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User Types Overview

By Sarah Bridges | Updated

Overview

Your specific user type in Kantata OX determines the areas of the application you can work in, what actions you can perform, and your role on a team. The user experience of each user type may vary based on the account permissions, Access Group settings, and project permissions that have been set. In this article, you’ll learn about the available user types and their various functions.

Account Members

An Account Member is someone that has been added as a licensed user in Kantata. Their access in Kantata is controlled by their account permissions. To give additional access, you can add them to specific access groups. Depending on their account permission level, you can grant them specific project permission levels.

Note: These users are commonly referred to as Internal, and if you have access to Insights reports, you can choose to include or exclude internal users in dashboards and reports.

To view a complete list of your account members, an Account Administrator can hover over Settings in the left navigation and then select Members. For information on the different states of account members—Active, Pending, and Inactive—see Managing Account Members.

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For information on additional roles or titles that may refer to this user type, see the Additional User Terminology section of this article.

External Members

An External Member is someone who can access another Kantata account via the Talent Network—available only to Premier and Enterprise plans—when their primary account has accepted a Talent Network invitation.

Note: An account that you invite to your network is referred to as an External Partner. When another account invites you to their network, your account is an External Partner in their network and they are a Client in your network.

If desired, an External Member can be prevented from logging in and just appear in the account to be used for planning or assignment tracking purposes. If allowed to log in, you can give additional access to these users via access groups. Depending on their account permission level, a Project Administrator can grant them specific project permission levels.

Note: These users are commonly referred to as External, and if you have access to Insights reports, you can choose to include or exclude internal users in dashboards and reports.

To view a complete list of your External Members, hover over Network in the left navigation, then select External Members.

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For information on additional roles or titles that may refer to this user type or other Talent Network terminology, see the Additional User Terminology section of this article.

External Project Participants

An External Project Participant is someone who you have invited to participate in a project without adding them as an Account Member. They usually do not have an existing Kantata account and—because they aren’t a licensed user—their view and access to your account is limited to only the project you have invited them to.

Note: When an External Project Participant is added to a project in an account that added External Project Participants for the first time on or after January 17, 2023, they can use the Account Selector in the main app bar to gain access to a limited view of the account they were invited to collaborate in.

Once you add an External Project Participant to a project, they appear in the External section of the Project Admin box’s Team tab.

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To view a complete list of your account’s External Project Participants, hover over Settings in the left navigation, select Members, and then click the View your current External Project Participants link at the top of the Members page.

External_project_participants.png

For information on additional roles or titles that may refer to this user type, see the Additional User Terminology section of this article.

Team Members

Often referred to as project participants, a Team Member is a member of your project team. Team members are made up of both named and unnamed resources.

Tip: Using unnamed resources allows you to leverage powerful resource management tools in Kantata, such as Resource Recommendations and Team Builder.

The Resource Center shows a list of your team members for every project.

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People can be added to a project as either a Client or a Provider:

  • Clients—This team is the requester of the service.
  • Providers—This team is providing the service.

For information on additional roles or titles that may refer to this user type, see the Additional User Terminology section of this article.

Clients

In a project, the Client is the group of people you are completing work for.

Note: Because custom team names can be set up in a project and at the account level, another term may appear in place of “Clients” in many places in Kantata.

When you invite someone to the Client side of a project, they will have a limited view of project information. Clients are usually External Project Participants, but depending on your needs, you can also invite Account Members and External Members to the Client side of a project.

Note: In the Talent Network, a Client is an organization with an existing Kantata account who has invited you to join their network to help them complete work. This list of Clients can be seen under Network > Clients. The Account Members of your Kantata account are considered External Members in their account.

Some account permission levels and additional project access are not available on the Client side of a project. Additionally, Clients are not included as Team Members in some areas of Kantata, such as the Resource Center.

To view a list of Clients in your project, go to the Team tab in a project workspace’s Project Admin box. 

Clients_section_admin_box.png

For information on additional roles or titles that may refer to this user type, see the Additional User Terminology section of this article.

Providers

In a project, the Provider is the group of people completing work on a project.

Note: Because custom team names can be set up in a project and at the account level, another term may appear in place of “Providers” in many places in Kantata.

Depending on your project needs, Providers can be a combination of Account Members, External Members, and External Project Participants. Unnamed resources also appear on the Provider side of a project because you can assign tasks and hours to them that transfer to a user once you staff the open demand.

To view a list of Providers in your project, go to the Team tab in a project workspace’s Project Admin box.

Providers_section.png

For information on additional roles or titles that may refer to this user type, see the Additional User Terminology section of this article.

Additional User Terminology

Team Members and Account Members may be referred to as different names depending on their roles and additional responsibilities:

  • Assignee—Team Members that are assigned to tasks are commonly referred to as Assignees.
  • Client (Talent Network)—A Client in the Talent Network is an organization that accepts an invitation to join another account’s network. All Account Members in the Clients account appear as External Members in the External Partner’s account and can participate in projects if they are given access to log in.
  • External Partner— An External Partner is an organization that you have invited to join your Talent Network. The External Members connected to the External Partner’s account can participate in projects in your account if they are given access to log in.
  • Follower—Followers are Team Members who receive notifications about task activity. You can add people as Followers if they are not completing work on the task and you do not want to add them as an assignee.
  • Manager—A Manager is any user that has direct reports. An Account Administrator can add reports or designate someone as a manager to someone via the Account Member Details side panel. The manager appears in the User Details Side Panel.
  • Organization Member—An Organization Member is an Account Member who has been assigned to a specific department and/or geography, using the Organizations feature.
  • Owner—The Owner of something in Kantata refers to the person who created that object. For example, someone who creates a template is called a template owner.
  • Personnel—Commonly used in Time Approvals and Analytics, Personnel refers to any team members that have tracked time to projects.
  • Project Participant—Project Participant refers to any user that is participating in a project, regardless of their user type.
  • Report—A Report is any account member in Kantata that has a Manager assigned to them via the Account Member Details side panel.
  • Resource—Commonly used in the resource management areas of Kantata—such as the Resource Center—A Resource refers to someone that can fill a role. In Kantata, there are both Named and Unnamed resources.
  • Resource Request Approver—Available only with Premier or Enterprise plans, a Resource Request Approver is a user that has been designated to approve Resource Requests.
  • Team Lead—A Team Lead is a team member that can be assigned on both the Provider side and the Client side of a project.
  • Time Approver—A Time Approver can view and manage time for a team member or project. You can also designate Backup Timesheet Approvers to temporarily view and manage time within a specific period of time.
Note: Depending on account permission levels, project permission levels, and which features are enabled, some of the additional roles and responsibilities listed above may not be available for a user.

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By Sarah Bridges
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