Kronos and Flash: What Should Workforce Central Customers Know and Do?
Kronos users in healthcare have a lot to think about right now, from contact tracing to employee attestation to keeping terminals sanitized.
However, there’s another concern that should be top of mind for many customers on Workforce Central: Flash.
No, we’re not talking about the comic book hero. In IT circles, Flash is a decades-old software authoring platform from Adobe for creating and viewing rich media and motion graphics. In the early 2000s, it was widely used in software and web development, but newer programming standards—HTML5—have enabled faster and more secure distribution of multimedia content, making Flash basically obsolete.
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At the end of 2020, Adobe will no longer support the product, and neither will major Internet browsers (e.g. Chrome, Edge, Safari, Firefox). This means any software or web page that requires the Flash plugin will not work or open in a browser.
While this isn’t a new issue – Adobe announced that it was killing Flash in July 2017 – it is something that has flown under the radar for many organizations.
Should You Upgrade Workforce Central?
For Kronos customers who haven’t prepared for the end of life for Flash, now is the time to act. Some older versions of Workforce Central are Flash-dependent and require upgrades to ensure that they continue to run smoothly in 2021 and beyond.
Here are a few things you need to know.
- Customers on Workforce Dimensions are all set. Dimensions leverages HTML5 and not Flash.
- Customers on Workforce Central v8.1.6 are also all set. Version 8.1.6 was released in December 2019 and is 100% Flash-free.
- Customers on Workforce Central v8.1.3 need to run an event called Convert Flash to HTML. This will convert any remaining Flash functionality within Workforce Central to HTML.
- Customers on Workforce Central versions 6.2, 6.3, 7.0, and 8.0 are impacted by the end of support for the Flash plugin and will need to take additional steps to prepare. These customers need to install the latest service release – v8.1.6 – to become completely Flash-free. As v8.1.3 is not the most up-to-date version of Workforce Central, customers must upgrade to v8.1.6.
- If you’re on an older version of Workforce Central, an upgrade to Workforce Dimensions is not recommended at this time. It takes several months to plan, configure, manage, and test this implementation, and a project is unlikely to be completed by Jan. 1, 2021.
- The Upgrade Central page for Workforce Central provides a high-level overview of the move to v8.1.6.
Don’t wait until the last minute to address the end of Flash. Workforce Central 8.1 is a major version release in and of itself – it must be installed on a separate server – and it takes time to ensure that all widgets currently running Flash are migrated properly.
If you’re unable to make the switch to v8.1.6 in time, you’ll need to maintain older versions of your Internet browser in order to support Flash. This is not recommended, as it raises security vulnerabilities and software compatibility issues.
If it’s time for your organization to migrate to Workforce Central 8.1.6, contact Healthcare IT Leaders today and we can help you determine the best path forward.
Christine Hanna leads the Kronos Practice at Healthcare IT Leaders. She has participated in and led over 100 Kronos projects as a 20+ year consultant specializing in Workforce Management.
