As companies modernize their enterprise software environments, many are turning to SaaS applications like Workday for key financial and Human Capital Management (HCM) capabilities. However, the new platforms must still co-exist with old-guard ERP systems, which demands a new approach to seamless integration.
Workday HCM covers a lot of ground, including traditional back-office HR functions like payroll and benefits along with newer areas like talent management, performance management, analytics, and employee onboarding. While Workday delivers core financial management functionality, many organizations still rely on ERP stalwarts such as SAP and Oracle PeopleSoft to run substantive parts of their business. As a result, Workday integration with the legacy ERP foundation must be seamless to support the modern workflows and transparency now demanded by digital business.
Integration isn’t easy
Traditional ways of integrating ERP and HR applications are cumbersome and costly. Most often, organizations create custom connections between the desired platforms, manually coding point-to-point integration between systems. These connections can easily break when connectivity gets more complex as multiple systems are added to the mix, and they are next to impossible to maintain as databases change, the applications are updated, or workflows are modified.
Even slightly more flexible integration options like an enterprise service bus (ESB) or Workday’s own limited native integration platform present integration challenges. Not all ERP systems support native integration, which complicates Workday’s approach. ESBs, designed in the Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) era as a model for inter-application communication, are usually associated with long, expensive, and inflexible development cycles, which are at odds with the agile and scalable infrastructure of Workday and a modern cloud approach.
iPaaS to the rescue
SnapLogic, an Integration Platform-as-a-Service (iPaaS) takes the pain out of legacy integration practices. Unlike ESBs or immature cloud integration tools, SnapLogic tackles seamless integration through managed pre-built connectors called Snaps and a graphical approach that makes it easy for non-programmers and non-IT professionals to quickly build, deploy, and manage high-volume, data-intensive integrations – bringing new meaning to the term self-service. SnapLogic, both hybrid and cloud-capable, was built for scale and can handle multipoint integrations to a wide range of big data sources, data warehouses, analytics tools, and ERP platforms.
By eliminating the need for hand coding, the Snaps reduce integration complexity by as much as 40 percent. Also, SnapLogic’s scalable and reusable architecture accelerates integration time by as much as 80 percent, and built-in machine learning and advanced algorithms ensure integration services maintain performance regardless of complexity.
With a fast and easy way to integrate Workday with legacy, on-premises ERP, organizations can move ahead with digital transformation and achieve full visibility and optimization of business operations without the headaches and costs associated with manual integration.
Download our ebook “Guide to Workday Integration” to learn more about how an iPaaS like SnapLogic’s EIC can help you integrate Workday with ERP systems.
