What are the biggest causes of Workday migration failure?

The most common failure modes are unclear scope, weak data governance, late integration decisions, insufficient testing time, and poor adoption/change management. Successful programs lock a single source of truth for data, define integration owners early, enforce testing entry/exit criteria, and run adoption as a program—not an afterthought.

How much does migrating to Workday cost?

Cost is a function of licensing plus delivery effort (implementation partner, internal team time, integrations, data conversion, and testing). The fastest way to reduce cost is to reduce custom scope, standardize processes, and minimize historical data conversion while preserving audit/compliance needs.

Can we migrate from Sage Intacct or NetSuite to Workday?

Yes. The hard part is not exporting data—it’s defining the future chart of accounts, dimensions/worktags, reporting requirements, and the integration landscape (AP automation, banking, payroll, time, expenses). A migration plan should include reconciliation design and reporting parity checks.

Workday Migration Consulting | Data, Integrations, Cutover, Adoption

Q: How long does a Workday migration take?

Most migrations run in phased waves. Timelines depend on scope (HCM vs Financials vs Planning), number of integrations, data history to convert, and readiness for testing and change management. A practical plan is built from critical-path activities: data mapping, integration build, security, testing cycles, and cutover rehearsal.

The Workday Migration Approach

Workday migrations fail for predictable reasons: scope drift, unclear data ownership, late integration choices, rushed testing, and weak adoption. Our approach is to treat migration as a controlled delivery system with enforceable gates—so finance, HR, IT, and the business stay aligned.

See the Migration Guide

Gate 1: Scope + outcomes Align on business outcomes, module boundaries, and what “done” means (including reporting parity).

Gate 2: Data truth Define data owners, mapping rules, history strategy, and reconciliation design before build accelerates.

Gate 3: Integration early Identify every inbound/outbound interface (AP automation, banking, payroll, time, expenses) and lock the plan.

Gate 4: Test-to-exit discipline Entry/exit criteria per cycle: SIT → UAT → parallel runs → cutover rehearsal.

Gate 5: Adoption as a program Role-based enablement, hypercare readiness, and measurable adoption signals.

Our Expertise

Comprehensive Workday solutions tailored to your organization's needs

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Migration Delivery

End-to-end migration execution across HCM, Financials, and Planning—planned around critical path, delivery gates, and measurable exit criteria.

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Post Go-Live Stabilization

Stabilize what matters: reconciliation, close performance, AP throughput, payroll accuracy, security tuning, and reporting reliability.

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Training & Support

Empower your team with comprehensive training programs and ongoing support to ensure long-term success and user adoption.

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Integration Services

Map, build, and harden integrations (inbound/outbound) with monitoring, error handling, and clear ownership for every interface.

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Analytics & Reporting

Unlock data-driven insights with custom reports, dashboards, and Prism Analytics implementations that inform strategic decisions.

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Security & Compliance

Ensure your Workday environment meets regulatory requirements with security audits and compliance framework implementations.

Workday Migration Guide

High-signal answers to the questions people search before, during, and after migrating to Workday

1) Scoping: what are we migrating?

Define modules and boundaries: HCM, Financials, Adaptive Planning, Expenses, Time, Payroll, Recruiting.
Identify non-negotiables: reporting parity, controls, audit requirements, and close deadlines.
Decide what you will not do in Phase 1 (to control cost and risk).

2) Data conversion: what history do we keep?

Choose the history strategy: full, partial, or “summary + archive.”
Lock mapping rules early (COA, worktags, org structures) and create reconciliation checks.
Build a conversion factory: extract → transform → load → validate → repeat.

3) Integrations: what systems touch Workday?

Inventory every interface: AP automation, banking files, payroll/time, benefits, CRM, data warehouse.
Assign owners, SLAs, monitoring, and escalation paths for integration failures.
Freeze changes with a release calendar as you approach UAT and cutover.

4) Testing + cutover: how do we prevent surprises?

Use gated cycles: SIT → UAT → parallel validation → cutover rehearsal.
Define test exit criteria (not “we tested,” but “we passed with evidence”).
Run a cutover rehearsal with timing, roles, rollback rules, and go/no-go governance.

5) Adoption: how do we get people to use it?

Train by role and job-to-be-done (approver, HR partner, accountant, manager, employee).
Set hypercare with clear triage, knowledge base, and daily defect burn-down.
Measure adoption (cycle time, error rates, completion rates) to prevent silent failure.

Common migration paths

Sage Intacct → Workday Financials: COA/worktags redesign + close reconciliation focus.
ADP + legacy time → Workday HCM/Time: worker lifecycle, security, and payroll interfaces.
NetSuite → Workday: standardize process variants before replatforming for speed.

Workday Migration FAQs

Direct answers that reduce risk, timeline variance, and surprise costs

How long does a Workday migration take?

Timelines depend on scope (modules), integrations, data history, and testing/adoption readiness. The only reliable estimate is built from the critical path: data mapping and conversion cycles, integration build, security, testing iterations, and cutover rehearsal.

What’s the biggest risk in migrating to Workday?

Data governance and integration decisions made too late. If ownership, mapping rules, and reconciliation checks aren’t locked early, every downstream activity (testing, reporting, close) becomes unstable.

How do we reduce cost without creating future rework?

Cut customization, standardize process variants, and limit historical conversion while meeting audit/compliance needs. Avoid false savings like compressing testing or skipping reconciliation design—those costs come back as post go-live fire drills.

Do we need to migrate all historical transactions into Workday?

Not always. Many programs use a “summary + archive” approach: bring what you need for operations and reporting, and keep detailed history in an accessible archive with clear audit trails.

How do we ensure reporting parity after go-live?

Define a reporting parity list up front, then validate it in UAT and parallel runs. Parity is proven with evidence: reconciled totals, agreed definitions, and sign-offs—not with “the report looks similar.”

What’s the right order: Financials first or HCM first?

It depends on where the biggest control and operational pain is today. A practical lens: start where you can reduce variance fastest (close, AP throughput, payroll accuracy), and where integrations are most complex. Many companies phase by module waves to protect delivery quality.

Plan and Deliver a Workday Migration Without the Chaos