eMalaya is a Project Management and Time Sheet entry tool that calculates projections; that is to say, it accumulates the hours executed and the “remaining work” to be done of a Development Project. And this calculation brings a new perspective on Project Management for the greater benefit of Project Managers, Administrators and Clients; the knowledge of the true state of a Project.
IT Projects are almost always complex, involve many resources, and often take several months to complete. And over time, the vast majority of IT Projects will face potential pitfalls or new Client requests, both of which will result in schedule and cost overruns.
In this context, it is not easy for the Project Manager to monitor his Projects in real time and evaluate the performance of Development Team.
In order to get a clear view, the Project Manager must almost always collect project data from different systems. Moreover, the main Project Management software (DevOps / Jira) only looks to the future; that is to say, it only calculates the Remaining Work without taking into account the hours executed.
These different estimates will have important repercussions for all stakeholders of a Project: Developers, Managers, Administrators and Clients.
So how do you know where you really stand in terms of performance of the Development Team, the Budget (Billing) and the Schedule? How can you get a clear real-time vision of a Project? Is it possible to objectively evaluate the actual status of a Project; that is to say, to know precisely the actual hours executed by the Developers plus the estimated hours of work remaining to be done by these same Developers for all of their Tasks?
In fact, we are talking here about a new concept in Project Management; the Projection, that is to say the addition of the real time work done plus the remaining work to be done. Interesting, isn’t it!
Objectives of Real-Time Project Management
In an ideal world, we would like to enable a single time entry, in one place, for employees or Developers and represent time sheet entry from the point of view of the Developers / employees. They work on tasks, not in a project/sub-project/sub sub-project hierarchy.
We would also like to allow Managers to monitor their projects adequately and accurately; in particular, to allow them to always know, the hours executed and the remaining work to determine the projection; that is to say, the reality plus the remaining work.
Finally, we would like to allow a simplified monthly invoicing for the Administration so that it can easily separate the cost overruns imputable to Developers versus the cost overruns imputable to new requests from the Client and, approved by the Client.
Benefits of Projections Generated for the Manager
The task of Project follow-up is all the more complex for the Manager as he has to deal with data used for different purposes: project follow-up, invoicing, capacity management, absence management, overtime management, etc.
Many companies use in-house tools or Excel files to compile the hours worked and the hours to be done in a given project. At Analystik, we decided to integrate eMalaya, our own Project Tracking and Invoicing tool, with DevOps / Jira.
eMalaya is a Project Tracking and Time Billing tool that can be used for any type of Project and for any Services company. In a word, the challenges of Project Management are numerous!
eMalaya calculates projections; that is to say, the addition of the actual time executed plus the remaining to be done!
Projections are calculated in real time, which allows managers to instantly see cost overruns and to raise a flag with the Development Team and notify their Client of an overrun. Therefore, in addition to anticipating a billing adjustment, the Manager will be in a position to have informed discussions on the progress of the Project because everyone knows that Clients always end up making new requests during the course of a project and that the evaluation of these requests is not always optimal! This is how Project Management goes.
Benefits of eMalaya for the Developer or Employee in Telework or in the Enterprise
Even today, Developers still have to enter the time worked in one system for billing purposes (Time Billing) and also enter the “remaining work” in another system, usually DevOps or Jira.
First, let’s mention that eMalaya represents the entry of timesheets from the developers’ viewpoint; on a daily basis, they work on Tasks, not Projects.
Thanks to the integration of eMalaya with DevOps / Jira, the Developer enters the Task number in one place and the hours are automatically applied to the right Client, Project, sub-Project, Epic, Feature, User Story and Task.
Moreover, if the number of the executed Task that the Developer enters does not already exist in the eMalaya Project structure, then an automatic Project Structure creation function will retrieve the one from DevOps / Jira to insert it!
Benefits of eMalaya for the Administrator
One of the main challenges in Project Management is to produce clear data in order to simplify the Invoicing process because these data generally follow different time cycles; Invoicing is monthly, Sprints are generally spread over 3 weeks, Tasks are defined and executed on a daily basis while projects are spread over months or even years.
eMalaya’s Invoicing module presents invoices to Clients according to a project/sub-project structure, defined either in eMalaya or in DevOps / Jira.
In addition, eMalaya offers the benefit of the Activities’ function, which compiles the time dedicated to the company’s current activities and not associated with any development project; for example, vacations or public holidays.
In addition, eMalaya provides the necessary data to generate employee payroll.
Conclusion
The notion of “projection“, the hours executed plus the hours remaining to be done, is a fundamental concept for those who aspire to a sound management of their Projects, whatever the sector of activity.
And obviously, any company wishing to properly evaluate the progress of executed projects and anxious to maintain good relations with its Clients while avoiding heated discussions about Invoicing will have in mind the vision and benefits of a tool such as eMalaya, in integration with DevOps / Jira.