Tucson Unified School District quickly bounces back from ransomware attack thanks to TCP Software's rapid deployment and support

After ransomware attack, TimeClock Plus helps Tucson Unified School District deploy software in two weeks

CHALLENGE

After nearly 5 years as a TimeClock Plus customer, Tucson Unified School District’s new leadership opted to proceed with an RFP where they ultimately selected another time and attendance software provider. At the time, Tucson Unified School District was reluctant to migrate from an on-premise deployment to cloud as TimeClock Plus was suggesting.

Fast forward 18-months, the school district was still having significant challenges with its new time and attendance provider. The onboarding process hit numerous delays, though of most concern was serious issues with functionality not working as promised and glitches where employee information disappeared.

Belinda Tilford, Time and Attendance Coordinator at Tucson Unified School District, emphasized that, “you cannot have glitches with peoples’ pay.”

For Tilford, this was the last straw. From the very beginning, Tilford had concerns about the new software not being able to meet the district’s unique needs. “It took a lot of extra effort to use this other software platform. So much time was wasted trying to find the employee hours information we required — information that is readily accessible in TimeClock Plus.”

Tilford adds, “Even the process for clocking in and clocking out using this software platform wasn’t user friendly at all.”

While the onboarding process for this software was growing increasingly frustrating, it was becoming clear to the district’s leadership team that TimeClock Plus was a far superior solution. Shortly after this realization, Tucson Unified School District experienced a devastating ransomware attack. Overnight, access to the district’s data and software within its IT ecosystem was gone.

All of the data within their pre-existing TimeClock Plus ecosystem was lost for good — administrators could not even log into the software platform.

SPEED OF IMPLEMENTATION WHEN PAYROLL AND TIME WERE HALTED

“Immediately after experiencing the ransomware attack, we knew that TimeClock Plus would be our time and attendance partner going forward. It wasn’t even a debate about which provider to move forward with.”

Speed of implementation was Tucson Unified School District’s biggest concern. With all information lost, they required a complete rebuild of the TimeClock Plus software ecosystem.

The TimeClock Plus team worked hand in hand with the district’s time and attendance administrators, and the IT team was able to push all the district’s employees live in 48 hours. In two weeks, TimeClock Plus was fully operational and being used by the district’s employees. With TimeClock Plus up and running well before the district’s next pay cycle, this implementation far exceeded Tucson Unified School District’s expectations.

It was a no brainer to move back to TimeClock Plus. They were able to help our district and implement time and attendance software when nobody else could.
Belinda Tilford, Time and Attendance Coordinator

CLOUD DEPLOYMENT ACCELERATED ONBOARDING PROCESS

Despite some initial reluctance to a cloud deployment, using a cloud instance of TimeClock Plus greatly accelerated Tucson Unified School District’s deployment, allowing the district to get up and running quickly.

The TimeClock Plus team helped Tucson Unified School District recreate all its roles, even adding some extra roles to help optimize time and attendance administrative work on the back end. With 91 different sites that all require their own job codes, this was a time-consuming piece of the onboarding process.

Within two weeks of the ransomware attack, the district’s 7,500 employees using TimeClock Plus were clocking in and out of time clocks. This was a huge success for Tucson Unified School District who otherwise would have been reliant on paper timesheets.

SUPERIOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

The support TimeClock Plus provided during this crucial time cannot be understated. “Their knowledge base was crucial. The TimeClock Plus team was extremely helpful and was continually showing us things we could do in the software to make our jobs more efficient.”

“It was all hands-on deck right after the security breach,” says Tilford. “I’m so glad the TimeClock Plus team was available at all hours of the day and right there beside us to help with the implementation. TimeClock Plus prevented us from having to go back to using paper timesheets for a few months until we could get the system back up and running.”

We would not have been able to process payroll as normal so quickly after the ransomware attack without TimeClockPlus.

Even after the dust has settled since the ransomware attack, Tucson Unified School District is satisfied with its trusted time and attendance partner.

“It was a no brainer to move back to TimeClock Plus. They were able to help our district and implement time and attendance software when nobody else could.”

“Nearly a year after being back on TimeClock Plus, we continue to be happy with how consistent and dependable the software is.”

No matter the question big or small, Tilford finds immense value in the continued support from TimeClock Plus. “Even the customer service team is great. Every time I call TimeClock Plus, I always have a positive experience. I have never had any issues — everyone is incredibly helpful and knowledgeable.”

Our margin for error was so slim. It’s people’s pay we’re dealing with, and they aren’t in a position to be understanding about mistakes or delays.