HR Manage 7
Software architecture
How HR Manage is put together: one SQL Server database per client, an application server that is the only way in to it, a Windows application for HR practitioners and a web application for everyone else. Hosted by us, or on your own servers.
Overview
A complete HR system, built to work over the internet
HR Manage gives Human Resources and Industrial Relations departments their specialised functions, and every employee online self-service. It adapts to each client’s practices, terminology and web colour scheme, and custom plugins extend it where standard functionality is not enough. It does not include payroll: it works with any payroll system through the payroll integration module.
It is a distributed application, developed on .NET 10 and .NET Framework 4.8, always on current technology, with components from reputable international vendors such as DevExpress. It was designed from the ground up for wide-area networks such as the internet, across multiple sites and countries.
Designed for the network
- Requests and results are batched and compressed, so one call to the server does the work of many
- Compression and caching keep network traffic to a minimum, for good performance over the internet
- It excels at working with large batches of records at once
- Version 7 applications reach the .NET 10 server over HTTPS
- Installs and upgrades stay in one folder: no system files, no registry changes
Architecture
How the parts fit together
Every application goes through the application server, and only the server tier reaches the database. AI requests leave from the server through our BMS relay, never from a user’s device.
- Request or data flow
- Older components or coming soon
- Runs on your servers or in our cloud
The components
What each part does
The same parts make up every installation, whether it runs in our cloud or on your own servers.
Database
Microsoft SQL Server, one per client
All data is stored in a Microsoft SQL Server database, and every client has its own. We prefer to install it on the same server as the HR Manage server components, because each request makes several calls between the two. The database can then accept local connections only, so it cannot be reached from outside the server.
No connections are held open while people work. A connection opens when a request reaches the server, the data is read or updated, and it closes again, so concurrent connections occur only when several users act at the same moment.
The size depends on the number of employees and the functions in use. It stays small (around 400 MB) even for companies with thousands of employees, but grows to several gigabytes when documents and attachments are scanned and stored in HR Manage.
Application server
The business layer: the only way in to the data
The application server receives compressed requests from the Windows and web applications, gathers and processes the data (often with several database calls) and sends it back as one compressed result. Every application, portal and external plugin goes through it; none of them touches the database directly.
In version 7 it is a .NET 10 service built on ASP.NET Core’s Kestrel web server and hosted as a Windows service. It carries the business rules, the security model, the workflow engine and any client-specific plugins and custom workflow activities. A .NET Framework 4.8 server still runs the older components beside it; they move across release by release.
All files live in a single folder, and installation and upgrades stay inside it. No system files or registry settings are touched: HR Manage is completely isolated.
Windows application
For HR practitioners and power users
HR practitioners and power users, usually around 1% of users, work in the HR Manage Windows application. It is the rich interface for configuring system behaviour, managing security, capturing data, bulk work, the report designers and specialised reporting.
It runs on .NET Framework 4.8 with a DevExpress interface and talks to the .NET 10 application server over HTTPS; until the server migration is complete it still signs in with Windows Authentication for the parts served by the .NET Framework 4.8 server. After a first installation from a setup package preconfigured for your organisation, it updates itself whenever the server is upgraded, without administrator rights, straight from our server or from your own intranet.
Web application
HR Manage Online, for employees and managers
Employees and managers use HR Manage Online in any current browser, on a computer, tablet or phone: leave, workflows and forms, document signing, their own information and their teams’. Internet Explorer is not supported.
Version 7 rewrote it from the ground up on ASP.NET Core for .NET 10, with Razor Pages and DevExtreme, in your company’s colours. Large clients install it on a separate web server; smaller clients (fewer than 500 employees) can run it on the application server. Performance reviews still open in the established web application until Performance Management moves across.
Portals
Separate web applications for people outside HR Manage
Document Signing portal. Its own web application, also on .NET 10, hosted by People Resolutions in the cloud, where internal and external signers sign documents electronically, with no per-envelope fees.
Recruitment portal Soon HR Manage Recruit, the careers portal and talent pool, is a separate product with its own server and database, hosted by People Resolutions. It launches in a second phase: see the roadmap.
Integrations and AI
Payroll, sign-in, forms and the BMS relay
Payroll: Sage 300 People, PaySpace, SimplePay and virtually any other payroll, through importers and APIs (payroll integration). Sign-in: Microsoft Entra ID and Google on the web application. Online forms: Cognito Forms. Plus e-learning, time-and-attendance and access-control systems.
AI is optional and metered. HR Manage never calls an AI provider directly: the application server sends the request to BMS, People Resolutions’ own relay service, which meters the usage and passes it on.
Operations
Security and maintenance
Security
One security model for both applications
Every request passes through the application server, which applies the user’s HR Manage security profile: which program areas they may open, and which employees they may see, by location and job grade.
The same user accounts work in the Windows and the web application. Credentials are encrypted and stored in the HR Manage database, and a user can link them to an Active Directory account. The web application also offers sign-in with Microsoft Entra ID or Google, and multi-factor authentication for HR Manage passwords.
Maintenance
Little for IT to do
From an IT point of view, the only maintenance is a daily backup of the database. We keep an archive of every version, so the whole HR Manage setup and server configuration can be recovered from a single complete database backup. Keep backups for at least 7 days, 30 preferred, before they are overwritten.
On the HR side, check the payroll integration regularly to confirm that the data refresh ran and the values match: data captured in payrolls is not always consistent.
Your servers or ours
HR Manage runs on your own servers or in our cloud. See what each option needs, or talk to us about hosting.