Human resources software: safely connecting multiple business tools
All HR Software in the Lucca Suite is equipped with functionalities that allow them to be integrated into an information system either through export files or interfaces. By combining different solutions, be it HR software, reporting or web services, you build the HRIS most suited to your company. In other words, the one that brings you the most value.
How does human resources software work?
An HR software is made up of several elements:
Processes
Via a set of instruction sequences, the programs command actions to be carried out for a specific purpose: submit a holiday request, record working time, enter an expense, send an alert to an employee, export a file…
A database
An associated database that can be accessed separately or as a group: name, contact details, social security number, type of contract, date of arrival in the company, accumulated leave, hours worked…
Why interface a human resources tool with other business software?
Human resources software is not designed to work alone. Its purpose is to collect and exchange data with other tools, such as accounting or payroll software.
HR data is used by software in two ways. In the first case, the same raw data can be used by several different software programs to carry out different tasks. This is for example the case for data related to the identity of the employee. In the second case, data A is used by software 1, which then produces data B, which is necessary for software 2 to carry out its own tasks. This is the case of the Timmi Absences holiday software which transmits the absences of an employee to the time tracking software, Timmi.
Interfacing your accounting or payroll software with an HR tool can thus avoid unnecessary re-entries. It also facilitates the transmission of information to ensure the reliability of the data collected and exchanged, throughout the entire workflow.
How do you integrate HR software into your information system?
There are 3 ways to make different software communicate with each other.
The export file
The softwares do not communicate with each other, but one of them can export the data it has collected in a file, in a format that the other tools “understand” (csv, excel…). It is then possible to import this file into the other software in order to share the data.
The socket
Two softwares do not speak the same language and require an intermediary, otherwise known as a “middleware”. The latter will act as an interpreter and will put the data in the appropriate format in each of the software programs.
APIs
The software has an open programming interface (API). The API is used to connect the software to an external tool via programming. In other words, it works like a remote control with your TV. The API is used to control the software, making it easy to share data with other software from different publishers so that they can “speak the same language”.
Lucca software integrates perfectly with existing information systems and is able to communicate with the software programs of a large number of publishers: payroll, accounting, ERP, but also web services such as Zapier or Slack… Whether through an API or FTP server, it is possible to transfer data in both directions: from Lucca solutions to payroll / accounting file software and vice versa.
How to ensure secure connections between software?
The connection of several software programs requires particular attention to the security of the shared data. To limit the risk of cyber-attacks or theft of sensitive data, the tools used must comply with specific rules. These rules are designed to ensure traceability and secure access: authentication, rights management, type of data hosting, API and information system architecture, etc.