Bye Bye Flash!

What would happen if no one in your workforce could log your workforce management solution via a browser anymore? How would you manage schedules and make sure people are working? How would you track time and exceptions, not to mention leave and payroll?  

If that thought sends a shock down your spine and you are still on Kronos WFC v.8.0.x, you are right to worry! Unless your IT Department takes action to lock down updates to browsers before January 2021, access to Flash will be gone!

Bye  Bye  Functionality…

As a Kronos Workforce Central user, what happens when the browsers pull support from Flash at the end of this year? Nothing, for anyone on Workforce Central 8.1.6 or Workforce Dimensions. However for those still utilising any of the Flash based functionality in earlier versions of Kronos [1], this means that all your Navigator functionality will no longer be accessible from updated browsers: your users will essentially no longer be able to use Kronos. Prior to WFC v8.1 all Navigators in Workforce Central were Flash based. However, since the end of life announcement from Adobe, Kronos has been working to ensure Workforce Central is completely Flash free. Version 8.1 saw the initial move away from flash functionality and 8.1.3 removed the Flash dependency across most the key functionality, but only  with version 8.1.6 is Kronos Workforce Central completely free from the use of Flash, with a full HTML experience. Keep in mind, once you have upgraded to 8.1.3 or 8.1.6, you still need to migrate to any existing Flash to HTML [2].  

The knock on effects will likely be dramatic, starting with a massive influx of support calls from all Kronos users on 1 January 2021 and moving quickly into the impact all the moving parts of your organisation Kronos automates, enables and ensures compliance across: schedules, time management, leave and pay!  

Hello Benefits…  

You do of course have a lot to gain by ensuring you’re up to date with Kronos Workforce Central, with new and improved time management and scheduling functionality, so if you are making the move it’s also a good to time to think about how your operation could be improved. 

Bye  Bye  Time to  Act…  

The time to act is now. Really. Now! For those on 8.0 or earlier this is a major release update, so I would say it’s most urgent for you. However, even those on 8.1 need to take action right now to make sure the migration to HTML is smooth and effortless. Everyone will of course need to configure and test the HTML, manage the change to users, train users and update documentation, all before deployment and support; so, the sooner you get started the better.  

Additionally, for anyone without the internal capability to move to the correct release and/or migrate to HTML, the pressure is really on. As we move closer to end of life for Flash, all Kronos customers will be feeling the pressure to make change, which means access to resources who can support you through this change will get tighter and tighter until it’s too late.  

Reach out to us at Simms & Associates with any concerns, comment or questions and we can help advise on the best plan of action to ensure your business operations are not impacted when Flash goes bye-bye.