What is our primary use case?
I am referring to a specific use case in terms of implementation. We are currently implementing Workday as our entire HRMS solution. This means that all employee-related data will be stored in Workday.
Internally, we are currently using ReadyHR. However, we plan to migrate all employees to Workday so that we can manage their entire hire-to-retire lifecycle on a single platform. This includes onboarding, compensation, transfers, and other employee-related activities and events.
The goal is to manage our entire workforce on Workday. At this point in time, payroll processing is handled internally by another application. However, we plan to implement the Workday payroll module in the future. This will allow us to process payroll directly through Workday.
However, for our global go-live, we will only be implementing the core HR modules.
What is most valuable?
The most valuable feature of Workday is its user-friendliness. I like that you do not need to do a lot of coding to use Workday, unless you are using Studio. Even in Studio, you only need to write code for heavy integrations.
I also like that Workday is hierarchy-based and business object-based. This makes it easy to understand and use. Previously, when we used PeopleSoft, we needed to have knowledge of SQL (NPL SQL) to create integrations or reports. However, this is not required with Workday. We just need to apply the right logic, and Workday will do the rest.
I also appreciate that Workday is well-organized. There is a step-by-step process that we need to follow to configure the system. This makes it easy to implement and use.
What needs improvement?
I would really like to see a more robust timekeeping solution in Workday. Currently, most organizations are using Kronos for timekeeping and Workday for HR data. They then integrate Workday with Dimensions to manage time-related activities and payroll processing.
I think if Workday could enhance its timekeeping solution to match the functionality and flexibility of Dimensions, it would be a really good product.
Another area for improvement is payroll. Workday payroll is not very extensively used in the North American market, but it is more widely used in Europe. There is a lot of complexity in payroll processing in North America, but I think there is still a lot of room for improvement in Workday.
In the next release, I would like to see pre-built or predefined connectors for Dimensions and other applications. Currently, we have to use Boomi or another middleware application to integrate Workday with these systems.
I think pre-built connectors would be very helpful, especially for Dimensions, which we do not currently have a connector for.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been actively using Workday since November 2016. I use the latest v40.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is a stable solution. I would rate the stability a ten out of ten.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I would rate the scalability a ten out of ten. I'm a big fan of Workday.
There are around 2,000 end users using this solution in our organization. We use it on a daily basis.
How are customer service and support?
I am not really happy with the support because there was one project that I was working on, and we tried to reach out to them, but we did not get a proper answer. And it seems like the people sitting over there are not aware of the product that they have built.
How would you rate customer service and support?
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I'm currently working as the Head of Delivery and taking care of all the ERP projects from Upshoot. The practices that come under my purview are Workday, PeopleSoft, Oracle Fusion, and Kronos timekeeping (now UKG Workforce Dimensions).
We switched to Workday because of the scalability, feasibility, and flexibility of the product. So we liked the user-friendliness and how the system is kind of robust.
How was the initial setup?
I would rate my experience with the initial setup an eight out of ten. It is fairly easy to set up. It helps me a lot in terms of building competency because you need logical thinking rather than a lot of technical acumen to configure the application.
So if you know the concept of HR data, like how HR data works, how the organizations work, how the business structure works. What hierarchy is. In that case, if you know the concept, it becomes really easier to configure the system.
Workday is a SaaS application. So it's always on cloud. We are not using a hybrid cloud or private cloud. It's a public cloud. Private cloud is going to be expensive. We did that. We tried to do that for Amazon, but it was expensive.
We are in the process of implementing Workday internally. We have extensive experience with Workday, having helped Expedia migrate from PeopleSoft to Workday. We are currently supporting them in advanced compensation and payroll reporting on the NHR side.
We are currently implementing it internally for PeopleTech. Earlier, we used Oracle Fusion for our US location, but the plan is to implement Workday for all locations, including the US, Canada, India, and Singapore.
What about the implementation team?
We do have this competency inside, so we are doing the implementation by ourselves. And as we have a good number of Workday consultants internally working with us.
Our practice head, the one who is primarily managing all work-related implementations and activities, is kind of certified in Studio and has a couple of other certifications on other modules as well. So, we are internally implementing it by ourselves. And then, for migration purposes, you are going to take the help of some Workday partner.
We have a team of four Workday consultants who are primarily working on this implementation, apart from other stakeholders like HR and other people from business.
Deployment took us some time because a lot of things were unstructured, not streamlined, and not organized. So we tried to collect a lot of historical data and try to do a lot of data cleansing.
So, the implementation will take the next three or four weeks. This implementation will be completed, and then we should be ready for the migration to production or to go live. It took us around six to seven months to complete the implementation. For maintenance, we don't need more than one or two people.
What was our ROI?
If it is implemented properly for all the locations, then definitely ROI would be around seven out of ten, where one is no return, and ten is one hundred percent return on investment.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
I would rate the pricing a seven out of ten, one is low, and ten is high price. Workday is not that cheap. There are no additional costs to the standard license.
What other advice do I have?
I would recommend using the solution.
Overall, I would rate the solution a nine out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Integrator