Modernizing your ERP or Student Information System (SIS) is one of the biggest investments your institution will ever make. But the real return doesn’t happen when you flip the switch. It happens in the months (and years) that follow, when your institution stabilizes, adopts, and truly owns the system.

The term "go-live" in a Workday implementation can be misleading, often signaling the end for implementation partners, but just the beginning for the institution. 

I have to admit, I'm a fan of checklists. There’s something satisfying about crossing off completed tasks. However, when it comes to implementation projects—especially Workday Student—I’ve learned to shift my mindset. Go-live is not the finish line. It’s a significant milestone, yes, but the adventure is just beginning.

Implementing a new technology system means walking a fine line: you need to trust your vendor or implementation partner and trust yourself.

I can't tell you how many times I see calculated fields that are unnecessary. I think this is because reporting training often focuses on HOW to build a report and not UNDERSTANDING the data model.

In higher education, documentation is often overlooked or under-resourced—both in terms of time and budget. But here’s the irony: by investing in documentation, institutions can actually save time and money. Read to learn how.

Making well-informed decisions hinges on accurate reporting. Yet, within Workday Student, mistakes can easily arise during report creation.

Why organize EIBs? Save time, avoid chaos, and reduce errors by keeping things clean and easy to find—like labeling a closet. Learn how!

Now, security is very complicated in Workday. It can seem like a quick shortcut to leave a report shared with all authorized users. You might think that the security behind the report should be correct and therefore you can just select that option instead of specific authorized groups.

Of course there’s resistance. It’s not just a software upgrade—it’s a total shift in how things feel.

The word custom gets thrown around a lot in higher education technology—especially during transitions from legacy, on-premise systems to modern cloud platforms like Workday, Slate, or Handshake. But here's the catch: custom doesn't mean the same thing across these systems. In fact, its meaning shifts pretty dramatically depending on your tech stack.

Two fields on a Workday Student business object with the same name - which do you choose? This situation can lead to confusion and inefficiencies that could be easily avoided with clarity.

Configure your Workday Student to create user-friendly dashboards and processes and your end-users will thank you.

We’ve all experienced the frustration of accidentally signing up for a service that's already available to us.

Have you ever found a forgotten subscription quietly siphoning funds from your account? Now, imagine that complexity multiplied across a whole university or college.

Workday unveiled some fantastic content in their "The Next Level: Student" section.

Transitioning to new technology like Workday Student requires re-thinking everything.

Job aids are certainly essential, but they are not enough for a smooth go-live.

When it comes to system implementations in higher education, the saying “think before you do” is critical.

As you prepare to implement Workday Student, remember that the learning curve, while steep, doesn’t have to be faced in isolation.