Can mining piles of data lead to profitable insights about employee vacations? We reckoned the answer to that (and much more) was hidden in the troves of time-tracking info we host for our customers. Access to this kind of powerful aggregated data is one of the major benefits of being on a SaaS platform. So we obtained anonymized data from willing participants, combed through it to see what insights we could get and packaged it as our first ever “Productivity Index.” We hope this type of visibility will make it easier for companies to look ahead, and make adjustments to sustain their revenue streams. For example, they’ll avoid slumps in productivity by correctly anticipating when employees will request vacation time, and adding fill-in help accordingly. But the helpful insight in this case isn’t about the most-requested time of year for vacation (it’s June through August, which you probably guessed). Rather, it’s learning what percentage of people plan to be away from work: 52 percent more than in the spring. This knowledge can help companies implement productive strategies.

What else does the Replicon Productivity Index reveal? There’s much more than we can cover in a blog post, but many of the facts aren’t as easy to guess as you might think. For example, we all know it’s common for people to take an extra day off either before or after a holiday. But which of the following is NOT among the top three holidays that most often require an extra day of celebration or recovery? Memorial Day, Labor Day, Independence Day, or Thanksgiving. Find the answer in our press release, and prepare to hear much more about insights you can use, from our Productivity Index.