Summary: Rolling out Speakap successfully relies on a well-planned User Sync implementation. This guide outlines the typical 6-week timeline to set up, map, implement, and test User Sync, and clarifies what we need from each other in each phase.
Introduction: managing the timeline
The timeline below reflects an indicative, ideal scenario. Because User Sync connects directly to your internal HR or payroll platform, the actual speed of deployment depends heavily on your team's readiness, the technical collaboration, and the specific HR-IS or payroll systems you use.
Important: prompt communication and quickly providing requested data is crucial. Missing or delayed structural information will directly stall the implementation, because certain automated configurations cannot be built without baseline records.
Phase 1: Week 1, Setting up
Before technical configuration begins, both teams align on the structural parameters of your employee data. During this first week, we define:
- The exact data fields contained within your employee records.
- Secure transfer methods to access your records (via an API connector or secure SFTP).
- An overview of your organization's physical and functional structure (locations, business units, and departments).
- The automated execution frequency of the synchronization.
- Any unique profile rules or organizational exceptions to the general syncing logic.
What we need from each other in week 1:
| Who | What |
| You | An example data extract containing 1 or 2 test employee records. |
| You | A structural overview mapping out all locations and departments. |
| You | Valid HR-IS API credentials, or the specific whitelist IP addresses from which you will upload data (if using SFTP). |
| Speakap | Secure login credentials for your dedicated SFTP folder (if using SFTP). |
Phase 2: Week 2, Mapping
Using the structural documents from week 1, Speakap builds the underlying logic framework. We create your required target groups inside your network and map them directly to the corresponding fields from your incoming HR data extract.
Expect multiple feedback iterations during this phase. Speakap delivers a concept mapping draft built from your employee records and company structure, you review it and give feedback, and Speakap finalizes the mapping. Prompt feedback on the concept designs keeps your deadlines on track.
Phase 3: Weeks 3 and 4, Implementation
Once the final structural mapping is approved, Speakap moves into the build phase. All agreed-upon corporate rules are embedded into the sync configuration:
- Rules for triggering account invitations or profile activations.
- Pre-filling fields with standard profile data (names, titles, contact info).
- Logic governing how users are automatically added to or removed from specific groups.
- Offboarding rules for safely removing terminated or former employees from the network.
- Logic for auto-assigning the correct platform permission roles based on job properties.
Note: nothing is needed from your team during weeks 3 and 4.
Phase 4: Weeks 5 and 6, Testing and release
Before activating the automated sync on your live platform, Speakap runs comprehensive testing in an isolated, simulated environment. We mirror your network structure onto a development server and process your actual employee data records to run two key checks:
- Activation verification: verifying that every user is invited correctly, routed to their exact structural groups, pre-populated with data, and assigned their proper roles.
- Daily sync consistency: simulating a multi-day cycle to confirm that new hires receive immediate invites, changed profile details update seamlessly, and former employees are cleanly offboarded.
Data privacy note: to protect sensitive corporate files, all personal identifiable data is entirely anonymized before these testing scripts are executed. Once the validation cycle is complete and verified, the simulated test network and all anonymized datasets are permanently deleted from our development servers.
At the end of this phase, Speakap fully activates the finalized User Sync on your live production network.
Onwards: managing post-launch changes
Organizations are dynamic, and your sync setup can scale along with your company's growth.
- Small adjustments: routine updates, such as adding a handful of new location strings or adjusting specific attribute fields, can typically be completed within 48 hours of your request. Treat this as an indication, not a guaranteed turnaround.
- Structural reconfigurations: large-scale changes (such as migrating to an entirely new HR-IS platform or an organizational overhaul) require careful planning. As a guideline, Speakap aims to resolve and deploy complex structural modifications within 14 days.
Still stuck?
Email us at support@speakap.com with your network name, your HR system, and where you are in the implementation, and we'll help you out.