly appreciated. “The ZEP offline function is important for colleagues: When they are on the train, they can use the time to enter their data into the system — promptly after a customer appointment. ”
Especially for projects in which the performance is always the same, the employee can simply copy each entry with one click; only the date and time are added. “Here, too, you can see that thought was taken into account when developing ZEP. The system is very practical”, praises Peternell. Project managers are particularly satisfied: They can see the budget status of their projects in real time at any time. And the administrators? They appreciate the intelligent, consistent and user-friendly menu navigation, in particular the fact that every function can also be executed in a new window. This saves a significant amount of time. You can tell that the PROVANTIS experts themselves use the product.
Customer-oriented invoicing
KOGIT's immanent flexibility in invoicing is very well received. Here it is possible to rework the generated Word documents. In this way, customer-specific invoices can be adapted precisely to customer requirements in terms of content and design, whether in terms of service description or project presentation. ZEP now allows the entire documentation of orders and projects to be summarized in one place: from the valid offer to the order and the planned figures to service recording, evaluations and invoices. “There is a higher level of discipline in recording and billing and the time required for invoicing is significantly lower than before”, adds Peternell.