In our last article, Workday Expert Shares Tips For Deploying Workday Financials—Q&A Part 1, we interviewed a senior-level Workday consultant and picked his brain for some of his top tips and tricks when it comes to implementing Workday Financials.
In Part 2 of our series, we move on to the second half of our conversation, where we asked him to take us through business process frameworks, what to consider as you prepare for go-live, and what not to do if you want to keep your project on track.
Let’s get back to the action.
Q: What’s your advice for tackling business process frameworks?
A: I would say one of the most powerful and beneficial tools that Workday provides is its business process framework (BPF). BPF enables customers to configure and maintain core process flows to connect people, applications, and services.
It’s the heart of your Workday system. But the problem for new customers is setting it up. There are hundreds of business processes, and they need to be set up, configured, and tested before deployment.
I encourage clients to start thinking about their BPF early in the process. It’s another area where you want to keep things simple at first and refine as you go. They will never be perfect on day one, but having an experienced resource who has worked with BPF is extremely beneficial. They can help educate your organization on how it works and the best way for configuration.
Q: What are some key considerations as you approach Workday Financials Go-Live?
A: Determine how you’ll support the application and the users once you’re up and running. You’re going to have a lot of new users with a new tool. They need to be trained on how to use the system effectively, so they’ll be leaning on you for that support.
You’ll also need to consider integrations. Check to make sure all the integrations are working properly, and you have people to support them.
And don’t forget reporting. This is critical in finance. Creating simple reports in Workday is straightforward, but more complex reports often require other toolsets. Sometimes reporting becomes an afterthought for many companies, but it should be considered before you go-live.
Finally, the most vital thing to consider as you approach go-live is security. This is usually the number one issue clients deal with in their first three months. You’ll be flooded with tickets from users who don’t have access, or maybe they have too much access. They might also be getting bombarded with notifications they don’t need. Remember, it’s never perfect on Day One. However, prepare for the extra tickets and support in the first few months to be higher than usual.
Q: How should organizations deal with the data conversion process?
A: I try to encourage clients to purge as much as they can. For example, many organizations have thousands of suppliers, and many of them are not active. The same goes for customers. In most situations, I tend to take a fairly aggressive approach when it comes to data purging.
Q: What’s the biggest issue you’ve experienced in projects that can impact the timeline?
A: Not having the proper staffing and resources to commit to the project. Some organizations will try to have their staff manage the project on top of their day jobs. This will be painful for your staff and, ultimately, your implementation.
You need to have resources that can keep up with the pace of the project if you want to stay on track. Bringing on client-side resources for your implementation can help alleviate the pressure on your staff and ensure the deployment is successful.
We hope this two-part series has improved your understanding of how to implement, support, and maintain Workday Financials. If you’re ready to get started with the solution, or if you have any other Workday needs, Surety Systems has a team of senior-level Workday consultants here to help.
Contact us today to get things started.
