Driving Global Growth: GK Software Streamlines Financial Operations with Workday and Kainos
About GK Software
GK Software is one of the most successful growth stories in the German software industry. It focuses on proprietary technology solutions that address the challenges of the world's leading retailers.
With more than 685k retail and payment installations in over 70 countries across every continent, GK is a true global player from Saxony. Its consultants and support experts provide retailers with personal support at any time - either on-site or remotely.
GK has been part of the Fujitsu Group since 2023. The combination of in-depth retail experience and Fujitsu's global innovation and scaling power accelerates GK's sustainable and profitable growth worldwide.
Achieving a Single Source of Truth for Global Financial Operations
GK had established a significant international footprint through organic growth and acquisitions. To support future expansion, the company needed to centralise its financial management, moving from a fragmented landscape of legacy systems and local databases towards a modern, scalable ERP platform.
The software company chose Workday because of the breadth of its capabilities across Financial Management, Reporting, Integrations, and Human Capital Management (HCM). The first step was to launch Workday Financial Management, enabling smarter workflows, better data visibility, and a more agile way of working.
Saskia Grobe-Richarz was responsible for programme management of the Workday implementation and running business operations after deployment.
There are so many opportunities with Workday, and that’s why we purchased the complete package. We also wanted to have one source of truth. Some of our entities around the world had separate databases and processes. Our aim was to globalise and harmonise this as much as possible.
Securing Workday Expertise Through Kainos Application Management Services (AMS)
GK’s deployment of Workday Financial Management covered the company’s accounting, customer accounts, procurement, expenses, adaptive planning, and reporting. During this major programme of work, the software company recognised that post go-live support would be critical. With a small internal support team, GK wanted to complement its internal expertise with access to additional specialist resources and best practice guidance
"Over the implementation phase we built up our knowledge in Workday, but we also recognised the value of having access to specialised support for complex issues and future optimisation. That’s why we needed a partner who could provide help if we faced any challenges, which are quite normal after go-live,” said Saskia.
GK selected Kainos to provide Application Management Services (AMS) because of the team's deep Workday expertise and structured support model. Beyond formal governance, GK valued the flexibility of the Kainos team.
We wanted a partner with Workday experience, a good reputation, and lean processes which best match our business model. That’s important for us because the way we develop software for customers is the same. When the customer gives us a call, it doesn't matter what time it is.
The software company was keen to receive personal support in the same way that it works with retailers. People are as important as technology at GK.
“We have regular meetings but I can also email our Kainos project manager and ask for help. I do not always have to open a ticket first. You get a quick response, and you can talk with the Kainos colleague to understand the problem. This is what makes it so good with Kainos,” said Saskia.
Overcoming Complex Integration and Reporting Challenges
After GK’s successful launch of Workday Financial Management, the software company relied on Kainos for ongoing Workday support, system enhancements, and continuous optimisation. Kainos helped maintain operational stability by resolving a steady pipeline of normal support tickets. Crucially, there were no critical tickets raised in the latest reporting period.
I'm happy to have Kainos on our side. We know we have the resources, knowledge, and experience that we need. In addition to our in-house team, we now have a partner with whom we can discuss issues and exchange feedback. This gives us, so to speak, an additional expert for our strong but small team.
There were some specific challenges that GK looked to Kainos to help resolve. Integrations were a key issue for the software company, even with a dedicated member of the internal support team.
“Our bank integrations are highly complex. With the pressure of month-end closing, we had to meet all the timelines to avoid any business risk. It was a lot of effort in the first few months, but we always made it and Kainos helped us to resolve our challenges," explained Saskia.
Creating the Roadmap for Future Optimisations
GK is now implementing Workday Human Capital Management (HCM) and plans a role for Kainos AMS with BAU support and optimisations. The software company is also building its Workday roadmap, where it will require expert input from the Kainos team.
"We are already working on optimisations and that's where we will need Kainos. Some of these we can do within our Workday Success Plans environment because we have the “Ask an Expert” available. But for more complex requirements, we value Kainos' specialist expertise and experience to help us implement the most effective configuration.
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