It’s Time to Open the Workday Cloud Platform-Why?

The founders of Workday had been getting a question from the customers continuously that When Workday is going to open its cloud platform? Now, this is the time for Workday to open its cloud platform for its customers. The SaaS i.e. Software as a Service is in going with the Platform as a Service (PaaS) by utilizing the Workday Cloud Platform. The Workday has provided the open APIs, i.e. application programming interface to the developers so that they can easily plug into the different Workday applications such as HCM, Planning, and Financials, etc., and the fundamental data models using which they can start developing the custom apps and extensions from Workday. The Chief architect Jon Ruggiero said that the main objective behind this platform is to provide the customers with ‘the tools to design, develop and manage business applications on the Workday Cloud’.

The apps which are developed on the Workday platform is secured with Workday configurable security, and do not depend on any tool-chain and the utilized data go to the clients without any data usage payments. When the cloud platform is opened up, it is possible for the developers to practice on a set of open REST APIs, documentation, and reference apps by using the innovative developer website cloud.workday.com. This community site also contains a developer console so that the resources and apps can be managed in an effective way including the API explorer tool. Not only this, but the developers will also get a chance to practice the enhanced competencies, because Workday is exposing its machine learning algorithms and statistical models, and other services like conversation APIs like Workday Talk and Workday Bot, in the future to develop these chat interfaces inside the Workday. Although the new open Workday platform is only available to design partners now, whereas the developers can sign up for the Cloud Platform Community Group.

Not only the customers but the analysts and employees are also curious for the Workday cloud platform. Aneel Bhusri the founder of Workday said that it is required to stay focused on more instant priorities for the customers and the necessary requirements of the development teams, while the cloud platform was expected to open up in the future. Definitely, it is required to confirm our technology accessibility for rock-solid reliability and scalability and also the flexibility to change continuously with the quickly varying business landscape.

Now, the Workday is ready to move forward on the extensibility journey by proclaiming the intent to open the platform to customers and a larger ecosystem of partners, independent software vendors, and developers. This news was announced by the chief technology Architect Jon Ruggiero at Altitude at the annual conference for the Workday services ecosystem.

Workday has taken up their decisions based on the client input because a huge range of clients has been inquiring about the additional open Workday platform. They want to utilize the Workday as a cloud backbone that supports solid and digital workflows across several business applications, observing more insight into how the work is carried out by the people and how their businesses are functioning in this hyperlinked, real-time world.

When Workday has opened its Cloud Platform and entered into the Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) market, it actually means to allow the customers and the wider ecosystem to utilize the Workday platform services in order to develop the custom extensions and applications which expressively increases the organization’s capability to accomplish with Workday.

For example, with the Workday Cloud platforms, it is possible for the customers to build the new tasks and the business procedures to combine workflows and also to incorporate the external applications with Workday by utilizing the innovative APIs. This is only a sample of what can be carried out when the Workday Cloud platform has opened and still the Workday community is looking forward to discovering all the ways in which they can empower their community, so that the solutions for exclusive business requirements are developed, with the existing welfares from Workday contextual data, battle-tested scalability, strong security and attractive user experience.

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With the opening of the Workday Cloud Platform to the customers and partner ecosystem, an incredible interest and excitement have been seen from the whole Workday community, as it has been given a completely new chapter in the Workday story. Well, the Workday workforce has learned about how the Workday Cloud Platform is being used today and what will be the future of this platform, by working with Dan Beck (Senior Vice President of Workday) and Jon Ruggiero (Workday’s chief technology architect) there are several questions which rise up in their mind.

1. How is the Workday Cloud Platform different from the other PaaS i.e. Platform-as-a-service offerings?

Well, Beck has answered this question: The Workday’s Cloud Platform is developed on the openness principle. The RESTful APIs are used to expose the main blocks of the applications which inspiring the customers to make the control of the development models, tools and other cloud infrastructure of their choice. The customer will achieve the best possible experience, that’s why the creators are excited that the cloud platform can be utilized to spread the power of the core applications. The Workdays openness method is different from PaaS offering due to the five important pillars:

• Platform: The customers should use a blend of Workday Platform Services and third-party cloud services. The Workday has also provided reference applications that take benefits of third-party cloud services.
• Developer site: A new site is created for the developers, i.e. cloud.workday.com in this site the developers are able to build, learn and share their work.
• APIs: The standards-based, modern APIs depicts the Workday applications and the technology platform without any tool-chain need.
• Community: Workday’s Customer community is now able to share custom reports and other custom configurations, as well as they, will also be able to share the custom applications in the future.
• Data: The customers are able to access the same data that the developers are using to build the workday applications without any data licensing fees.

2. The next question is how Workday is providing its support for customer development?

Ruggiero answered this question: ‘When it comes to the matter of services, there are various tools and techniques which are provided to the customers to allow them to design, create and deploy the application on the Workday Cloud Platform. This begins with Workday’s main services, which also involves helping the customers to manage the application lifecycle, from designing the data model to organize the sturdy applications. The authentication and integration to Workday APIs with the new single API endpoint are also made in an easy way. The Workday applications are all driven by the Workday’s Business Process Framework and using this platform customers are able to create their own business processes. By means of configurable security, all Workday Cloud Platform applications are protected.

The customers are also able to get access to a few of Workday’s underlying technology services that allow them to develop applications that act as Workday applications, involving presentation services, conversation services, content management and data and analytics.

The Workday’s suite of applications includes Workday Human Capital Management, Financial management and Workday Student, a huge investment in APIs are done to allow the applications to work flawlessly with the Workday data and transactions. Using these services, the customer can emphasize developing business applications easily and do not have any worry about provisioning infrastructure services.

3.What are some of the use cases between early adopters?

Beck has given an answer to this question. There are lots of existed things with early adopters. Few examples of applications shared with them are:

• A business intelligence company is developing, a system called custom talent mobility which imagines the occupied and vacant positions all through the world within Workday.
• The Workday cloud platform is used in an entertainment company to develop new practices for supplier-managed requests.
• Workday Cloud Platform is utilized by airlines to support its badging lifecycle.
• With the help of the Workday cloud platform, a manufacturing company is able to develop an employee portal that integrates data from its database into Workday.
• The other usage of the Workday Cloud Platform can be observed in the financial management company to create an isolated peer-to-peer feedback system for its agile development teams.
• A system is developed at workday, where workforces are able to answer to the mobile alerts, which are logically based on office location, and travel through routes, by creating a way which ensures the safety of all employees.

4. Another question is “What can you tell us about the developer site?“

For this Ruggiero has replied that “At present, the developer site is utilized by the early adopter customers. It delivers the developers whatever they want to quickly start with the Workday Cloud Platform, at this place the developers can learn and try the available services, tools to create and manage applications. A widespread collection of sample applications is also provided so that the developers can understand the platform services working together. The developers can cooperate and obtain more experience with the platform by utilizing the console of the developer to manage their development resources and applications. Also, they can intermingle easily with the Workday API with tools similar to the API explorer.

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5.Give some other examples of the extensions?

Ruggiero said that: The Workday Cloud Platform has been already in use by many customers in some advanced ways, but still, there are few additional examples:

• Cross-application workflows: The businesses are able to rationalize and systematize new business workflows for various actions like relocation, employee assistance, and advanced payment to streamline their application footprint finally.
• Modified employee experiences: In order to make the Workday more essential to the worker engagement, the platform will allow the portal creation that combines the data and functionality of Workday with data from external applications, such as wellness applications and knowledge bases.
• Its deep combination with third-party applications: This involves the integration of Workday into an email or chat applications, which allows the workforce to perform the things like request time off using their calendar or collaboration tools.
• Industry-specific extensions and applications: Customers and partners are able to develop the solutions made to order the definite vertical markets.

6.What about the partner ecosystem?

The associates of Workday are driven about developing on the Workday Cloud Platform. A great example by Unum is given, which demonstrates how the extension between the Unum and Workday can be created that eliminates the complications which their customers and employees have to face with the medical underwriting process while choosing more advantages covering. This is one of the examples we have observed from both services and software partners, who are financing money to bring their wide universal expertise, deep industry knowledge, and intellectual property so that the extra value can be added to the Workday cloud platform.

Conclusion:

It has been observed that the opening of the Workday Cloud Platform will be going to prove one of the most significant changes since starting the company in the year 2005. Workday’s strategy could be compared with the rocket sending technique to the moon. Initially, Workday’s HCM technology had been launched, then the other techniques such as international expansion, Financial management, and the combination of Planning and Prism Analytics are launched. And now the Workday Cloud Platform and its entry to the PaaS market is the most current step in the journey of Workday, which is a bigger step for Workday as the innovations still continue and bring collective value to our customers.