You’ve made the switch to Workday — congratulations! Now that you are live, have you considered whether you need an external support partner to help manage your new system? Or perhaps you’ve been using Workday for years but aren’t satisfied with your current support provider, and you’re looking for a change.
In this post, we outline the top considerations you should keep in mind when choosing a support partner — and how external Workday support services can save you time and money.
Application Management Services Partner Overview
Many Workday’s Services Partners offer some sort of application management services (AMS) — also known as continued value services or post-production services. These services allow you to seek help for Workday-related issues after your initial deployment.
Leveraging an external partner to oversee the day-to-day management of Workday enables you to focus on other responsibilities. An AMS partner can assist with both technical and functional support. Services typically include assistance with integration and report development, Workday release management, security updates, regression testing, and system configuration changes, as well as the facilitation of a variety of other business process updates, enhancements, or issues.
6 Things to Look For in an AMS Partner
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During deployment, it’s easy to become hyper-focused on the process of getting your new Workday system up and running. However, during this stage, it’s important to begin considering how your team is equipped to manage Workday once the application is live. Do you have the resources necessary to administer the system processes? Does your team include experienced personnel who have adequate expertise to manage the new set up? Or would additional support be helpful as your team transitions to utilizing Workday to manage your business processes?
If you believe external support and expertise might benefit your organization, here are some important considerations to keep in mind when choosing an AMS partner:
1. Business Model
Many Workday support packages are built around a time-and-materials structure, which means customers have a fixed amount of hours each month to use to resolve urgent tickets or enhance current functionality. Some AMS partners, however, break from the traditional time-and-materials model to offer fixed-fee packages that allow customers to submit a certain number of requests per month that will be addressed no matter how long they take. Eliminating time tracking means you don’t have to worry about how many hours a project will require.
2. Contracts
Contracts are extremely important — they define the scope of the work you can expect assistance with and include a number of important factors in determining how flexible your support packages will be. Here are some important questions to ask when considering different AMS partners:
- What type of contracts do they have?
- What types of activities are included in the package?
- Are you locked in for a month, year, etc.?
- How easily can you modify a contract if needed?
- Are there any penalties for modifying a contract?
3. Scalability
While we have covered that you will want to inquire about the ability to modify a contract in the previous section, it is worthwhile to discuss scalability as well. Ask if the AMS partner has the ability to scale up or down based on your needs and goals for growth. This is particularly important if you anticipate organizational growth, any change in business processes, an increase in sales, or projects in the future that may require additional support. Will the support provider have the manpower to help? And how much notice do they need?
4. A Value-Added Client Partner
The right AMS provider should assign you an account manager (or client partner), no matter the volume of your needs. This person will be your main point of contact and offer a single point of escalation. At the end of the day, you want a company that listens to you, puts your business needs first, and helps implement a roadmap for the future. Here are some questions to ask:
- Does the company offer specific account managers assigned to each client?
- If so, what does the client-partner relationship look like? How often are meetings and what does client-partner communication entail?
5. Experts Who Educate Customers
You want a partner who is a Workday expert — but also one who makes a continual effort to educate customers while resolving issues. The ideal provider should make your team more capable with each issue they resolve, empowering your team with new knowledge of how to optimize your Workday system for your business.
6. Reputation and Reliability
It’s important to do your homework. Talk to different AMS providers and ask similar questions so you can compare answers and evaluate your options equally. Ask for customer satisfaction scores but also leverage your own network. Reach out to colleagues and connections on LinkedIn. Keep these questions in mind:
- How long has the company been around?
- How much Workday experience and industry experience do they have?
- How are they different from their competitors?
- What do their customers say about them?
- Are they willing to let you speak directly to other customers?
How is TopBloc’s AMS Support Different?
TopBloc’s version of Workday support is referred to as our Help Desk. Offering more than just quick fixes to issues that arise in day-to-day operations, TopBloc’s Help Desk team specializes in assisting organizations with managing and optimizing their Workday solutions to ensure they are continuing to maximize their technology investment.
TopBloc does things a bit differently. Our support packages are flexible, adaptable plans that allow you to supplement your organization’s Workday expertise with our knowledgeable team. While other firms use a time-and-materials business model — limiting customers to a fixed amount of support hours each month — TopBloc has developed a unique ticketing solution that allows you to submit tickets for any items you wish.
We offer a flexible three-tiered Help Desk package with bronze, silver, and gold support options. Regardless of tier, all tiers offer clients an unlimited number of tickets; they differ in the number of tickets actively being worked on at any given time.
How Does TopBloc’s Help Desk Save Customers Time & Money
A tiered system — as opposed to a time-and-materials model — enables us to focus on providing the right solutions without needing to have discussions about hourly rates and how much time a project will cost in terms of time.
Clients have the ability to scale Help Desk levels up or down as needed and as often as desired. When you anticipate higher levels of support, opt for a gold tier. When your team no longer requires as much support, go for the bronze. We also make it extremely easy to change tiers — just a quick message to your dedicated client partner can enact the change the same day. You even have the ability to pause and restart the service as needed.
Another major economical reason to consider TopBloc’s Help Desk is that you don’t need to employ as many internal teammates since you will have external support and knowledge at your full disposal. This is especially important if your company is seeing high employee turnover or you need help transferring Workday knowledge among your staff. It can also come in handy if your company is experiencing an exceptionally busy period.
Questions About TopBloc’s Help Desk Support?
If you’d like to know more about TopBloc’s Help Desk, or you’re looking for information about Workday Services Partners, contact us today. We look forward to answering your questions and discussing how we can help your business or organization move in the right direction.
