Virtual vs. Flat Company Structure
This article explains the difference between Virtual and Flat Organizational Structures within Encompass®. A Virtual Structure mimics a company’s hierarchy, allowing users to view data at the entire Company Level or drill down to specific Locations, with rule settings configurable by Company Level and Reporting Level. In contrast, a Flat Structure holds all data in one Location, with rules applied only by Reporting Level. Virtual Structures require ELD activation at each Location and role-based access by Location, while Flat Structures assign security roles universally across Reporting Levels. Understanding these distinctions helps Administrators manage user access, data visibility, and ELD configurations effectively.
What does this mean?
- A virtual structure can mimic corporate/company hierarchy, with the ability to add additional reporting levels. Flat structure allows reporting levels, but all data is held in one location.
- A virtual structure allows users to see one dashboard for entire company, or drilling down to a specific company level/location. This allows a user to see one specific company level/location.
- In a virtual structure, rule settings can be configured by company level/location and/or reporting levels. In a flat structure, rule settings are configured by reporting levels.
- In a virtual location, ELDs are activated at each company level/location. If drivers frequently move between company levels/locations, Encompass® ELD will need to be configured to the new location for each move.
- In a virtual structure, users are assigned access by location as well as security roles which determine capabilities within (view/edit/purge). In a flat structure, users are assigned security roles for all reporting levels.