Global health services provider improves Workday security and reliability with Kainos Smart Test
The goals
The results
$256,884
7,850
5
90%
“Smart Test provides us with the agility to accelerate our business processes. The sheer volume of Workday changes we implement is remarkable, and having Smart Test gives us the confidence that any pertinent issues will be promptly flagged.”
About the organisation
With over four decades of experience, this esteemed global health entity has been at the forefront of designing, developing, and implementing groundbreaking health and human service programs. Committed to fortifying communities and enhancing the wellbeing of individuals, their operations are centralised in the USA, boasting a workforce of 39,000 spread across ten countries.
Workday's vital role in managing rapid expansion
Prior to adopting Workday, this leading health services organisation relied on a variety of homegrown systems and external solutions to oversee HR and accounting functions. However, these systems lacked crucial transactional capabilities, prompting the IT team to implement a cumbersome workaround.
Unfortunately, this approach had significant drawbacks, including limited reporting, analytics, and a lack of self-service options for managers, leading to heavy reliance on the shared services group for transaction management. Driven by a compelling business case, the company swiftly migrated to Workday, achieving deployment in the US within a remarkable nine month timeframe.
Shortly after implementation, the organisation underwent a significant acquisition, exponentially increasing its workforce virtually overnight. This sudden influx of data presented a daunting challenge for the IT team, exacerbated by difficulties integrating essential services like employee benefits into the Workday system.
Sr. Director HRIS at the organisation underscores the critical juncture, stating, “As we embarked on a rapid expansion journey-growing from 9,000 to 37,000 employees, the seamless operation of Workday became paramount. Ensuring uninterrupted performance and preserving essential integrations, such as payroll, became our top priorities. Recognising the need for a robust testing solution became imperative.”
Addressing the complexity: Testing at scale for Workday
With the company's expansion, the intricacies of its Workday HR and security functions grew exponentially. Each acquisition brought forth new customisations, amplifying the demand for a testing solution capable of navigating complexity and scalability. However, the team faced a significant hurdle—they had never conducted security testing before, primarily due to resource constraints, despite the escalating importance of ensuring system security.
Compounding the challenge, the health services company relied solely on manual testing processes, consuming vast amounts of time and resources. This manual approach not only strained resources but also hindered agility, impeding the exploration of Workday enhancements and innovation.
“As our business accelerated, we found ourselves rushing into production without adequate testing, resulting in constant bug fixes and stability maintenance,” remarks the Sr. Director HRIS. “To unlock the full potential of Workday, we needed to reclaim capacity. We sought a testing solution that would streamline processes, reduce costs, and liberate our teams to focus on higher-value initiatives beyond basic service testing against Workday updates.”
The Solution: Selecting an innovative testing partner
The journey began for the global health services organisation when they encountered Kainos Smart Test at Workday Rising. Impressed by the prospect of an automated testing tool for Workday, offering comprehensive coverage, including security testing, they saw an opportunity for transformative efficiency.
“The efficiency gains touted by Smart Test were truly eye-opening,” remarks the Sr. Director of HRIS. Beyond the tool itself, the team was drawn to Kainos' collaborative approach and hands-on expertise in crafting test cases. With Kainos' partnership, the organisation embarked on an automation journey, receiving ongoing support and insights to adapt to their evolving business needs. In December 2019, the health services organisation successfully deployed Smart Test across its Workday HCM and Security modules, marking a pivotal step forward.
The Results: Unleashing potential through enhanced efficiency
With Kainos’s steadfast support, the health services partner has curated a repository of user-friendly test packs, accessible to all team members, significantly reducing the need for extensive training on testing procedures. Leveraging standardised and pre-built test packs by Kainos, coupled with the flexibility to customise for unique scenarios like one-time payments, the team seamlessly adapts to diverse testing requirements.
Currently, Kainos oversees 90% of the organisation's regression testing workload, granting the team newfound freedom to delve into Workday enhancements and swiftly integrate them into operations. Over the past year, Smart Test has executed an impressive 71,500 tests and facilitated over four million Workday actions for the health services provider. This robust coverage has notably simplified the management of major Workday update cycles for the Sr. Director of HRIS and their team.
Furthermore, Kainos assumes responsibility for maintaining tests, scripts, and test cases with each release, resulting in a substantial reduction in both time and costs allocated to testing efforts. In the span of a year, the health services organisation has realised remarkable savings of 7,850 hours and $256,884 in testing expenditures – equivalent to the workload of five full-time employees.
The Benefits of Smart Test
“Smart Test provides us with the agility to accelerate our business processes, allowing us to focus solely on reviewing results rather than labouring through every individual test case,” emphasises the Sr. Director of HRIS.
“The sheer volume of Workday changes we implement is remarkable, and having Smart Test gives us the confidence that any pertinent issues will be promptly flagged.”
Additonally, Kainos’ expertise has played a pivotal role in the seamless implementation of Smart Test within the organisation. According to the Sr. Director of HRIS, “The setup process for Smart Test was incredibly smooth, requiring minimal input from our end thanks to the adept support from the Kainos team. Their guidance during major releases has been invaluable, as they possess a comprehensive understanding of the downstream impacts of our changes."
Looking ahead, the Sr. Director of HRIS and their team envision further opportunities for Smart Test to enhance business operations. They are actively expanding their library of test packs to leverage Smart Test’s capabilities more extensively, particularly for in-depth testing beyond project-specific scenarios.