About Align HCM
Align HCM is a software consulting firm that specializes exclusively in the UKG suite of products, resulting from the merger of Ultimate Software with Kronos Inc. The company provides expert consulting services for the implementation and support of human capital management (HCM) software to help organizations optimize their human resources processes.
Additionally, Align HCM is decorated with multiple awards from its partners at UKG, and has attained Great Place to Work certification. The latter demonstrates the company’s commitment to practicing what they preach by providing employees with a great work environment and efficient processes to help them deliver high-quality work.
Prevented Growth
As Align HCM saw its company doubling in size each year since its inception in 2018, they were faced with a challenge. Their existing project management tool was limited in capacity and cumbersome, preventing management from adequately administrating the projects and viewing data to make informed and timely decisions.
After having undergone many customizations to allow, for example, project time-tracking and invoicing automation, they finally felt like they had outgrown their original platform. Difficult access to KPIs and the inability to extract data were inhibiting Align HCM’s growth. It was time to switch software and start scaling the business to the next level.
Mavenlink and Big Bang to the Rescue
With this challenge came an obvious solution: implementing a better fit Professional Services Automation (PSA) software. With many years of experience in the consulting industry, Mike Emsley, Chief Strategy Officer, knew that Mavenlink was Align HCM’s best bet for data-driven analysis and project management. After reviewing all of the leading PSA platforms in the market, Align HCM was confident that Mavenlink would be the best option.
Mike was introduced to Big Bang as a preferred implementation partner directly from Mavenlink. Thus, the partnership between Align HCM and Big Bang was born.
The Big Bang team proceeded with a Mavenlink implementation. Additionally, the team provided expert guidance and advice to help the Align HCM team better understand the new platform and its functionality. Together, they decided on the best configuration and set up features and processes for the company’s needs. All-in-all, the Big Bang consultants acted as subject matter experts throughout the process to give Align HCM’s team the confidence and autonomy they needed to leverage the new software.
The Big Bang team exceeded Align HCM’s expectations. Moreover, Align HCM found themselves extremely satisfied with the work of the Project Manager assigned to their company. According to them, he brought broad expertise to the table and was very product savvy and process-oriented regarding decision-making. Drawing upon his previous experiences, he was able to guide Align HCM with best practices:
“Our project manager did a fantastic job. He not only shepherded us through the process and the timeline but was also able to answer many questions right away. He was a great thought partner.”
– Mike Emsley, Chief Strategy Officer
Overall, the Big Bang team stayed on budget and respected the timeline Align HCM gave them.
Better Insights & Access to Data
“It’s a complete 180 from what we had before”, explains Mike Emsley. “Our project managers now have incredible control and data visibility. They are able to leverage that data to drive more efficient project management processes and bring better service to our clients.”
Furthermore, data visibility is now unlocked and at the whole team’s disposal in real time. Mavenlink made it easier for consultants to see the tasks at hand, their scheduled and assigned items, timeline, and utilization – all things Align HCM did not have easy access to with their previous system.
Ultimately, the consensus among the company is the switch was critical for their business. Mavenlink’s reporting tools and analytics significantly improved Align HCM’s professional services processes, and they can now look forward to faster growth thanks to their new platform.
“Although we’re still learning and early in our journey, we’re very bullish on the benefits Mavenlink will continue to bring to our company.”
– Mike Emsley, Chief Strategy Officer
Bright Future Ahead
For the future, Align HCM hopes to continue progressing and moving up the maturity curve of Mavenlink. Updating onboarding programs, doing project portfolio reviews with project managers, adding new processes, and regularly communicating best practices will help people use the software correctly and to its full potential.
To ensure they are leveraging the tool optimally in the long term, the company is also looking to extend its partnership with Big Bang for support services throughout the year.
“Having the right platform is a must-have for a consulting firm seeking to scale beyond 20-30 people. How can you run your business without data? This is why Mavenlink was a no-brainer for Align HCM.”
– Mike Emsley, Chief Strategy Officer
