How a leading UK retailer secures sensitive non-production Workday data with Smart Shield
“With Smart Shield, we have significantly reduced the risk of sensitive data exposure across our Workday lower tenants. Now, our HR teams can manage updates, test changes, and support business operations while ensuring data privacy.”
About the Organisation
This UK-based retailer is a household name, known for its long-standing reputation. With multiple retail divisions spanning high street stores and supermarkets, the company also operates a strong and growing e-commerce presence. Its focus on innovation and customer trust has made it a leader in the UK retail sector.
The Challenge: Ensuring secure data access in Workday’s lower tenants
This organisation selected Workday to transition from a legacy on-premise system to a modern HR and payroll platform, aiming to enhance the workforce experience for its 84,000 employees. Manual testing proved challenging, and the team sought a solution to enable comprehensive testing across its full Workday configuration. It later went live with Kainos Smart Test as part of its broader Workday implementation.
However, a secondary challenge emerged: securing sensitive HR and payroll data in non-production environments while still enabling testing, troubleshooting, and operational support. “We have data four times the volume in non-production across different tenants, so much stronger controls are needed to restrict and protect that data,” explains the Workday Security Risk and Controls Lead.
The organisation needed a solution that allowed HR and IT teams to manage and test Workday changes securely—without compromising efficiency or increasing security risks. Traditional sandbox environments posed compliance risks due to real employee data. “We can’t use production to troubleshoot and make changes because that’s bad practice, but sandbox has the same problem—it’s still real and sensitive data. We needed strong, robust data access controls to protect this information,” they said.
The Solution: Masking business-sensitive data
Recognising the need for enhanced data security, the organisation implemented Kainos Smart Shield, a Workday security solution designed to protect non-production environments. Smart Shield introduced intelligent data masking and granular access controls, enabling secure handling of sensitive HR data. “Now, our HR teams can manage updates, test changes, and support business operations, all while ensuring data privacy.”
How Smart Shield enables the right access to the right data
Learning and development
A major benefit has been for the Learning and Development team, which frequently builds and uploads training content. “They need to test everything before launching. With Smart Shield, they can do this securely without accessing real employee data, which is a game-changer for compliance and efficiency.”
Talent acquisition
The Talent Acquisition team gained confidence when modifying Workday recruitment processes. “We regularly update supplementary questionnaires and other recruitment configurations. Before, we couldn’t safely validate these changes without potential data exposure risks. Now, with Smart Shield, our team can test updates securely before deploying them in production.”
Targeted absence management support
Another key use case is secure, targeted support for people managers. “With Smart Shield in place, we can now assist managers without exposing sensitive HR data, making the process both safe and efficient.” This approach also reduced SME support requirements significantly. “For instance, we’re in the midst of a major project requiring an updated action for 27,000 employees. Without proper controls, the demand on SME support would have been enormous. Smart Shield has helped us manage this efficiently.”
Peace of mind for the organisation
By leveraging Smart Shield, the organisation has reinforced its commitment to data security and regulatory compliance. HR operations have become more efficient, striking a balance between security and productivity. As the company continues refining its digital HR strategy, Smart Shield remains a cornerstone for secure, efficient, and compliant Workday operations.