HfS has launched the 2016 Workday Services Blueprint, in which we are assessing the capabilities and vision of 16 Workday service partners. Since the first Workday Services Blueprint published in 2015, this market has exploded. Service providers have been busy investing in organizational structures, acquisitions, partnerships, service development and talent retention programs to remain competitive (see: The Speed Of Change In Workday Services). In our upcoming Blueprint we will assess these strategies in detail and determine who is currently winning the differentiation battle.
Many of the enterprise leaders we have spoken with have indicated a clear corporate strategy to move to cloud applications. Enterprises of all sizes realize that they need to have modern systems to support a more innovative outward looking strategy. Old legacy systems that are clunky and fail to meet business needs in a timely manner are rapidly falling out of favour, and enterprises of all sizes are now seriously considering Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) and/or Financial Management products to bring their processes up-to-date. While most enterprises started with the HCM product, before considering the financials application, others have started with a financials implementation. Either way, clients see the value of running both products on the same platform, aligning with Workday’s own vision for this market. Interestingly enough, enterprises are selecting Workday even if it does not match all of the functionalities of the competitive solutions, because they value Workday’s vision and focus on continual innovation.
Additionally, clients are highlighting that having strong resources is the number one selection criterion as well as the main reason for high client satisfaction rates post deployment. Buyers often request to interview the actual deployment team in the RFP stage. They want to meet the people they will be working with on a daily basis, as ultimately that relationship will determine the success of the project. For their part, service providers have been investing heavily in talent development and retention programs to offer increased career opportunities as well as develop more rounded consultants that are able to support clients at different stages of the development and management cycle.
The real differentiation in all SaaS services is all about ‘how’ a service provider engages and delivers its services. This includes collaborative engagement methodologies and the ability to communicate the ongoing business effectiveness of the Workday solution for clients.
We look forward to sharing more insights from this research over the next few months, before publication of the full Blueprint report in September 2016.
Posted in : IT Outsourcing / IT Services
