A Surprise for a Longtime Client
“We Had Great Respect for the Transition” For years, Interflex has ensured smooth time management at the District Office in Tuttlingen. At the beginning of the year, a platform-independent self-service solution was added. The transition? Completely seamless — with no impact whatsoever on daily operations!
The workforce of the district administration in Tuttlingen is large and structurally complex: employees, temporary staff, laborers, dual students, and civil servants — more than 1,200 people spread across numerous locations, working in a wide variety of arrangements. Seasonal workers and part-time employees are just as common as full-time staff.
To reliably manage all these requirements, the district administration has relied on Interflex as a strategic partner since the early 1990s. Over the years, the system — originally used solely for recording working hours — has steadily evolved and now includes online and offline access terminals as well as parking management.
Until recently, a self-service solution was also in place, based on a Lotus Notes workflow from a previous system partner. However, when the strategic decision was made to phase out Lotus Notes, a replacement was needed — and that’s where Interflex’s own WebClient module came in. This platform-independent solution provides employees and supervisors with all relevant information via a user-friendly web interface, requiring no installation on the user side. The fact that it also reduced costs compared to the previous solution was another positive factor that made the decision to switch even easier.
Still, some initial nervousness was unavoidable: would the new application run smoothly by the planned launch date at the start of 2020? After all, replacing a system that had evolved over many years with a completely new self-service interface — including a revised workflow and permissions structure — is a complex undertaking. “We knew from the start that we were dealing with a complex environment that wouldn’t be easy to replace,” says Lars Godina, Software Consultant at Interflex. “Everyone in the district administration had grown used to the old system — but going back was not an option!”
With great dedication, a joint project team got to work. Together, the district administration and Interflex developed an approach that emphasized stakeholder communication as much as the many preparatory steps and the necessary base system update. “Even before the switch, Interflex worked with us to prepare all managers and key users. That played a big role in gaining acceptance. And we were even able to implement many new requests,” says Kerstin Singler, the department head responsible for time management at the district office.
Today, more than six months after the transition, the results are overwhelmingly positive: “It was a very successful project! At first, we were quite apprehensive, but now we’re almost surprised at how smoothly it went — we completed the entire switch in just two days. And being able to offer employees the ability to clock in from home during the COVID crisis was a huge benefit!” Kerstin Singler is pleased — and Lars Godina adds with a wink: “That’s what we call Surprise Service!” One thing’s for sure… to be continued!