I first came across Workday and all the chatter that surrounds it during my time at Deloitte Chicago in 2010. Many practitioners in Deloitte’s HR Service Delivery team were buzzing excitedly about this new and almost unheard off model of HR SaaS implementation and the benefits it promises (pun intended!) such as a global implementation at the core but one that can be tailored easily to satisfy local requirements, faster ROI and its proven track record of success with various clients in multiple industries (to learn more, check out http://www.workday.com/customers.php)
Quite recently, Workday has been featured in the AlwaysOn Global 250 which covers the top emerging companies in the global Silicon Valley that are demonstrating significant market traction and pursuing game-changing technologies in digital media, mobile, social media, cloud, and SaaS computing. It has also received recognition as one of the “25 cloud vendors you need to know” according to CRN.com. So what is it about Workday that sets it apart? In a nutshell, it is changing the rules of the game. And how is that?
- It’s a multi-solution provider – this means it provides clients with expertise in various areas of business enterprise services such as Human Capital Management, Financial Management, Payroll, Spend Management and most importantly, what Workday terms as “initiatives” - the resources, people, time and work that determine the success of companies and much more. All of these services are provided in a multi-tenant environment that allows multiple customer instances to co-exist in a single environment. This aspect of Workday also results in significant cost savings because all customers share the same resources where as Workday has to support only a single code line.
- Functional depth and extended capabilities – Workday does not solely look at a client’s payroll or compensation processes to assess the health of a client’s Human Capital management system. It is an integrated provider with customize-able solutions for Workforce Lifecycle Management, Performance Management, Succession Management, Employee Absence Management and many others. Barriers to operational excellence such as managing intricately connected data components in disparate systems and rigid hardware is now eliminated with Workday’s unified solutions.
- Rapid deployments – and I really mean at breakneck speeds. ATMI along with Workday partner, Aggressor implemented a Workday Benefits system within 66 days in 2009. The ATMI project included Employee Self Service and Passive Events, integration to all of ATMI’s benefits carriers and benefits integration to ADP’s PCPW payroll application.
- Brilliant User Interface – I’ve only been exposed to a bit of the UI during my 3 day Workday classroom training in 2010 but let me tell you, it’s nothing like your old HR system. The interface is rich, sleek and intuitive and according to Workday, “users can easily drill into information and take action from anywhere instead of being forced to navigate complex menus or stylized homepages.” In short, it’s made for the quintessential business user.
- Investment in mobile and tablet applications – Workday isn’t lagging in this aspect but is in fact ahead of the curve. Modern Web 2.0 standards allow today’s technology solutions to deliver business processes on any mobile device, which enables business people to connect, collaborate and add value using their Androids and iPads from any location at anytime! According to Workday’s co-founder, “everybody will have an iPad, it will be the primary way that employees and executives will access Workday. The instant-on and touch metaphor makes it very easy to get information you want.”
- It keeps getting better with time and everyone’s a part of it – There are 3 releases every year and unlike the traditional ERP industry’s software model of “upgrade,” Workday follows the SaaS industry model of “update.” These pre-scheduled updates are managed and executed by Workday over a single weekend of the customer’s choosing during the update window, delivering new feature innovations and compliance requirements (such as compliance with new laws) at no additional cost. Customers are also provided with the flexibility to switch on only those features they need on their own timeline. Nice, right?
Yes, of course all these features seem nice but what is that ONE major point that drives this innovation and becomes its USP?
The ease with which Workday can be configured to meet your organization’s diverse and sometimes, even unique needs. Let’s face it, traditional legacy ERP systems are not always the easiest or brightest to work with and more so, post go-live where the system does not always evolve according to changing needs. Most businesses often hire coders, IT personnel, external consultants, etc. to add hard-coded customizations that are expensive, long and not economically friendly. Workday, on the other hand, sings to a completely different tune by designing their applications that puts configurations at the core of its product and easy enough to be executed by the users of the program rather than outsource labor for such an important job. And all this is available at a lower total cost of ownership too!
Are you impressed already? Let me conclude this post by also mentioning that Workday is the brainchild of Dave Duffield and Aneel Bhushri (founder of PeopleSoft and former PeopleSoft executive, respectively) who know this space better than most and have developed Workday to counter the flaws of the traditional, archaic ERP systems of the yesteryear.
Have you tried Workday? What have your experiences been like, whether as a Workday partner or customer? Let me know.
References and Reading Materials:
(1) Visit Workday at https://www.workday.com/
(2) ATMI Implements Workday Benefits in 66 Days (Aggressor Press Release) http://www.aggressorllc.com/news/downloads/ATMI_press_release-draft_V2_logo2.pdf
(3) Workday blog – 5 reasons why SaaS updates are better than ERP Software Updates http://blogs.workday.com/Blog/five_reasons_why_saas_updates_are_better_than_erp_software_upgrades.html?campid=sm_tw_ss_bd_te_90
(4) Workday: Mobilizing against SAP and Microsoft http://blogs.forbes.com/tomtaulli/2011/07/07/workday-mobilizing-against-sap-and-microsoft/
(5) Workday Whitepaper – Delivering Value to the Business: Why your current HR systems hold you back http://www.workday.com/Documents/pdf/whitepapers/hr/whitepaper-workday-delivering-value-to-the-business.pdf/
(6) Workday Whitepaper – Business-Driven Configurability: Configuring Workday to meet your organization’s unique needs http://www.workday.com/Documents/pdf/whitepapers/it/workday-business-driven-configurability-whitepaper.pdf/
(7) Announcing the 2011 AlwaysOn Global 250 http://www.aonetwork.com/AOStory/Announcing-2011-AlwaysOn-Global-250/
(8) CRN: 25 Cloud Vendors You Need To Know http://www.crn.com/slide-shows/cloud/231000079/25-cloud-vendors-you-need-to-know.htm?pgno=26
Sven Ringling
July 22, 2011
Hi,
I absolutely agree it is a brilliant solution. It has really only just arrived in Europe and I’m all excited about using my experience gained in the UK to help clients in mainland Europe, particularly my German “home” market getting their heads around the concept of HR SaaS.
One point I’d like to add to your article is that payroll is only included for a tiny proportion of the wold yet (USA and Canada), but others are coming. However there is the integration cloud for ease of interface building and I guess many, who like the idea of SaaS will have outsourced payroll anyway or can otherwise use existing local solutions.
I guess in Europe many clients won’t want to throw away all investment in their SAP systems, but will realise that what they are really really using there is global payroll, some data, and time management, whilst adoption in self services, talent and performance management is slow. So. I can see some of them keeping SAP in the administrative part and add Workday where they need engagement and quick innovation.
One word of caution: whilst technical deployment is fast, this is to some extend so, because the system does not allow changing the code (which is in the nature of SaaS delivering the very benefits of easy deployment and updates). Some changes can be done via configuration, but some will require process changes instead of what would in old ERP often be system changes. In most cases this is actually a healthy way to get rid of historical processes, but there is some extra change to be managed. You’ll also want to add some stakeholders high onto your change agenda who will feel threatened by the change to SaaS. Most notably those, who earn their living from excessive system changes, hosting contracts, upgrade nightmares. This will typically comprise some people in your own IT departments and big system integrators, whose traditional profitable business models do not really work with SaaS.
Looking forward to the journey
Sven
reshamsapru
July 29, 2011
Hi Sven,
Thanks for your comments
In fact, it would have been nicer for Workday to expand its payroll offerings beyond the USA & Canadian markets. But with all things, I do have faith that they will gradually implement this and other add-ons as well. Their partnerships with other payroll providers for now sustains them and although, it’s not a perfect solution, it’s still good to have something.
I believe Workday recognizes the limitations with its payroll offering and is cognizant of the changes/improvements it needs to make in order to be a world-class contender. I was extremely happy to hear that they will be launching a bi-directional payroll connector which will help with the importing and analysis of data from all third party payroll providers.
Your point on stakeholder management is spot-on … Additionally, I’d like to add that I don’t think many clients especially from where I come from (the Middle East) have been able to digest the SaaS model for their core HR services and believe to the contrary that SaaS products like Workday will only excel in admin tasks but not strategic HR tasks. Unfortunately, this also means that they don’t believe Workday or any other SaaS offering is the worth the investment just to perfect “admin” tasks. This is part of the reason why I started writing my blog – just to provide a simplified version of what’s there in the market and the latest HR trends. As a result, I have also refrained from excessive technical details including Workday’s service oriented architecture, the web services and the XML methods for expressing data.
I hope you continue reading my blog and continue providing me with your feedback and comments along the way
I’m still an amateur in the world of HR technology but I definitely wish to learn and grow more with time!