Honest Review:

Deltek Replicon

• Wealth of features
• Timesheet management
• Configurability of the system to fit specific needs
• Customizable UI
• Great customer service

Deltek Replicon does not publicly disclose its pricing on its official website. Customers need to contact Deltek or schedule a demo for a quote.

1. Deltek Replicon Timesheet with GPS 

There’s no overemphasizing the importance of time tracking as a crucial tool in maintaining healthy business operations. Knowing how time is spent by everyone in a business is essential for boosting productivity, ensuring profitability, keeping performance up, and guaranteeing that progress is always on track. For businesses with a physical aspect such as construction, retail, hospitality, field services, medical services, and similar location-based industries, the how is just as important as the where; it is imperative that they know that employees are spending time on the right tasks in the right places. This is where the importance of Deltek Replicon’s GPS timesheets comes in.

GPS timesheets allow Deltek Replicon users to track employee locations in real-time and provide valuable information about where they’ve clocked in from to help ensure that they are indeed punching in from the right place at the right time — in the job location, and not on the way to it. I believe that aside from helping curb time theft, the GPS stamping on punches also helps instill the values of accountability and honesty among the ranks. knowing that superiors have a way to know the location of every clock-in is a surefire way of ensuring that they make an effort to really be where they should be when the clock hits their start-of-shift time.

Aside from accountability, having the ability to track employee location in real-time with Deltek Replicon is also helpful in the interest of safety. Managers and admins can see where team members are at all times so they can quickly jump to action anytime it might be warranted. They would also have better control of on-the-road teams and always have a clear picture of where everyone is on the map…. literally. 

For jobs with fixed locations such as stores, hospitals, construction sites, and the like, businesses can benefit from Deltek Replicon’s geofencing capabilities that restrict employee clock-ins and clock-outs only from authorized locations. This ensures that they can only go on or off the clock when they are within the area virtually bordered off by the geofence, which means that time theft by clocking in away from the job site is prevented. 

Since we’re on the topic, Deltek Replicon offers three ways of entering time into the system. The first and most accurate method is by punching in and out via the clock in or out tab on the web app, through the CloudClock on a shared tablet device, or with the Deltek Replicon mobile app. On all of these platforms, initiating time tracking is as simple as tapping or clicking the clock-in button. Once done with work, users can stop the clock just as easily by hitting the clock-out button. If GPS location capture is required by the users’ punch entry policy, they will only be allowed to punch in through platforms that support GPS location capture, which means they can only clock in with the mobile app or through the CloudClock on a shared kiosk, as the web app does not support location capture. If the software is configured to do so, Deltek Replicon will show the punches on a map, and any punches that fall outside the blue circles of geofenced areas will be flagged as invalid, and will show as such on the map, in punch lists, and on the timesheets. 

The second method of entering time in Deltek Replicon is by recording the starting and ending times of work in an in/out timesheet. Though less accurate than the timer option, this method allows users to specify when they started on what task and when they ended working on it. The system does all the calculations to arrive at the total number of hours spent across tasks or during the entire workday as long as users enter the required periods. Unlike the timer, this method of time entry is done post-fact.

The third, and in my opinion, least reliable method of entering time into Deltek Replicon is through the use of the duration-based timesheet. With this method, users can enter the number of hours and minutes they worked in a grid, under the correct date and in line with the correct task. They can add as many tasks as they need to appropriately cover all the activities done during a certain period, say, a week. I say that this is the least reliable because anyone can say that they worked for a certain number of hours on a certain day, but without a live timer or at least a start and end time, there is no way of knowing if they indeed worked the hours that they claim they did.

2. Deltek Replicon Advanced Time Clock

Ensuring that the right person is clocking in at the right place is of paramount importance if businesses wish to curb the unsavory time theft phenomenon of buddy punching, where employees clock in other employees on their behalf while they are still outside the workplace. Time theft shenanigans like this cost businesses a significant amount of money every year that could otherwise be diverted to more productive usage. Deltek Replicon’s CloudClock seeks to put an end to that.

The Deltek Replicon CloudClock is an AI-powered time clock app designed for use on shared iOS tablets that can be configured as kiosks for the workplace. When a tablet is transformed into an intelligent time clock with Deltek Replicon’s CloudClock app, it allows the employees assigned to a particular site to record their attendance, working hours, and breaks with ease. The clocking-in function can be configured to accept user ID login, a QR card, or facial recognition that will match the face of the employee clocking in with the profile photo for the account stored in the system. The facial recognition software detects and flags any discrepancies, and logs them in a photo audit trail along with the previously discussed GPS details. 

What I really like about the Deltek Replicon’s facial recognition feature is that it eliminates the need for user IDs that may be a hassle to remember, and badges, and cards that may be cumbersome to use. It also eliminates the need to touch shared surfaces and presents a hygienic alternative to the tap-and-go methods usually associated with kiosks. In this post-pandemic world, such functionality can be essential, especially in workplaces related to the health and medical industries.

Now, unlike most traditional time clocks with similar features, Deltek Replicon offers a more cost-effective alternative, and with relatively minimal costs, businesses can deploy as many time clocks as they need across multiple sites. This is especially helpful if a business has more than one location that needs to be monitored closely. 

3. Deltek Replicon Absence Management

Managing absences is a crucial part of the success — or downfall — of any business. When managed correctly, time off is an asset that allows employees to get the downtime they need to be able to function at their best. Managed poorly, it becomes a liability that compromises productivity and puts a stranglehold on progress. But aside from allowing employees to relax and recharge their batteries outside the workplace setting and maintain a healthy work-life balance, adequate time off is also mandated by law, and giving employees less than their lawfully mandated allocation could result in severe and costly legal repercussions. This is where Deltek Replicon’s time off management features come in handy. 

With Deltek Replicon, businesses can set up time off types to cover just about any kind of absence due to any reason, such as vacations, sick leaves, bereavement, maternity, jury duty, and a lot more, each with its default accrual policy based on what the law dictates and on company policies. Setting up time off would also require the definition of system-level settings such as pay codes, approval paths, manager permissions, notifications, templates, accrual policies, and holiday calendars. Once those are defined, admins can then customize time off settings for employees by assigning them a time off template that defines their time off options, an approval path that determines who approves their booked time off, and the time off types available to them. Admins can also customize their accrual policies if necessary.

As soon as all of those are accomplished, users can start requesting time off using the system which offers a more streamlined and relatively hassle-free process compared to traditional time off request methods which require employees to jump through hoops, chase signatures, and accomplish everything within office hours. With Deltek Replicon, employees can submit time off bookings with ease on desktops or even on mobile devices, and it eliminates the need for cumbersome paperwork and awkward conversations with HR. They only need to choose the dates they wish to book as time off, submit it using the web or mobile apps, and wait for approval.

On the management end, time off bookings are sent to each employee’s assigned time approver, who is usually the supervisor, though someone else could be assigned to the role. Approvers will then review the booking on a dedicated dashboard on the Deltek Replicon web or mobile apps, compare it with the time off calendar to ensure there are no conflicts and staff coverage is uncompromised, track it against outstanding time off balances, and then approve or deny the booking based on those considerations. If a booking is rejected, the requesting employee can edit and resubmit the item for approval. 

Approved time off bookings are immediately recorded in the system and used for payroll processing, much like tracked time is. Payroll managers have the power to override the regular booking process, and they can enter time off bookings into the Deltek Replicon system if they know that time off was taken but was not recorded. Time off data can also be exported to third-party payroll generation tools using Deltek Replicon’s payroll exports or report data exports, which opens it up for further processing.

4. Deltek Replicon Global Enterprise Readiness

Deltek Replicon’s “Global Enterprise Ready” software allows users to translate the system into any foreign language. It supports languages such as English, Chinese (simplified and traditional), French, German, Spanish, Danish, Hebrew, Portuguese, and many others.

The software also offers multiple-currency payments, helping employees from around the world to have quick and easy access to their payments without worrying about bank regulations.

(As of December 2023)

• Capterra: 4.5/5
• G2: 4.3/5
• TrustRadius: 8.6/10
• GetApp: 4.5/5
• Software Advice: 4.5/5
• Play Store: 4.4/5
• App Store: 4.2/5

Deltek Replicon is a highly versatile and configurable time tracking and project management tool. Its range or functionality is not limited to those, though — it also allows users to do a lot more such as manage attendance and time off, keep a close eye on projects, optimize resources and budgets, monitor expenses, create schedules, assist in billing and invoicing, and provide real-time and insightful reports about everything that the system tracks and records. 

Early on in this Deltek Replicon review, I’ve mentioned that the software is dubbed as an all-in-one solution. Having discussed all of these, I’m inclined to believe that that claim has quite some substance to it. 

However, like every other solution, it does come with its own set of flaws. First and most alarming is the difficulty of synchronization between the mobile and desktop apps which leads to some inconsistencies in tracked time. For a product that hypes the accuracy of its time tracking capabilities so much, this is an ironic failure that may put Deltek Replicon’s credibility into question. Thankfully, it only happens occasionally, but for time tracking solutions, once is already too much.

Second on my list is Deltek Replicon’s complex operation and steep learning curve. I get it, with all of its configurability, the trade-off is ease of use. While this may be perfectly fine for tech-savvy users, those who are less knowledgeable may find the complexity a stumbling block, and instead of making their work easier, it may even contribute to inefficiency.

Aside from those, another key flaw of Deltek Replicon is the difficulty in creating reports. Aside from being a bit confusing, the templates offered by the software don’t quite cover a significant amount of analytic structure needs, and I’m left here thinking that they could offer a lot more templates or allow users to create their own analytic structures that would present data in the way that would make the most sense to them.

There are also some significant differences between versions of Deltek Replicon, and not always for the better. It seems that Deltek Replicon Gen 3 has phased out some features that clients loved and relied on heavily in previous iterations, and their loss is keenly felt. 

But probably the most irritating of all its flaws is the clunkiness of the Deltek Replicon mobile apps. It’s chock-full of bugs and glitches that I’d rather use the web app than risk having my day ruined by its poor performance. However, even the web app is not spared from red marks — not all integrations work as smoothly as advertised, and this can be quite frustrating, especially during crunch time. 

To cap it all off, the complicated pricing structure can leave you scratching your head — with so many plans, unnecessary feature segmentations, and some really eye-watering prices, one cannot help but feel like it’s a cash grab. Not saying that it is, but that’s how it feels. 

But despite all of those flaws, the silver lining is that Deltek Replicon offers multi-currency payments and support in various languages so it is, in their words, global enterprise-ready. I love that they’ve factored inclusivity into the product design, and I think this is the way forward. 

The centralized communication system is also something that I really like, as it fosters collaboration and transparency among employees builds trust between management, and the workforce, and promotes transparency and builds trust with clients and other stakeholders. 

Is Deltek Replicon the all-in-one solution that it’s promised to be? It could very well be. Do its flaws outweigh its usability? Probably not, but you have to keep an open mind and be attentive while learning how it works and using it for your purposes. Is it worth purchasing? Well, if you’re looking for a highly configurable solution that does more than just time tracking and you don’t mind complex operations and occasional flaws, I’d say go and give their free trial a whirl!