Bridging the Gap
The Workday ecosystem has reached a point where it can be daunting to navigate.
Having the right resources on the team at the right time is critical for tactical success.
There are too many options for customers to pick from for augmenting their team at each phase (pre-implementation, implementation, post-implementation).
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The Workday Ecosystem is now 20 years old and as such, has reached a certain level of maturity.
In addition to the various paths to becoming a Workday Certified Partner, there are now more independent consultants than ever, and customer employees are now able to obtain Pro certifications which are similar to the certifications that Certified Partners obtain.
While there are benefits to having a lot of different options, the challenge to customers during this stage of Workday’s evolution is finding the right combination of people to ensure success at whatever phase the customer may be at.
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Once a customer has made the decision to replace their existing ERP offerings, there is a TON of work to be done.
​​Customers will hear and consume an overwhelming amount of input related to one Partner being better than another, or how important it is to have Workday Certifications, or how critical it is to have their staff become Workday Pro certified, or how important it is to implement a specific SKU, or the immeasurable value of having an independent or non partner firm involved.
At the end of the day though, there is value to be found with each of the aforementioned groups and applications, and there are pitfalls to be found there as well.​​
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"Once a customer has decided to go with Workday, first and foremost, understanding the details of what you will be getting for each SKU you license can be confusing, and understanding the overall Workday architecture as you work on finalizing your initial subscription is important in helping you make the best fiscally responsible decision possible."
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​As soon as customers have made the decision to move off of their existing software/hardware solutions and while they are finalizing their new software subscription, they should be investing time in the pre-work needed to hit the ground running when the implementation comes around. Furthermore, the more detailed understanding a customer has of their requirements, the better contracts they are able to put in place for both their software subscription and their services implementation.
Next, navigating all the various offerings out there in the marketplace can be a full time lengthy project in and of itself that often requires experts to facilitate the best outcome for each customer.
Once a customer has decided to go with Workday, first and foremost, understanding the details of what you will be getting for each SKU you license can be confusing, and understanding the overall Workday architecture as you work on finalizing your initial subscription is important in helping you make the best fiscally responsible decision possible.
Also, with more and more extensibility happening every month, it’s important to fully understand what your options there are as well.
For initial implementations, many WD customers are challenged to find (nor fully understand that they need) a client side PM for their WD projects that understands the intricacies of Workday implementations.
In addition, with several different methodologies available, it’s difficult to fully understand the implications of one path vs another when it comes to the details of configurations such as security, reporting, Foundational Data Model (FDM - Cross functional elements such as cost center, location, fund codes, supervisory organizations, and general ledger account posting rules), and a myriad of other choices that tend to be capped/limited in standard implementation contracts.
Also, having in house or contractor Workday expertise in the cross functional areas is invaluable, and many partner implementation teams lack the cross functional, enterprise architecture expertise needed to help make decisions that will enable customers to avoid rework down the line.
This becomes exponentially more complex in the higher education arena when customers are initially implementing the “Platform Products” (HCM, Payroll, Benefits, Core Financials), but are planning to implement Workday Student in a subsequent phase. In this case, customers should make sure there are Workday Student advisors involved from day one and conversely, there are WD platform advisors involved when the WD Student project spins up.
As customers move towards the back end of their implementation, they are often challenged to find the testing resources needed to make sure everything is working as designed and built. This can be avoided if testing is considered from day one. Not just a block in a project plan, but detailed plans from day one that has the testing team identified and has the project team thinking about and documenting test cases as they proceed with configuration.
In summary, there’s a lot more to Workday/ERP implementations than meets the casual eye, and if close attention is paid to the concepts mentioned above, customers can save a lot of money, time, and aggravation in the long run.