Lessons learned from 2020 about AMS strategy
2020 taught us that much can change quickly within our organizations and without notice. That’s why it is important to proactively invest in the people and resources. They can help your organization weather times of disruption and embrace change, while remaining competitive in your industry.
Previously organizations discussed AMS strategy support requirements and focused on fixing issues and keeping the lights. But this shouldn’t be the case anymore. We’ve continued to assist our clients with their HR and Financial application management needs. We’ve learned important lessons about how proactive strategic planning and thoughtful investment in your ERP is even more important than ever.
The time to reassess your AMS strategy is now
AMS strategy for HR and financial systems may not have previously been top of mind. The days of a reactive team only keeping your Workday tenant running with minor bug and update fixes are in the past. Your AMS strategy must be proactive, holistic in approach and ever anticipating the next potential threat to your business operations. Reflect on any issues that may have occurred in the past year and how you were able to resolve them. Were there gaps or will there be going forward in resources, skills sets, processes or functionality. How you can revise your AMS strategy to ensure next time you’re better prepared.
Your technology is only as good as your people
Ensure they are properly supported. The next Workday release, business process error or business need is imminent. If your team is not equipped to handle it, a minor issue can become disastrous. Investing in training and outside support enables your team to be successful and better support your workforce.
Your ability to leverage data matters
If you have the data but you can’t access it or use it when and how you want is useless. Ensuring you have, and know how to use, the analytic capabilities you need in a time of disruption or transformation can be the difference between the ability to make an informed business decision quickly and taking a shot in the dark.
Your people will engage more frequently in user-friendly technology
More and more organizations rely on their Workday system to keep their virtual workforces organized, informed and safe. It’s important your employees are trained and aware of their self-service capabilities. The more your employees can do for themselves means the more time your HR and finance teams have to work on strategic projects. An outside AMS partner can assess your tenant and assist you in making adjustments that ensure your Workday system is as user-friendly as possible.
System optimization isn’t one and done
As your business needs and workforce change, so must your technology. Previous success in optimizing your Workday tenant prior to a merger or acquisition or structural change doesn’t mean you won’t benefit from assistance. Ensuring new pieces come together seamlessly can save time and money compared to addressing issues that pop up in the future.
Road mapping matters
Your initial Workday deployment is a huge achievement. Once that excitement wears off it might be hard to plan what comes next. A partner who can assist you in determining the next modules to deploy based on budget and business needs can be useful. They give you a plan to follow as you expand your Workday capabilities and helps you to proactively prepare for any business operation changes without sacrificing your ability to modernize your organization with Workday technology.
Don’t forget automation and analytics
No longer are AI and Analytics a nice to have, they are now a non-negotiable in today’s technology landscape. A plan for incorporating automation analytics and AI into your overall technology roadmap enables you to do more with less. This is as well as leveraging your AMS team to support key initiatives and projects versus just the day-to-day support.