02Case study

Enterprise Integration & Modernization

Connecting critical systems, improving reliability, and leading technical delivery.

Where
Appirio · Alight · Kainos
When
2018 to 2026
Scope
Workday · Integration · Delivery
Written
5 of 8 sections

Context

Seven-plus years of Workday integration delivery across Appirio, Alight Solutions, and Kainos. HCM and Financials, large and mid-sized enterprises, implementation projects and long-running application managed services.

Problem

Workday is rarely the only system. Payroll, benefits, finance, identity, and a long tail of vendors all need its data on schedule, correctly transformed, and inside privacy and security rules.

Integrations are where the reliability of a deployment is decided, and they are usually the least visible part of it until they fail.

Constraints

The data is regulated personal data, so mapping and transformation rules carry privacy and security obligations, not only business logic.

Mergers and acquisitions compress timelines and multiply source systems.

Managed-service integrations have to be supportable by someone other than the person who built them.

Role and responsibilities

  • Kainos, 2020: the first AMS integration consultant in the Americas.
  • Lead consultant: guided and mentored a team of integration consultants and owned technical documentation standards.
  • Manager: staffing, resourcing, forecasting, and escalation for the Workday integration team in the Americas, plus subject-matter support in sales engagements.
  • Senior manager: product ownership, sales strategy, and technical leadership across the global Workday services practice.

Technical approach

Studio, EIBs, Core Connectors, and calculated fields, chosen per integration rather than by habit.

Documentation as part of delivery: integration specifications, configurations, and deployment guidelines written so the next engineer can support what shipped.

Best practices, process improvements, and automation across the integration function, with training and mentoring built into delivery rather than scheduled after it.

Key decisions and tradeoffs

Editorial gap: not yet written

Two or three integration architecture calls with their tradeoffs: Studio versus EIB versus connector, how M&A tenants were converged, what was standardised across the practice. Sector and scale only, never a client name.

Outcomes

Editorial gap: not yet written

Practice-level outcomes cleared for publication: team growth, delivery quality, escalation trends. Sector and scale only.

Lessons learned

Editorial gap: not yet written

What seven years of integration support teaches about designing for the person on call.

Stack

  • Workday Studio
  • EIB
  • Core Connectors
  • Calculated fields
  • HCM
  • Financials