Managing up(dates): Innovating and thriving amid Workday release cycles

Workday’s release cycles offer organizations innovative solutions and enhancements to the solution’s user experience. By staying current with these updates, organizations can maximize their investments in Workday and approach release cycles efficiently. With a proactive approach, each release becomes an opportunity to drive meaningful value and continuous improvement—transforming updates into strategic advantages rather than routine tasks.

To help maximize the value of Workday release cycles, leading organizations can:

This article explores some of the best ways to capture value from Workday’s release cycles—and how SaaS solutions like SimplrOps can help.

Brass tacks: What you can anticipate from Workday updates

Workday pushes minor updates weekly and major releases twice a year. By proactively engaging with Workday’s updates—both mandatory and optional—organizations can ensure their systems remain aligned with business goals and are well-positioned to capitalize on the latest advancements.

After all, Deloitte research finds that the link between strategy and action is the determining factor in a company’s ability to derive the most value from its digital investments.¹ Timely adoption of updates enables organizations to continuously build on their digital capabilities and stay ahead in a rapidly evolving technology landscape.

Preparing for release management

Making the most of your Workday system means keeping current with the latest features, but updates require planning, analysis, and testing. The following steps can help organizations approach Workday release management with intention and precision.

1. Assess release impact with one-click impact analysis.

First, determine the impact of the release on your Workday environment and downstream systems and identify any necessary updates or testing required. Every organization is unique; not all Workday customers license all Workday products, resulting in varied impacts for each release.

Organizations should focus on the updates most relevant to their needs. Fortunately, there are intuitive solutions available to help organizations navigate the array of updates to determine what’s best for their needs. SimplrOps is a SaaS platform that offers intelligent product sets that can help organizations manage continuously updating applications like Workday and maximize the return on their technology investments. SimplrOps’s one-click impact analysis can rapidly assess which actions your organization should take according to specific goals and objectives and streamline processes to enhance their implementation.

2. Decide what you want to update—and when.

Your organization can leverage the results of SimplrOps one-click impact analysis to understand how updates will affect your unique Workday environment, including dependencies such as integrations, business processes, and custom reports. While some updates may be required, recommendations from the impact analysis can help guide decisions about which opt-in features to adopt and when to deploy them. After identifying the features to implement, it’s important to assess whether any process updates are needed and determine if employees—new or existing—will require upskilling to support the new functionality.

3. Plan for testing.

Workday release cycles feature a five-week preparation window. That time goes quickly, and organizations should plan accordingly. A robust approach to preparation includes devising a test plan to evaluate the impact of updates according to your organization’s unique needs. Accordingly, many organizations tier their testing plans to validate with their release team, support team, and even relevant administrators to ensure efficacy at every level.

4. Plan for downtime and communicate internally.

Building in downtime is essential to accommodate implementation, configuration, and potential unknowns. It’s equally important that every member of the Workday team understands the timing, process, and implications of a given release cycle. Communication is key, here: The successful implementation of any digital investment is contingent on a teamwide alignment to its purpose and process, and organizations must ensure that those involved with and affected by each Workday release cycle understands the realities of the updates. Make sure to provide advanced notice for each update to all user types and those that will be affected by the changes (e.g., IT support).

5. Train on applicable changes.

The success of any approach to digital investments hinges on the right talent. Consider the current skill sets of your teams, the relevant upskilling necessary to implement updates at speed, and the documentation and supporting materials required to maintain efficiency during future updates.

Transforming for the future

Investments in technology are a critical element of an organization’s approach to digital transformation—a continuous effort that reaches beyond just a single cycle of Workday updates. While a proactive approach to managing these updates is crucial, it’s also important that organizations craft a robust digital transformation strategy that pursues investments in talent, technology, and time with intention. Instilling an ongoing change mindset within an organization can help ensure that transformation activities—both within and beyond a Workday release cycle—align with broader organizational strategy and objectives.

Footnote:
1.Unleashing value from digital transformation: Paths and pitfalls, Deloitte Insights / Tim Smith et al., 2023.