Computer+Aid+VMS+Training+Guide.pdf

North Dakota IT MSP Contract Managed by CAI

North Dakota Information Technology Managed Service Provider Contract PA 282-CAI

VectorVMS Training Guide - Staff Augmentation

Table of Contents

LOGIN INFORMATION 1

NAVIGATING THROUGH THE SYSTEM 2

Login

Password Resets Accessing Key Sections of the System

Dashboard Summary Pages

ENTERING A REQUISITION 5

APPROVING A REQUISITION 12

REVIEWING AND SELECTING CANDIDATES 15

Access the Candidates Compare the Candidates Review a Specific Candidate in Greater Detail

Deployable Rating Forward Candidate Interview Request Reject Candidate Request Engagement Request Information

APPROVING A TIMESHEET 29

Go to the Timesheet Summary Page Access the Timesheet Approve the Timesheet

APPROVING AN EXPENSE REPORT 31

Go to the Expense Report Summary Page Access the Expense Report Approve the Expense Report

EVALUATING A CANDIDATE 33

SEEKING ASSISTANCE 36

North Dakota IT MSP Contract i Client VectorVMS Training Guide

North Dakota IT MSP Contract Client VectorVMS Training Guide

LOGIN INFORMATION

This training guide details the web-based requisitioning system known as VectorVMS and how it’s used to procure and manage IT staff augmentation resources under the North Dakota IT MSP Contract. This guide covers various stages of the requisitioning process, including:

Tool navigation

Requisition creation and approval

Candidate/response review and selection

Timesheet and expense approval

Engagement evaluation

Please feel free to use this page to record your personalized login information.

VectorVMS Login Information

URL: https://vms.vectorvms.com

Username: __________________________

Password: __________________________

Org ID: i4495

NAVIGATING THROUGH THE SYSTEM

This section provides you with a high-level overview of VectorVMS.

Login Open internet browser

Enter appropriate URL

Enter login information

Please note: When you enter the site for the first time, you will need to sign-off on a Software Service Agreement. After your initial log-in, you won’t need to do this again.

Password Resets Should you forget your password for VectorVMS, you are able to reset the password on your own without requiring assistance from CAI.

From the login screen, simply click on Forgot password? and enter your username and Organization Key (i4495) in the pop up. Click Submit. A new pop-up will open in which you will be prompted to answer your Hint Question (which was set up upon initial login). Enter your answer and click Submit. Answering correctly will trigger a new temporary password to be emailed directly to you.

You are then able to use this temporary password to reset your password and subsequently log into the system.

Accessing Key Sections of the System VectorVMS is a highly intuitive system and is designed for ease of use for both clients and providers. This section will provide an overview of basic system navigation through the client interface.

Dashboard This is the main page of the system, and it’s the first you’ll see after logging into the system.

This page is the “launching pad” for your overall usage of the system. It will display any tasks awaiting you, your current activity (such as active requisitions or candidates), and a calendar that displays informational alerts (such as interviews or engagement end dates).

Summary Pages VectorVMS provides much of its information in the form of Summary Pages, which display information in a customizable, exportable list format. These summary pages include:

Requisitions

Candidates

Engagements

Timesheets

Expenses

To access the Summary Pages, you can click on any of the icons in either the My Tasks or Current Activity sections of the Dashboard. Additionally, you can click on View in the top menu bar, and then the summary page to which you’d like to navigate.

You are able to apply various filters to the displayed information by clicking on the list next to the Summary Page name. The available options will differ based on the individual summary page you are viewing, but will largely default to be filtered to information with which you are directly associated.

Each of the Summary pages allows you to customize the layout to your liking – by adjusting the order of the columns, or adding/removing columns. To revise the order of the columns, click and drag the Column Header as shown below.

The revised view can then be saved by clicking on Save View.

Once you have modified the view to your liking, you are able to export the displayed information into a spreadsheet. To do so, simply click on Export. You will then download a spreadsheet of the displayed information.

Please note: The file will download in .xml format. You may need to update your computer settings to open .xml files in spreadsheet format.

CREATING A REQUISITION

The following pages provide information on the VMS workflow for submitting a new requisition.

To start the submission process, click on Create, then Contingent Requisition.

You will then be presented with a screen that will allow you to select the title and level that are commensurate with your need. To proceed, click Next or the Green + icon next to the appropriate title.

Upon clicking Next or the Green + icon, a new screen will appear in which you can begin entering the specific Details associated with your position. For ease of use, the requisition will pre-populate with basic information and the description from the contract. Required items are indicated by a Red icon next to them.

After providing the Details, you will enter the rate information associated with the position.

Each title within the program has a not-to-exceed bill rate, but this rate can be adjusted downwards as necessary.

To complete this section, click on Calculate and then enter the desired rate, the estimated hours per day and the number of working days per week in the resulting pop-up.

Upon entering this information and clicking Save, the budget will update with the estimated budget and hours, based upon the Start Date and End Date entered in the Details section.

The next step is to complete the Requisition Description section. The requisition will pre-populate with the description of the title from the contract, but you are encouraged to modify this to best fit the actual role. The Short Description can be thought of as a summary of the role, while the Complete Description should provide as much information as possible on the role. Character limits are shown underneath each section.

You will then complete the Contact Information and Client Information sections. These areas will pre-populate with information from your user profile but can be updated as necessary.

The Req Owner can be considered the contact point for the requisition, while the Reports To user will be the individual to whom the selected resource(s) will report.

Upon completing all mandatory fields, you may click Next to proceed with creation of the requisition or Save as Draft to return to it at a later time. Prior to advancing, you may also cancel the requisition. Please do not click Submit Now.

The next step is to complete the Skills tab. This tab will allow you to list the required and desired skills for the position, as well as ask questions that providers will be required to respond to when submitting their candidates.

To add Skills or Questions, click on the Add button in each section. Once you have completed this tab, click on Next in the bottom right corner. You may also Save as Draft or return to the Previous tab. Please do not click Submit Now.

The next tab will ask for the Compliance information associated with the requisition, such as background checks, drug screening, or other items.

The requisition will default with the compliance items required by contract. You are able to add additional items as required by your organization or the position itself. If you need items added for selection or do not see your organization’s items listed, please contact your CAI Contract Manager.

Once you have completed this tab, click on Next in the bottom right corner. You may also Save as Draft or return to the Previous tab. Please do not click Submit Now.

The final step in creating your requisition is submitting it for approval. On the Approval tab, you may enter comments to justify the position as well as add any attachments necessary for approval. You will also see who the next approver in line for your requisition will be.

It is important to note that nothing entered or attached on this tab is visible to providers.

When you have completed this section, click Submit to send it to the next listed approver for review. You may also Save as Draft or return to the Previous tab.

Upon clicking Submit, the next listed approver will receive an email notification alerting them to the requisition requiring their review, and the requisition will move into a Status of Pending Approval. This completes the requisition creation process.

APPROVING A REQUISITION

If you are a user identified as being a requisition approver for your organization, you will receive an email alert when requisitions are submitted that require action from you. The email will contain a link that will take you directly to the requisition requiring your review. The system will also alert you to the fact that action is required by way of flags on your dashboard.

In the screenshot below, you can see the alert displayed on the Requisitions to Approve icon.

Clicking on this icon will take you to a summary page listing the requisitions requiring your approval. Click on the Requisition Title or Req. ID to view the requisition in more detail.

Within the requisition, you can review the information entered as part of the submission process. Clicking on each of the tabs displayed at the top of the page will take you to that specific tab and allow you to view the information.

If necessary, you can Edit the requisition to update any items that will not impact the resulting budget. Any items requiring changes to the budget (such as the start/end dates, number of openings, or rate) will require the position to be resubmitted for approval.

To take action, navigate to the Approval/History tab. This section will display the approval history of the requisition, the comments entered as part of the submission, and any attachments provided during the submission.

To approve or reject the requisition, select the appropriate option and click Submit.

If the requisition is approved, it will proceed to the next individual in your approval path. If you are the final approver for your organization, it will be sent to CAI for a final review before release to the provider network.

If the requisition is rejected, please include relevant information within your rejection. The submitter will receive an email notice alerting them to the rejection and they will be able to edit and resubmit for approval.

REVIEWING AND SELECTING CANDIDATES

Once the requisition is released to the provider network and candidates are submitted, the CAI Contract Manager (CM) is responsible for screening the provider network’s candidates that are submitted against your requisition. The CAI CM examines the information provided for each candidate and reviews the score that has been calculated by the candidate responses in the Required/Desired section of VectorVMS. In addition, the CAI CM compares the responses against the resume to make sure they match.

If the CAI CM feels the candidate has the necessary skills, he or she will call the candidate to do an initial screening of the candidate’s qualifications. If the CAI CM still feels the candidate is a match for the position, the candidate will be forwarded to you via VectorVMS.

Access the Candidates When a candidate is forwarded for your review, you’ll receive an automatic email notification from VectorVMS. Within the email, you can click on a link that will take you directly to the candidate’s detail page. You can also access all candidates forwarded against your requisition by navigating through VectorVMS by clicking on View and then Candidates, or by clicking on the Active Candidates box under the Current Activity section.

Additionally, you are able to view forwarded candidates by navigating to your open requisition and clicking on the Candidates tab.

Compare the Candidates Within your requisition, you can choose to compare the candidates’ skills and experience against the requirements of the position. To do so, you will select any/all of the available candidates and then click Compare Candidates.

After clicking on the “Compare Candidates” link, you’ll be directed to a page that matches the candidates side-by-side, based on various criteria including:

Composite Score (System-assigned score based on responses to Required/Desired Skills)

Each required/desired skill listed on the requisition and the candidate response

Previous employment (Did the candidate work for the client before)

The following screen shot shows an overview of the Candidate Compare page.

To adjust the selection criteria or filters, click on the Selection Criteria link and add/remove any of the available options, then click Save.

The following screen shot depicts what your Candidate Compare screen may look like if you make changes to the Selection Criteria.

By adjusting the sliders associated with each selection criteria on the left-hand side of the page, the candidate profiles meeting the designated criteria will remain visible. Those not meeting the specified criteria will be greyed out.

You are also able to bulk download the resumes of forwarded candidates from the Candidate tab within the requisition. To do so, simply highlight the candidates for whom you would like to download resumes, and click on Bulk Actions, then Download Resumes. The resumes will be exported in a .zip file to your computer.

Review a Specific Candidate in Greater Detail To review a candidate profile in greater detail, you may click on their name from either the Candidate Summary page, the Candidates tab within the requisition, or the Candidate Compare feature. The Candidate profile provides key information, including availability, summary of qualifications, skills, previous work experience, and resume.

Please note: While the Edit button appears on candidate profiles, please do not edit a candidate’s profile.

The Details tab will provide an overview of the candidate, including a summary of qualifications.

The Skills tab will provide the responses to the required and desired skills on the requisition, and answers to any questions listed on the requisition.

The Compliance tab will provide information on the responses to any required compliance items as outlined in the requisition.

The Employment Info tab will provide information on the candidate’s employment status.

The Rate Info tab will display the rate information for the candidate.

The Reference tab will display any comments associated with the candidate as well as the candidate’s resume.

Please note: Use discretion when entering information into the Comments fields, as any information entered the Candidate Comments area will be viewable by the submitting provider. Information entered into the Internal Comments will only be viewable by client users associated with the requisition and CAI.

The Interview tab will display any scheduled or historical interviews with the candidate for this position. Additionally, this tab will allow you to request interviews with the candidate. More information on this process is provided in the Interview Request section.

The final tab is the History tab, which will display the candidate’s submittal history within VectorVMS for your program. This allows you to have additional information on the candidate’s work and submittal history.

From any part of the Candidate page, the Hiring Manager can do the following:

Request additional information about the candidate

Forward the candidate to another person for review

Request an interview with the candidate

Reject the candidate

Request that the candidate be engaged

These action items, highlighted in the screen shot below, are sometimes referred to as “email generators”, as they initiate emails to CAI, requesting that action be taken.

The following sections describe these “email generators” in greater detail.

Deployable Rating The Deployable Rating option allows you to assign a value, on a 1-10 scale, to the candidate to assist in your internal review process. This is an exception to the “email generators” as it does not trigger any notification.

Forward Candidate The Forward Candidate action item allows you to send an email to another person, asking them to review the candidate. Select the recipient and click Send.

Please note: In order for the other person to review the candidate’s information, they must have access to VectorVMS.

Interview Request When Interview is selected from the drop-down, you will be redirected to the Interview tab of the candidate profile.

To initiate the interview request, click on Add Interview Option in the bottom right corner of the page. A pop-up will then appear, in which you will enter the interview details.

To send the interview request, click Submit. You may also continue to add additional time or date options for the interview by clicking on Add Another Option. Doing so will allow the provider representing the candidate to select the interview date/time that works best for their candidate.

Once you have clicked Submit, the interview request will appear on the candidate’s profile within the Interview tab.

The representative provider will receive an email alerting them to the interview request.

Additionally, the requisition status will change to Interviews occurring and the candidate status will be changed to Schedule interview.

The provider will then be able to accept or reject the interview request on behalf of the candidate. Depending on the response, the candidate status will either be updated to Interview Accepted or Interview Rejected and you will receive an email alert.

Should the candidate accept the interview, you can then add it to your calendar directly from the VMS by clicking on the clipboard icon. You will also mark the interview complete via the clipboard. The interview will take place via the method outlined in the initial request.

Once the interview is marked Complete, the candidate status will be changed to Interview Complete and the conducted interview will appear within the Candidate Interview History tab on the candidate’s profile. You will also be able to access and view details associated with the conducted interview, including any feedback, by clicking on the icon in the Details column.

Reject Candidate The Reject Candidate action item allows you to remove a candidate from consideration.

Please note: When a candidate is engaged, all remaining candidates will automatically be rejected.

Request Engagement The Request Engagement action item is used when you’ve selected a candidate. When the CAI CM receives the notification, CAI will begin the engagement process.

Request Information The Request Information action item enables you to request additional information about the candidate. Note the additional information needed in VectorVMS, click Send, and the CAI CM will work directly with the provider/candidate to get this information.

APPROVING A TIMESHEET

Each engaged candidate will be required to enter a weekly timesheet by noon on Monday into VectorVMS. If you’re designated as the candidate’s time approver, you will be required to approve the timesheet by the close of business on Tuesday of each week. Approval indicates the hiring manager has accepted the time entered as being valid and approved for invoicing.

Once the timesheet is submitted, you’ll receive an email from VectorVMS. Within the email, you can click on a link that will take you directly to the timesheet that is pending your approval. You can also access all VectorVMS timesheets pending your approval in the following manner.

Go to the Timesheet Summary Page Within VectorVMS, you will be alerted to the fact that timesheets require approval within the My Tasks area of the dashboard.

Access the Timesheet Clicking on Timesheets to Approve will take you to the Timesheet Summary page. Once you’ve accessed the Timesheet Summary Page, you can pull up the timesheet requiring review/approval by clicking on the Timesheet ID, or by clicking on the clipboard icon and selecting View Timesheet. You can adjust the date parameters at the top of the summary page to view timesheets from different time periods.

Approve the Timesheet The timesheet will provide a breakdown of hours worked for each day of the preceding week.

Additionally, resources can attach items (such as status reports) to the timesheet prior to submitting for approval.

To approve or reject the timesheet, simply click on either Approve or Reject in the bottom right corner.

If you reject the timesheet, the candidate will be notified via another VectorVMS email and will have the opportunity to resubmit a corrected timesheet for approval. This process will continue until the timesheet is approved.

If it is determined that a timesheet was submitted in error after it was approved, an amendment can be done to the timesheet. However, only the CAI Administrator can create an amendment.

Please note: You will need to approve the amendment just as you would the regular timesheet.

APPROVING AN EXPENSE REPORT

Like timesheets, any engagement-related expenses that the client has agreed to reimburse must be approved by the Hiring Manager through VectorVMS. Please note: Expenses should only be approved if the candidate’s purchase order includes a line item specifically for such reimbursements.

If an expense report has been submitted for your approval, you’ll receive email notification from VectorVMS. Within the email, you may click a link that will take you directly to the expense report that is pending your approval. You may also access all expense reports that require your approval by navigating through VectorVMS in the following manner.

Go to the Expense Report Summary Page Within VectorVMS, you will be alerted to the fact that expenses require approval within the My Tasks area of the dashboard.

Access the Expense Report Clicking on the Expenses to Approve icon will take you to the Expense Report Summary page. Once you’ve accessed the Expense Report Summary page, you can pull up the expense report requiring review/approval by clicking on the name of the Expense Report, or by clicking on the clipboard icon and selecting View Expense Report.

Approve the Expense Report The expense report is highlighted in the following screen shot. The expense report will provide information on the expense itself and include any attachments (such as receipts) justifying the expense.

To approve or reject the expense report, click on the Approve All or Reject All option at the top of the expense report.

Expenses should only be approved if they have provided complete information and have attached receipts for all expenses requiring such documentation. If you are not sure which expenses should include receipts, please feel free to contact your CAI Contract Manager.

If you reject the expense report, the candidate will need to resubmit. If you discover an error on the expense report after you have already approved it, please contact the CAI Contract Manager or the CAI-managed help desk. The CAI team will then ensure that it is corrected.

EVALUATING A CANDIDATE

For each candidate you have engaged under the contract, you will also receive an email request to complete an engagement evaluation form.

If you receive a VectorVMS email request, simply click on the link within the notification and fill in the fields as instructed in the last screen shot in this section. Or, if you decide to do an “unscheduled” evaluation, you can access the form by completing the steps detailed in the next screenshots and then completing it, as instructed in the last screen shot.

To access your engaged candidates, you can either click on the Engagements button from the dashboard, or click on View and then Engagements.

You will then be directed to the Engagement Summary page and can access the engagement by using the clipboard or clicking on the Engt. ID

Within the engagement, click on the Evaluation tab. This tab will show you any previously completed evaluations for the candidate. To create a new evaluation, click on New Evaluation at the bottom of the page.

You will first be asked to select the Evaluation Period for the evaluation, which will coincide with the scheduled evaluation period. The evaluation itself will consist of rating the candidate from 1 (unsatisfactory) to 5 (outstanding) across a variety of criteria. You are also able to add comments to the evaluation if necessary. To save the evaluation, click Save.

SEEKING ASSISTANCE

Should you need assistance with VectorVMS or the contract in general, please contact CAI’s Help Desk at ND.Help@cai.io.

mailto:ND.Help@cai.io